Backlund, the Hall Family.
Audrey was in quite a good mood. Calculating the time, it had already been nearly half a year since she had last seen Mr. Hastur, and the two of them had only kept in contact through letters.
"Susie, you seem to be in quite a good mood."
"Audrey, you seem to be in quite a good mood too."
Audrey slightly raised her head. "Susie, I specifically told Mr. Hastur in my letter that he absolutely must not bring you any complete collection of Roselle's works. Reading too many of those books isn't good for you."
"..."
Susie was silent for a while before calmly looking at Audrey. "Audrey, I've already finished reading all of Emperor Roselle's works."
This time, it was Audrey's turn to fall silent. After a long while, she finally asked, "When did you finish them?"
"A month ago."
Audrey and Susie stared at each other for a few moments before Audrey sighed with some emotion. "Susie, you're getting smarter and smarter."
"Reading books can increase wisdom. The books say so too. Woof."
"..." Audrey let out a heavy sigh.
She was beginning to miss the old, silly Susie.
Knock, knock, knock.
There was a knock on the door. Without needing Audrey to give any instructions, Susie immediately shut her mouth, found a shady spot, lay down on the floor, and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
Audrey opened the door. A maid outside told her that Earl Hall had something to discuss with her and wanted her to go to the study.
Susie's ears twitched as she lay in the shadows beside the floor. She got up and followed Audrey toward the study.
Inside the study, Earl Hall was gently rubbing the corners of his eyes.
"Dear Earl, did you call me here to help relieve your fatigue?"
Audrey smiled as she came behind her father and reached out to massage his shoulders.
Earl Hall slightly closed his eyes. After resting for a while, he spoke. "You should know that Hastur is going to return to Backlund, right?"
"Mm. Is Second Brother coming back too?"
"He isn't. He has always had some friction with your elder brother. It's better for him to remain in Southville."
Audrey felt somewhat fortunate that she was a girl. Otherwise, she would also be caught up in this kind of internal struggle among the nobility. Even if she had no such intentions, she could still become the object of suspicion from her relatives.
"Recently, the Queen has asked about you several times."
Audrey's small hands, which had been massaging Earl Hall's shoulders, stopped. Susie, lying in the shadows beneath the bookshelf, couldn't help raising her ears and listening even more carefully.
Earl Hall chuckled.
"It seems you've already understood the Queen's intentions as well. Who can blame her? My daughter is the most dazzling jewel in all of Backlund."
Audrey withdrew her hands and frowned troubledly. Finally, she pursed her thin lips and said, "I don't like life in the royal family."
Earl Hall naturally understood what his beloved daughter was thinking. He himself didn't particularly want to become related to the royal family either. There were simply too many rules there, and things were far too complicated.
Besides, he hadn't reached the point where he needed to sell his daughter to maintain his title.
Therefore, he had always tried his best to brush off and reject such matters.
But recently, the Queen seemed to be particularly interested in Audrey. He didn't know which prince had been thinking about her all this time.
Audrey had only just reached adulthood. No matter how one looked at it, there was no reason for them to be acting so impatiently.
"Don't worry. I'll help you block all these messy matters. My daughter is so outstanding, so naturally, she should use her own thoughts to choose her own life, rather than have someone else choose it for her."
Earl Hall comforted her in a gentle yet firm tone.
"Mm!" Audrey nodded heavily, and a smile slowly bloomed across her troubled face.
"Woof!"
Susie also barked at just the right moment, expressing that she firmly stood on Audrey's side.
...
Fors and Xio's residence.
Fors, who would write for one hour and then lie on the sofa to rest for two hours, had an unusually sorrowful expression on her face.
Recently, for some unknown reason, many Beyonders had begun investigating the followers of the Stars again. This had made her afraid to go outside, and she couldn't even concentrate on her writing.
She had also sought a solution from the Stars. The Sovereign of the Stars had merely said one thing: The Stars would bless every believer.
This made her wonder whether she should turn Xio into a believer of the Stars as well. With the protection of the Stars, Xio would be much safer while wandering around outside.
Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, there was the sound of someone violently pounding on the door, making Fors' heart jump on the sofa.
Could a Beyonder have come looking for her?
Her expression became solemn. She touched the bracelet around her wrist and took a deep breath before getting up and approaching the door.
"Who's knocking outside?"
"It's me, Little Jerry."
A familiar childish voice came from outside, causing Fors to relax slightly.
Little Jerry was a seven-year-old child who lived on the street next door. He had a good relationship with Xio and was the youngest informant working under Xio.
Most of the time, children were less likely to attract attention, making them more suitable for gathering information.
"Are you alone?" Fors still felt somewhat uneasy.
"Yes. Someone asked me to deliver a note to you."
Creak; the old door made the slow, aged sound unique to it.
Fors still opened the door. There really was only Little Jerry outside.
Little Jerry placed a crumpled note into her palm. With an anxious expression, he spoke rapidly, "Big Sister Xio might be in danger."
Xio is in danger?!
Fors hurriedly unfolded the note. Written on it were the words:
"If you want your friend to remain unharmed, come to the warehouse at 32 Test Street."
Xio had been kidnapped? Or was this simply a prank?
Fors' face went pale. She clenched the note and asked Little Jerry about exactly what had happened.
"When I was looking for Big Sister Xio on the street, someone suddenly started watching me. A tall, thin man with a scar on the right side of his face came over, handed me this note, and fiercely told me to give it to you..."
After hearing Little Jerry's description, Fors told him not to worry too much and promised that she would bring Xio back.
If she hadn't guessed wrong, the other party was definitely targeting followers of the Stars. During this period, many wild Beyonders had already been targeted.
Xio had always been wandering around outside. No matter how careful she was, there would eventually be a day when she was targeted.
Fors let Little Jerry leave first.
After securing the doors and windows, she returned to her bedroom and briefly reported the situation to the Stars. Only after receiving a response of "I know" did she feel reassured enough to take the triangular spike Xio had left at home and head out.
The warehouse at 32 Test Street was in a secluded area. Apart from a pile of garbage nearby, there were no other miscellaneous objects around.
Inside the warehouse, Xio was tied to a pillar. Her face was pale, and her eyes were filled with worry.
During this period, someone had been frantically searching for the followers of the Stars. She had held onto a trace of luck, thinking that nothing would happen to her. But today, just after leaving a secret gathering, she was spotted and captured.
These people had gathered information very thoroughly. They even knew that Fors lived together with her and had devised a plan to use her as bait to lure Fors here.
She didn't want Fors to come here to save her at all. If her guess was correct, Fors was the believer of the Stars these people had been searching for all along.
But Fors still came.
When Xio raised her eyes and saw Fors appear at the warehouse entrance, her eyes couldn't help turning red. She shouted, "Fors, you idiot! How could you fall for such an obvious trap? Didn't you know to hide somewhere and then find someone to rescue me when you had the chance?"
Fors smiled and said, "I was afraid that if I didn't come, there wouldn't be a 'later.'"
She knew very clearly that if she didn't appear, Xio definitely wouldn't survive.
As for whether she could save Xio today, she could only place all her hope in the protection of the Stars.
There were three people guarding Xio. One of them was the tall, thin man with the scar described by Little Jerry.
"Your friend has only one chance to live."
Someone pressed a sharp dagger against Xio's smooth throat.
Fors did her best to remain calm. "What do you want?"
"Are you a believer of the Stars?"
The voice seemed to ring out from within her mind, filled with an imposing authority that allowed no concealment.
"Yes!"
Fors felt her mind become a complete mess. Against her will, she blurted out an admission that she was a believer of the Stars.
But before the three men could rejoice, vines suddenly burst out from deep beneath the ground, piercing all three of them straight through from their feet to their heads.
Their corpses were left hanging on the emerald-green vines, which were as thick as wrists. Blood dripped down the vines one drop at a time, mixing into the soil and being absorbed by the roots of the vines.
Xio, still tied up, stared at the scene in shock. She couldn't help asking, "Fors, when did you become this powerful?"
Fors managed to smile at Xio. Her body staggered, and she hurriedly grabbed the doorframe of the warehouse before dry-heaving.
Being directly pierced through and strung up by vines was far too shocking. She couldn't accept it all at once.
After recovering somewhat, Fors bent down toward the vines and bowed respectfully.
"Thank you for your help."
In truth, she had no idea who had secretly saved her.
Her intuition told her that this was the protection of the Stars.
"Leave. Be more careful in the future."
A knowledgeable and pleasant voice came from the darkness. Several more vines surged out from beneath the ground, completely devouring the three corpses until not even a drop of blood remained.
"I will be careful."
Fors didn't receive any further response. After remaining silent for a moment, she ran to Xio's side and used the triangular spike to cut the ropes around her wrists.
"Wow! Fors, when did you get to know such a powerful big shot?" Xio deliberately spoke in an exaggerated tone after regaining her freedom.
Fors knew that Xio was deliberately changing the subject, so that she wouldn't blame herself too much for what had happened today.
A brilliant smile appeared on her face, and she said with considerable pride:
"This is the protection of the Stars!"