“If the demon race had already revived, it wouldn’t be this quiet now. They would have caused a great disturbance already. The appearance of these small demonic beasts is just their advance party. Their main body is still sealed,” Sephirena said.

Even with Sephirena’s reassurance, Liana still didn’t feel safe. That aura was too evil; its mere presence before Liana made her feel extremely anxious.

This was what they would soon face, this world’s true enemy.

All the previous dangers, even those life-threatening situations, were merely minor skirmishes. Now, the true main storyline was about to begin.

Liana took a deep breath. This sudden encounter with the demon beast was too shocking for her.

And in such a peripheral location...

No, they should appear in such peripheral places at first. The fact that they could find this place was likely because of the barrier’s existence.

It made them realize this place was somewhat special, which is why they came here, though they didn’t detect Sephirena’s presence.

“It wasn’t complete. If you weren’t very familiar with the demon race, you wouldn’t notice it was a demon beast,” Sephirena said. “An ordinary elf might not have noticed this at all.”

Liana was very familiar with the demonkind, which is why her thoughts went in this direction.

Ordinary people might only think it was a crazed beast or one being controlled by someone.

No, ordinary people would likely be killed immediately.

“The demon race...” Liana crouched down to look at the dead giant wolf. The blood it shed wasn’t bright red, but an eerie black color.

This was different from the giant wolf Liana had seen the royal knight kill in the forest earlier.

This somewhat relieved Liana—at least these weren’t very common in the area. Some of the demon’s magic could be fatal to humans.

For example, just a moment ago, Liana felt the magic within her body begin to stagnate. If suddenly hit with something like that, one would certainly be caught off guard.

“Although they haven’t emerged ahead of schedule, looking at the current situation, it seems to be just a matter of time,” Sephirena’s expression was very grave.

After all, this was related to the demons, and the Tree of Life had also been contaminated by them. The demon race’s target would definitely be the Tree of Life.

So the current situation of the Tree of Life must be very dangerous, and it wasn’t clear whether other elves knew about this yet.

Sephirena had to explain this to Sister Avira so she could be prepared.

Liana could clearly see that Sephirena now seemed somewhat distracted, and she could guess it was related to the demon race.

The Tree of Life was the mother of all elves, so how could Sephirena not be concerned?

So now, she just needed to find a way to let Sephirena leave her.

After all, Sephirena had said before that she would stay by Liana’s side until Loraviel returned.

But now, before Loraviel had returned, such a thing had happened, making Liana’s situation even more dangerous. Going back now clearly wouldn’t work.

So, at this moment, Liana needed to help.

“Why are you here?” Liana looked at Sephirena.

This place was still some distance from where Liana was staying.

“Princess Liana...”

“Shut up.” Liana sharply interrupted Sephirena. “This isn’t the place to talk. It would be troublesome if we were discovered.”

“Mm...” Sephirena followed behind Liana, returning to their residence.

Liana had Sephirena sit in the living room and wait while she took out the desserts from inside and arranged them, then went to brew a pot of hot tea.

“Now, let’s have a proper talk. Why did you appear outside?” Liana sat across from Sephirena.

“...”

“What? Is there something you can’t say?” Liana inquired.

However, looking at Sephirena’s expression, Liana could pretty much guess.

Sephirena must have been tailing her, though mainly to protect her.

She was an elf, and an elf princess at that, making it very simple for her to avoid detection by others.

Liana was grateful for her secret protection, but sorry, she wasn’t going to say anything nice to her now.

“I’m sorry, Princess Liana.” Sephirena also voluntarily admitted her actions. “I followed you out earlier, worried that you might encounter some danger outside.”

“What danger could I encounter? Although you did help me just now, I could have handled something of that level on my own.” Liana wasn’t boasting; although she had been frightened and her mana had slowed, she had still reacted and produced a weapon for defense. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“I’m sorry...”

“Sorry? Do you know how much risk your behavior brings me? What if someone discovered it? What if someone realized I’m Liana? What then?” Liana questioned.

“No one would discover it...” Sephirena was very confident in her concealment techniques, after all, she had often used this trick to evade Sister Tarashil’s sight before.

“Before you met me, did you think anyone would know you were Sephirena?” Liana said, who had noticed her at first sight by unconsciously muttering Sephirena’s name.

“...” With just one sentence, Liana silenced Sephirena, leaving her not knowing how to explain.

“I don’t need a disobedient guard,” Liana looked at Sephirena.

“I truly apologize...”

“Leave. You’ll only cause me trouble. A qualified guard would never let their master face even ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the slightest danger,” Liana said.

“But...”

“I’m very safe here. I don’t need someone who brings me trouble and puts me in danger to stay here, understand?” Liana wasn’t going to give Sephirena a chance to explain.

But having spent time with Liana, how could Sephirena not know Liana’s true intentions?

Yet the more Liana acted this way, the less Sephirena wanted to leave. This seemed too unfair to Princess Liana.

It was always Princess Liana helping her; with the Tree of Life, with Sister Tarashil, and now with this...

“Loraviel will do better than you,” Liana said.

“...” Sephirena didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt somewhat angry.

She had met Loraviel, who was indeed a very excellent and loyal person, but wasn’t she just as good?

Apart from housework, she wasn’t that much worse than Loraviel, was she?

And Sephirena was confident that after recovering her elven abilities and illusion magic, she would definitely be stronger than Loraviel.

Sephirena clenched her fists. Whether Liana’s words were intentional or careless, they had aroused her competitive spirit.

“I understand, Princess Liana. During this time together, I’ve caused you much trouble. I apologize,” Sephirena said.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. You’ve helped me a lot too. As long as you keep my secret, we’re already even,” Liana said these words specifically to reassure Sephirena.

“I understand.” Sephirena nodded as she looked at Liana.

They would meet again, and in the near future. She would definitely prove to Liana that she was no worse than others.

And that flower, Sephirena had also decided, she would give it to Princess Liana when she had changed her opinion of her, after she had completely transformed herself.

Sephirena wasn’t worried about not having this opportunity. Their common enemy had already appeared.

The emergence of the demons would force her people into an alliance even if they didn’t want one, because they knew all too well the terror of their nemesis.

And as a central figure, Princess Liana would certainly have many opportunities to meet in the future.

Sephirena was determined to gain Princess Liana’s recognition, though she didn’t know why she needed recognition from a human.

“Well then, Princess Liana, I bid you farewell.”

“Go, go, go.” Liana waved her hand, speaking with some impatience.

But after Sephirena left, in the vast house, with only Liana remaining, she did feel a little lonely...