Volume 3 Chapter 258

Volume 3 + Chapter 258: End of The Journey

After seeing the other’s reaction, Xia Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

Her guess had been correct.

Fox Radish (Yue Liu) had certainly had plenty of Chuunibyou episodes in front of her own kin and had probably become a hallmark of her within the Fox clan.

The fox who had just doubted her earlier must have done so because her behavior was different from Yue Liu’s usual Chuunibyou style.

Because of that, Xia Yi’s string of statements — which sounded cool, but even she didn’t fully understand — had, as expected, convinced them.

“Your Highness the Princess, are you intending to return now?”

“Of course,” Xia Yi nodded, “this land full of the ignorant holds me no attachment. Now that the dark mission has been completed, I shall return to the other shore of paradise! Ferryman, depart at once!”

“I understand.” The straw-hatted woman nodded.

Xia Yi was a little surprised — the woman was amazingly adept, how could such meaningless nonsense be forcefully interpreted so plausibly?

The little town gradually became shrouded in thick mist.

Xia Yi saw a flickering light drifting out of the fog, when it reached her, she realized it was a large boat in the river, upon which several fox clan members stood.

“We should go back.”

The straw-hatted woman removed her hat.

Xia Yi also noticed the woman had revealed her true appearance and was no longer hiding it with an illusion — the fox ears atop her head were visible.

The fox clan’s large boat then lowered its gangplank and came to a stop before Xia Yi.

“Heh heh heh, the ferry to paradise has finally arrived…”

Xia Yi deliberately struck a pose, filled the air with a very Chuunibyou aura, walked up the gangplank, and boarded the fox clan’s vessel.

Seeing her earlier Chuunibyou performance, the fox clan members all saluted.

“Welcome, Your Highness the Princess!”

Then the remaining foxes boarded, the gangplank was pulled up, and the ship set sail.

Departing from that small town, they sailed for a while and then entered the Rhine Kingdom’s main waterway.

“Wait, we must perform a routine inspection!”

On the river, the fox clan’s ship was intercepted by the Rhine Kingdom’s knights.

“An emergency has occurred in the Rhine Kingdom. All vessels must be searched before passing!”

Xia Yi felt somewhat nervous and went down from the deck into the cabin.

At first she thought the Temple Knights would come aboard to search.

The fox clan quickly negotiated with the Temple Knights.

After an explanation, just as Yue Liu had said, the Temple Knights soon left the ship, they did not conduct a search and instead issued papers exempting the vessel from further inspections.

Yue Liu had already explained that the Fox clan and the humans had allied, so there would be no trouble.

“From here on, you can pass through without obstruction.”

Xia Yi walked out of the cabin and sat on the railing. The fox clan’s vessel sailed on the glittering waterway, leaving the Rhine Kingdom behind.

Pop—

A school of fish swam by in the river, blowing bubbles.

The little princess smiled.

Her journey in the human world had come to an end.

She had already planned how, after leaving the human world, she would find a pretext to go ashore, leave a note behind by herself, slip away quietly, and then return to the Dragon Realm.

Her thoughts had already flown from the human world back to the Dragon Palace…

…

…

Rhine Kingdom, the Sanctuary.

Heavy bells tolled above the Sanctuary, white doves flew across the dim sky, shedding white feathers.

A grieving priest read the eulogy, and the Temple Knights removed their helmets to mourn.

This Black Swan incident had inflicted grievous losses on the human world.

The Temple Knights — formerly the human world’s strongest military force — had suddenly lost nearly one quarter of their number.

Of the four Grand Knight Captains, the army led by the Silver Edge Knight was slaughtered by the dragon during the Black Swan incident.

Anyone who had been to Black Swan City had been shocked by its state, it had become a veritable city dyed in blood.

This event shook the human world to its core.

Now the bodies of the knights who died in Black Swan City had been brought back.

The Temple Knights were holding funerals for the fallen.

Those attending were not only Temple Knights but also representatives from across the Rhine Kingdom’s society.

For example, the Rhine royal family, the Rhine Prime Minister representing the Schubert family, the head of the Morrison family representing Rhine Alchemy, the chairman of Rhine Commerce representing the Rothschild house, and even the headmaster of Laurel Academy…

This funeral had reached the scale of a state funeral, anyone of modest standing would attend. It was the grandest funeral held in the human world in recent years.

Yet strangely, as representatives of the Temple Knights, only three Grand Knight Captains were present.

Given the current circumstances, the Knight Princess should absolutely be in attendance.

But she was absent — how could that not be odd?

“Has the Knight Princess not arrived?”

Among the guests, some nobles whispered.

“It appears so. Even the ceremonial address for the Temple Knights was given by the Fearless Knight. In a circumstance like this, who besides the Knight Princess would be qualified?”

“I heard that the Knight Princess hasn’t shown her face since the Black Swan incident.”

“My relatives in the Temple Knights say the same. The Knight Princess seems to have shut herself away, she refuses visitors and has been like that for a long time.”

“She must have been deeply struck by something.”

The Fearless Knight furrowed his brow as he heard these remarks and turned his gaze.

Under that admonishing look, the whispering nobles immediately fell silent.

Sigh.

Fearless Knight sighed inwardly — what those people said was true, the Knight Princess had shut herself away, refusing food and visitors…

…

Tia knelt half-collapsed before the statue of the Human King.

Since returning from Black Swan City, she had been here alone.

She did not know how many days and nights had passed.

During that time she had not closed her eyes.

Countless scenes from memory kept circling her mind, never ceasing.

Meeting Wright for the first time, their date in White Swan City, the pain at learning of Wright’s death, later meeting Xia Yi, the promise with Xia Yi, learning the truth about Xia Yi, their parting again in White Swan City, the silver dragon steeped in human blood at Black Swan…

And many other things, humanity’s expectation of a hero, the hatred between dragons and humans, the vows she once swore under the Knight King’s gaze… so many memories.

She was the Spear Maiden, a descendant of the Human King, with strength far surpassing ordinary humans and revered as a hero by the people — seemingly omnipotent in others’ eyes.

Yet why did she feel so helpless?

No one could answer.

Reality felt like an inescapable whirlpool, dragging her deeper and deeper as she continued to lose things…

The blonde girl slowly lifted her head and looked weakly at the statue of the Human King. Her emerald eyes lacked their usual firmness and luster, like cold ash. Tears slid down her cheeks, she parted her lips and, in a hoarse voice, said:

“I can’t do anything…”