"Hello, I am Lillian Stuart." Lillian smiled, slightly lifted the sides of her skirt with both hands, and gave a slight curtsy, a standard noble gesture.
Herag also slightly bowed in return and said, "Hello, Miss Lillian, I am Herag Merlin. If I’m not mistaken, you should be from the Seville Empire in the east of the Coleson Continent."
"That’s correct. It seems Mr. Herag knows the history of our Stuart Family." Lillian looked at Herag with a hint of admiration.
"Yes, I’ve read some related books. The Stuarts are a great family; without you, there wouldn’t be the powerful Seville Empire today." Herag spoke without a trace of flattery.
The Seville Empire is very far from the Norton Kingdom, so far that ordinary people in the Norton Kingdom may never hear of this country in their lifetime.
During his days in the library, Herag learned that the Seville Empire is a country highly developed in military, politics, and economy, and several generations of kings from the Stuart Family have governed the country well.
The name Stuart following Lillian signifies her high status.
Lillian seemed to understand what Herag was thinking and sweetly smiled, saying, "My father is the current King Louis."
"So, it’s Princess Lillian, Your Highness." Herag smiled. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ N(o)vᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt
Lillian quickly said, "There are no princesses in the wizard world. I’ve come to see you to discuss whether we can form an alliance since we’re all from the Coleson Continent. Those people upstairs look down on us, considering people from the Coleson Continent to be savages from the wild."
"By forming an alliance, we can look after each other. What do you think?" Lillian’s big eyes were full of hopeful anticipation.
"We can exchange information, but there’s no need for an alliance." Herag, unsure of her intentions, directly refused.
"Okay, let’s just exchange some information then." Lillian said, not surprised by Herag’s refusal.
"Shenlan, activate the magic power monitoring. Notify me immediately if Lillian shows any anomaly."
"Magic power monitoring activated."
After Herag issued the command, he went inside, sat down by the bed.
Lillian gave a slight smile, adjusted her skirt, and sat down beside him.
A gentle fragrance wafted over, pleasant and not overpowering.
The room was small, and the fragrance soon filled the entire space.
Lillian asked, "Which wizard organization are you planning to join?"
"Moonlight Forest," Herag replied.
"I know Moonlight Forest. It’s a powerful wizard organization. I plan to join Augustus Academy; this is my token." Lillian said, pressing a finger against her chest where a brooch was pinned to her clothing.
Lillian appeared to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, yet she already possessed the charm of a mature woman.
Herag’s gaze was first attracted to the fair skin, then quickly shifted to the brooch.
There was a flow of magic power in the brooch, evidently a demonized item, likely a token of Augustus Academy.
Herag sensed that Lillian might be testing him, but he had no interest in the brooch.
"Do you casually pin your token on your chest like that?" Herag asked.
Lillian smiled, "Please forgive my probing; you indeed showed no greed."
"No greed? Is she reading expressions or using a special magic..."
Herag waved his hand, "That’s not important, let’s focus on exchanging information; I need to know news related to the wizard organizations."
"Give me a moment." Lillian said, getting up to run into her room, with little steps that had none of a noble lady’s demeanor.
Before long, Lillian returned with a map in her hands.
Lillian unceremoniously lowered the wooden board on the opposite wall and laid out the map.
"Look, these are roughly the locations of several wizard organizations."
Herag took a look and recognized it as a map of the Kala Continent, more detailed than what he had seen before.
However, the map was still incomplete, primarily marking the locations of the wizard organizations.
The first thing he noticed was Moonlight Forest, located inland, some distance from the coast, but it was difficult to estimate the distance as the map lacked a scale.
Above Moonlight Forest was Green Cottage, and to the right of Green Cottage was Augustus Academy.
There were other wizard organizations that Herag hadn’t heard of.
Lillian placed her slender finger on the position of Moonlight Forest and said, "I don’t know much about Moonlight Forest, it’s an old and powerful wizard organization. You should be cautious; Moonlight Forest has conflicts with Green Cottage, and they often have skirmishes."
"Green Cottage..." Herag recalled that Malcolm was from Green Cottage.
He looked at the map again, noting that Moonlight Forest and Green Cottage were in a north-south position, quite close to each other, probably the reason for the frequent friction.
Lillian moved her finger to Augustus Academy, saying, "Augustus Academy is the only academic faction among these wizard organizations. The wizards here mostly come from pure-blood wizard families. Augustus has strong strength and background, and it has few conflicts with other wizard organizations because most don’t want to have conflicts with it."
"Pure-blood wizard families?"
"It means parents, and sometimes several generations back, were wizards. Wizards from such pure-blood families tend to have good aptitude and have a high chance of becoming official wizards due to systematic learning from a young age," Lillian explained.
"But Augustus also has ordinary wizard apprentices like you and me, who enter with a token. You mentioned that I am a princess, but once I’m in the academy, who knows how I’ll be discriminated against. It’s a place that greatly values bloodlines. Moreover, the status of a princess is a nuisance, making it more thrilling for some people," Lillian said with self-mockery.
"..." Herag was speechless, as Lillian had a clear understanding of her own situation.
"Thank you for your information. Is there anything you need to know? I might not be able to provide anything of value to you," Herag said.
Lillian obviously knew a lot of information, while Herag had limited knowledge, so the so-called exchange of information might not be feasible.
Lillian smiled, "It’s okay, this is my sincerity. The journey is long, and I just want to find a trustworthy ally. My token has the ability to detect the goodness or evilness of a person’s heart, and from earlier until now, you haven’t shown any malice towards me. This is why I’m willing to share information with you."
"I see, do all those people upstairs have malice towards you?" Herag asked.
"More than just malice... let’s leave it at that; I’ll head back now." Lillian said with a helpless and bitter smile.