While hovering above my bed, cultivating, I sensed Illumia's presence just outside my door, prompting me to end my cultivation session before signaling Illumia to enter my room.
"Finally, you've been gone for nearly a month; what were you doing?" Asked Elif, perplexed at such a long wait.
"I'm not that experienced when it comes to infiltrating and gathering intel, your Highness." Replied Illumia with a slight bow before summoning a small crystal ball from her dimension ring and handing it to Elif.
"This contains all the information I was able to find and gather from various sources within the Eve Estate." Added Illumia while Elif scanned the contents of information via divine sense.
As I viewed the contents of the crystal ball, which were mostly comprised of memories from different people, such as servants, guards, and members of the Eve family. I got to witness all of the unfortunate things Sarah was forced to endure during her childhood, and even though Sarah had already told me about her living conditions when she was a child, being told about it and personally witnessing it are two entirely different things.
Nevertheless, just as Sarah said, shortly after she met me, her situation greatly improved, though she would still occasionally get bullied. However, while I got to witness Sarah's childhood, I also got to observe Marley's as well; her childhood was leagues ahead of Sarah's, but still, from the perspective of Nordan's personal guards, I could tell Marley was being used by Nordan, he was merely treating her like a tool that didn't deserve an ounce of his affection. Yet, Marley, who didn't know any better, believed everything Nordan said and tried her best to please him, and right after she won the Noble Tournament, her lifestyle came crashing down.
Nordan didn't bother paying her any more attention; he would constantly demote her status within the Eve estate, seemingly replacing her with other children he deemed more useful; luckily for her, she was the strongest among all of her siblings, so no one dared to bully her; still, that didn't change much, in fact, it was probably worse for her, as Marley was quite literally treated as if she didn't exist.
'I may greatly despise Marley, but after seeing everything, I can sympathize with her, though I still despise her.' Thought Elif, the moment he finished absorbing all the contents within the crystal ball, it shattered before disintegrating into dust.
"I suppose that's everything you've gathered, Illumia?" Asked Elif while simultaneously studying some of the less essential memories he had absorbed.
"Actually, there's one more piece of information. Roughly an hour ago, Nordan Eve permanently banished Marley Eve from the Noble Eve family." Announced Illumia, her words shocking Elif.
"Banished!? That is quite extreme, though I suppose from Nordan's point of view, Marley is no longer useful to him, so keeping her around would merely be a waste of resources. Still, that is quite evil; to abandon Marley while she is mentally and emotionally at her lowest is very despicable, though I assume having her act as a temporary maid didn't help her." Stated Elif, feeling quite disgusted at how Nordan operates.
While I do greatly despise Marley, after learning the truth, I couldn't put all the blame on her as Nordan is also mostly at fault for Marley's personality. Granted, while I don't think she deserves a severe punishment such as permanent banishment, I also won't go out of my way to help her. Still, as long as she stays within Yggdrasil, she'll be fine.
"Hmm, I suppose I'll inform Sarah about everything next time she visits; also, can I have the Void's Cloak back? I'll need to return it to the treasury soon." Asked Elif while looking at the colorful cloak covering Illumia.
With the Voids Cloak now inside my dimension ring, I returned to cultivating since I am still being punished; I don't have much to do.
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"...And that is everything, Sarah." Explained Elif while he, Elaine, and Sarah were seated in his room.
"Hmph, that bastard Nordan, how could he treat his own children like that? I may also dislike Marley, but that is a bit much." Said Elaine in slight anger while feeling pity for Marley.
"That… I was also shocked when Father announced Marley's banishment, but to find out the truth about Father and Marley, greatly saddens me. I had always thought the reason Marley started bullying me was because, that was her true personality, but to think it was all because of Father's influence he had on her. I wish Marley and I could return to when we were younger." Stated Sarah in anger and sadness while reminiscing her few memories of playing with Marley.
"Still, it was quite astonishing to find out Marley hadn't always been like that, and it was even more of a surprise to learn that you and Marley had a sisterly relationship. Well, at least before Nordan ruined everything." Remarked Elif as he ate some lightning cherries.
"So, do you plan to help Marley, Sarah?" Asked Elaine after having learned about Marley and Sarah's past relationship.
"I want to, but I don't think doing so will benefit Marley. What happens if Father finds out and decides to kill her, or something worse? Having learned some of the truth about my Father, I wouldn't put it past him to do something so cruel. Besides, he doesn't even view us as his family; we're merely tools to him." Said Sarah, though she hardly felt sad knowing Nordan didn't care for her as she had experienced his lack of affection before.
"Haa, if you'll excuse me, your Highnesses. After learning everything, I'd like to return home and process everything. If I could even call it home." Said Sarah, standing up as she mocked the last part while feeling a turmoil of emotions inside.
"Understandable, just stay safe while within the Eve estate, and on the bright side, if you ever get banished from the Eve family, you can always come live within the Palace." Said Elif with a smile as he tried uplifting Sarah's mood.
"Yeah, we have many empty rooms for you to stay in!" Added Elaine, slightly delighted at the prospect of Sarah living within the Palace.
"I appreciate it, your highnesses, but It doesn't look like I'll be getting banished any time soon, though I wouldn't mind sleeping within the palace every now and then." Replied Sarah with a smile before leaving Elif's room.
"So, with Sarah leaving, want to spar?" Asked Elif, feeling slightly bored from being cooped up in the palace.
"Sure. I don't have anything else to do right now." Replied Elaine as she hopped off her seat and headed towards the exit, Elif following right behind her.
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"My apologies for interrupting your cultivation session, your Highness, but Sarah has arrived, and she deems it an emergency." Said Illumia with a slight bow after suddenly barging inside Elif's room unannounced.
With Illumia suddenly entering my room while I was cultivating, It caused my focus to shift slightly, which resulted in some of my Qi becoming chaotic, though luckily, It was just a minuscule amount of Qi, so I was able to calm it down swiftly.
"That girl, it better be an emergency; otherwise, I'll force her to wear something worse than a maid uniform." Said Elif, feeling greatly annoyed at being interrupted, though he wasn't mad considering he was the one who permitted Sarah to enter his room, no matter the circumstance.
"What's up with you, Sarah? You look quite distressed." Asked Elif, slightly concerned at Sarah's flustered appearance.
"I've just gotten word that Marley had left Yggdrasil!?" Exclaimed Sarah while walking through Elif's room, hoping to ease her worry.
"While that is unexpected, there is no need to be so agitated; she most likely hasn't gotten far; I'm sure I could still find her with my divine sense." Declared Elif calmly while trying to ease her panic.
"That's not why I'm worried; I'm worried because she supposedly left Yggdrasil over a month ago, and I only now got word of it!?" Replied Sarah, feeling greatly unnerved as she plopped onto the seat across from Elif.
Furrowing my brows at Sarah's words, I eyed Illumia, hoping she could shed some light on the subject.
"Sarah is correct; Marley had left Yggdrasil a little over a month ago, seemingly in devastated spirits while followed by a couple of Celestial cultivators." Mentioned Illumia, causing the already flustered Sarah to become even more agitated.
I couldn't really pacify Sarah's emotions after Illumia said that, as the likelihood of those Celestial cultivators protecting her were very slim, considering she was already banished from the Eve family.
"Powerful cultivators were also following Marley!? This isn't good; over the years, Marley has angered many people, so I'm not surprised she's getting pursued, but as long as she was within Yggdrasil, no Nobles would dare harm her. However, with her having left the safety of Yggdrasil, I'm worried for her wellbeing, that is, if she is even still alive." Said Sarah with anxiety while thinking of all the terrible things they could be doing to Marley.
While I wanted to say something, I didn't really know what to say in this situation, and I didn't deem it the best time either as I noticed Sarah seemed to be having a difficult debate within herself and only after roughly a minute did it look like she finally came to a conclusion as she looked at me with determined eyes.
"Your Highness, you remember telling me that if something changes, I must ask for your assistance." Said Sarah with determination as she looked at Elif.
Instinctually sensing that this conversation should be private, I signaled Illumia to leave the room before nodding in acknowledgment at Sarah.
"Well, I'd like to ask you to help, Marley. I know you don't like her; in fact, you despise her. However, for me, could you please help her?" Asked Sarah seriously as she stood up and deeply bowed to Elif.
She was right about that; I despise Marley; however, I would loathe myself even more if I went back on my word, especially to someone I deem a friend.
"Haa, fine. With my pride, it's not like I can say no." Replied Elif, feeling as if he'd just slapped himself in the face.
"Ah, thank you, your Highness!" Exclaimed Sarah in delight as she hugged Elif and jumped up and down in joy, slightly elevating Elif's mood.
"Alright, I won't be able to help Marley if you keep hugging me." Remarked Elif with a light smile as he slipped out of Sarah's hug before summoning the Void's Cloak from his dimension ring that he hadn't returned yet.
I was supposed to return it about a month ago, but as long as I'm within the Empire, I'm sure Mother and Father won't mind if I keep an artifact or two with me; it's not like we're really lacking God-tier artifacts.
"What's that, your highness?" Asked Sarah after calming down, her face blushing from her previous actions.
"It's a high God-tier artifact, the Voids Cloak. It allows the wearer to erase their presence from this plane of reality; it's also how Illumia infiltrated inside the Eve Estate." Said Elif as he wore the colorful cloak while also summoning a spirit stone to supply it with Qi since, with his cultivation base, it would be wholly impossible for him to supply it using his own Qi, even with his Qi reserves being immensely bolstered by the Myriad Immortal Physique.
"Now then, if Illumia asks where I went, don't tell her anything; that's an order from the Crown Prince." Added Elif with a smirk as he activated the Voids Cloak and disappeared from everyone's divine sense, except his grandparents, but they minded their own business.