Chapter 489
This is a branch that has diverged from this timeline, unique to its own...
The only variable in this timeline is the increasingly urgent and powerful voice of the Order of the God of Order and the Goddess of Salvation, which has begun to impose restrictions...
Xia'er felt a bad premonition rising in her heart...
She unfolded the letter and glanced at its contents, her brow furrowing slightly.
As she feared, the worst had indeed come to pass.
The powerful voice had begun to act out of desperation.
In this timeline, Xia'er had initially instructed Lucy to handle the corpse of the "Key Person," aiming to completely sever that line, making it appear as if Lucy was merely reporting a third-tier "Subverter" corpse for the sake of "merit."
But the real "Key Person" was still alive.
Thus, in the previous simulations, the powerful voice had not delved too deeply into investigating the corpse. Later, Xia'er, seeking stability, had Lucy secretly dispose of it.
But now, under the pressure of imminent death, the powerful voice had taken actions that defied logic... He had gone directly to the Dedton Group to demand the corpse. At this point, Lucy might not have had the chance to deal with it yet.
[The group wouldn’t dare offend the powerful voice; they might symbolically charge a fee and then hand over the corpse to him...]
[Xia'er, I have a bad feeling. I thought today was going to be lucky, but the lucky coin seems to have given me two ominous signs... Why would the powerful voice suddenly demand that corpse? Is something going to go wrong?]
Lucy knew that the corpse was real because she had witnessed the Key Person die right before her eyes.
But what she didn’t know was that Xia'er had made the Key Person "live" in the simulations.
If the powerful voice discovered that the real Key Person was dead, he would catch on and start investigating the person disguised as the Key Person.
The one who stood to gain the most from the Key Person's corpse, Lucy, who publicly claimed to have killed the Key Person, would become the primary target of the powerful voice's investigation.
And by extension, those around Lucy could also face scrutiny from the powerful voice.
Things were looking grim... Time was running out for Xia'er.
The powerful voice could discover Lucy at any moment, and even their stay at the Dedton member hotel was no longer safe. Their new residence was also property of the Dedton Group...
"Is Nia outside?" Xia'er asked Tara, looking at her.
"Yes, my lady Xia'er," Tara replied, lowering her head slightly.
Nia being outside meant that Aivina had returned to her room.
Xia'er immediately stood up, stepping past Tara and heading straight for the door. She opened it and went directly to Aivina's door, giving Nia a slight nod before knocking.
Before Aivina could respond, Xia'er turned the doorknob and walked in. Nia didn’t stop her; instead, she closed the door behind Xia'er.
Nia's duty at the door was to intercept outsiders for Aivina, and to her, Xia'er was clearly no longer an outsider, so there was no need to stop her.
"Hmm?" In the dimly lit room, with the curtains drawn, Aivina was changing clothes, seemingly preparing to put on her nightgown for a nap.
But upon seeing Xia'er at the door, she paused her movements and asked, "What’s wrong, Xia'er?"
Xia'er walked straight to the desk, picked up a quill, and quickly grabbed a sheet of paper, writing rapidly.
[There’s danger. The powerful voice is likely to find out about Lucy. We might be under surveillance.]
Dressed in a delicate lace-trimmed nightgown, Aivina had now approached Xiaer's side. Xia'er raised the paper to show Aivina its contents.
Aivina frowned slightly upon seeing the note.
"So soon?" she murmured.
After a moment's thought, she took the pen from Xia'er and wrote on the paper.
[When I returned, I saw many members of the Sword of the Queen... They seemed to be heading towards Lucy's residence, but I didn’t see the powerful voice.]
Had they already sent someone?
Had the Dedton Group sold out Lucy so quickly?
It seemed to follow the pattern of previous simulations: a little pressure from the powerful voice and the Order of the God of Order, and Lucy's position as executive director was suspended.
At that time, Lucy had just taken on the role, her foundation unstable, and now, without even officially starting her term, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone with conflicting interests or someone whose position Lucy had taken was the one to betray her.
Xia'er just hadn’t expected it to happen so fast...
Looking at Aivina's words, Xia'er fell into deep thought.
Now, the powerful voice's people were surely already confronting Lucy, and it was not long after Lucy had sent the letter...
Xia'er had to consider whether the messenger had exposed them.
The messenger was just a "gambler," and no matter how lucky he was, he couldn’t possibly evade the scrutiny of so many "detectives."
[Aivina, I need you to do something for me.]
After a long pause, Xia'er picked up a new sheet of paper and wrote this line.
"What is it?" Aivina asked, sensing the gravity of the situation, suppressing her own worries.
[You, take Nia, Adele, and Amy, and go find Duke Charles to seek his protection.]
After finishing this note, Xia'er set down the pen and turned to Aivina, showing her the paper.
Watching Aivina's mouth open and close, she slowly said, "Is it... already this urgent?"
"Very urgent," Xia'er nodded, not elaborating on just how dangerous the situation was. She trusted Aivina to make her own judgment.
Unless absolutely necessary, Xia'er would never ask Aivina to do something she was unwilling to do.
The powerful voice could come knocking at any moment, and the only way to get Aivina and the others to a relatively safe place was this.
"...Alright." Aivina nodded gently, not arguing with Xia'er, but quickly moving to the wardrobe, hastily putting on her clothes without even taking off her nightgown.
Seeing Aivina's actions, Xia'er felt a bit of her worry lift.
In the initial hundred-day simulation, Aivina had also chosen to return to the Russell family to rescue Xia'er, who was imprisoned by Princess Windsor. Xia'er was confident that Aivina could ensure her basic safety within the Russell family.
"I'll stay at the Dedton hotel. Trust me, I’ll be fine..." Xia'er tried to reassure her, but Aivina interrupted.
"Right now, you should have more important things to do than standing here," Aivina said, not even looking in Xia'er’s direction. She walked straight to the door, opened it, and then turned to Xia'er, saying slowly, "Don’t waste time."
This time, it was Xia'er who found herself at a loss for words.
Aivina left the room, seemingly to find others. When Xia'er stepped out, she only saw Aivina entering Adele's room.
Xia'er turned and headed back to her own room, taking the opposite direction from Aivina.
She closed the door and looked at Tara in the room. After a moment of silence, she said, "Tara, continue to follow me. It might get dangerous... If you wish, you can leave with Aivina and the others."
Upon hearing Xia'er’s words, Tara took a deep breath, knelt halfway, and looked up at Xia'er, saying, "My lady Xia'er, please don’t test my loyalty with meaningless sacrifices."
Xia'er took a deep breath and nodded slightly.
She walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and looked down at the street below.
The afternoon in Ansu was still unusually sunny, but the streets were devoid of the wealthy people who would usually come out to bask in the sun, replaced instead by the armored knights who occasionally sped by—the knights of the Sword of the Queen.
Across the street, a police carriage was still parked, but Xia'er saw a knight in silver armor approaching it, seemingly conversing with someone inside and handing over a letter.
That was Nia...
Along with Nia was Adele, her silver hair somewhat disheveled. She seemed not to understand what was happening as Nia pushed her into the carriage.
Amy was not currently staying at the hotel, so the carriage would likely have to make a detour to pick her up. Xia'er watched as Nia climbed into the carriage, which then drove off...
What about Aivina?
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