As night fell, the moon hung high in the sky, its soft light spilling across the stone road of the Clavenna estate.
Along with the crisp sound of horse hooves coming to a stop, two women stepped down from the carriage one after the other.
Standing at the entrance of the estate, Zora smiled and extended her hand toward Liya.
"Thank you, Miss Liya, for giving me a ride."
"I still need to visit the Emperor tomorrow on behalf of the merchant guild, so I won't stay any longer."
Liya also smiled and reached out to shake her hand.
"I hope Miss Zora keeps our cooperation in mind."
"Of course."
Zora smiled sincerely.
After staying in Braeston for some time, especially after visiting the Clavenna Armory Liya mentioned...
The existence of these things had already made Zora feel the deep power and mystery of this family.
It was hard to imagine that strength comparable to part of a nation could exist within just one noble family of an empire.
The merchant guild's carriage had already been waiting nearby for a long time. The guard standing before the luxurious carriage decorated with golden patterns opened the door for Zora.
Only after Zora boarded the carriage and left did Liya's business smile slowly fade back to calmness.
She turned around and looked toward her family estate, letting out a deep sigh.
"Ugh..."
How should she put it? Liya actually resisted the idea of going home.
Mainly because she didn't know how to face Viktor anymore.
It wasn't because she felt embarrassed after being seen naked.
They were all adults already. Besides, it was Viktor, not some stranger.
It was because of that sentence Viktor said, ('The Clavenna family is a cursed family.')
"So this family... can't produce mages..."
Liya softly muttered the sentence and felt a wave of gloom.
After Viktor left, she went to check the family genealogy.
Looking through it, Liya nearly traced back eighteen generations of ancestors.
The final result was... The Clavenna family really had never produced a single mage.
She found it hard to accept this fact, because if the Clavenna family really was as Viktor said... Then it was very possible... Viktor, as a mage, wasn't biologically related.
Thinking about how neither her mother nor Viktor's mother had ever appeared before, the thought kept echoing in her head.
Liya's mind was a mess. She couldn't even imagine what came next.
It would've been fine if she didn't know.
But Viktor was the one who told her this himself.
If she saw Viktor again after this, could she still normally treat him as her older brother...?
Watching Liya stand at the estate entrance completely lost in thought...
The servants at the entrance looked at each other, unsure whether they should remind Miss Liya to go inside first.
But at that moment, a voice sounded out, making the servants sigh in relief.
And pulling Liya back from her thoughts.
"Liya?"
"What are you doing standing here?"
The familiar voice made Liya raise her head and look toward the source.
Cocoette was sitting steadily on that cloud, both hands behind her supporting herself, one leg raised, looking at Liya with a strange expression.
"You've been mumbling to yourself this whole time and not going in. What's on your mind?"
Seeing Cocoette, Liya chuckled softly and shook her head.
"No, it's nothing."
She quickly adjusted herself, put one hand on her waist, looked at Cocoette, and asked somewhat curiously, "What about you... why aren't you asleep at this hour?"
"Mm... why does everyone ask me that every time they see me?"
"Maybe because every time we see you, you're basically asleep."
Hearing Liya's words, Cocoette sighed helplessly.
Alright, she couldn't argue with that.
But because of Liya's words, she fell into thought for a moment.
Simply put, she couldn't sleep anymore.
Ever since Viktor woke her up, it was like she had completely lost all sleepiness.
Back in Braeston, she thought it was because she lost her cloud and her sleep quality became worse.
Plus those elves kept disturbing her sleep, making it impossible for her to rest.
So she clung to Viktor and asked him to bring her back early to the garden she had dreamed of returning to.
And as she wished, Cocoette got her cloud back.
But no matter how she tried to sleep, once she closed her eyes, she simply couldn't fall asleep.
Originally, she could fall asleep in one second after closing her eyes.
This made Cocoette very depressed.
But Liya didn't seem too hung up on the matter. She only thought for a moment before spreading her hands and casually saying,
"Forget it. As long as you don't fall asleep tomorrow."
Tomorrow, Cocoette would officially propose diplomatic relations with the Empire as the representative of the Elven Forest.
Viktor had already informed His Majesty the Emperor about this long ago.
Hearing this, Cocoette instantly became a little flustered, "But... I've never done this kind of thing before..."
"Can I really handle it?"
Hearing the worry in Cocoette's voice, Liya sighed and casually comforted her, "You're an elf."
"There isn't a single country that doesn't want the friendship of elves."
That wasn't a lie.
Nature was the strictest mother. Any disaster or blessing in the world could not escape the laws of nature.
But elves were different.
Elves were nature's most beloved children.
And if one could gain the friendship of elves, nature would naturally grant favor in return.
Nobody wanted to anger nature.
But these words perhaps had little effect on Cocoette.
Looking at Cocoette, who was clearly several hundred years old yet still panicking like a child, Liya couldn't help smiling as she said, "At worst, you still have Viktor."
"Oh, right, I still have Viktor."
Hearing that, Cocoette instantly relaxed a lot.
She no longer had any worries. Falling backward, she lazily sprawled out on the soft cloud.
Seeing this, Liya found it a little amusing.
But soon, as if she realized something, she suddenly couldn't smile anymore.
She lowered her head slightly, one hand unconsciously touching her chest.
Exactly when had the name "Viktor" completely become the thing that reassured her the most?
That name seemed to carry some kind of magic.
No matter what difficulties happened, as long as she thought of Viktor...
Then even problems that clearly weren't solved yet somehow felt solvable.
Liya understood this feeling very clearly.
This was "dependence."
Without realizing it, just like when she was little, she had once again started depending on Viktor.
Back then, Father was very busy, and she had never seen her own mother.
She could only rely on the remaining family she had left, which was her older brother Viktor.
Until later, Father died, and she gradually saw Viktor's cold side clearly.
After that, she became independent herself.
So in Liya's heart, this feeling called "dependence" disappeared completely.
And yet now...
Liya took a deep breath.
Viktor was not her biological brother.
She had to properly recognize this fact.
She couldn't keep depending on him anymore.
While Liya was thinking, Cocoette's voice rang out again.
"Oh right, Liya."
"Have you seen Viktor? He's been out all day and still hasn't come back."
"Hm?", Liya froze slightly.
Hearing Cocoette's words, her brows unconsciously furrowed.
It was already this late, and Viktor still hadn't come home?
Instinctively, Liya felt a little angry.
No, why was she angry?
Whether Viktor came home or not was his freedom. She had no right to interfere.
No, that wasn't right either... Even if Viktor wasn't her biological brother, he was still the head of the Clavenna family.
As the family head, staying out all night and running around fooling around?
So naturally, Liya once again fell into internal conflict.
"I was originally planning to go out and look for him, and bring this guy to the entrance along the way. Then I happened to see you standing here."
Cocoette sat upright again and shifted the cloud slightly, revealing the figure behind it.
Hearing Cocoette's words, Liya became curious.
And when she looked carefully at the creature behind Cocoette's cloud, her mind briefly went blank.
Because it was a completely abnormal creature.
Its shape resembled a crimson hunting hound.
Majestic and huge.
But the most abnormal thing was its shocking three heads.
Each dog head had its tongue hanging out, panting heavily and dripping saliva.
This was definitely not a normal dog.
But for some reason, the moment she saw this three-headed hound, Liya felt a strange sense of familiarity.
It felt like once before, she had seen something similar somewhere.
Though it wasn't exactly like this red hound in front of her, but...
"The gatekeeper hound of hell... Cerberus?"
She hesitantly said the three-headed hound's name, then looked up at Cocoette's reaction.
At that moment, Cocoette's mouth opened slightly.
"How do you know its name? Did Viktor already tell you?"
"Wow, I thought he would keep this as a surprise gift for you."
However, she didn't notice...
Liya's expression was gradually becoming extremely complicated.
Because Liya remembered.
A long time ago, Viktor had once explained something to her.
And then he used magic to show her three different animals.
Viktor had always remembered the joking promise he made back then.
"The three-headed hound of hell, Cerberus."
"If I get the chance, I'll get you a real one."
And now, he had truly brought back a real Cerberus.
"Hah..."
Liya took a deep breath, slowly calming the extremely complicated emotions in her heart.
Then she raised her head again and smiled at Cocoette in front of her.
"If Viktor still hasn't come back tomorrow..."
"I'll go look for him with you."