Legacy of the Dark Sage

An hour after the incident on the island happened, the Courtenay Family representatives gathered all participating factions in the event at the Courtney Land's dome. And then, together with the Royal Family's people, the Courtenay dispatched armed ships to patrol around the island while they waited for the three deputy marshals to return.

However, not even an hour had passed, the Crown Princess issued an order to retreat, and an unknown member of the Royal Family entered the island alone.

The deputy marshals returned and were told to return to the dome and wait for further instructions.

Soon after the unknown Royal Family member entered the island, the Courtenay Family noticed the magic fluctuation on the island decreasing. And within an hour, there was an evident change in activity inside.

The noises on the island had stopped.

Because of this, the Crown Princess selected five people from the Courtenay and the Royal Family to investigate. Because so far, they had not heard anything from the member of the Royal Family.

Meanwhile, everyone gathered at the dome felt the tension. Though the Royal Family issued a gag order to all who knew what happened on the island to avoid causing unnecessary panic, keeping a tight lid on things was impossible because most of the people in the Courtenay Land had felt the ominous aura coming from the island.

The Lumley Family representatives even made a scene, demanding the Courtenay Family to give a proper account of what happened, which earned them the ire of the other factions. In the first place, if anyone had the right to demand a proper account, it should be the Conclave and the Royal Army because it was their people who were affected by the incident.

Finally, two hours later, news came that the Conclave members were found. They were all exhausted and had few injuries. But overall, they were fine.

This caused the Royal Army to look at them suspiciously.

Finally, three hours after the incident on the island, the Courtenay Family issued a brief statement of what happened. Afterwhich they announced that the rest of the events would be postponed after the investigation on the island was complete.

Each of the factions was then permitted to use the dome's function halls to gather and meet among themselves.

Thus the Conclave, Lumley Family, and Montgomeray Family did not hesitate and did just that.

Noir gathered all the Conclave members in Function Hall 2 and, with Stella's permission, explained the details of what happened during the Beast hunt that the Courtenay Family did not tell.

Of course, before telling them anything, Noir and the other council members ensured there was no Surveillance array or similar spells around the hall. They also placed their own Protective arrays to ensure no one would enter or eavesdrop on their discussion.

Callan and Malia left in the middle of the discussion after finally getting word of Styx and the other Conclave members' release from the Courtenay's custody due to questioning.

When they joined the rest in Function Hall 2, Noir let Styx tell their experience.

The Conclave members were all shocked to learn that the ominous aura they had felt was due to a legendary beast breaking its seal. Nevertheless, knowing that the beast had been taken care of, the tension they felt had lessened, and they were able to return to their rooms in a better mood.

After dismissing the rest of the members, Stella had Styx, Addie, Michel and Archel stay with the rest of the Conclave council members and 'Tyr.'

Stella contemplated whether to have Callan manipulate their memories, but then, 'Tyr'— who was really Silas in disguise— said it should be alright.

Neo, who also remained, agreed with Silas.

The exchange between the three confused the others, especially Addie, Michel and Archel. After all, these three were unaware of Stella's identity. She was even discussing erasing their memories right in front of them.

Others might find the encounter rude and feel anger, but Addie, Michel and Archel more or less guessed they might have seen more than they were supposed to.

Only Styx remained indifferent to everything. And was the first one to voice the question that all of them had since leaving the island.

Styx looked at Stella and said, "Lord of the Tower, pardon my disrespect, but I want to know if you are the one who sent that person to save us."

Addie, Michel and Archel all looked at Styx in confusion from how he addressed Stella. So far, they only thought she was a low-profile high-ranking member of the Alchemist Association. However, how Styx addressed her sounded like she had a much higher position.

Stella looked at Styx apologetically and said, "If that is what he said, then yes."

Her answer confused them.

"I'm sorry. I can't say much, but I'm sure he will speak to all four of you when he comes back," Stella added.

Styx smiled slightly, "'When he 'comes back.' You say you can't say much, but you are giving us a generous answer, Milord."

Then he looked at Silas, who, in turn, straightened his back.

Stella only smiled at him. She already knew Kyran was interested in Styx; that was why he decided to step in and save them.

Now she understood why. The older guy's senses were sharp, his insights deep, and he was a sensible man.

With no further updates from the Courtenay Family, Stella dismissed them.

Because Stella was not a participant, she did not have a designated room. Malia offered to let her stay in hers, but Stella declined and said she would wait for Kyran's return to his room.

Malia reluctantly let Stella go only because Silas would also be there. The truth, Malia had noticed a subtle change from how Stella looked at Kyran that morning, and it worried her. Hopefully, it was nothing and that it was all just her being paranoid.

Stella and Silas went to Kyran's room in silence. They actually had a lot to talk about, but since there was no telling who might hear or see them, they decided to keep their thoughts to themselves until they arrived at Kyran's room.

However, when they arrived at the corner of Kyran's room, they found a young woman with wavy blond hair in a light green dress standing in front.

"That woman is...?" Stella asked in a low voice.

Silas stopped in his tracks, beads of cold sweat appearing at the back of his neck. He knew who the woman was; given who he was supposed to be right now, this encounter might turn into something... well, bad.

Sensing a few eyes on her, Millie turned in time to see 'Tyr.' Her olive green eyes brightened in an instant, and she ran to greet him, "Disciple Tyr—."

But then she saw a woman standing behind him— a beautiful woman with long brown hair and beautiful light blue eyes.

Millie looked at her with obvious dislike.

,m The woman wore an alchemist robe, so Millie guessed she was a member of the Alchemist Association. But that was unimportant. What Millie wanted to know was why this woman standing so close to Tyr.

"Lady Millie," Silas greeted Millie with a slight nod. He did his best to imitate Kyran's respectful yet indifferent attitude toward Millie.

"I... did not see you this morning," Millie started, furtively eyeing the woman who seemed to be scrutinizing her as well. "And yesterday... I heard you are unwell?"

Silas did his best not to let his apprehension show on his face. The truth, he could feel the temperature behind him starting to drop.

With a smile that Silas believed Kyran would use at times like this, he replied to Millie, "Well, I am feeling a bit under the weather—."

"That's why Chairman Malia asked me to come with him to his room and properly check his condition," Stella cut Silas midsentence and stepped forward to face Millie.

"A pleasure to meet you Lady Millie," she added while extending her hand, "I am Ella, Tyr's very close friend."

Millie blinked at Stella's blatant provocation, especially from how she emphasized her relationship with Tyr.

"Hi, Ella," Millie replied with a forced smile as she shook her hand once. Then turning her attention to Silas, she added, "I did not know you have a 'female' close friend, Disciple Tyr."

"I—."

"We go way back, actually," Stella interjected as she wound one arm on Silas's arm.

Her action caused Silas to break out in cold sweat. He only agreed to act as Tyr because of the emergency situation earlier. Kyran even said that all Silas had to do was stay quiet and let Stella and the others handle the rest. But this situation... Letting Stella handle the rest might not be a good idea!

'K-Kyran... Hurry back, please!' Silas prayed.

"But since I have been busy with my Alchemy training and him with Array training, we could not catch up these days."

"Is that right, Disciple Tyr?" Millie addressed the question to Silas, but once again, it was Stella who replied.

"Yes. Of course."

She pulled Silas toward Kyran's room and told Millie, "Well then Lady Mille, we'll have to excuse ourselves. Tyr has to rest now. Don't worry, I'll make sure to stay with him all night to make sure he gets proper rest."

Millie's brow twitched as she turned to follow them.

"Actually, if Disciple Tyr is really sick, I can take him to the infirmary."

"There is no need. I am more than enough to help him get better," Stella replied. And with that, she opened Kyran's room, pushed Silas in and entered.

With one last look at Millie, Stella smiled and said before closing the door, "Good day, Lady Millie."