187: Chapter 187 The Little Nightingale's Request

By the floor-to-ceiling window, on the recliner.

Elena was held in Rowan's arms, her anxious mood settling slightly.

She took a deep breath and said: "The edge of the Mist Forest... something has happened again!"

Her voice still carried a hint of urgency, but it was much steadier than when she had first come in.

"After you returned from your great victory at Black Mountain City, things were indeed quiet for a while there."

"Everyone thought it was over."

"But starting last week, the magical beasts from the depths of the forest have started coming out again, and they are more ferocious than before."

"Knight Lexie, you remember her, right? My retainer. She personally led a team to patrol the edge of the forest, wanting to find out what was going on."

Saying this, her voice lowered: "As a result, they encountered a group of maddened magical beasts. Knight Lexie suffered quite serious injuries."

"Among the dozen or so people who accompanied her, several died, and most of the remaining ones were also injured..."

She closed her eyes, paused for a moment, and continued: "And in the villages near there, quite a few villagers have died in the last few days."

She sat up straight in his arms, took a somewhat disheveled letter from her waist, and handed it to him.

"Lexie begged me in the letter to ask you to personally go to the Mist Territory."

Elena's gaze was fixed intently on his eyes, her voice trembling slightly: "She said she suspects that the wizard in the depths of the Mist Forest is brewing something..."

Upon hearing this, Rowan took the letter and unfolded the paper.

The handwriting on the letter was neat, though a few strokes appeared somewhat rushed.

He read it word for word, then put the letter down and began to ponder with interest.

The guy in the Mist Forest had indeed behaved himself for a while after he returned from his great victory at Black Mountain City.

He had more important things to do before, and he didn't know the opponent's strength, so he hadn't thought about dealing with it.

Unexpectedly, after just one peaceful winter, the opponent couldn't hold back anymore and started to stir again.

He had also roughly guessed the opponent's strength.

So, he lowered his head, met Elena's beautiful eyes full of expectation, and chuckled: "Don't panic."

"This time, I will accompany you there and completely resolve this problem."

Elena's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this: "Really?!"

"Of course." Rowan's tone was relaxed: "Go and prepare. Tell Helena and have her arrange the itinerary and the carriage convoy. We will set off as soon as possible."

"Mm!" Elena nodded vigorously.

She lifted her head, quickly planted a kiss on his cheek, and then got up to leave to make preparations.

Rowan smiled and whispered to himself: "Just in time to test my blade on you."

...

Mist Territory, first floor of the castle.

Inside a simply furnished council chamber.

Lexie and Iris sat opposite each other, with several maps and patrol reports spread out before them.

The daylight from outside the window spilled into the room through the high windows, and both of them had their brows slightly furrowed.

Knight Lexie was in her early forties, with short dark brown hair neatly tucked behind her ears, and her left shoulder was bandaged with white gauze, from which specks of scarlet blood seeped.

Knight Iris, who sat opposite her, was much younger, about twenty-five or twenty-six.

Her long dark red hair was tied into a neat ponytail at the back of her head; her face was delicate, and there was an unyielding stubbornness in her brows and eyes.

She was wearing a set of knight's armor, and in her hand, she was unconsciously twirling a quill.

Silence spread between them for a long time, finally broken by a low sigh.

Lexie's voice carried a hint of undisguisable worry: "Do you think... the Young Lady can persuade The Count to come here personally?"

Iris heard this, was silent for a moment, put down the quill in her hand, and said: "Should... be able to. I heard that the Young Lady has always been living in The Count's castle."

Just then.

A commotion suddenly came from outside.

A servant entered and said: "Lady Lexie, Lady Iris, a carriage convoy has arrived outside the castle, flying the flag of the Golden Flame Earl Manor."

Lexie and Iris looked at each other, both seeing a hint of surprise in the other's eyes.

They stood up almost at the same time, walked quickly out of the council chamber, and climbed onto the walls of the castle's main building.

Standing on the wall, the view suddenly opened up.

On the official road below the castle, a small carriage convoy was heading towards the castle.

At the front of the convoy were two knight guards riding tall horses, their armor bright and clear; one could tell at a glance that they were elite.

In the center of the convoy was a large, dark-colored carriage. On the side of the carriage, a flag embroidered with the Golden Flame emblem fluttered in the early spring breeze.

The flag of Count Golden Flame!

Lexie and Iris looked at each other again.

This time, a genuine sense of relief erupted in both of their eyes.

Lexie revealed a smile, the first in a long time, and shouted to the guards below the wall: "Quick! Open the gate quickly!"

"Prepare to welcome The Count!"

The castle gate slowly opened with a creaking sound.

The servants and guards inside the castle quickly lined up on both sides of the gate to welcome them.

The convoy slowly drove into the castle.

The carriage came to a stop.

Rowan stepped directly out of the carriage.

Elena followed closely behind, also leaned out, got off the carriage, and stood by Rowan's side.

She was wearing a loose lavender dress, covered by a thin cloak of the same color; her slightly protruding belly was not conspicuous under the cover of the clothing.

But Knight Lexie and Knight Iris, who were there to welcome the carriage, were both Official Knights and were very sensitive to the aura of life.

Both of them were stunned and looked at each other.

Their gazes lingered on Rowan for a moment, then looked at the Young Lady standing beside him with a calm expression, and could only pretend not to know.

The two stepped forward quickly, knelt on one knee together in front of Rowan, lowered their heads, and said in a loud and respectful voice: "Mist Territory Knights Lexie Braewood and Iris Frain, pay respects to The Count!"

Rowan's gaze swept over them, and he nodded slightly: "Rise. You two knights, please stand up."

Lexie and Iris stood up.

Elena stepped forward, naturally took Rowan's arm, turned to the two retainers, and smiled as she introduced them: "Lexie, Iris, this is Count Golden Flame, Lord Rowan Flynn."

She turned to Rowan again, pointing to the two knights: "This is Knight Lexie, who watched me grow up, and now she is in charge of all the affairs of the Mist Territory."

"This is Knight Iris, once the most outstanding swordsman among the young generation of the Farrell Family."

Saying this, Elena's voice was a bit low, but then she cheered up and said: "Thanks to them, I could practice with peace of mind."

Rowan looked at the two, nodded, and subconsciously used the system to scan their scores.

The scores were quite good, and it was clear that both had extraordinary traits, but since their children were already running around, he was not interested.

He turned to the side and signaled a female knight behind him, wearing the uniform of a City Guard officer, to step forward.

Then he said: "This is Commander Portia, Deputy Commander of the City Guard, and she is my capable right-hand woman."

"You can get to know each other; perhaps there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future."

Portia stepped forward, nodded slightly to Lexie and Iris, and said in a concise and powerful tone: "Portia West, Deputy Commander of the Gino City City Guard, nice to meet you."

Lexie and Iris also quickly returned the salute.

After the three briefly greeted each other, Lexie turned to the side and made a gesture to lead the way: "The Count, Young Lady, please enter the castle first to rest. I have already prepared the detailed report."

The group crossed the drill ground and walked along the stone steps into the castle's main building.

Although the interior space of the castle was not as spacious and luxurious as Golden Flame Castle, it was kept clean.

After they were seated in the council chamber.

Lexie did not make too much small talk and directly spread the patrol reports, casualty statistics, and several oral records of survivors from the past week on the table, and began to detail the latest developments in the Mist Forest.

Her account was more detailed and more severe than Elena's retelling in the castle.

She pointed out that the frequency of magical beast attacks in the last week was higher than the previous few months combined.

Moreover, the behavior patterns of those magical beasts had changed significantly.

They no longer wandered and tested the edge of the forest as before, but began to attack groups of people in an organized manner, as if driven by some unified will.

She suspected that the guy in the depths of the forest, suspected to be a wizard, was plotting something.

At the same time, it seemed that there were more unidentified outsiders at the edge of the forest, and it was unknown what they were doing.

Rowan listened quietly, thoughtful, and then said directly: "Since that is the case, then there is no time to lose. Let's set off immediately."

As soon as these words were spoken, the council chamber was quiet for a moment.

Knight Lexie was slightly stunned, clearly not expecting this Count to be so swift and decisive.

But she looked at Rowan's calm, waveless eyes and felt the absolute self-confidence in that composure.

She tactfully did not ask more, just nodded solemnly, turned around, and walked quickly out of the council chamber to arrange guides and accompanying guards.

A moment later, a streamlined team gathered at the gate of Mist Castle.

Rowan, Portia, Lexie, and selected Mist Territory patrol members and City Guard members formed a twenty-person team and set off.

Elena wanted to go with them, but was kept behind by Rowan. Although she was a bit reluctant, she also knew that her current physical condition was indeed not suitable for going deep into dangerous situations, so she could only watch the team leave.

On the wall, Knight Iris also remained to guard the castle.

Her gaze swept almost imperceptibly over the Young Lady's belly beside her, wondering what she was thinking...