273: Chapter 273 Caroline bids farewell! Inventorying the spoils! The witch arrives!

Golden Flame Castle.

When Rowan returned to the castle and stepped into the hall, he saw a familiar figure standing by the fireplace, quietly waiting for him.

Hearing the footsteps, Garuvi turned around.

She stepped forward and said softly, "Rowan, I need to go back to Cangyuan City."

Hearing this, Rowan's footsteps paused slightly.

He looked into her calm yet determined eyes and, after a brief thought, understood.

He was silent for a moment before asking, "Do you need any help? Going alone..."

Garuvi shook her head and said:

"I'll be fine on my own. There are still many people I know in Cangyuan City."

"Besides, my surname is also Lance..."

Rowan looked at her and thought for a moment.

Now that Duke Witton and Wizard Hurley were both dead, there were very few forces left in Will Province that could pose a threat to Garuvi.

With her strength as an Earth Knight and her familiarity with Cangyuan City, there shouldn't be any major issues.

Thus, he nodded:

"Alright. Then be careful with everything."

"If there's any problem, you can come back and find me at any time."

Garuvi revealed a faint smile at his words.

She took a step forward, stood on her tiptoes, and gently pressed her cheek against Rowan's, then said, "I'll be back once I've finished dealing with the matters over there..."

After saying that, she took a step back and, without lingering any longer, turned and walked toward the main gate.

Rowan stood in place, watching her figure gradually recede into the distance. He remained silent for a long while before turning back to return to his study.

The study was as quiet as ever.

He sat down behind the desk, took out three storage rings, and placed them on the tabletop.

These three rings belonged to Duke Witton, Wizard Hurley, and the Dawn Knight Mason, respectively.

He extended his mental energy into them and began to inspect them one by one.

The one belonging to Duke Witton had the largest internal space.

It was about ten meters in length, width, and height, making it much larger than his previous silver star ring.

He wasn't too surprised by this; after all, the Witton family had governed a province in the North for centuries, so it was only natural for them to have such a foundation.

He began to take inventory of the spoils.

What he cared about most was, naturally, the Perfect-grade Breathing Method, but unfortunately, it was not in any of the three storage rings.

It seemed that the control over the Perfect-grade Breathing Method was even stricter than he had imagined, he thought.

Then, he turned his attention to the other resources.

First was the hard currency: mana crystals.

Between various mana crystal vouchers and physical mana crystals, there were about ten thousand, which wasn't as many as he had expected.

Then there were gold coins, various gems, and so on, totaling over a million gold coins in value—also not particularly much.

In Duke Witton's storage ring, what caught his interest was a stack of letters and intelligence documents.

These included secret correspondence between Duke Witton and several high-ranking officials of the Imperial Senate, distribution maps of garrisons and lists of grain reserves for various cities in Will Province, and a summary of recent movements of major forces in the North.

These items held some value for him. After a cursory glance, he didn't intend to examine them in detail and planned to hand them over to the Cabinet of Female Officials for study.

Next was Wizard Hurley's storage ring.

Inside were piles of various supernatural materials.

As an Alchemist, a single Appraisal spell allowed him to see at a glance what most of the items were.

Dragon Blood Grass, Starshine Stones, Shadow Bat Wings, Abyssal Sulfur, and so on; most were high-level materials of great variety and significant value.

There were also some of Wizard Hurley's private notes, which recorded his research insights into various sorceries.

These weren't of much use to him, so he planned to give them to Aurora later.

Finally, there was Mason's storage ring.

This ring was the most exquisite, crafted entirely from platinum and encircled by intricate golden patterns, showcasing his noble status as a member of the royal family.

Every item inside was quite refined.

Several sets of exquisitely made royal formal wear, complete with emblems embroidered in gold thread.

A longsword, some secret letters stamped with the Imperial Royal Seal, and some magic items...

He looked through them one by one, his expression calm.

These things couldn't be called exceptionally precious, and none were what he urgently needed at the moment.

However, they would be quite good for bolstering the castle's finances.

Rowan sorted and organized all the items before standing up and walking to the window.

The night was deep.

The time was almost right.

Aurora should be arriving soon as well.

...

Wizard Tower.

The young witch, Miss Aurora, was rarely seen sitting before a mirror, carefully detailing her brows and eyes.

The mirror reflected a young and beautiful face.

Her long hair, which usually hung loosely, had been carefully combed and braided into a soft side-braid.

A few stray strands of hair hung by her ears, making her neck appear even fairer and more slender.

She pursed her lips at the mirror, then took out a coral-colored lip rouge. After a moment's hesitation, she applied only a thin layer to her lips.

It was elegant, yet it added a touch of vitality.

Having finished all this, she stared at herself in the mirror for a long while, her cheeks slowly flushing a deep crimson.

At the thought of what might happen next, her heart couldn't help but beat a few beats faster.

She raised her hand to touch her burning cheeks, took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down before looking up at the night sky outside the window.

It was almost time.

She let out a soft breath and quietly left the Wizard Tower, heading toward the castle.

At the castle gate, a senior maid who had already received orders was waiting for her.

When Sibyl saw Aurora appear, she stepped forward with a smile.

"Miss Aurora, the Lord is waiting for you upstairs. Please follow me."

Aurora looked over.

She was a young woman of about twenty, wearing a maid's uniform, with a delicate face and proper manners.

She didn't say much, only nodding slightly as she followed behind the other woman and began to head upstairs.

She had been to the castle many times, and each time she had been led to the study.

But this time, the maid in front was leading her to a higher floor.

Her heart beat even faster.

The further up the stairs they went, the softer the light became, and a faint scent of incense drifted through the air.

Finally, reaching the top floor, the maid leading the way stopped in front of a carved wooden door and raised her hand to knock twice gently.

A low response came from inside the room:

"Enter."

Sibyl pushed the door open, stepped aside, and gave Aurora a slight nod.

Aurora stood at the doorway and took a deep breath.

Then, she stepped inside alone.

The door closed quietly behind her with a faint click.

Inside the bedroom, the candlelight was warm and the light was soft.

Rowan was sitting on a lounge chair by the window, examining one of the spoils.

Hearing the door open, he turned to look.

Today's Aurora looked completely different from her usual self; she wore light makeup and a moon-white cinched dress, making her appear even more elegant and moving.

Rowan's gaze lingered on her for a moment, and a smile touched the corners of his lips.

He reached out his hand to her and said, "Come, have a seat."