The Anomaly Beyond The System

After the clash between the two women finally came to an end, the throne hall gradually fell silent once more, though the freezing air and the aftermath of their battle still lingered throughout the hall.

Nivelle finally continued the conversation, immediately asking the real reason behind Valentina’s sudden arrival.

Because the sooner this conversation ended...

The sooner this troublesome woman would hopefully leave her Duchy.

But the moment she heard the answer—

"...What?"

"What?"

Both Nivelle and Alaric spoke at almost the exact same time, their voices unusually quiet as they stared at Valentina, who was once again lounging comfortably upon her floating throne, leaning back as though nothing had happened.

She waited patiently.

"...You mean to tell me..."

Nivelle slowly spoke, her expression completely blank.

"You... You... you came here..."

Her voice trembled ever so slightly, her expression growing both confused and colder at the same time.

She didn’t even finish her sentence.

Instead, she took a slow breath before her cold lips parted once again.

"...Just because... you wanted a few ice-related skills?"

The air around her trembled, and for a brief moment, it felt as though the entire throne hall would freeze over once again.

But Valentina...

"Yes. I want some good ice-related skills."

Silence.

Once again.

Nivelle and Alaric stared at the woman for a long while, searching for even the slightest sign that she was joking.

But no...!

There wasn’t a single trace of it.

Valentina’s face remained completely straight.

If anything, she actually looked mildly annoyed that they were taking so long to answer such a simple request... even after she had come here so politely... after she had asked them so kindly.

She could’ve simply broken into their treasury or kidnapped a few nobles until they handed everything over.

But instead...

She had chosen to ask.

Wasn’t that already generous enough?

After several long seconds...

Alaric quietly inhaled, and seeing the increasingly dangerous expression forming on his wife’s face...

He decided it would be wiser if he spoke instead.

"Lady Valentina," he said calmly.

"May I ask why you require ice skills?

As far as I’m aware, you aren’t capable of using affinity-related skills due to your—"

He immediately stopped speaking as two burning golden eyes quietly settled upon him.

The warning within them couldn’t have been more obvious.

Alaric smiled awkwardly.

"...Ahem."

Valentina simply clicked her tongue.

"You don’t need to know my reasons. Just hand over a few decent ones."

She paused briefly before adding,

"Preferably ones that humans can use."

Alaric’s brows subtly rose.

"Humans?"

Before Alaric could ask another question—

"Valentina Scarlett."

Nivelle’s icy voice echoed sharply throughout the throne hall.

"Either you give us a proper explanation... or simply get the fuck out of my castle."

Alaric quietly glanced at his wife with a faint, amused smile, watching the number of reactions she was showing...

All because of the redhead.

’That’s her charm, I guess.’

His gaze returned to Valentina, who had fallen unusually silent.

For once...

She actually seemed to be thinking.

As much as she preferred simply taking whatever she wanted by force...

She knew Nivelle would chase her to the ends of the world if she took something without giving a proper explanation.

"...Sigh."

She let out a long breath.

"My disciple requested that he wanted them," she said simply, placing a subtle emphasis on the word ’requested’.

"And you are the best when it comes to ice affinities."

After saying those words, she fell silent once more, offering no further explanation.

Yes...

That was the reason behind her visit.

Or rather...

Her invasion.

Even though she had originally told Lucian to figure out a way himself and search for suitable skills on his own...

For some reason...

The image of that disappointed expression on her disciple’s face lingered in her mind, stirring something inside her.

In the end...

Against even her own expectations... she had come all the way here herself.

Just to obtain a few ice-related skills.

Even though she still wanted to beat him into a pulp for shamelessly stealing nearly every weapon she had lent him, she had still come here to grant another of his requests.

"...Tsk."

Valentina quietly clicked her tongue.

’I’ll have to tortu—train him a little more to calm myself down.’

She slowly nodded to herself, a strange yet faintly beautiful smile appearing on her face as she expected even greater progress from her disciple the next time they met.

Nivelle immediately noticed her expression but didn’t say anything.

Both she and Alaric continued staring at Valentina, their faces filled with confusion.

Disciple?

Which one?

And more importantly...

Who exactly was capable of making the notoriously troublesome Scarlett Duchess personally travel across kingdoms...

Just to obtain a few skill books for them?

"You remember the last time you came here, right?"

"...Hm?" Valentina frowned at the unexpected question.

She rested one hand against her chin.

"...Maybe a few months ago?" she answered after thinking for a moment.

Nivelle’s lips twitched.

"...A few months?"

She repeated quietly.

"It’s been fifty years since I last saw that irritating face of yours, and now you’re telling me the reason you finally decided to visit... was for this?"

"What? Did you seriously think I came here because I wanted to meet you?"

Valentina looked at her in confusion, a look that practically screamed, ’Have you finally gone senile?’ appearing on her face.

But this time, the Everfrost Duchess didn’t react to her words.

She quietly narrowed her eyes.

"Who exactly is this disciple of yours?

I don’t remember any of your previous disciples possessing an ice affinity.

...Or...

Did you take in someone new?"

Valentina’s expression remained unchanged, but seeing the subtle, barely noticeable twitch across her face, Nivelle immediately understood.

"I see... so you did."

A faint smile slowly appeared on Nivelle’s lips, and even Alaric’s expression shifted with curiosity.

"Tsk."

Valentina clicked her tongue.

"Enough talking. Just hand over the skills... or else..."

She slowly rose from her floating throne, her feet calmly stepping onto empty air.

Yet she stood there as though she were standing upon an invisible floor.

The overwhelming pressure that had only just subsided descended once again, threatening to engulf the entire Everfrost Duchy.

"I’ll just have to empty your entire treasury myself."

The atmosphere inside the throne hall instantly became suffocating.

Even the groans and guttural screams coming from the mangled yet still-living guards fell silent.

The entire castle became deathly silent.

Nivelle’s icy-blue gaze remained locked onto Valentina’s for a while longer, silently contemplating something.

Or rather...

She was simply testing Valentina’s patience for her own satisfaction.

Just as Valentina was about to decide to blow up the entire place—

"...Fine," Nivelle finally spoke, her voice completely calm.

The suffocating pressure instantly eased.

"Good~"

Beside them...

Alaric quietly released a breath he hadn’t even realised he had been holding.

His shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

Still...

His fingers continued tapping lightly against the armrest of his throne.

’Just who could this disciple be... for her to come here for this sole purpose?’

Nivelle had the exact same thought.

Though she didn’t care... at least, not right now.

She was naturally curious, especially after hearing that Valentina had taken a human as her disciple—the misunderstanding created by Valentina’s earlier words.

The mention of human-compatible skills had naturally led both of them to assume that her disciple was a human.

But right now...

There was only one thing on Nivelle’s mind.

To make this madwoman leave her Duchy as quickly as possible.

Nivelle slowly shifted her gaze toward the unconscious guard, whose body was encased in solid ice.

With a light snap of her fingers, the ice shattered.

Before the man could even understand what had happened, Nivelle calmly ordered him to bring several S Rank ice-related skill books.

Valentina had already made it clear that she didn’t want anything too powerful, since Seraphina, with her current talent, wouldn’t be able to use overly complicated or high-level skills.

Yes.

She reminded herself that she wasn’t doing this for her greedy disciple.

It was simply because of... someone she didn’t even properly know.

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