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The sun was setting in the west. The great formation had been deactivated and the evening breeze blew away the last trace of the fog that shrouded St. Caroline Academy. With that, visibility gradually returned to the area.

“Your Highness.”

A group of extremely heavily dressed black-armored knights lined up neatly in the central square of St. Caroline City. A noble silver-white figure slowly approached and gracefully knelt on one knee.

Lesiah acknowledged the greeting with a slight nod. It was obvious the Macedonian Empire had also caught wind of the dangerous incidents that transpired here recently. Even if it was just a show, they still sent the Macedonian Royal Knights here to escort her home.

Due to the urgency of the situation, Lesiah arrived lightly dressed and on a royal subdragon. Since time was not a concern on her return journey, there was a lavish carriage waiting for her. One could already imagine how comfortable it was to sit inside by just looking at the carriage’s exterior.

Passengers would be spared from a bumpy ride as the magical runes inscribed on the carriage’s wheels could perfectly neutralize every bump of the mountain road.

Under the watch of her knights, Lesiah placed a foot on the carriage step and turned her head around.

A crowd had gathered in the central square, but Lesiah’s gaze went past the sea of people and landed on a petite figure who was waving goodbye to herself.

We’ll definitely meet again.

With that thought in mind, Lesiah lifted her dress gracefully, lowered her head and got into the carriage.

The moment she sat down on the soft and warm cushions, a thought suddenly came to her. She pulled back the curtains and stuck her head out the window to look around. However, the person she wanted to see was not around.

“Where’s Coleman?” she asked with a frown.

The knight standing at the side of the carriage bowed and responded to her, “Your Highness, we have not seen Lord Coleman.”

The princess fell into contemplation. Coleman was missing. Did he flee in fear of the punishment that awaited him for his crime?

It was then she recalled that when Professor Marlin asked Coleman to identify her during the interrogation, Coleman clearly said that she was not the real princess.

Coleman was her carefully chosen retainer who had been serving her for a long time. How could he fail to identify that she was the real deal?

Did he have any reason for saying that?

However, the vice dean had denied the claim that Coleman had said that because they had ordered him so. Although he had a poor memory, Lesiah believed that he was a man of morals.

The vice dean might not be a fool, but he was a righteous fool who only had the academy and its students’ best interest in his heart. There was no way he would do such a stupid and despicable act that would bring about his own destruction.

In that case, Coleman’s behavior… was worth mulling over.

…………

Hmm… This is?

Lesiah suddenly noticed a black card on the small table in front of her.

“Did the knights leave this here?”

Curiosity got the better of her so she picked it up.

It was just an extremely ordinary card made of paper. She could not sense any magical power or battle qi imbued in it.

There was nothing special about it… save for two extremely weird runes on the card.

As an avid reader who had been reading countless erotica… ahem, historical and ancient texts as well as strange folklores, Lesiah had never come across those two strange characters.

Not even any that remotely resemble them.

……

A cool breeze blew across the mountain.

Lilith tucked a stray, long lock of hair behind her ear as she squinted at moving black streams escorting a lavish carriage away like a tiny army of ants.

Cornelia was waving her fist in excitement at Lesiah’s departure while squealing. When the carriage and its escorts finally disappeared into the distance, only then did Lilith retract her gaze and pick up Cornelia before descending the mountain.

The path they took was quite deserted. Although the paths of St. Caroline Academy were known to be intricate, they were still never empty to the point where not a single soul was spotted.

According to the vice dean, the academy was empty because most of the students had been sent home safely before the confrontation with the Golden Demon Htilil and it was still not the time for them to return to school yet.

However, Lilith knew that there should still be two people left in the academy now.

After her long absence, her roommates and good friends would probably throw her a surprise party to welcome her home, right?

Putting aside Brea, given her deep friendship with Thea, the former saintess would weep tears of joy for her return so hard that the moon would come crashing down, right?

Well, figuratively speaking since she should not be capable of such now.

“Thea, Brea, rejoice! Your most beloved Lilith has returned!”

Lilith kicked open the door to their dorm room like she always did.

However, there was no surprise party.

No cake, no gift, no feast of meat. Nothing.

There was only silence in the dorm.

…And the rustling of the curtains, brought about by the gentle breeze that came through the wide open window.

Looking at the empty dorm room, Lilith frowned.

Both of them were out?

She entered the dorm room, unceremoniously tossed Cornelia onto the bed and looked around.

The room was spotless, but clothes were strewn across the bed and some chairs. It was a clear indication that the room was still being occupied.

There were two teacups on the shared wooden table in the middle of the room. The white steam rising from the tea was proof that there were at least two young girls sitting here, leisurely enjoying their afternoon tea just a short while ago.

But for what reason would the two of them leave in such a hurry before they could even finish their tea?

That was weird.

Lilith relied on her keen senses and began to carefully search for any clues that the occupants of the room might have left behind.

“Eeyah, eeyah.”

Cornelia suddenly had a black card in hand and passed it to Lilith.

“This is…”

It was a palm-sized ordinary black card made of paper. Lilith could not sense any abnormal fluctuations coming from it. It looked like an ordinary poker card that people played for fun.

But sometimes, ordinary was extraordinary.

Other than Cornelia and herself, Lilith could not sense anyone else handling this card before them.

“Where did you find this?”

“Eeyah.” Cornelia gestured with her hands.

“I see, you found it on Thea’s bed.”

Lilith looked at where Cornelia was pointing and saw the same black card lying on the neatly folded quilt on Brea’s bed.

“What’s this? Is it a prank?”

Lilith began to study the black card more carefully and noticed a pair of strange images inscribed on the black card. They looked very much like… words?

Lilith looked at the characters and slowly read out those two words, “Guil…ty.”

As soon as she did, a murderous intent full of hostility suddenly invaded the room.

Lilith stared at the black card. Her body tensed up and her pupils involuntarily turned molten gold.

Her hands trembled uncontrollably, exposing the emotions that had sprung up in her heart at this very moment.

They were not brought about by the ambiguous meaning behind the two inexplicable words, but the two words themselves.

Lilith failed to recognize them at first perhaps because it had been too long since she had last seen those characters, or because the writing on the black card was simply too stylistic.

But she was sure now that those two words were without a doubt…

The same ones that she had used in her previous life.