In the afternoon of the next day, as the clock struck six, Isabella awoke completely from her slumber.

After deepening her relationship with her partner last night, she could better appreciate the importance of the other person.

You can't let go of the important people in your life;

At the very least, you must ensure that they will not permanently leave your side!

Isabella slid her fingertips over and pressed her palm against the bed, then lifted that hand not long after.

She placed her palm over her partner's head, made a vague grasping motion downwards, as if simulating the action of holding the other person in her palm.

"By reinforcing with a barrier, and using the hardest metal in the country, if we were to create a door, could we... keep our master forever locked away!?"

Crack!

There was a sudden noise. Isabella initially thought that she had just tightly clenched her hand, but then realized:

Her hand’s movements were simply following her heart;

In that moment when dark thoughts surfaced in her mind, her heart clenched sharply, and her hand involuntarily clenched too.

As if creating a cage, from that moment onwards, Isabella somehow felt, to some degree, that:

Taking action herself to turn the bird into a "caged bird" didn't seem entirely bad...

That was what Isabella thought, and she even had the impulse to act on it;

The emergence of these thoughts was not unrelated to a temporary mental lapse;

But no one could guarantee that the origin of these thoughts was merely accidental.

Entering a trance-like state, Isabella sat up from the bed and walked around the room with a special expression on her face that no one had ever seen before.

She hesitated and pondered whether she should act on the thoughts in her mind and turn them into reality.

The period of hesitation did not last long, and soon Isabella noticed something on the table.

There lay the items her master had brought back from the streets yesterday, still wrapped in a cloth bag.

After many events from the previous day, Isabella finally had time today to carefully inspect the contents of the bag.

From the vaguely discernible shape of a dog head in the bag, Isabella could easily tell that it was clothing designed to dress someone as a canine puppet.

In that moment, Isabella understood:

The one intending to apologize was not just herself.

The partner who shared a bed with her last night, her lifelong master, had actually planned to wear the puppet costume yesterday to properly apologize to her.

"Poor master of mine..."

Isabella closed her eyes and put the bag containing the puppet costume back;

At the same time, she made a decision:

For now, this was enough;

To do or not do something, she would decide when the time felt right.

In a way, due to Freya’s advice, someone was spared from potential trouble.

Knock, knock, knock, knock!

The door was knocked. By now, Isabella had steadied herself and called out from inside with a voice no different from usual:

"Who is it?"

"Your Highness, it's I, Your Servant."

The one speaking was Sister Glasses.

This loyal servant of the queen had no intention of entering; the reason for disturbing at this moment was simply to deliver something.

Considering she couldn't enter, Sister Glasses decided to push the thin item through the door crack.

What fell onto the room floor was a letter devoid of the word "thick";

Isabella picked it up, and at the same time asked:

"Whose letter is this?"

"It was found on a spy by the guards, the author of the letter is unknown."

The letter handed to Isabella by Sister Glasses was written by Flora.

The so-called spy was the subordinate who had been sent by Night Hazel to deliver the letter.

Utilizing teleportation spells along with a thirty-hour journey, the messenger had finally arrived within the borders of Dibiles today.

However, Dibiles was currently in a state of war;

Once an unwelcome visitor entered, it would be hard for them to leave safely.

Like the messenger, as soon as he entered Dibiles, he was discovered with a flaw by the guards stationed at the gate, and then was subdued during the ambush.

The guards found the letter written by Flora amongst the possessions of the messenger.

Upon reading the contents of the letter, although the guards didn't find anything exceptional in it, out of caution they handed the letter over to the palace;

And then, from the palace, the letter was passed on to Sister Glasses, thus leading to the earlier scene.

With no intelligence to extract, Isabella sent Sister Glasses away.

She opened the letter and saw a name that wasn't entirely unfamiliar.

"Flora? Master had mentioned this name before, seems like she is a friend of the master’s."

Because it involved the master, Isabella couldn't act without authorization, so she had no choice but to wake up the master sleeping soundly, to analyze the letter together.

After regaining consciousness, Wang Xiaole interpreted the hidden information from the letter's signature and contents.

"The first sentence mentions she is with whom (the Inran army);

The second sentence explains where she is (the border's hot springs);

And the last sentence emphasizes the friendship."

By combining these three pieces of information, and considering Flora's reclusive nature, Wang Xiaole was fairly certain in his analysis.

"No mistake, Flora must have been captured by the Inran army!

Due to her captivity, she could only write seemingly insignificant things in the letter, concealing the truth between the lines."

Isabella agreed with the master's assessment, but also highlighted a few suspicious points:

"According to what the master said, your friend doesn't like going out, so how could she have been captured by the Inran army?

Until now, no enemy forces have officially reached our country's borders;

And if she were a captive, how could an enemy spy specially deliver a letter to her?"

The suspicious points were hard to ignore, leading Isabella to consider a possible scenario:

"Master, this might be a trap! The enemy has discovered your friendship with Flora, and knowing that you, as the queen's husband, are her friend;

Therefore, the enemy may have coerced Flora into writing a letter, using it as bait to lure you to an ambush and capture you!"

This judgment seemed reasonable and acceptable to Wang Xiaole, but it didn't shake the resolve of the person involved.

"Even knowing it might be a trap, I have to go. She's an acquaintance, I can't just let her suffer."

"Master, think calmly. According to the information I received earlier:

Among the commanders of the Inran army, there is the Knightess Night Hazel. If this plan was devised by her, you must not go willingly."

"Night Hazel? You seem to know her?"

"Not just know, Night Hazel came to Dibiles when I was young. We had a strife-filled encounter back then, she’s one of the few adversaries I have."

"Is she very bad?"

"Night Hazel’s nature isn't bad, but she's difficult to deal with for most people;

I heard in recent years, she's been straying further onto the wrong paths of delinquent girls and becoming increasingly difficult to be around..."

Additionally, there were some things Isabella couldn't easily say aloud:

Night Hazel had a strong competitive spirit and had always competed with her since they were young;

Later on, anything Isabella liked, whether objects or even servants, Night Hazel also wanted to possess, sometimes even resorting to open theft.

At this moment, Isabella's thoughts were quite understandable.

The person she now cared for the most was her master;

If Night Hazel and her master were to meet... Isabella dared not think about the outcome.

"As a precaution, I advise against the master actively falling into the trap."

Isabella's warning was crystal clear, but Wang Xiaole, who had quickly dressed, was determined at that moment.

"Don’t worry, I’ve faced opponents of all kinds! Regardless of the number of people or traps set, I will safely return."

Wang Xiaole thought the apprentice was worrying about his safety, but in reality, her concerns were more akin to those of a young woman...

"Master must go?"

"Master must go!"

After receiving this answer, Isabella couldn't stop him, but before the master left, they made an agreement:

"I hope Master can promise: this journey is only to rescue, do not engage in any inappropriate actions."

"No problem, I can promise that!"

Isabella's requirements for the promise were not very detailed to begin with;

Therefore, Wang Xiaole's subsequent actions, which he had no intention to undertake at the time, could not be considered a violation of the promise.

Putting that issue aside for now, the commitment was made where one side requested a promise and the other side made the promise;

And thus, the journey to rescue was decided upon.

Before using the teleportation spell, Wang Xiaole went back to the original room. He stated he wanted to check on the orange cat taken into the palace.

Upon returning to the room alone, he unsurprisingly found more than just a cat in the room.

Bai Meow and Cai were both in the room;

The former, having not been able to sleep with the "big brother" last night, had reluctantly curled up in the arms of "Sister in White", making do for the night.

Last night's regret became the motivation for Bai Meow, prompting her to immediately pounce into his arms upon seeing her "big brother," rubbing against his soft and full chest quickly.

Wang Xiaole did not refuse Bai Meow's affection nor forget his purpose.

"Rain, Bai Meow, I'm going on a long journey; I might not return for a while, so stay in the room during this time."

"Great Lord Xiaole, are you bringing us back more sisters? May you successfully capture the hearts of the girls!"

Among all the complicated girls involved, Cai could be said to be the least likely to get jealous, and she generally supported Wang Xiaole's hunting endeavors.

But why?

"Why doesn't Cai oppose, but rather encourages me to start a harem?"

Wang Xiaole didn't explain the reason for his departure and just continued to discuss the topic;

To this, Cai candidly expressed:

"If Great Lord Xiaole is surrounded by more girls, wouldn't the time spent on me decrease too?"

"That's true..."