At the palace, An Jieli and her attendants had gathered in Bai Ye’s room.

“Your Majesty, look here.”

The attendant pointed to a black mark on the rosewood floor. It was circular, about a meter in radius—the size of a standard teleportation array.

“Look at this mark. Doesn’t it look like the traces of a magic array?”

“It certainly does.” An Jieli nodded. “Can you tell what kind of array it is?”

“Our initial assessment is that it’s a teleportation array. We’ve also collected the magical materials scattered across the traces and are analyzing them now.”

“All right. Tell them to hurry...”

An Jieli looked troubled. If the traces of an array in Bai Ye’s room really belonged to a teleportation array, that meant Bai Ye had already left the palace.

She pressed a hand to her forehead as a complicated, indescribable feeling welled up in her heart.

Why, Bai Ye? Why did you run away?

Hadn’t we promised to always stay together? Hadn’t you promised to be by my side forever?

Then why did you leave without a word?

I care about you so much. We’re meant to be together.

So why? Why did you leave without saying anything?

An Jieli’s gaze grew sharper. She didn’t believe her Bai Ye would ever leave her.

That’s right. Someone must have tricked Bai Ye. It had to be that. Otherwise, why would Bai Ye ever leave her?

It had to be that. Someone had tricked Bai Ye!

You wretched scum. How dare you go after my beloved Bai Ye? I’ll never forgive you!

And Bai Ye, for letting himself be lured away so easily, needs to be punished too. Maybe I should forbid him from ever leaving the palace again...

No, better yet, I’ll build Bai Ye a palace of his own and keep him there. Little Bai Ye would be so happy.

Bai Ye, my Little Bai Ye, I’ll find you!!!

......

“That’s everything I know, milady.”

After spilling all the information he had, the middle-aged man still held out the gold coins respectfully.

He didn’t dare put the coins in his pocket until the girl in front of him said he could.

“I see.”

Bai Ye’s voice was still gentle, but her pretty face had turned icy, and a cold light glinted in her eyes.

It had been years since the new law abolishing slavery was passed, yet nobles in the Royal Capital still dared to sell slaves!

It seemed not everyone in the Royal Capital feared An Jieli on the throne!

“These fools have no fear. I’ll have to show them who rules this country...”

Bai Ye turned to look at the palace in the distance.

An Jieli was surely searching the whole palace for her right now. But Bai Ye had things she needed to do, and she couldn’t go back just yet.

“Sigh...”

Bai Ye sighed, then took paper, a pen, and an envelope from the spatial ring on her right ring finger. She quickly wrote a letter.

She put the letter in the envelope and sealed it with wax, then pressed her signet into the wax.

“Two days from now, give this letter to the knight captain in charge of the Royal Capital’s defenses. You won’t be able to see the queen, but the captain should be easier to reach. Once he has the letter, he’ll know who to deliver it to.”

Bai Ye casually set out ten silver coins.

“This is your payment.”

“This...”

The middle-aged man took the envelope and caught sight of the emblem stamped in the wax. He couldn’t help but cry out in surprise.

The emblem stamped in the wax was none other than that of the Black Night Knights!

Not an ordinary knight, but a Black Knight!

If they’d been ordinary knights responsible for defending the Royal Capital, the two men wouldn’t have been so surprised. There were plenty of ordinary knights around—even the owner of the breakfast shop knew a few knightly friends.

But Black Knights were different. The Black Knights of the Black Night Knights were all battle-hardened warriors. Their records were outstanding, and their status was nothing like that of ordinary knights.

Even the lowest-ranking Black Knight held a title. Their station was far above that of commoners like them.

“A Black Knight, my lord!”

The breakfast shop owner and the middle-aged man nearly fell to their knees, but Bai Ye raised a hand and stopped them.

“How could we accept money from a Black Knight, my lord!”

The middle-aged man respectfully held out the gold and silver coins to Bai Ye.

“It’s our honor to serve a Black Knight, my lord!”

There was some fear and flattery in the man’s words, but they weren’t entirely empty.

To the people of the Holy Radiance Empire, the Black Night Knights really were like idols.

Their glorious battle record spoke for itself. And every time they returned in triumph to cheers and applause, the sight of them—riders and horses alike clad in black armor—was etched deep into the hearts of the Empire’s people.

To ordinary people like them, the Black Night Knights were the embodiment of the Holy Radiance Empire’s strength, and the Black Knights were the bedrock that kept their peaceful lives safe.

Under those circumstances, the middle-aged man was naturally willing to do a Black Knight a favor.

“You can skip the pleasantries. Keep the money, but remember: don’t deliver the letter until two days from now. Understood?”

“Understood, milady!”

“If you manage to deliver the letter, this might be your chance to rise in the world. Make the most of it.”

“Yes, milady!”

After arranging everything, Bai Ye left the breakfast shop. According to her original plan, she should’ve left the city today.

But it looked like she’d have to put that off by a day. She was going to see the place where the nobles sold slaves for herself!