Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 143

‘Ah… should I set a fire after all?’

Lilliana was timidly observing the four men and contemplating her options when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching from the side.

“Don’t pressure her too much. We should at least try talking first.”

A man who was too old to be middle-aged, but too young to be elderly, walked out from among the muscular men.

“Lady Lilliana Carnell.”

The man who addressed Lilliana familiarly was an ordinary-looking gentleman, meticulously dressed in a suit despite the summer heat, with a mustache. He didn’t seem like a noble, but he didn’t appear to be a commoner either.

He bowed to Lilliana politely.

“It’s been a while, Lady Carnell.”

The gentleman acted as if he knew Lilliana, and she tilted her head and asked, “Um… who are you? Have we met before?”

The gentleman smiled amicably, as if he were well-acquainted with Lilliana, and continued, “It took some effort, but we finally found you.”

“I’m really sorry, but who are you? I have gaps in my memory and can’t remember people I’ve met in the past few years. Could you tell me your name?”

“We’re aware of that. The information about your memory problems, that is.”

The gentleman stroked his mustache and looked at Lilliana.

“My name is Geoffrey Norton. I am the butler serving Marquis Sutton.”

Lilliana flinched at the mention of Marquis Sutton’s close aide and fidgeted with her still-bound hands. Seeing that, Geoffrey raised his hand to calm her down.

“Oh, there’s no need to be so wary. I’m not here to use force. I’m not carrying any weapons. Would you like to search me?”

Lilliana hesitated for a moment at Geoffrey’s confident words, then said, “If you really didn’t intend to harm me, you wouldn’t have brought these muscular men with you.”

Geoffrey chuckled at her remark.

“Well, your guard dog seemed quite ferocious, so we had to prepare a suitable hunting dog, didn’t we?”

It was obvious who he was referring to as a guard dog, and Lilliana glared at Geoffrey.

“Are you a golem?”

“No, I’m not a golem. I’m a human, as you can see. And these men aren’t golems either.”

Lilliana decided to take his word for it.

“Why did you kidnap me?”

“I’m here today to escort Lady Carnell.”

“Escort me?”

Whether Lilliana’s straight eyebrows twitched or not, Geoffrey continued without flinching, “I’m well aware that you weren’t particularly fond of us before you lost your memory. However, we thought you might have changed your mind during the time you lost your memories. So we wanted to talk to you and hear your thoughts, to see if our interests align. To negotiate various things, and so on.”

“Our interests align? What do you want to achieve by recruiting me? Crowning Charlotte as queen?”

“That’s correct. Our goal is to crown Charlotte Shelbyr as queen and restore this country to a monarchy. But that is not our ultimate goal.”

“My, what a grand statement. Ultimate goal? What exactly do you mean by that?”

Lilliana scoffed, but Geoffrey continued without batting an eye, “This isn’t the place to discuss such matters. May I escort you?”

“Nonsense. If you truly intended to escort me politely, you wouldn’t have kidnapped me like this,” Lilliana retorted with a sneer.

“I’m not going anywhere. Especially not with you! Return me to where I was. I’m going home!”

Geoffrey clicked his tongue at Lilliana’s strong assertion.

“I told you, your guard dog seemed quite ferocious, so we had no choice but to escort you like this. Please hear us out.”

Lilliana narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment. Then she realized it was time to stall.

First, she had to buy time for Damian to find her while this man was rambling on.

Lilliana nodded and replied, “Tell me.”

Geoffrey clapped his hands once and began, “First, I’ll tell you what I can discuss in this situation. What we want is nothing special. We simply want to put this country back on the right track, towards its rightful destiny.”

“The right track? Its rightful destiny? What do you mean by that?”

“The Istarica Kingdom founded by Oracis Shelbyr… was originally a powerful nation that dominated the world. Anyone who has learned basic history would know that. How prosperous this kingdom was.”

At his somewhat abrupt statement, Lilliana tilted her head instead of answering, and Geoffrey continued,

“That was possible because of the power of mythical creatures. Oracis had the blood of a salamander, which gave him a connection to mythical creatures and allowed him to receive their help. That’s how this small nation was able to gain such immense national power that it wouldn’t lose to any other country. But…”

Geoffrey twisted his mustache with a displeased look.

“The power of the Shelbyr royal family, which brought prosperity to this country, has weakened with each generation. It was inevitable. To maintain a strong bloodline, inbreeding was unavoidable, but the Istarica Kingdom legally prohibited it. That was the downfall of Oracis and the Shelbyr royal family. They believed that the prosperity of the Istarica Kingdom would last for tens, hundreds, thousands of years.”

He spoke with a slightly agitated tone.

“Now, even the Shelbyr royal family has forgotten that they possess the power of the salamander. The mythical creatures have concealed their existence and no longer interact with the Shelbyr royal family. Without any help from the spirits, the salamander’s power flowing in the royal bloodline has gradually declined. And what was the result? In the end, the country was taken over by the Suvelz Empire, lost its autonomy, and fell to the status of a colony. If they had the power of the salamander, the power of the spirits, they wouldn’t have tasted such humiliation.”

Geoffrey looked at Lilliana with burning eyes.

“For the prosperity of the Istarica Kingdom once again! To crown a king with great power and make this kingdom a superpower once more!”

With those words, Geoffrey bowed to Lilliana.

“For that, Lady Carnell, we need your power, the power of the salamander hybrid, and the power of your brother, Mr. Carnell. Could you lend us your strength?”

Lilliana was dumbfounded after hearing his words.

What was he talking about? The prosperity of the kingdom?

Istarica was already a republic. What would change even if they reinstated the royal family now?

This wasn’t the mythical age. It was an era where humans lived on science and technology, not the power of spirits or mythical creatures.

Lilliana said in a firm voice, “The kingdom didn’t decline because it lacked the power of the salamander. And that’s not how you use the salamander’s power. It’s too late for the power of spirits or mythical creatures to catch up with this era.”

“Oh, that’s not true. The power of wizards still surpasses human cognition, and mythical creatures still wield power that science cannot touch. Lady Carnell, think about it. If the Istarica Kingdom is revived, you could become a hero. And not just a hero, if you and we join forces, we could even rule the world. What do you say, Lady?”

“Ha…”

Lilliana was disgusted by his inability to understand.

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