Chapter 674 - Between Light & Light (XII) (1/2)

This was considered an episode for Rhode. Meeting an unfortunate enemy in Casabianca was nothing more than a common thing. But the enemy indeed had a reason to detest him. Daviet was a legendary being who was hard to come by, but he was crippled by Rhode. Even though it wasn’t Rhode who had done the deed, the culprit appeared the same for the Light Parliament. Rhode sighed at how amazing the world was. Two of the five legends in the Light Parliament had fallen under his hands. Other than the Mist Sword Saint, the Cyan Goshawk had also been messed with by him. Although his views didn’t align with the Light Parliament’s, they still stood on the same side while facing external threats.

Even though there were a few hiccups along the way, the group’s following tour went rather smoothly. They had returned to the imperial residence safely and benefited a lot from this tour. On the other hand, Rhode had achieved what he wanted. It seemed that the group had begun considering and facing the precarious situation and the Country of Light itself…

The group could be said to have fulfilled their wishes after the day tour and everyone started preparing for the Dragon Soul Ceremony. They knew that this Dragon Soul Ceremony was exceptionally important, so,for the sake of safety, they were better off being better prepared, where even Lize and Anne were forced to take up etiquette training from Marlene. After all, this was an important ceremony to meet the Light Dragon Soul, so distinguished and complicated etiquette were essential. Who knew what a naturally foolish young lady like Anne would do during the ceremony…

Everyone was busy with their preparation while Rhode had nothing on his hands. In fact, he wasn’t feeling thrilled or nervous meeting the Light Dragon Soul, so he didn’t value the ceremony as highly as the others. But when one entered a village, one had to follow their local customs and the same went for Rhode. He wasn’t that silly to remain idle before Lize and Marlene. He found an excuse to slip away and dodge Marlene’s harsh etiquette training. I’ll leave such things for Anne and Lize to suffer.

Lydia’s imperial residence was situated halfway up the mountain of the Dragon Soul Temple. Even though she wasn’t a permanent resident of this place, she had her own palace as one of the three Archangels. But the palace would only be occupied whenever she visited the Country of Light. But even so, the palace was comfortable and luxuriously decorated. Sleek floors. Soft, extravagant carpets. Beautiful and expensive murals. They appeared rather inharmonious with the temple emanating in a sacred aura, but who cared, as long as Lydia didn’t mind?

“Phew…”

Rhode laid back leisurely on a stone bench in the garden and enjoyed the picturesque scenery. He looked down to view the entire Casabianca presenting a gentle whiteness under the glaring sun as though it existed in pure, spotless radiance. Judging from this, the reputation of Casabianca was indeed well-deserved. But… that was a false sense of prosperity, after all.

The corners of Rhode’s lips perked up as he once again recalled the memories he had of Casabianca in the game. It was a city that sunk entirely in the war. In the game, the Country of Darkness sliced through the Country of Light like a hot knife through butter, leaving them in an extremely miserable state. This was especially so after losing the Light Dragon Soul and its protection, where the Country of Light sank into turmoil from the envelope of Chaos. Back then, even if Rhode or Dark Dragon didn’t infiltrate the Country of Light, it would still perish on its own. But Rhode was determined to do it himself. After all, he would be letting them off easy if he didn’t personally destroy them with his own hands and allow them to head into a path of destruction themselves.

Rustle.

Suddenly, the bush beside him shook. He turned around curiously and spotted a petite figure emerging from it.

It was an adorable little girl who was about 10 years old. Her exquisite facial features and delicate face complemented one another perfectly. She wore a relatively plain white robe inlaid with a golden-stitched design and the glory of the sun set off her silver long hair as it draped over her shoulders, emanating a dazzling sight. She spotted Rhode and appeared seemingly surprised as she subconsciously came to a halt. Then, she asked in a timid manner.

“Who… are you? Why are you here?”

“This should be a question from me, Miss.”

Rhode shrugged. He stood up and waved to the little girl.

“I’m a guest to this place. One of Royal Highness Lydia’s subordinates. My name is Rhode Alander, and I am the overlord of Grenbell. You are…”

“Ah…”

The little girl appeared seemingly to have understood the situation and nodded slowly. Then, she relaxed her tensed body like a tiny squirrel watching its natural predator walked away. She lifted her head and hesitated for a few moments.

“You… You… can call me… Lily. I’m the… the… Yes. Someone from here.”

Lily?

Rhode twitched his brows, but he didn’t probe further. He nodded to the little girl and beckoned to her. “Alright then, Lily. Are you here to admire the view too?”

“Yes, Mister.”

Lily nodded hesitantly as though she was Little Red Riding Hood who knew that the Big Bad Wolf had disguised as her Grandma and didn’t know if she should step one foot closer. After a few moments, she approached Rhode step by step. She sized up his face before quietly sitting on the other end of the stone bench. Rhode rolled his eyes hopelessly and sat back on the stone bench with a shrug.

The little girl rested her chin on her hands and she was entranced in the awesome view before her. Then, she mumbled to herself.

“I like the view from here. I feel peaceful every time I sit here and look down at the scenery below. Everyone seems to be really happy living their blissful lives… No one in pain. No one is crying. A happy city. A blessed country…”

“Ha.”

Rhode curled his lips and let out a subtle sneer. Although he didn’t like to destroy a little kid’s dream, he instinctively felt hilarious listening to the little girl’s portrayal of this perfectly wonderful city. The little girl turned over in displeasure.

“What’s wrong, Mister? Am I wrong?”

“No no no.”

Rhode waved his hand without showing any emotions.

“I didn’t say anything, Lily. You must’ve misheard me.”

“No, I did hear something.”

The little girl pouted and stared at Rhode in dissatisfaction.

“Don’t treat me like a small child. I know what you’re thinking about, Mister. You think that I’m a naive and silly little girl who loves to daydream, right?”

“…”

Rhode didn’t refute and he had no intentions of denying her either. For unknown reasons, he felt rather strange as soon as he saw her as though somewhere in his body felt particularly close with her. It also felt as though he had met a familiar person in a foreign land, which gave him a kind and nostalgic feeling. But he couldn’t explain why he had such emotions because, no matter what, he had never seen this little girl in the past. It would still be possible if she was born in the Eastern Plain like Gaya, where they might have familiar appearances. But this little girl… I have never seen her before and yet, I don’t feel like I’m speaking to a stranger at all.

“Well, that’s the truth, Lily. This world isn’t as peaceful as you think.”

Rhode curled his lips and gazed at Casabianca before him.

“Especially this city. I don’t find it beautiful at all. Instead, I hate this place.”