Ravenna slightly furrowed her brows, seemingly puzzled, "Why do you ask such a question?"
"I rely wish to understand," Hendrik appeared sowhat uneasy, inexplicably nervous, "Seeing Pelican City, witnessing the changes in the Watson territory, does it bring you joy? Do you feel… all the efforts you have expended are worthwhile?"
Ravenna gazed quietly at Hendrik, the calmness in her purple eyes causing him to unconsciously avert his gaze.
"I am well, Hendrik," Ravenna responded with a gentle voice, "As you said, I believe everything is worth it."
"Why do you harbor such doubts? You, Ronger, and others have been teaching this way since grandfather passed away, haven't you?"
"It was just to make sure," Ravenna's answer reassured Hendrik, "The burdens you carry… are too much, and only recently, I and Ronger have started to… regret, thinking perhaps the expectations and pressures we placed on you might have been too great."
"There is no such thing, Hendrik."
Ravenna Ziegler's lips curved into a barely perceptible slight smile, "I am doing well now, and moving forward, I will do even better, rest assured."
"Indeed, you truly are… an extraordinary genius, Ravenna."
Watching Ravenna's departing figure, Hendrik murmured with imnse relief and gratitude, "You haven't felt pain because of this… that is truly wonderful."
Ravenna was unaware of Hendrik's murmurs, but her steps beca unconsciously lighter.
Even she herself hadn't noticed that she was increasingly… looking forward to eting Ansel again.
When betrayal turned into an unavoidable misunderstanding, when she faced nurous difficulties and struggled to move forward… Ravenna increasingly longed to be back with Ansel.
But the boy of the past was no longer young, and he no longer treated her with the sa closeness and gentleness as he did with friends.
The youth now, beneath the seemingly gentle facade, hid a coldness that Ravenna could faintly discern. He was aloof, always in absolute control.
They were no longer friends, just as during that speech, when he carried the weary Seraphina away, leaving her alone in the ruins, the attitude he displayed.
But it's alright, this is fine, this is… also very good.
*
In the lounge, Ravenna was observing the scenery of another domain city in the Hydral territory through a image crystal given to her by Ansel.
Breeze City, which had relocated to the Spirity Lake territory, experienced a situation similar to Pelican City—high-quality food with excessive production speed swept through the market, imposing significant pressure on other farrs.
However, it was peculiar that Breeze City only showed signs of this phenonon without having a trading comrce that dominated the entire domain's food market like Pelican City, nor did it drive the farrs to nearly insane desperation.
Sitting on the sofa with her knees hugged, the petite scholar furrowed her brows and murmured softly, "What's the… difference here? Is it because there isn't soone like Laurel in Breeze City who consolidated all the enhanced farmlands? No... that's not right, what exactly is it..."
While she pondered, Ansel had already walked in with a plate of fruit platter, his steps light and his mood seemingly very good.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I was wondering why there seems to be no movent in Breeze City..." Ravenna honestly replied.
Ansel just smiled and said, "Have so fruit first. Do you know why I asked you to co here?"
Ravenna, picking up a sweet strawberry, shook her head.
"Because sothing big is about to happen in Pelican City, and I need you to be a witness."
"…Sothing big?"
Ravenna's observation of Pelican City and the entire Watson domain never ceased, but she couldn't possibly notice every detail, only observing based on her own thought needs.
But if it was sothing significant, there should be corresponding signs, so why hadn't she noticed anything?
As Ravenna pondered, Ansel had already leisurely sat down beside her, patting his leg.
Miss puppet sat in Ansel's lap very obediently and skillfully, the familiar warmth from her back and buttocks making her relax unconsciously.
"Let see... where shall I start, well, anywhere is fine." Ansel said this strange phrase and then snapped his fingers lightly, unfolding a light screen in front of them.
"..."
Upon the screen, a scene unfolded, depicting a sexual intercourse between a man and a woman.
Ravenna averted her gaze, falling into a contemplative silence before inquiring softly, "Is this... sothing big matter?"
"Do not rely perceive the surface, my dear Helen."
Ansel gently cradled Ravenna's cheek, compelling her with a firm resolve to turn her attention back to the screen. "Observe closely—the man's physical characteristics, his fingers, skin, and form."
"His knuckles are rough, covered in calluses, his skin darkened..." Ravenna quickly realized, "Is he... a farr?"
"To be precise, he is the envied fortunate soul of Pelican City, and indeed, of the entire Watson territory."
"But what… does he have to do with the matter at hand?"
Once his identity was confird, Ansel released Ravenna's face, and she shifted her gaze, continuing, "Such farrs are not uncommon in Pelican City."
"Indeed, but soon, there will scarcely be any left."
"What—"
Before she could finish, the bedroom window, where the farr and the woman were passionately engaged, shattered abruptly.
A robust man burst through the window, swiftly advancing towards the dumbfounded farr and woman. He drew a dagger from his bosom, his expression fierce and malevolent as he plunged it into the farr's chest.
Once, twice, the sound of flesh being pierced and sliced echoed in the lounge, the blood splattering from the farr's chest seed to also reach the floor of the lounge.
Ravenna sat, stunned, in Ansel's embrace, her mind montarily blank.
Ansel smiled and with a wave of his hand, more screens appeared before Ravenna.
There were farrs who had been brutally slain, farrs engaged in combat with assailants, and farrs who were currently unhard but whose fate remained uncertain.
"What is... happening?" Ravenna clenched her fists, nearly rising to her feet.
She saw clearly, the assailants, those brutes, bore the sa physical characteristics as the farrs of Pelican City!
They... were also farrs!
"Is it so difficult to comprehend?" Ansel's lips curled into a leisurely smile, "Sothing we might not have noticed could have occurred, escalating the conflict between these farrs and the other farrs of Pelican City to an irreconcilable extent."
"If survival is no longer an option..."
The young Ansel caressed Ravenna's cheek, "Then why not let those who have made life unbearable join in demise?"
"But this... is impossible, how could the conflict escalate so rapidly?"
Ravenna instinctively retorted, "At least two months, no, three months... How could normal individuals beco so aggressively vicious, and moreover, they—"
"You've noticed the crux of the issue, which is comndable, my dear Helen." Ansel expressed his satisfaction, "But before we delve further... let us see how this event concludes."
He enlarged one of the screens, which prominently featured the individual who had set the Watson territory astir... Laurel Morlamo, once sent by his own father with a hefty sum to serve a second-stage extraordinary being.
This man was seated in his study, writing sothing, while Ansel's screen simultaneously displayed two farrs wielding knives, just as they broke into the room.
Hearing the commotion downstairs, Laurel imdiately beca alert, standing up and calling out to a servant, only to hear a scream.
His expression drastically changed, he searched the room for anything that could be used as a weapon, finding none, he opened the window intending to jump out, but hesitated at the last mont.
As the aggressive footsteps drew nearer, he withdrew, sitting back at his desk, taking a deep breath before fixating his gaze on the door.
Soon, two blood-stained farrs burst through the door, their expressions fierce and cruel as they advanced.
Ravenna could see the excitent, the ecstasy, and the sense of vindication in the eyes of these two farrs.
It seed as if accomplishing this deed would leave them with no regrets.
Yet, the seated Laurel exhibited no fear; he allowed them to approach and then, with utmost calm, stated:
"You... are also farrs, aren't you?"
"Also? Bah! We are nothing like you, wizard, demon!"
The knife-wielding farr spat out blood, his breath reeking of bloodlust, "You will pay the price... you damned creature!"
"I beg to differ," Laurel shook his head, "because you still have a chance."
"Ha! You must be out of your mind with fear now, a chance? If you kneel and beg now, perhaps—"
"There must have been many deaths already, haven't there?"
Laurel leaned forward slightly, his tone sincere, "So, what if I were to give you the lands of those who have died, those magical fields, how would that be?"
The brutality on the faces of the two farrs froze.
And then, Ravenna watched as their resolve for revenge visibly dissolved.
After monts of doubt, hesitation, and struggle, what erged was an increasingly vivid, almost palpable, chilling ecstasy and... greed.
In that instant—
All animosity vanished into thin air.
*
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