The next day, Ina discussed future plans with Vilanthe.
Since Vilanthe was Yaihela's only child, Ina would definitely provide her with protection, so that she would not be under the control of the church for the rest of her life. However, Ina also knew that Vilanthe would not be content to enjoy her protection and stay by her side for the rest of her life; she had a grander goal.
"You want to pursue the highest power, not like your father, a puppet king, but a queen who holds real power and can shake the church, right?" Ina accurately pointed out Vilanthe's ambition.
Vilanthe trembled, her secret revealed, she lowered her eyes: "Aren't you going to ridicule my wild thoughts?"
Ina did not answer, but said, "My goal is to become the richest merchant, but now I can't even get 200 gold coins out, nothing is impossible, I believe in human effort."
"If you really want to become a queen, I will do my best to help you," Ina said frankly.
After a little hesitation, Vilanthe still spoke out her immature development plan: "My father gave me his territory as a prince - the lord token of Ferminston, but I can't be sure whether the officials and army there will obey me, so I want to learn magic and become stronger before going to Ferminston. I know that without a strong army and people who recognize me, I can't compete with the church."
Ina was pleased that Vilanthe had relatively careful thinking and a calm attitude. Everyone around her was trying to make her into a fragile and delicate rose, but Vilanthe still grew into a tall spruce.
"Then let's start with the first-grade textbooks of the Star Academy, I'll find time to teach you magic."
Vilanthe happily nodded, and heard Ina ask: "You want to become a queen, is your purpose to revenge against the church that hurt your mother, to break free from a controlled life, or to let the people of the Orlan Empire, live a different life?"
Vilanthe was about to answer, but Ina stopped her: "This question is not for you to answer now. You are standing in the capital of a powerful country that stands shoulder to shoulder with the Orlan Empire. It has a different system and atmosphere from your country. Vilanthe, you need to not only learn magic and the knowledge in textbooks but also go out and see how the world operates, then think about what you want."
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Elvys was not doing well lately. He thought he could endure the curse on him for a long time until he found a solution or returned to eternal tranquility.
But the continuous weakening of his strength made him unable to resist the negative emotions that were creeping up on him. He felt angry, tense, and irritable. This was not a good sign, indicating that he was on the edge of a dangerous cliff, and could be shattered with a slight negligence.
Elvys was shaking a vial of a transformation potion, and Asland by his side said helplessly, "You want this potion that turns you into a cat, do you still want to go back to the Mist Town to find that lady?"
"No," Elvys' eyes were soft, "She's in the imperial capital now. She was sitting below at the ceremony that day."
Asland followed Elvys to the outside of the Dragon Flame Restaurant, watched the duke turn into a black cat, and slipped into the door lightly, without even giving him a glance.
He sighed and was about to turn around to leave when he ran into an acquaintance.
"Knight Commander!" Donne was surprised to see Asland, and stepped forward to salute him.
Asland had a good memory. When he saw Donne's face, he remembered that he was a member of the Knight Order who was sent to Neranka for punishment because he slapped a noble. According to the time, he should have returned from Neranka by now.
But the knights' outpost is clearly far from here, why would Donne come here to eat? When Asland asked this question, Donne embarrassedly laughed: "I know the owner here. And the food in the restaurant is really good. Did you come here to eat too?"
Asland couldn't help but sneer: What a strange owner, she knows so many people. Clearly, she was just a small-town restaurant owner. It's understandable that Elvys knows her because of an accident, and it's okay for Principal Helena to invite her to attend the ceremony. But Donne, who just came out of jail not long ago, how did he get so familiar with her?
He didn't want to stay here for too long to avoid attracting the attention of those peeping from the dark, so he said casually, "Sort of, I'll leave first."
Donne, who was left standing in place, was puzzled: "Just eating, what does he mean by 'sort of'?"
The black cat slipped in through the door, skillfully weaving through the tables and chairs and jumping onto the bar.
Lusen, behind the bar, was startled. When he saw the familiar red pupils of the black cat in front of him, he showed an expression of surprise. "Oh, you're back?"
But then, Lusen's expression became a bit awkward and flustered. He quickly looked back, as if looking for something. Elvys also followed his gaze, but there was nothing.
He gave Lusen a strange look, and Lusen quickly covered up his previous expression. He put on a guilty smile: "Are you hungry, do you want to eat something?"
The black cat jumped onto a nearby table, extending its paws slightly, the meaning was self-evident.
Lusen personally brought the food: doughnuts and hawthorn milk.
The doughnut was shaped with two small ears, covered in black chocolate sauce, and with white sugar lines drawn into eyes and whiskers. It was obviously a lifelike black cat. The hawthorn milk was served in a cat paw-shaped cup, and the milk with hawthorn presented a gentle pink, making the transparent cup look cute and pink.
When Elvys left, the restaurant have so many cat-related foods. This made him feel a bit smug deep down, maybe Ina did miss him a bit, even though she didn't say it out loud. And when his eyes moved to the picture frame on the wall, the content of the frame just changed from a landscape to a black cat with red eyes being stroked on the head, Elvys felt his assumption had been confirmed.
Elvys ate the black cat doughnut in a good mood and generously didn't mind that the cup Lusen used for him was completely inappropriate. If a cat drinks water from a cat paw cup, it means it can only drink the top layer. Unless its cat face can fit entirely into the cup.
The duke would not do such an inelegant action. He jumped off the table and made a round in each room. He didn't find Ina, but he did find a little girl with green hair. She was not a staff member of the restaurant, and he had never seen her before.
The black cat's eyes swiveled, and he remembered, his subordinates had reported that Princess Orlan had gone to work in a restaurant. It turned out to be the Dragon Flame Restaurant.
After coming to the Dragon Flame Restaurant that day, Ina arranged for Vilanthe to live in the room behind the restaurant and suggested that she work in the restaurant while studying some magic knowledge. The Stars Academy was next door, and although she couldn't help to enroll Vilanthe, Vilanthe herself didn't have that much time to receive systematic education from the academy, but Ina would find a way to get her some books. If there was a chance in the future, perhaps she could occasionally attend a few classes at the academy.
Learning that Ina had a past relationship with her mother, and receiving the precious remaining relic from her mother through Ina, Vilanthe trusted Ina immensely, even to the point of admiration. Even though Ina didn't seem much older than her, Vilanthe still regarded Ina as an elder and obediently followed Ina's arrangements.
Now, Vilanthe was suddenly looking at a black cat with red eyes, and she was taken aback. Black cats were considered omens of misfortune, and were to be expelled or killed on the streets of the Orlan Empire, let alone this black cat had sinister crimson eyes, making it look even more dangerous. However, seeing that the black cat was not flustered when it saw people, maintaining a casual demeanor, Vilanthe calmed down and began to suspect that it was being kept by someone.
Here, keeping a black cat might not be a strange thing, after all, this was not the first black cat Vilanthe had seen since she arrived in the Silver Capital. Vilanthe cautiously extended her hand and softly called out. The black cat did not come over to befriend her, but turned and walked away.
Vilanthe went out to ask Lusen, "What's the deal with this black cat? Why did it suddenly run into the room behind the restaurant? If it wasn't for its red eyes, I would have thought it was Miss Ina..."
Vilanthe didn't continue, because she saw Lusen, with a conflicted face, put his finger on his lips, seeming to want her to be quiet.
"This is a black cat that Miss Ina once kept. The restaurant wasn't here at the time. Then one day, this black cat left. I didn't expect it to be able to come back..." Lusen lowered his voice, "It's very smart, it can understand our language."
Vilanthe suddenly understood, "You're worried that it knows..."
Lusen's mood infected her, and Vilanthe also lowered her voice, "But it will have to face this fact. Poor little cat."
Elvys looked at the two whispering people, quite puzzled. What were they murmuring about?
A familiar voice came from behind, "Vilanthe, I heard that the first-grade textbooks from the academy that I bought for you will be delivered today. Has anyone delivered them yet?"
Elvys turned around, meeting a pair of astonished eyes.
Ina was holding a round black cat in her arms. Its fur was shiny and smooth, it was lying docilely in Ina's arms, its green eyes curiously sizing up Elvys. Meanwhile, Ina's hand was stopped at the chin of the black cat, but she hesitated to make a move.
"Black cat? You, you're back?" Ina's expression was a bit awkward. She lightened her grip, and the green-eyed black cat jumped down. When it landed, it was like a very elastic dumpling, visibly trembling.
Lusen and Vilanthe looked at each other, exchanged a helpless glance, and dared not make a sound, dutifully becoming the background.
"This, this is Coalball. You should get to know each other..." Ina looked at Elvys.
She actually named this cat?! She didn't even give a name for herself!
Coalball curiously approached the cat brother who looked very similar to him. The two cats squatted together on the table, only then could the differences be seen.
Apart from the fact that one had red eyes and the other had green, Coalball was obviously plumper, with round eyes and chubby cheeks. Cute, but not very smart looking. The other one was slimmer and handsome, emotions clearly visible in his eyes, although now these emotions were mostly filled with anger and shock.
The chubby Coalball moved a few steps, trying to smell the scent of the cat brother. Elvys, who was in a bad mood, let out a low growl from his throat. Before he could do anything, Coalball jumped down from the table in a flurry, burying its head in Ina's feet, its long tail brushed against her foot.
Was it doing it on purpose?