Aldrian was then brought to Baron Rosalind’s private study, where they could discuss the matter in private. Only Aldrian, Baron Rosalind, and Elena were present in the room, as Old Man York excused himself, saying he did not wish to disturb them.
After the tea was served and the maids had left, the atmosphere grew tense—at least for the baron and Elena, who were eager to learn what information Aldrian had obtained from the scarf.
Aldrian looked at both of them for a mont before finally speaking.
"I heard that the Rosalind family’s ancestor ca from outside the Atria Empire, if I may ask, do you know the exact ti when your ancestor arrived in this empire?"
This was information he had previously learned from Elena when she told him about the Rosalind family’s history during their first eting at the Larson Grand Duchy.
Baron Rosalind nodded. "Yes, our ancestor ca from outside the empire. According to our records, it was soti after the great war with the devils, around three million years ago."
Hearing the baron’s answer, Aldrian sighed.
"As expected."
As he pondered the details of the vision he had seen through the scarf, he knew that the phoenix ancestor had given the scarf, the divine-grade sword, and the Spirit of the Great Path guqin to a family nad Ragius. It seed that the phoenix ancestor had made so kind of agreent with that family in exchange for granting them her artifacts and cultivation techniques.
Now he knew that the phoenix Xin Haotian had ntioned in his story about the Everlasting Silent Forest was actually the phoenix ancestor. She had co to this place in the past, seemingly wounded by sothing. He suspected she had been trying to escape from or hide from sothing, which led her to arrive here with the dragon.
Xin Haotian had told him that millions of years ago, four guardian families protected the central part of the Everlasting Silent Forest. They had ford an agreent with the dragon and the phoenix. However, these families suffered imnse losses, and three of them were completely destroyed during the great war with the devils three million years ago.
Xin Haotian had also told him that his family, the Xin family, was the only surviving guardian family. They had long believed the others were completely destroyed, with no surviving mbers. However, Aldrian’s ergence from the secret realm provided Xin Haotian with a clue—there might still be survivors from the lost families, though it had yet to be confird.
But then a question arose: how had all those artifacts ended up in the hands of the Rosalind family? The answer was beginning to take shape, like pieces of a puzzle falling into place as the flow of past events beca clearer.
After thinking it through, Aldrian finally concluded that the ancestor of the Rosalind family was actually a survivor of the Ragius family. After the great war with the devils, so mbers of the Ragius family had managed to escape with their artifacts and eventually found refuge in the Atria Empire. But why had they beco the Rosalind family?
Although he wasn’t certain of the exact reason, Aldrian tried to put himself in the shoes of the Ragius family’s survivors at that ti. They had just endured the great war with the devils—enemies who not only knew their strength but were also aware of their deep connection to the dragon and phoenix residing in the central part of the Everlasting Silent Forest.
For a family that had already lost much of its power due to the war, they needed to find a way to hide from danger. One possible solution, Aldrian thought, was to create a new identity. After arriving in the Atria Empire, they would have forged a new identity for themselves and worked to establish their presence in order to recover.
The entire Atria Empire, which had also suffered destruction from the war, was unaware of the Ragius family’s existence. Aldrian imagined that when the imperial family discovered a group of strangers in the southern part of the empire, they had likely assud they were rely refugees.
Then another question arose—why was the Spirit of the Great Path guqin in the hands of the Losaris imperial family? His guess was that it had sothing to do with a secret agreent between the Ragius family and the imperial family.
It was well known that the Rosalind family held a unique position despite being only a barony. Their strength rivaled that of a dukedom—or even a grand duchy—yet the imperial family showed no interest in interfering with their affairs. Instead, they seed content to let the Rosalinds remain undisturbed in the southern part of the empire.
Aldrian had already heard from Marquess Xavier the envoy about a rumor that the Spirit of the Great Path was a gift from an unknown noble family.
This was yet another coincidence too significant to ignore, allowing him to piece the puzzle together. From his guess, the Ragius family had decided to offer the guqin to the Losaris imperial family in exchange for their non-interference in Ragius affairs. It seed they had also requested a noble status within the empire to conceal their true identity from the devils at the ti.
The imperial family, of course, gladly accepted the gift and granted the Ragius family what they desired. Having suffered great losses themselves, the Losaris imperial family was in desperate need of new strength. Aldrian reasoned that many of the survivors from that ti were likely the strong individuals—those who had managed to escape while also protecting their weaker family mbers.
To the imperial family, taking them in was hardly a loss.
Moreover, unwilling to invite further conflict or problems, the imperial family simply upheld their end of the agreent and respected it—especially since they had already received the artifact.
Another question arose—why did the Rosalind family seem completely unaware of their true history?
Aldrian guessed that the surviving mbers of the Ragius family hadn’t lived long after settling in the empire, leaving their descendants to continue their lives there. They likely hadn’t had enough ti to fully pass down their cultivation techniques or the true extent of their responsibilities to the dragon and the phoenix.
Their limited ti was not enough to engrave that responsibility in their descendants’ hearts, leading them to neglect it over ti. Moreover, having just survived a devastating war, their descendants likely wished to distance themselves from the Everlasting Silent Forest altogether.
As ti passed, their connection to the secret realm of the Everlasting Silent Forest gradually faded. Their identity as one of the guardian families of the forest was eventually forgotten, to the point that no records of it remained.
This would also explain why the direct descendants of the Ragius family—now the Rosalind family—could sense divine energy, even without understanding what it was. As the true descendants of one of the guardian families that once protected the Everlasting Silent Forest, they possessed a heightened sensitivity to divine energy due to their ancestral connection with the phoenix ancestor.
Aldrian knew that the phoenix ancestor had given them artifacts and a cultivation technique, making them a powerful guardian family. Because of this, the phoenix ancestor might have also taught them a thing or two about divine energy, which was likely connected to their cultivation technique. After all, their cultivation technique originated from a higher realm.
The last thing that still lingered in Aldrian’s mind was why the contract binding the Ragius family and the phoenix ancestor had not taken effect, even after they had long departed from the forest. He had a few guesses, but he couldn’t be certain without seeing the central part of the Everlasting Silent Forest himself.
He needed to see the dragon and the phoenix.
Hearing Aldrian sigh, the baron suddenly grew worried.
"Young master, is there sothing wrong with our ancestor?"
Aldrian shook his head. "Nothing. I just feel that eting the Rosalind family is truly fate."
The baron looked confused, but Aldrian continued.
"I already know, more or less, the truth about the Rosalind family’s past. But before that, I need to tell you sothing. Do you know the secret hidden within the Everlasting Silent Forest?"
"Well, what we know about that forbidden place isn’t much different from the common knowledge shared across the continent. The forest is shrouded in mystery, and anyone who steps inside is guaranteed to beco lost, never to return," the baron answered.
"However, all of that changed after the phenonon of the dragon and phoenix more than sixteen years ago. Many people who had been lost in the forest suddenly returned. I heard they had actually been trapped inside secret realms," Baron Rosalind added.
Aldrian nodded.
"I see. Then I have a secret to share with Your Excellency. Do you know that, in the past, there were secret families within the forest tasked with guarding the Everlasting Silent Forest?"
Baron Rosalind and Elena widened their eyes.
"Secret families? There were people living in that forbidden zone?" Baron Rosalind asked in astonishnt.
"Yes. In fact, there were four families who once lived in that forest. They were the guardians of the Everlasting Silent Forest."
"Wait, young master, my apologies, but before we continue, I must ask—where did you learn this information? For as long as history rembers, the Everlasting Silent Forest has been known as a deadly zone that traps anyone who enters. But now you’re saying that there were hidden families living there ’in the past.’ How can you be so sure?" Baron Rosalind asked, his expression filled with confusion.
Aldrian smiled.
"Well, it’s because of Xin Haotian."
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