Inside a small hut in the middle of a seemingly deserted area, the flames of a medium-sized fire illuminated through the darkness and burnt away the cold.
On top of this fire hung a large pot containing thick soup, mushrooms, and scraps of meat.
A few feet away from the pot laid the body of a third-order crimson fangs wolf, which is equivalent to an Eclipse Realm martial artist.
The beast was butchered in a naive way, as if the one who deboned the wolf has never done such a thing before, wasting a lot of the potential meat in vain.
"I'm sorry," a hushed yet enchanting voice said, this woman was now looking at the poorly handled monster corpse. "I haven't done anything like this beforehand..." She sighed.
"Auntie Anastasia is serious, if it wasn't for you, I would have been in a similar state to that wolf." The other female replied calmly, although her tone had a fit of sadness in it.
This woman is Qinxu.
After being disowned, she was introduced to this hut by Kirin. Although Kirin would usually come every two or three days to deter monsters from approaching, and sometimes going as far as to lend favor to other intelligent monsters to momentarily protect Qinxu, it appears that Kirin was late on a promise to a third-order crimson fangs wolf.
To vent its frustration, the wolf appeared before Qinxu to toy around with her fragile body for a while before killing her.
Usually, third-order and higher monsters divide their own territories, so the chances of someone equivalent or stronger than the wolf appearing to rescue her were very dire.
Just when the wolf had almost killed Qinxu after an immeasurable amount of 'playing', mainly because Qinxu didn't wail or scream as he desired, the wolf suddenly felt a deep sense of crisis.
Anastasia happened to be passing by and heading towards the Phoenix Palace for shelter from Arima, then she noticed the activities through her perception.
Once she recognized the owner of this breath, she rushed to help.
One can say that Anastasia has a soft spot for Qinxu because she was one of the few who didn't tease or ridicule her back then.
...
"So Arima did that huh..." Qinxu sighed deeply, she then looked at her miserable attire and ragged, blood-stained skin.
She was as far as possible from elegant and noble at the moment, and Anastasia was in a similar state.
Looking at each other and then at themselves, the ladies erupted with some hollow chuckles before Anastasia asked, "So, how come you ended up here?"
"..." For a while, Qinxu didn't respond, and then she said, "Karma maybe? I don't know. I still have vivid memories of that time when I was standing near sir Siyu and auntie Kirin on a tree branch."
"Under that canopy, sir Siyu told auntie Kirin something like no matter how strong one is, keeping relations with weaklings is simply stabbing your foot, now that I understand it, I must admit that there's only myself to blame."
"The legitimate Queen Phoenix hatched and she has a bad temper towards humans, just like Arima I believe. Her first order after hatching was to disown me and cut all connections with me, and I'm too weak to cross the Northern Region so..."
Qinxu didn't need to continue much, she simply reported her new name and went silent.
Anastasia nodded in understanding and did the same, she could understand the rational basis behind the Queen's decision, Anastasia knew about the hidden details of the Four Seasons propaganda after all.
"Royal Queen huh..." Anastasia muttered to herself. Somehow, she has a feeling this newly awakened Queen wouldn't give two thoughts about sheltering her. Then again, if it's simply surviving the wildlife, Anastasia has no qualms with it.
"Feng'er!"
Just then, a crisp enthusiastic voice echoed from the distance.
"Auntie?" Qinxu was surprised, Kirin is the only person who dares to address her by her adoptive name, but she only does that when the Queen isn't around.
Following the voice, Qinxu walked out of the hut to meet Kirin.
When Kirin saw Qinxu's miserable state and ragged clothing, her heart sank!
Her expression instantly turned gloomy as she plunged into the ground to hug Qinxu protectively.
"What happened? Who did this?!" Kirin hurriedly asked. However, before she could extend her perception, she heard a loud thud.
Turning around, she saw the miserable corpse of a wolf drop about two meters away, and a robust woman with dark gray hair followed after it.
"Anastasia?!" Kirin's pupils flashed with surprise, she was quick to deduce what transpired from these small clues.
"Thank you," Kirin hurriedly uttered before showering Qinxu with affection, almost implanting Qinxu's face into her cleavage.
Anastasia only smiled brightly as Qinxu struggled for breath.
"Auntie! I can't breathe! What are you doing here?!"
Qinxu cried out, unable to struggle. The dirt from Qinxu's torn robes and muddy skin tainted Kirin's palace dress, but the latter didn't care and said.
"Sir Noire agreed to help you leave the Northern Region! He might even escort you to a low or medium-grade sect to grow there!"
Kirin spat out these few words with unambiguous ecstasy, highlighting how happy she was.
"What..." Qinxu was lost in a daze, not knowing how to react for a moment.
Then her expression turned solemn.
"What did you offer so he would agree!" Qinxu gnashed her teeth and asked.
She's not a newborn, she realized the depth of their mistake, and for Noire to accept helping her, Kirin must have made a substantial sacrifice.
However, she didn't expect such an answer.
"No," Kirin shook her head. "At first he refused, but I was stubborn enough to plea until he agreed... I offered my Virgin Yin Essence, but he declined it. Technically, I only lost some dignity."
Kirin said with a smile, not a single hint of regret in her eyes.
Although what she said seemed light, Qinxu can imagine how desperate the situation was, her eyes couldn't help but grow misty as she imagined it.
"Hey! No time to cry! Sir is leaving after his meal with our mistress so we should hurry." Kirin said, then she picked up Qinxu to fly back towards the palace.
"Wait!"
Anastasia shouted from the rear, just then Kirin realized that she forgot about Anastasia's presence...
Kirin blushed lightly and gave an apologetic smile before saying, "Sister Ana has something to say?"
Anastasia nodded before briefly recounting what Arima did, then she asked whether she can tag along with them towards the palace or not.
After giving it some thought, Kirin agreed.
For better or worse, she's not a human so the Queen should have no skepticism about it.
Like that, the three went all the way back to the courtyard together.
- - - -
"..."
"..."
"..."
After arriving in the courtyard, Kirin, Qinxu, and Anastasia were speechless.
The Queen clung to Noire's waist like a child, refusing to let go as she shouted in a low voice.
"You must take me!"
Noire didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he already said no over a hundred times!
In each corner of the courtyard, one or two Phoenix Maidens watched, struggling not to laugh.
At this point, even a blind person can deduce that there exists some weird chemistry between her majesty the Queen, and Noire.
Currently, they appear like a pair of siblings, but everyone knows that's impossible to remain the case, but only because Yinfer is inexperienced.
"Yin'er! You can't leave your household behind!"
"Why can't I?! That Arima already has his own Region, and we have a Celestial Entity to replace me, and I already promised that I won't chase after vengeance! Take me!"