When Elizabeth Douglas learns that her husband has been killed by the robbers who cut the path, she immediately begins to wonder if this was a real accident. Her conclusion was "yes", and apart from the many clues that prove it, it would do no one the slightest benefit to hire someone to kill the weak Mr. Douglas.

The only witnesses to Mr. Douglas's death were local farmers hiding in the grass. In the confusion, the horse pulling the cart was hit by an arrow and fell into the cliff with the carriage. As long as he, the supreme ruler of the Douglas family, Elizabeth Douglas, did not lose his mind, the Douglas family could handle the incident in the first place and make the daring robbers pay the price in blood.

But when the further report was sent to Elizabeth, Elizabeth felt tricky again.

It wasn't Elizabeth's own will to recruit that stupid man into the Douglas family in the first place. Elizabeth Douglas was a talented mage from an early age. So, despite the young Elizabeth Douglas's fierce opposition to the marriage, she finally had to compromise with reality and marry the man she despised – a declining aristocrat from the Empire. Twenty years later, all the men who forced Elizabeth Douglass to marry have been killed or expelled by her, but the marriage has continued......

In fact, as she grew older, Elizabeth Douglas found that she was actually quite satisfied with her declining aristocratic husband who had achieved nothing. He will not give any advice to himself, and will be content with the life of a marionette, serving the interests of himself and his family. In particular, the only daughter of the two, Victoria Douglas, also has no less talent than herself, which makes Elizabeth very proud.

Incidentally, although Victoria was not yet sixteen years old, Elizabeth was already planning a marriage for her daughter, looking for a man who would obey her in the future as her husband, just as the elders of the family had done for her.

But now, her husband is dead, which has brought new troubles to her. To make matters worse, she and her husband fell off the cliff with the carriage along with a box of dangerous spellcasting materials, many of which involved forbidden spells.

At the behalf-time assignment of his wife, Mr. Douglas often secretly helped the family acquire "special" items. If the news of the Douglas family's involvement in the forbidden arts is made public, it will not only become a big scandal for the family, but also increase Speaker Nicholas's distrust of him.

When the Douglas family arrived, the vital little box was picked up by the local farmer. Not understanding the value of the box, he gave it to a local farmer. The farmer had been a mage apprentice for a while in his youth, and although he didn't become a full-fledged mage, he understood how dangerous and important the casting materials in the chest were. He made a high price for the Douglas family, or else he would have to reveal the secrets in the box.

Thinking of this, Elizabeth felt resentful of her husband. Why didn't he bring a few more guards? In any case, there is only one thing left for him to do now, and that is to take back the precious materials from the other party. Many of these spellcasting materials are highly poisonous, and any misstep can lead to irreversible consequences.

After some thought, Elizabeth Douglas came up with a name. Oungels, a distant relative of the Douglas family. He has a wide range of friends and knows a group of black and white characters, and he can organize an attack to recover the spell materials, and then disguise it as a bandit.

Soon after nightfall, Elizabeth had a secret conversation with Oengels. As Elizabeth had thought, Oengel agreed to her offer and demanded a sum of money in return.

As Elizabeth expected, Oengel took care of everything well. When the news of Mr. Douglas's death spread, Elizabeth, like every woman who has lost her husband, wept bitterly and accepted the comfort of others. The misfortune that happened to the farmer spread later, when another group of "bandits" raided the family's fields, killing several farmers and killing the man.

Elizabeth was very pleased with the result. She knew that O'Engels must have reclaimed what belonged to her.

……

Night.

Elizabeth was in the study dealing with unfinished business. Every now and then, his young daughter, Victoria, comes to help him with his work, but today, Victoria is late.

Victoria was nowhere to be seen.

Elizabeth suddenly had a sense of foreboding. The mage walked briskly to the door, intending to ask the guard where her daughter was.

But the door to the study opened by itself.

A middle-aged man in his mid-forties stood in the doorway. He was dressed in a simple gray cloth robe, with messy hair, a hooked nose, a sallow complexion, and a gaze like a torch, like a falcon staring at its prey.

Elizabeth had no idea that the person in front of her would appear in front of her at this moment. The tidal wave of fear made her unable to move, and cold sweat trickled down her forehead. Even in the face of the dragon, Elizabeth had never been so frightened.

"Your expression is amusing, Ms. Douglas," the visitor smiled, "for the first time I've seen you look like this. ”

Elizabeth took a deep breath. She knew she was done, but even so, she would struggle with all her might.

"Greetings, Honorable Speaker." She bowed slightly to the visitor and took a few steps back to make way for a pathway. The Vice-Chancellor, Commander of the Commonwealth of Occad, and the most powerful legendary mage, Nicholas Best, walked straight into her study. This study is owned by successive heads of the Douglas family, and for the first time in decades, a person other than Douglas has walked in and asked the head of the family to stand and greet him.

"Nice room." Nicholas Best was slightly impressed. His leather boots tapped lightly on the red stall beneath his feet. His gaze scanned the room, past the fireplace and the antique wooden desk, and finally landed on the full shelves. He strode to the bookshelf, picked up a book and began to read.

"The fiery clouds on the horizon / are countless foxes burning with flames / the sun rises / and the foxes scatter / illuminate their faces for the sky......" Nicholas Best casually flipped a page and read aloud, seemingly pleased with the poem's contents. After reading a poem, he closed the book and placed it heavily on the desk.

"Elizabeth Douglas, Collected Poems," he said sarcastically, "you wrote it in your native dialect – why not use the lingua franca?" ”

"I was an ignorant maiden then, and my lord," replied Elizabeth respectfully, "and I always thought that the language of my native country was more beautiful than the lingua franca." ”

"More beautiful...... Nicholas Best smirked, "yes." I see it that way, too. The lingua franca is nothing but a banal language. In the vast expanse of the Union, only half of the nations speak the lingua franca, and we have to ask the children to study them seriously. Like your poems, they are very well written. ”

"You have a good reputation, great Mr. Speaker," said Elizabeth, "and for the mages of the Douglas family, this is also part of the cultivation. It is only with full imagination that we can truly master the art of spellcasting...... Master eternity. Nothing stimulates the imagination more than poetry, Mr. Speaker. ”

"Well said," said Speaker Nicholas Sensen, "I feel a little nostalgic to hear it." But how many years have you not written a poem? ”

Elizabeth shook. What is the speaker trying to express?

"Twenty years, Speaker." The mage replied with a shudder.

"Twenty years," said Speaker Nicholas...... in a deep voice, "you haven't written poetry since you got married." I thought you might be different from those pretentious fools, but that's not the case. I still remember your family's motto ...... 'Fools mistake the transient for eternity, and the true eternal exists in the interval between eternity and transience', but unfortunately, when the little genius grows up, she herself becomes a fool whom she despises. ”

Elizabeth fell to her knees.

"Please forgive me, Speaker!" "Believe me, my family and I will always be loyal to you!" I was just...... Just ......"

"I'm sure you've always been loyal to me," Speaker Nicholas grimaced, "but you know what I don't like. I have a gift for you. ”

Speaker Nicholas, the most powerful legendary mage of the Okad Federation, raised his hand slightly. A black object fell in front of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's trembling gaze fell on the round object, which was bloodstained, the head of Oengels. Oengels' eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe what was in front of him.

"Do you know why I'm punishing you?" Speaker Nicholas asked coldly.

"I ...... Not only did he get involved in the forbidden art that he couldn't touch, but he also wanted to hide the truth from you...... "Elizabeth knows, it's too late to say anything.

"In my land, attack my people......" Nicholas' eyes twinkled, "your arrogance has ruined everything." How shall I punish you, you say, Lord Elizabeth? ”

Elizabeth did not speak for a long time.

"Allow me...... Commit suicide. Eventually, the mage spoke with difficulty, and O'Engels' bloody head reminded her that this matter could not be done by resigning from her position as head of the house. Even if you take all the responsibility on your shoulders, you have to protect your family.

But Speaker Nicholas Best shook his head.

"Don't say that, Lady Elizabeth," he said, "you have not done too much over the years compared to the other old families. ”

"Ask the Speaker to decide." Elizabeth said respectfully. She knew that the only thing she could do was to honestly obey the Speaker's fate and seek a chance to survive.

"From today onwards, I will seal your spell casting powers," Nicholas Best said calmly, "It must be painful to lose your husband. I will look for you in a secluded manor where you can spend the rest of your life in peace, away from the hustle and bustle of politics. You can bring some books and write as much poetry as you like, Lady Elizabeth. ”

"Yes."

"As for the Douglas family......," Speaker Nicholas thought for a moment, "your nephew, Arngus Douglas, will take over as Patriarch." I will reassign him to his position. ”

Elizabeth was taken aback.

"Wait, Speaker!" She hurriedly said, "Then my daughter, Victoria Douglas......"

"You are not well informed, Lady Elizabeth," said Speaker Nicholas Best solemnly, "and you do not know what your daughter has done. ”

"How-"

"I don't know if you told her or if she eavesdropped on herself. However, yesterday's conversation with Oengels, it seems that she knows it all. Little girls at this age are always very rebellious...... Same as when you were younger. ”

He took out a note from his bosom: "This was found by your servants from your daughter's room." I'll take it with you, Lady Elizabeth. This is also your retribution. ”

Elizabeth knelt on the ground, and the note that fell to the ground caught her eye:

[To Mother:

I already know what you and Mr. O'Engels are planning. I can't believe that when my father died, you wanted to make sure of your own shady sorcery more than you grieve for him. Don't try to look for me, even if it's for my father, I'll be happy alone.

Daughter, Victoria. 】

"Angry runaway, huh?" Speaker Nicholas mocked, "I'm not interested in your family affairs. But unfortunately, running away from home at this juncture, no matter what her original intentions were, did not help. ”

"No...... Please...... I beg you ......" For the first time in twenty years, Elizabeth felt pain and despair deep in her bones. She suddenly realized that she wanted to keep her children more than her own death or the loss of power in her family...... The only child.

"It's not your fault," Speaker Nicholas whispered, "when a genius mage runs away from home with a hot head, those subordinates can't stop it. I've secretly sent a team to find her even across borders. I hope to bring her back as well...... But if she resists, even if she brings back a corpse, I won't let her go to another country. ”

"No...... Please...... It's true...... Victoria was still a child...... She is so good, she will definitely be able to ...... in the future."

"But if it is an enemy, the greater the potential, the sooner it should be eliminated," said Speaker Nicholas pityingly, "and you know that in her capacity, as long as she crosses the border without permission, she can be punished for treason, Lady Elizabeth." ”

Elizabeth's eyes darkened. She couldn't hear anything anymore. The last thought on her mind was to pray for her daughter's safety. Thousands of miles away, in the French state of Elrios, "Victoria Douglas" is still sleeping peacefully.