Timeline Player

"Because the Demon Kingdom is the Duchess's suzerain state," Aston said, "although it enjoys enormous autonomy."

Chi Que was completely stunned.

That can't be right, can it? The information he received in the past clearly indicated that the Duchess's title came from the Kingdom of White Azalea!

How did it turn into a demon kingdom?

Or is this the same country's name at different times? He recalled the gold coin Isaac had given him, which had a dragon design on it. If that's the explanation, everything seems to make sense.

He remained calm, nodded slightly, then turned around and returned to his temporary residence.

He had countless questions that he needed to find answers to.

The night outside the window gradually deepened.

......

Past timeline.

"Alright." Chi Que took a step back and looked Ke Lei up and down. The maid in front of him had completely changed.

She was exactly like a rustic village girl, completely different from the white-haired maid from before.

"Okay, it's done." Chi Que breathed a sigh of relief. Now there should be no risk of being recognized.

To conceal Ke Lei's identity, he disguised her using detective's disguise techniques.

In addition, he inquired further and confirmed that she seemed unaware of the Mirror Image incident.

This made Chi Que inexplicably feel relieved.

"Come on, I'll take you out to the market to buy some things." He pushed open the shop door.

Although he planned to investigate the princess's affairs, he had no leads at the moment and could only take it one step at a time.

The streets were already bustling with people in the early morning, and some shops were preparing to open for business. Ke Lei followed half a step behind Chi Que, scanning the unfamiliar surroundings as if she were ready to run away at any moment.

Chi Que deliberately slowed his pace, pointing to the small shops along the roadside and explaining, "That's a potato shop... that's a blacksmith's shop... that's a bakery, but the food there definitely won't taste as good as ours..."

But Ke Lei only glanced at it occasionally, and most of the time her gaze was lowered, staring at the stone path under her feet.

As the two turned the corner, the market was almost within reach, but he noticed that it seemed unusually noisy today.

"What happened?" Chi Que wondered to himself, glancing at Ke Lei. "Can we go somewhere crowded?"

She nodded slightly, but kept glancing in that direction, perhaps still feeling a little uncomfortable.

The market is now completely surrounded, yet a peculiar, crisp scent still lingers in the air.

In the very center of the crowd, on a large flatbed cart, lay a tree that had been brutally felled.

The bark is a warm, ivory-white color, and the tree is laden with lemons, which are silvery-white on the surface and plump in texture.

"This is..." Chi Que took a deep breath, sensing a strong elemental aura within it.

This is an extraordinary plant with a quality of at least purple. How could someone cut it down and sell it on the market?

What he didn't notice was that behind him, Ke Lei's slender wrist, hidden under her sleeve, was now silently bulging with several hideous, twisted blue veins, pulsating like living things beneath her pale skin.

However, her expression remained blank, as if the intense physiological reaction had nothing to do with her.

Chi Que quickly spotted a familiar figure in the crowd. Vincent was also squeezed in the crowd, craning his neck to look at the lemon tree, his face a mixture of shock and a hint of greed.

"Vincent!" Chi Que squeezed through with Ke Lei.

"Ah, Manager!" Vincent saw Chi Que and quickly moved closer. "You've heard the news too?"

"What news?" he asked.

"The Moon Tears Lemon Tree," the merchant pointed to the tree. "Legend has it that it was formed from the tears of the moon goddess and has always grown in the southern oak forest. I never expected that someone would cut it down today."

Moon Goddess?!

Thinking of Lamia's request and the Duchess's strange lunar phase, Chi Que immediately asked, "Moon Goddess? I have never heard of such a deity, nor is she recorded in the church's scriptures."

"Hey." Vincent waved his hand. "That's just local folklore. If you ask me, it's just a somewhat magical tree."

The old man next to him immediately glared at him angrily.

The businessman fell silent.

Local folklore?

Chi Que frowned, observing the reactions around him.

"This is outrageous!" Most of the onlookers' faces were ashen.

The Moon Tears lemon has been growing in the area for so long, and many people have discovered it over time, but no one has ever cut it down. At most, people would pick the fruit to sell. But today, it has been cut down.

Vincent lowered his voice and told Chi Que, "I heard that the caravan that cut down the tree was a passing caravan. They rested in the oak forest last night and happened to find the Moon Tear Lemon Tree, so they cut it down."

This seems to explain the discoverer's audacity.

After all, they weren't locals, so cutting down the trees and selling them whole would be more in the caravan's interest.

"Why?" Chi Que wasn't angry at this moment; instead, he was surprisingly calm. "Even if it's a passing caravan, aren't they afraid of incurring the wrath of the locals by doing such a thing?"

He didn't believe the caravan would be so short-sighted. This place was, after all, a duchy. If they offended the locals, they would have to take a detour in the future, and the losses would probably far outweigh the gains.

"This..." Vincent couldn't explain either: "I don't know either, but the caravan was unusually fearless, as if they weren't worried at all about retaliation from the local lord or the people."

Chi Que glanced at the caravan leader, an exceptionally strong man, surrounded by several guards, all tall and burly. He showed no sign of tension, but rather an arrogant air of watching a good show.

As Vincent said, they were waiting for buyers to bid, ignoring the angry stares of local residents.

The guards were sweating profusely as they maintained order and separated the crowd. Most of the people, though angry, dared not step forward due to the guards' pressure and could only watch helplessly.

"Perhaps, it was the local nobles who ordered the caravan to cut down the trees," Chi Que thought thoughtfully.

Normal caravans don't have that much power.

He noticed that this time, the leader was no longer the original captain of the guards, and the guards around him were much more serious than usual, but it seemed to be out of fear.

"It seems the original captain of the guards is probably missing, his fate unknown." He recalled the terrified expression on the other man's face as he left, and looking at Ke Lei beside him, he couldn't help but silently mourn for him for three seconds.

Okay, now you can laugh.

However, even with the guards trying to stop it, public resentment continued to rise and could erupt at any moment.

Thinking this, Chi Que and Ke Lei quietly shielded the onlookers in front of them.

If a fight breaks out later, don't let the blood splatter on me.

Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, a commanding voice suddenly rang out from afar: "Clear the area!"