The result was that a single sentence made Siegler unhappy, and she left resolutely, not willing to put up with the trivialities of warti finance.
"Didn’t you realize last ti?"
Siegler wasn’t angry about Lanci’s evaluation of her because she was confident in herself. Even if she were a boy, the Saint Heir should like her; their bond had long transcended gender.
"Twelve years ago, I didn’t like people wasting my ti, and of course, I liked your contemptuous attitude even less. If it weren’t because the offer was high, I wouldn’t have bothered to co see a client like you after several interdiaries, Lord Rocky—"
Siegler candidly conveyed her thoughts at the ti, her voice intentionally drawn out and prolonged.
"Would you still have been so discourteous to if you had known I was the pri minister back then?"
Lanci relived the past and couldn’t help chatting more with Siegler.
After these twenty-one days, they might never see each other again.
Siegler, more than a decade later, had changed a bit but was still fascinating.
"The sa, why should I live like a beggar? I won’t speak subserviently to anyone unless there is no ’unless.’"
Siegler, adopting a pose befitting the Powerful Ones, crossed her arms and spoke with particular arrogance.
The half sentence that she added hung in the air, unfinished, as if such a circumstance didn’t exist.
"You clearly have no reverence towards as the Pope."
Lanci sighed and shook his head.
When he was the pri minister of the Polante Empire, Siegler treated him with no ceremony.
Now that he had beco the Pope of the Holy Polante Theocracy, it was much the sa.
"Do you know what I like most about you?"
Siegler abruptly asked.
"What?"
Lanci inquired of Siegler.
"Even in high positions, you aren’t aloof like those important figures; instead, you blend in with , treating as an equal at all tis, as if you were another version of myself."
Siegler revealed her thoughts,
"So really, between us, do we need all those rules and regulations?"
She grinned, leaned in, and bumped Lanci’s shoulder with hers before quickly walking away, signaling for him to follow her and start their journey.
Lanci touched his shoulder, tilted his head, and then followed her.
...
That night.
Hours on the road passed in a blink.
On the snowy plains under the night sky in the northern part of the Polante Empire, a girl wearing a beret drove a sleigh, her deanor cool and proficient, blending beautifully with the icy world.
Ahead of the sleigh, three Mystical Deer from the Snowfield galloped across the snow, their hooves kicking up clouds of snow like they were drawing nature’s roadmap on the snowfield.
After leaving with Lanci in the afternoon, Siegler had swiftly arrived at the northernmost part of the Jiao Country through the Holy Spirit Lante Church’s airspace.
Everything was familiar.
The boundary of the Northern Border had changed greatly from twelve years ago.
Yet, as the two embarked on the sa journey once again, they felt like seasoned travelers, as if it weren’t only their second trip together.
Having rented a Magical Beast fastest for traversing the Land of Perpetual Night, Siegler then left the borders of the Holy Polante Theocracy with Lanci and Calila, who was waiting for them.
In the cold wind, Siegler remained composed; the reindeer whip she held swung gently, emitting intermittent sounds.
John sat in the back, silently next to Talia.
After finishing the hamburger Lanci had bought her, Talia had leaned back in her chair and fallen asleep.
Using the moonlight, Lanci focused intently on the newly revised pocket map in his hands.
The map fluttered in the wind, its corners gently swaying, not disturbing Lanci as he contemplated the road ahead.
With the grown-up Siegler and the long-grown Talia, he had no worries about the safety of traveling at night in the Land of Perpetual Night.
"We need to head to the Demon World quickly because we’ve set off late. We’ll probably reach our first stop, Small Stone City, by tomorrow morning. When we get to Small Stone City, let’s stay at the old place."
Lanci’s brown hair fluttered slightly in the cold wind, his face filled with anticipation for Purgatory City Pasquale.
He had dreamt countless tis of returning to that place.
Moreover, every scenic spot on the Empire’s route to the Demon World was also filled with mories.
"Shall we buy ingredients and have Little Black Cat cook again?"
Siegler turned her head and asked.
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence.
This trip to the Snowfield was already her third or fourth with the Saint Heir.
"Right, but now Little Black Cat might have been optimized."
Lanci looked down at his shadow and replied.
"Who got optimized, ow! This Divine Beast is just living up to my rank. Have you ever seen an Eighth-order Divine Beast cooking personally!"
Cat Boss erged from the shadow, aggrieved, climbed onto Lanci’s lap, and argued.
"Ah? It’s Eighth-order?"
Before Lanci could respond, Siegler had already turned back in surprise.
She had noticed that Little Black Cat had grown slightly stronger, but she hadn’t expected it to be Eighth-order.
"ow..."
The Cat Boss hung its head in dismay and hopped back into Lanci’s shadow.
Perhaps only when it becos Cat Lun would others consider it an Eighth-order.
Otherwise, its ascent from Seventh-order to Eighth-order seed so minor to Siegler that it was negligible.
A clear trail was left behind the sled in the night-covered Snow Domain, accompanied by the sounds of the Mystical Deer’s galloping and the slight sliding of the sled, with only the lights of the Holy Spirit Lante Church guiding the way forward.
"Uh."
Siegler rested one hand on the backrest and looked back at Lanci.
It seed like she had overwheld the Little Black Cat.
It was not intentional.
"It’s okay, it will cheer up in a bit."
Lanci responded.
Cat Boss, only capable of simple mory storage.
"Still, could you please hold the reins with both hands and watch the road ahead? It’s nightti after all."
He raised his hand and pointed forward.
"Oh, that’s good."
Siegler, half-turning back upon hearing this, rested her gaze on Lanci.
As a top Martial Artist, she could actually see more clearly through her "mind’s eye" than with her actual eyes, so not watching the road was not an issue for her.
"You need to change your posture; it’s not in line with traffic rules."
Lanci seed helpless; after so many years, she still hadn’t kicked her bad habits of not feeling comfortable unless chatting with passengers while driving.
The only relief was that Siegler swore no more.
"And look at this road, isn’t it..."
He continually looked up, comparing the map with the mountain heights, feeling that sothing was amiss.
"Don’t worry, darling, nothing unexpected will happen with here."
Siegler, still not focusing on the road ahead, spoke to Lanci.
She was teaching Lanci how to speed through the Land of Perpetual Night.
"Hmm..."
Lanci pondered for a while, thinking Siegler’s use of "darling" sounded a bit strange.
"Wait, Siegler, wouldn’t you like to look at the map?"
He leaned forward, showing the map to Siegler in the front row, pointing out what he thought were issues.
"Look, the latitude line here is clearly different from our current position. We should head northwest instead of continuing straight, otherwise, we will plunge off a cliff..."
Lanci’s voice grew more hesitant as he felt Siegler might not be listening to him.
Looking up again, he t Siegler’s pure, pearl-like purple eyes, realizing she had never cared about the map but was observing his face.
"What’s wrong with my face?"
Lanci touched his cheek, feeling no snow seeds, and asked Siegler.
"That instant of eye contact..."
Siegler finally slowly shifted her gaze to the map, muttering to herself.
She needed to restrain herself.
"..."
Lanci watched Siegler’s absent-minded manner towards the map, not understanding her words.
He looked into the distance again.
A foreboding feeling arose in Lanci’s heart.
Firstly, the terrain of the Land of Perpetual Night had changed significantly over the last twelve years.
Secondly, since Siegler had been studying in the Demon World for a few years and then worked in the Church upon returning to Polante, she had not guided through the Land of Perpetual Night for a long ti.
"I’ve been wanting to try driving a snow sled drawn by Mystical Deer; how about this, you move to the back and rest, and I’ll drive for a while."
Lanci spoke to Siegler very politely.
"Alright, if you want to work for , I don’t mind."
Siegler was not stubborn.
If the miserable boss wanted to drive himself, who was she to refuse as a driver.
Early in the morning when she had arrived in Nanwantina, she heard about a so-called Wilford Chamber of Comrce heir always engaging in loss-making deals and nearly ruining the family business.
"Are you thinking of sothing impolite?"
Lanci, seeing Siegler’s half-smiling expression, asked her.
"How could I."
Siegler tightened the reins, her reply lacking genuine interest.
A spendthrift Saint Heir could be quite beneficial too.
When the family wealth is exhausted, he might have to marry into a family, after all.
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