When the sun rose again, the sky was clear and the ground was lush with grass. The volcanic crater in the distance that was spewing lava had returned to its original calm state. Even the green vegetation covering it was untouched!
It was as if the three destructive forbidden spells had never been released. Carolina also realized that her almost depleted mana had been replenished overnight. It was as if she had not consumed any mana at all.
The sky was still blue and the wind was still warm. However, Carolina's heart sank to the bottom.
She couldn't do any damage to the node, which was a huge blow to her confidence. Imagine a powerful mage who could control all the elements in the world finding out that her best skill couldn't break out of the cage that imprisoned her. This was indeed a difficult test for a powerful mage who walked on the peak of the world.
A resolute will was the common trait of all experts, but after living in this uninhabited wilderness without food, water, or even sleep for an entire month, anyone would more or less have a change in their mentality.
Carolina looked at the sky with a numb expression. Her body was slightly slanted in the air as if there was an invisible armchair in the air. She looked like she was leisurely basking in the sun.
Her deep red eyes stared at the blue sky without blinking. It was as if the passage of time had nothing to do with her. Now, Carolina didn't seem to care about whether she could break the barrier or not. After exhausting her mana countless times, she began to seriously consider another feasible plan.
Since she couldn't break the barrier with her strength, why not work hard to improve her strength and think of a way when she was strong enough?
Others might be called crazy for thinking this way, but it wasn't inappropriate for the dragons to think this way. After all, how many races in the world could live longer than the dragons?
Carolina, who was more than 3,000 years old, was still considered a girl among the dragons.
Scientifically speaking, in terms of body structure, dragons were already sexually mature at the age of 100. In other words, dragons were already able to give birth when they were equivalent to human infants. However, the God of Creation seemed to have played a joke when he created this species.
Even though the Dragon Race had the ability to reproduce at a very young age, the Dragon Race's reproductive ability was still appallingly weak according to historical records.
It was not unreasonable. If the Dragon race had the reproduction ability of humans, other species would not be able to survive on this continent.
The love between the dragons was a hot topic of discussion in the world because there were too many legends and gossips for the other species on the continent to guess and imagine.
Carolina's attitude towards many things puzzled Sylvia and the others — why was she so infatuated with him?
Why did she lose control of her emotions and almost lose control of her elements just because of her many identities?
For mortals, this was a topic that could only be guessed and not explored.
What Carolina didn't know at this time was that the one month she struggled to survive in the wizardry barrier was not even a day for the outside world!
A month's time was like the blink of an eye for the long-lived Dragon Race, but for Carolina who had just found her sweetheart, a day felt like a year.
Just as there was a huge difference in the flow of time inside and outside the wizardry barrier, and Carolina calmed down to re-examine her abilities and try to understand the deepest mysteries of the elements, Noda and Daugen's team had just stepped into Winricton's territory.
* * *
In the heart of the Empire of Saint Reims, the commoners had just begun their spring sowing. The bleakness of winter had gradually receded, and the whole city was like a thawing ice cube that gradually became noisy.
The royal blacksmiths of Saint Reims had recently received a large number of orders and had been working overtime since half a month ago. Even late at night, the clanking sounds of iron being hammered could be heard coming from the blacksmith's shop.
Emperor Charnak's body had inconceivably recovered to his original level nine strength. Now that he appeared in various occasions, he brought confidence to the commoners of Saint Reims, and also silenced the nobles who were lurking in the dark.
However, in the capital, regardless of whether it was the commoners or the nobles, the most discussed topic during this period was another person — Princess Flora.
Why?
By now, the news of Princess Flora sitting in the council hall and listening to the nobles had already spread throughout the entire kingdom. This matter left a lot of room for imagination.
Was Emperor Charnak not going to appoint Prince Stuart as the Crown Prince?
The news of Prince Stuart's withdrawal from the frontlines also gave rise to a lot of imagination — this matter was most likely already decided!
This news shocked all the nobles. In the past, marrying Princess Flora meant that one's status and identity would skyrocket. But now, Flora had become a "hot commodity" that everyone was scrambling to get their hands on!
Who was she?
She was very likely to be the next Queen of the Empire!
The Queen!
What did it mean to marry her?
There was no need to think too much about it. Recently, all sorts of nobles had come to Saint Reims City. Some of them were descendants of great nobles, and some were famous knights in their territories. Of course, there was a difference between knights and nobles. Knights could be nobles, and nobles could also have the status of knights. However, the two were not the same concept.
Many people confused the nobles with the knights. In reality, there were very few people in the Empire who were both knights and nobles. Because of their desire for comfort, most of the nobles had long forgotten what it felt like to ride on a horse and be armed with weapons.
The noble knights that came to Saint Reims City were the best of the best. They were polite, treated everyone equally, and strictly abided by the rules of the knights. At the same time, they could display the manners of nobles at the right time. This made the noble ladies of Saint Reims feel like they had welcomed a spring breeze, and the large scale banquets that were held in Saint Reims City became more and more frequent.
Of course, these nobles who wanted to "recommend themselves" to Princess Flora could not brazenly charge into Sisfel Palace. These nouveau riche who had long thrown the responsibilities of nobility to the side understood the word "reserved". Therefore, they only put on their luxurious jackets and went around asking about the banquets in Saint Reims City, guessing which banquet Emperor Charnak and Princess Flora would attend next, so that they could get a "favorable location" as soon as possible.
Of course, if they knew that they would be late, many nobles would simply give up on this trip and go to other banquets to hook up with the noblewomen. At night, they would sit in their carriages and go to the manors of these lonely women to vent their desires.
* * *
Princess Flora had been a little tired recently.
Only Flora, who was at the center of this whirlpool, could understand the dangers and hardships that she had to face. Although the palace was very safe, and the security measures around it were impenetrable, there were still a few assassination attempts in less than two months. Moreover, the targets were all targeting her.
As for the reason?
Flora was not interested to know. There were too many people who wanted her dead. Of course, there were even more people who wanted her father dead.
Although they knew that the assassination would fail, the mental pressure caused by this kind of thing happening again and again was very great. Imagine facing the threat of death every day, your heart would definitely not be as calm as still water all the time.
In the past, Princess Flora was only a synonym for "danger away" in the eyes of the nobles. But now, she was standing in the center of a whirlpool. The dirty politics of power and authority had made her grow rapidly these days. But unlike normal politicians, Emperor Charnak had personally brought her to stand in a position that others could not hope to reach, to observe the political situation of the entire empire. For the royal family who had a complete intelligence agency, the so-called fog and blind spots in politics did not exist here.
So, Her Highness's improvement these days was almost unimaginable in the eyes of ordinary people.
If it was a noble who had met the princess half a year ago, they would probably think that they were talking to Flora's twin sister.
Of course, Flora did not have a twin sister. This was because her temperament and mannerisms were completely different from before!
There were no unnecessary expressions, no unnecessary nonsense, no waste of time on meaningless things. She did things without hesitation and analyzed things with evidence. This was the current Her Highness.
Of course, this description was a bit exaggerated, but Flora was definitely different from the silly girl who had thrown the glove at Many back then.
People needed to get rid of certain things in order to mature. Many people were very old, but their mentality could never get rid of the shadow of childishness. But Flora had learned the most important points to get rid of childishness in these few days.
She understood the importance of self-discipline. A person who could not even control their own desires would not be able to achieve great things.
She understood that she could not believe everything other people said. Even if it was her father's words, she had to verify them with facts.
She also understood that hard work would not necessarily be rewarded immediately. As the saying goes, spring flowers and autumn fruits.
The experience of life could not be understood through preaching, but Her Royal Highness now understood that only when she settled down and walked steadily in the world could she truly face the various states of the world.
Too many people floated on the surface and struggled for vanity and delusion. But when they really achieved their so-called "ultimate goal", what they got in return was extreme emptiness.
Too many people only saw the glorious side of being a ruler. But what was the responsibility of being a ruler?
Almost no one seriously thought about it.
If the word "ruler" was mentioned to Her Highness, the first thing that came to her mind would not be glory and wealth, nor would it be a luxurious life. She would first think about the suffering in the western part of the empire, the poor who could not get enough to eat, and the nobles who tried to rebel.
Flora did not think about whether she would become an empress or not. Right now, she was thinking about how to make the empire run healthily. Making the lives of the commoners better, making the nobles play a positive role. This was what a ruler should do.
As the saying went, worry about the world before anything else.
However, the current empire was filled with foul air. Flora's wish to a certain extent was just empty talk. But compared to the nobles who did not even think about these things, at least from the perspective of looking at things, she was much better.
At this moment, Her Highness walked out of the meeting hall. Her purple dress perfectly matched the style of the royal family. Although Flora's steps were soft and slow, if one looked closely, one would feel that there was an undeniable dominance hidden within.
The attendants in the palace bowed deeply when they saw the princess. This was something that had never happened before. In the past, the princess rarely appeared near the council hall. But now, every time she slowly walked out of the council hall, she gave off an oppressive feeling that was no weaker than the Empire's Prime Minister, Benders.
Emperor Charnak no longer allowed Flora to follow him around every day. If Her Highness wanted to grow, she had to learn not to rely on others to make her own decisions. So, Her Highness also had her own 'office'. It was located not far from the meeting hall and was for her use.
The room was not considered big. Of course, this was only relative to the other rooms in the palace. The facilities in the room were very similar to Charnak's room. There was also a map and a sand table. Of course, there were even rows of books on the bookshelves. These were the books that Charnak had specially chosen for his daughter. There were dramas, poems, philosophy, and even records of past wars. Many of them were unique copies. When the Rondor Dynasty was destroyed, many of these books were burned. Now, the ones that were left were all priceless treasures. These gradually became the capital that Her Royal Highness could use to climb to the top.
"Her Highness, your schedule."
The maid took out a piece of parchment. This was the schedule that Flora had to review every day. Now, her daily routine was like a machine. She was not as casual as before.
"Viscount Hanks's banquet?
Naar military camp inspection … His Highness Stu's invitation? "
Flora's expression did not change. She raised her eyebrows slightly. Then, she continued reading as if she did not see anything.
"The Noble Parliament will hold a meeting on the Odore Territory tomorrow?"
Flora's gaze stopped on this line. Then, she picked up a quill on the table and drew on it. This meant that she would be attending this meeting tomorrow.
The princess's identity was special. In the past, she was ignored by everyone. Now, the princess had the nobles watching her every move closely. This was because she could be the wind vane for certain matters in the future.
Then, her quill slid across Stu's invitation. She did not pay attention to it. After deciding on the matters for the next few days, Her Highness returned the parchment to the maid. Then, she turned around and went to a small house.
Not long after, with the help of the maid, Flora changed into a short outfit and walked to the training ground in the palace.
This was her father's warning. Although politics required brains, the body was still the most powerful capital.
* * *
"That old bastard, Jared!"
Stu clenched the letter in his hand into a ball. He was wearing a loose and casual outfit. Now, he was sitting in his bedroom.
'Adjudicator' Merkel had stayed for an entire winter under Emperor Charnak's gracious invitation after arriving in Sirius. Now that the weather had warmed up, the event that had been planned for the entire winter was about to take place — the 'baptism' that this Inquisition powerhouse and Emperor Charnak had decided on together.
At that time, Merkel would represent the Light Church to 'baptize' Emperor Charnak. In other words, Emperor Charnak would be declared a believer of the Light Church.
The political meaning behind this was very complicated. Countless people were making all sorts of guesses. However, Stu did not care about these things because he had been getting more and more anxious about another matter recently.
He naturally knew better than anyone about Flora's matter. What his father Charnak's intentions were, Stu did not dare to come to a conclusion. They were father and son after all. Stu knew Charnak's decisions and thoughts better than the average person.