Hidden genius: Black belly snake

Charlotte nodded and followed the dwarf into the eastern division of the elven royal palace.

Normally, only Xander stayed here but because of Tang Yue's request, he was currently treating dwarf Miller and he as well stayed in this part of the royal palace.

So the guards did not stop him from doing as he pleased and stepped aside as Charlotte followed him in.

"Master… Umm… Erm… About Yue… Do you by chance know where she is right now? I am not able to sense her at all in the palace." 

Charlotte worriedly mumbled, her crescent eyes darting here and there searching for the familiar blue-skinned figure in anticipation.

"I tried sending her messages but the jade slip transmissions are all failing for some reason." She continued to prattle on.

Miller immediately paused his footsteps and turned around to look at Charlotte with a solemn expression.

Just the look on his face frightened the elf as her heart sank before she could even hear the dwarf's words.

"Child, I am surprised that Yue didn't tell you. Hmmm…" Miller frowned.

"Ah… Master… That might be because I was in a close door cultivation session." Charlotte awkwardly lied. Even though she was lying to her Master, she didn't care about it. 

Based on how things looked, this was something big and she needed to know everything!

Miller pondered for a minute, looking at the elf up and down. He could tell that something was off, so he hesitated a bit.

Nevertheless, he sighed and decided to bring her up to speed. "Child, Yue is not in Eldoria at the moment."

"She told me that she was headed out somewhere to explore a hidden realm."

"Hidden realm?" Charlotte's eyes immediately widened. Hidden realms were enclosed spaces that were cut off from the surroundings purposefully.

The labyrinth could also be considered as a hidden realm that Xander cracked open, shattering its defensive spell and hence allowing the experts of the Nine countries to raid it.

These could be graves, inheritance trials, a powerful beast's lair, or even the burial ground of a heavenly treasure. 

It could be any number of things, but the most important point was that such places were fraught with danger.

This was precisely why Xander had taken almost an entire army with him when they raided the underground labyrinth.

And now, this dwarf was telling her that Tang Yue had gone all alone to such a dangerous place???

Charlotte shuddered in panic. Why would you do this to me, Yue? What would I do if anything happens to you?

She clutched her hands as her nails dug into her palm. Everything was now slowly becoming clear to her.

This was why Yue had never come to visit her. The place she was going to was probably extremely dangerous and she didn't want to take her along.

Did you think that I was so weak? 

She bit her lips, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes, even though she knew full well that that was probably not the reason.

"Master. Please excuse me." Charlotte muttered, her voice cold and freezing. She bowed absentmindedly and turned around to leave the Crown's quarters.

She had left so fast that Miller couldn't even react in time. 

He gazed at her disappearing figure and then sighed, before continuing to walk back to his chamber. "If only I wasn't as useless… "

He understood how Charlotte felt. Well, not exactly, but still he was also equally if not more worried about Tang Yue.

After a long time, he now once again had a purpose in life, but because he was not strong enough, that too had slipped out of his hand.

Miller closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he sat down in a cross-legged position.

Xander had already given him several vitality nourishing pills. 

Even though it was not the real deal, this was more than enough to pull him through for at least several decades.

Miller popped a pill into his mouth and silently cultivated. He didn't plan on staying here much longer.

As the pill effortlessly slid into his throat and reached his stomach, a warm sensation filled his body, slowly steadily repairing the mysterious strands of vitality that hid in the many pockets of the body's internal organs.

This kind of inner strength once lost couldn't be gained back that easily. 

Without the pills Xander had concocted, the dwarf's condition would have only worsened, but thanks to Xander's efforts, he now had a fighting chance at recovering fully.

As Miller slowly and steadily focused on healing himself, a tornado was swirling just a couple of miles away from him.

Charlotte banged open the courtroom door without any regard to the guards standing outside or to the Crown Prince and his full court currently present inside.

Everyone looked shocked at this new and unexpected outburst. 

In fact, such outbursts had only happened a few times in the Crown Prince's courtroom, a number that could be counted by fingers, and weirdly enough, they were all caused by the women in his harem.

"I need to talk to you RIGHT NOW! How could you let her go?" She shouted at the man, without caring about the several other elves including her own father who were present in the courtroom.

Prior to Charlotte's arrival, everyone was discussing something important, but now…

All of their ears were tightly glued onto this interesting conversation!!!

What was this sudden development? Who went where? Nobody knew and they wanted to know it!

Charlotte couldn't care less about these extras hanging around. 

Her chest was heaving up and down, the woman barely controlling her anger and she wanted to tear him apart.

She knew that the man probably never cared about her, but didn't he care about Yue? So she couldn't stomach the fact that he still allowed this to happen.

"Why the fuck are you silent?" Charlotte yelled again, taking her anger out on the elf, who seemed to be ignoring her completely with his indifferent gaze not even bothering to meet hers.