NOVPUB
Chapter 335: A Request From Someone
"A guest?" Aldrian thought to himself.
"Who is the guest?" Aldrian asked.
"Take a guess. The clue is that it’s someone from outside the empire but still nearby," Sylphia said in a joking tone.
Aldrian just smiled at the playful side of his woman when she spoke to him. He closed his eyes and tried to look into the domain he had created in the inn in Larson City.
He and his group had been staying at the inn since they arrived in Larson City, meaning they had already been there for more than a week.
After connecting to the domain, he used his Eyes of Heaven to peer into the inn and finally, he found what he was looking for. However, he was surprised by the unexpected figure now sitting on the ground floor at a table with Xin Haotian and Sylphia.
"Arthur?"
What Aldrian saw was Arthur, the leader of the Paladins of the Heavenly Direction Church. He was wearing a brown robe to conceal his features so that people wouldn’t recognize him, but it did nothing to hide him from Aldrian.
"Why is he there?" Aldrian thought.
The last time they met was back in Forgeheart Kingdom when he had warned Arthur about the traitor in the Heavenly Direction Church. Seeing Arthur here now meant something must have happened—something significant enough for the leader of the Paladins to come in person.
Aldrian then replied to Sylphia.
"Ah, I see. I already know my guest; you don’t have to tell me."
"You’re lying."
"He’s from the Heavenly Direction Church, right? I already know, dear. And I think it’s someone I know who came."
Aldrian smiled, sensing Sylphia’s disbelief on the other side.
"How do you—"
"Alright, dear, I still need some time to get back to the inn. Right now, I’m in the capital city of the Vindas Empire, Finna. The emperor wanted to meet me, so I just finished meeting with him. Anyway, tell the guest to wait for a while. I’ll be there soon. See you."
"Wait—"
Aldrian instantly cut off his communication with Sylphia. He then felt a tug in his mind, but he just smiled and ignored her repeated calling sign. He could only imagine her cute pouting at this moment, making him want to rush back to the inn and cup that face of hers.
He kept his eyes closed as the carriage continued moving toward the nearest teleportation station.
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At another location where Sylphia was, she stomped her feet and put on an irritated expression. But then, remembering that she was in front of others, she tried to calm herself. However, Xin Haotian and Arthur had already sensed the change in her mood, though they did not ask her what had happened. Instead, Arthur narrowed his eyes at Xin Haotian.
Since earlier, he hadn’t said anything to Xin Haotian. When he tried looking for Aldrian, he had accidentally sensed the presence of someone he knew. When he saw that figure sitting alone, drawing no attention to his surroundings, and considering the style and aura he exuded, he confirmed that it was Xin Haotian, the Sword Saint.
"Although I have my guess, it’s still unexpected that the Sword Saint is actually moving with the same group as him. Have you been with him for long?" Arthur finally said.
"You can say that," Xin Haotian replied.
Sylphia, who arrived after Arthur met Xin Haotian, looked at the two and felt a strange vibe between them. From her perspective, Arthur seemed to be eyeing his rival, or someone he was trying to surpass, but Xin Haotian appeared unbothered by Arthur. What Sylphia observed was that Xin Haotian regarded Arthur as just another cultivator, offering no special treatment whatsoever.
His calmness and elegance were truly worthy of being called the strongest of the Ten Great Swordmasters of the continent—well, that is, excluding Aldrian, of course. Xin Haotian seemed different in front of Aldrian. Although he still wore a calm expression, he expressed his own sense of humor with Aldrian, often jabbing at each other. He was more like a friend to Aldrian.
After Xin Haotian answered Arthur, the situation fell silent again, with only the sounds of their surroundings resounding. To break the awkward atmosphere, Sylphia decided to start the conversation.
"Sir Arthur, how do you know that Aldrian is here?"
"Ah, you must be the princess—"
"Don’t reveal my identity here, Sir Arthur."
"My apologies, miss, but how could I not know his location when his traces are everywhere? Now that he’s caused another uproar in this city, of course, I could easily follow his trail in my own way, and by chance, I saw this guy here. So, I’m confident that Aldrian must be here." Arthur said while giving a sign with his head toward Xin Haotian.
"I see. Then why do you need to see him?"
"I came to this place under someone’s orders, and it’s an invitation that I must deliver directly to Aldrian. This is also that person’s request," Arthur replied.
"Invitation?"
"Yes, an invitation. But my apologies, I can’t explain further until Aldrian himself arrives," Arthur said, slightly lowering his head in apology.
Sylphia narrowed her eyes as she looked at Arthur. She seemed to sense something and suddenly asked again.
"This figure— is it a man or a woman?"
Arthur looked at Sylphia, puzzled, but he still answered her.
"It’s a woman."Silent.
The atmosphere turned awkward again as Sylphia didn’t continue the conversation, and Arthur also chose not to speak much about it. Inside Sylphia’s mind, however, many questions formed.
"A woman from the Heavenly Direction Church? Who is she? I’ve never seen or heard from Aldrian that he’s met any woman from the church."
Since becoming Aldrian’s lover, she couldn’t help but become more sensitive toward unfamiliar women and found herself overthinking. She wasn’t sure if this was simply the effect of being in the early phase of their relationship, where her love burned with intensity, but she felt a sense of jealousy—not in a negative way, though.
She just couldn’t control her feelings and knew it could be unhealthy if it became exaggerated. She didn’t want to burden Aldrian with her jealousy. Still, whenever she remembered his handsome face, without disguise, one that could entrance any woman on the continent, she pouted in sulking. Even in his disguise now, his face still exuded his original handsomeness and charisma.
"That’s because of his handsomeness and charisma, which always attract the opposite sex," she thought, stomping her feet inside her mind.
She knew that in the future, when Aldrian finally revealed his true face to the world, countless women would want to be with him. She thought that even women from high-ranking noble families wouldn’t hesitate to become his concubines. She didn’t find it taboo, as the concept of a harem was popular on the continent.
However, for elves like her, the concept of a harem wasn’t as common, and elves rarely took more than one spouse.
Even more so for noble or imperial families like hers, their companions must be special and are meant to be their only companion for life due to their traditions and status. This is also why they must marry within their own race—there is no precedent of an elf from an imperial family marrying outside of their race. This meant that she would be the first to break that tradition.
Aldrian, being human, would naturally have different traditions and values than the elves, and she had to be ready for whatever the future might hold. If, by chance, he were to create a harem, she had to ensure that she would be his first official wife, as she was his first. As for the others, she would need to know about them first.
For instance, if Aldrian wanted to form a harem now, the only candidate she would approve of would be someone she already knew well, such as...
"Baek Ji-Min."
Sylphia shook her head. Her thoughts had already drifted too far again—this was the kind of overthinking that sometimes took hold of her.
"It looks like I need to talk to him about it in the future," she thought.
They continued to sit together in the awkward atmosphere for another thirty minutes until Sylphia finally saw a familiar figure entering the inn. Her expression turned to a smile as the figure smiled back at her.
Aldrian had finally arrived, and he approached her table.
"Finally, you came. I’ve been waiting for you," Arthur said with a smile.
"What a surprise to see the leader of the Paladins of the Heavenly Direction Church here. To make you come all the way here, it must be something important," Aldrian replied.
"Well, you could say that." 𝚗ov𝚙𝚞𝚋.c𝚘m
Aldrian then sat beside Sylphia and looked at Arthur.
"So, what’s it about? What’s so important that you’ve been waiting for me?"
"I came here at the direct request of the Saintess. She wants to see you personally," Arthur said with a serious expression.
Hearing that, Aldrian was stunned.
"The Saintess wants to see me?"
