Volume 1 Chapter 120

Volume 1 + Chapter 120: Going Together

Eve frowned slightly. “Uncle and aunt?” In her memory, Pipim had never seemed to mention such relatives at all.

Thinking back carefully, ever since Eve first met the little girl, the only person Pipim repeatedly spoke of was her mother, the existence that, to her, was almost her entire world.

Seen this way, back in Pipim’s hometown, she was not actually completely without support.

She did have guardians. Even if the relationship was not especially close, they were still, in principle, people she could rely on.

Even so, Pipim’s fixation on food remained unchanged. That obsession could almost be said to come second only to her determination to find her mother. A child so young, with relatives looking after her in her hometown even if life was unpleasant and she had to live under someone else’s roof would still be far better off than wandering the imperial capital as she did now, even being forced to rummage through trash bins just to fill her stomach.

Thinking of this, a complicated feeling quietly arose in Eve’s heart.

Her gaze sharpened slightly as she pondered further, and the more she thought about it, the more something felt off. Pipim clearly had her own reasons for refusing to stay with her uncle and aunt and those reasons were unlikely to be trivial matters that could be brushed aside.

“Logically speaking, the subsidies provided by the Empire should have been distributed regularly and in fixed amounts. There shouldn’t have been any major issues.”

Eve spoke softly, her tone carrying a hint of contemplation.

“Yes. And if I remember correctly, that child has quite a large appetite, doesn’t she?” Chancelianne seemed to have thought of something as well and nodded gently. “Her mother specifically instructed us to pay special attention to the child’s needs regarding food, so I have always been particularly careful in providing preferential treatment in that regard.”

As she said this, Chancelianne lightly clapped her hands, her movements elegant and composed.

Two young maids in neatly arranged attendant uniforms quickly stepped forward at the sound, standing respectfully at her side with lowered gazes, listening attentively to her instructions.

“Go and handle it,” Chancelianne said gently, yet with an authority that allowed no doubt. After giving a few brief instructions, the two maids answered in unison, “Yes.”

They then left the room one after the other, their footsteps light and perfectly coordinated.

Before long, the two maids returned, carefully holding a thick, heavy file in both hands.

The file was striking at a glance, its sheer thickness was enough to make one gasp, fully twice as thick as an ordinary dictionary.

The condition of the file was far from pristine. It had clearly been flipped through and consulted countless times. Although its owner had evidently taken great care to preserve it, the marks of repeated handling were unavoidable on every page.

The paper had yellowed slightly, and some areas were even damaged from excessive touching. The edges bore obvious signs of wear, giving it an old and cumbersome appearance.

Chancelianne took the file, her eyes falling on the thick stack of pages as her fingers casually flipped through them.

Despite the sheer volume of its contents, she appeared completely at ease. Without needing to examine it closely, she precisely turned to the page she needed.

“Everything is recorded here, exactly as expected,” she said calmly, then pushed the file directly toward Eve. On the cover, two conspicuous characters stood out starkly—Top Secret.

Chancelianne’s action showed no hesitation at all, as though the contents of the file were not something that needed to be concealed.

It was not that the words “Top Secret” were merely for show. Rather, for Eve, there was no need for concealment.

For imperial classified documents of this level, if an ordinary person dared to peek at them without authorization, they would likely not survive three days.

Whether considering the importance of the contents or the Empire’s regulations, any reckless handling of such secrets would be met with merciless punishment. Yet now, this file was being pushed before Eve without the slightest reservation, more than enough to demonstrate that Chancelianne’s trust in her had reached an almost absolute level.

This trust was not merely Chancelianne’s personal stance; it also subtly conveyed the position of the imperial royal family. Through this file, they were showing Eve that in matters concerning Pipim’s arrangements and all related affairs, their duties had indeed been fulfilled, with nothing concealed.

Eve’s gaze swept over the thick file, and she could vaguely guess what it contained.

Judging by its heft and level of detail, the people Chancelianne needed to look after were far more than just Pipim alone. The relatives of those researchers, or of other elites serving the Empire across various fields, likely numbered at least in the thousands when counted together.

That was no small number, every single one required proper arrangements.

Even while holding a position of immense authority, Chancelianne had never treated this as a responsibility to be casually delegated. Instead, she did her utmost to handle matters personally. This level of care and meticulousness, amid the entanglement of power and endless imperial affairs, was already the utmost limit of what she could give.

That said, this was, after all, an important hidden line of the Empire, and those responsible for its operation from top to bottom were certainly confidants of the Empire’s three great powers.

After all, there was an element of secrecy involved…

Thus, the possibility of those tasked with execution lining their own pockets was extremely low. Thanks to the Emperor’s governance, the loyalty within the imperial royal family was, in fact, far higher than that of the Church system.

Those who earned the trust of the Empire’s three great powers would gladly bare their hearts to prove their loyalty.

The degree of internal unity was almost absurd because in their eyes, nothing mattered more than the stability and development of the Empire.

Taking all this into account, the problem could most likely lie in only one place…

That was Pipim’s uncle and aunt.

Eve examined Pipim’s records once more. Pipim’s hometown was located in a relatively remote small village.

And her uncle and aunt naturally lived in that same village.

Pipim’s mother could truly be called exceptional. Both she and Pipim’s father were top graduates in magic studies from the Church Academy.

Later, after they married and had Pipim, the family moved to the countryside, back to Pipim’s father’s hometown.

They had originally thought that with a child, they could live a period of peaceful, stable days together. In their view, the simple and rustic life of the countryside would be better for shaping Pipim’s character.

But later came a major imperial research accident, the very incident that became the “reason” Pipim’s mother was sentenced to death.

That severe accident, which caused the deaths of countless imperial knights, was not only Pipim’s mother’s downfall; it also claimed the life of Pipim’s father.

Whether out of obsession with that failure or for some other reason, Pipim’s mother chose to continue her research.

No matter what, she was determined to fully perfect that set of magical formulas, perhaps because she did not want the knights, nor her husband, to have lost their lives in vain.

“Shall we go and investigate together?”

After Eve finished reviewing the materials and looked up, Chancelianne immediately asked, as though she had been waiting for this moment all along.

“To this village?”

Eve was slightly puzzled. Would Chancelianne, as the Empress of the Empire, really lower herself to personally investigate such a place for Pipim’s sake?

“Yes. Even if I hadn’t invited Miss Eve to accompany me, I would have gone myself to look into it. After all, this matter should rightly be my responsibility.”

“I think, since the two of us share the same thoughts, we might as well go together.”