She Is Not a Witch

After the last opera performance, the response was extremely good. The theater suddenly became packed, with many picky regular patrons coming to experience it.

Unfortunately, Loranhil didn’t attend the next few times, and the effect of the program was ordinary, greatly disappointing these highly expectant guests. For a time, it even damaged the theater’s reputation.

The theater owner became very anxious, searching for the reason. Finally, he learned from Laniel that the hooded girl was Lady Philia’s new student. It was her presence that greatly improved the opera’s impact, achieving a qualitative change in effect.

Sadly, this mysterious girl never appeared again afterwards.

The theater owner promised Laniel that if she could invite that girl to perform again, he would pay 8 supernatural gold coins each time, which is about 80,000 cash.

“I’m not so easily bought off. She’s my good friend,” Laniel replied, waving her finger, then continued.

“So, you need to add more money,” she said righteously.

“Alright!”

The owner increased it to 12 supernatural gold coins per performance. It’s worth noting that inviting a famous songstress for a concert usually costs only 100 gold coins. This was an extremely high price, especially for just backstage singing.

“Deal~”

So, Laniel suggested that Loranhil perform at the theater a few more times to get more accustomed. This way, she wouldn’t be nervous when officially taking the stage later.

Lady Philia also agreed, though Loranhil’s shy appearance was cute, she still hoped she could showcase herself on a bigger stage.

As for Loranhil herself, because she had already put the merchant association on the right track during this time, and many matters had formed mature handling methods, her workload was much less than before.

So she gladly agreed, partly because singing was indeed interesting, and partly because she was very curious about Emenas Academy and wanted to go there later to have a look.

It was said that the academy’s principal was a great witch, the Witch of the Sealed Book, Lady Night.

On the other hand, under Melu’s leadership, the Helis Merchant Association also began to learn from Loranhil’s internal reforms, optimizing structure and processes, increasing some basic welfare guarantees, and establishing rewards to encourage the development of new products.

However, the Anemis and Nisos families haven’t been doing well lately. The former is due to a sharp decline in demand for jewelry and gems from nobles during the war, while the latter is due to the poisoned wine incident causing their reputation to collapse.

The Tisphone family, on the other hand, made a huge profit from the war, with various weapons being produced around the clock and sold to the increasingly tense Snow Flower Seven Countries.

Under these circumstances, Anemis and Nisos had to lean towards the Tisphone family. Originally the three families were equal, but now they gradually began to be led by Tisphone.

Given the current chaotic situation, this trend is likely to continue for a very, very long time.

And the Nisos fleet that was said to have gone to purchase rare brewing ingredients also returned. They were unusually low-key compared to usual, and their holds were exceptionally heavy. When unloading at the dock, a very few sharp-eyed people noticed that the wooden boxes were not filled with fruits and grains, but unknown items wrapped in thick oiled paper.

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A few days later, the news of the rebel army of Western Wind defeating the Lightning Knight Order hit like a huge stone thrown into water, causing massive waves.

For a time, discussions about this rebel army were everywhere in the Snow Flower Seven Countries. Riding this wave-like momentum, various parts of Western Wind began to revolt and declare independence. Even previously stable areas were now seething with undercurrents, conflicts erupting one after another, making things even worse for the already struggling Western Wind.

The situation of a wildfire spreading across the plains had formed. Among mountains and fields, internal communications of the kingdom were almost completely cut off. The once arrogant nobles could now only hide in their castles, anxiously guarding and waiting, waiting for a tomorrow they didn’t even know.

If even the lightning-bright Lightning Knight Order had been defeated, what else could Western Wind rely on?

There was still something—the once-great White Horses of Western Wind.

The founding monarch of the Western Wind Kingdom, Roland, was a prince of the White Horse tribe.

This tribe of grassland herdsmen was extremely skilled at raising horses. When Roland rose up, he led these warriors riding white horses to conquer north and south, establishing a great domain.

If Verdant hadn’t risen so quickly, the Snow Flower Seven Countries might have been unified long ago, instead of Western Wind merely existing as a league leader now.

After Western Wind was established, most of these warriors became nobles of the kingdom, but some remained on that grassland. Roland specially permitted them to use white horse banners to show their glory and valor.

Additionally, in the early years, the Thunder tribe guarding the Chaos Vortex had no cavalry. Later, Aeol married the daughter of the previous tribal leader, becoming the new leader known as the ‘Sword of Lightning’. It was Roland who helped him cultivate the Original Sequence 3 · Lightning War Horse, which then led to the establishment of the Lightning Knight Order and the covenant of wind and thunder.

Now that the lightning has faded, only the White Horses of Western Wind remain.

In this dire situation, the Western Wind royal family could only seek help from their ancestral branch, that White Horse tribe on the grasslands.

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“Father, I disagree!” A young man wearing a leather robe stood up, his expression agitated.

“Why should they live in magnificent palaces, enjoying all the glory, indulging in luxury, and now when faced with a life-or-death crisis, expect us to risk our lives to protect them!”

“Sit down, Daren.” A middle-aged man sitting at the head raised his hand, his voice heavy and unquestionable.

The young man sat down somewhat unwillingly, listening as the tribal chief continued.

“Western Wind and we share the same origin. Their ability to conquer this land back then was their own merit, nothing to be particularly jealous of.”

“Back then, King Roland of Western Wind granted the White Horse tribe permanent tax exemption, and to strengthen ties, each generation would recommend a suitable young woman to marry into the palace. We’ve always been related by marriage.”

“Every festival and ceremony, the Western Wind royal family would send appropriate rewards and gifts.”

“Even for admission quotas to Emenas Academy, the Western Wind royal family would give our tribe extra consideration, giving us more spots.”

“If not for this, Daren, with your aptitude, you might not even have been able to attend school.”

“These are things no one can deny, right?”

The various leaders of the White Horse tribe sitting below, who were initially agitated, now fell silent, because these were indeed indisputable facts.

The White Horse chief’s gaze slowly swept over everyone present, and he continued speaking.

“I know that in your hearts, you might still feel some unfairness.”

“But now is not the time to discuss fairness.”

“You wouldn’t be naive enough to think that after Western Wind’s downfall, we could still peacefully herd horses here, would you?”

“Whether it’s those rebels or the surrounding countries, in their eyes, we and the Western Wind royal family have always been one entity.”

“When Western Wind enjoyed glory, we benefited. When Western Wind committed sins, we would be implicated too.”

“The entanglement between us is already inseparable, so…” He paused briefly, then continued.

“Even if we know the cup before us is filled with bitter poison, we can only drink it down with resignation.”

“Whether in victory or defeat, we must repay these hundreds of years of grace with our blood and battle cries, to not disgrace the name of the White Horse!”

“This is our destiny.”

At this point, his tone finally softened, and those below him lowered their heads in gloom, no longer resisting.

“Now, begin summoning the warriors.”

“Yes!”

The leaders below responded in unison, then rose to leave the great tent.

Banners fluttered, white horses galloped, and tens of thousands of warriors began their journey to certain death.