Once Julius finished explaining, Nathaniel stood up slowly. A sly grin spread across his bruised face.
"I’ve got so spells from them. I’ll use those when I kill the envoy," he said, already turning the plan over in his mind. The idea clearly pleased him.
Julius gave a small nod. If everything worked the way he planned, this would hand them the perfect chance to crush the Valentina clan and finally give Rosalina the revenge she had waited for all this ti.
Rosalina could feel his determination. Warm pleasure blood inside her chest.
She didn’t feel any burden or guilt about it. That was just how things were between them.
If Julius wanted sothing, she would move mountains to help him get it. So of course he would do the sa for her.
She pushed the warm thoughts aside and turned to Nathaniel. "What’s the situation at the academy now?" she asked.
From what she could guess, the academy must be in rough shape.
So many students had died in the inheritance grounds. Recovering from that kind of loss would not be quick or easy.
Nathaniel looked at her and answered plainly, "The academy is closed right now.
Too many high-ranking students from big clans died. They shut the whole place down." He paused, glancing at their faces and bodies.
These two had jumped forward ten whole years in one go.
There was no way they could just walk back into classes like nothing happened. "Even if it opens again, you two can’t go back in."
Julius and Rosalina both nodded. They understood perfectly.
Truth be told, neither of them had any interest in returning to the academy anyway. Their next goals lay sowhere else.
"Alright," Nathaniel said, breaking the short silence. "You two should freshen up first." He turned to Elizabeth.
"All the things from the tower are with Eli. Once you’re ready, you can take them from her. There were quite a lot of good treasures in there."
"Yes," Elizabeth added with a bright smile.
"They are very good treasures. They will help with both of your cultivation." She reached out and gently touched Julius’s jaw.
It now stuck out stronger and sharper than she rembered from just a few months ago. She let out a soft sigh.
’Haa...’
It was all because of that annoyingly lucky boy who refused to die no matter what they threw at him.
She had plenty of questions about it, but she held her tongue. These two had just woken up after a long and brutal expedition.
Now was not the ti. "Alright. Your father and I will wait for you. Once you’re done, co to the dining room. We’ll eat together," she said, her smile warm and refreshing.
Julius and Rosalina nodded. They said their goodbyes and walked their parents to the door.
Once Nathaniel and Elizabeth stepped out, Julius closed the door softly behind them and turned back toward the bed.
Rosel, who had been quietly playing with Rosalina’s long black hair the whole ti, perked up the mont the grown-ups stopped talking.
She quickly stopped pretending to sleep, turned toward Julius with bright eyes, and spoke in the sweetest, most cheerful voice.
"Papa! Papa! Do you know how I got here?" Her words rang out like little bells, instantly pulling both Rosalina’s and Julius’s full attention.
Julius smiled softly and patted her head with gentle strokes. "How did you co here, sweetheart?"
"We ca through a big gate!" Rosel bead, her small face glowing with excitent as she made a gate while stretching her small tiny arms.
"Once I stepped inside, everything went whoosh and I vanished! Then I just appeared here. Can you believe it? Grandma and Grandpa were waiting, and Alfred too! I left him outside, but he popped up right behind . It was like a miracle!"
Julius listened, understanding her excitent completely.
The three floating continents were linked by special long-distance gates that only important people could use.
Rosel had spent her whole life locked in a cell, so sothing this simple felt like pure magic to her.
As he watched her bounce with joy, a playful idea popped into his head. His lips curved into a teasing smirk.
"By the way," he said with a soft chuckle, "you didn’t seem surprised at all when you saw Papa and Mama looking like this."
He waved a hand at their tired faces and bodies. Then his expression turned mock-offended, eyes narrowing in fake hurt.
"And you didn’t even cry for Papa when he was lying there unconscious. Don’t you love Papa anymore?"
He tilted his head, pretending to be deeply wounded, while Rosalina tried hard not to laugh at his dramatic act.
Rosel’s expression shifted for a split second.
Then she quickly put on her best "I’m above all of you" face, the exact sa look Rosalina wore when she stared down at soone.
"Bleh!" she snorted, puffing her cheeks out like two pink balloons. "Papa, you’re all grown up now. You really think I don’t see through your silly act? You think I would cry? Hmph!"
Julius’s face instantly turned wronged, eyes wide with fake pain.
Rosel’s little frown and proud tilt of her head were a perfect mirror of Rosalina back when she hadn’t confessed yet.
Even without any blood relation, the girl had copied her so exactly it was almost scary.
"Liar," Rosalina cut in, her voice dripping with amusent.
The mont the word left her mouth, Rosel’s proud face crumbled.
She darted forward and slapped both tiny hands over Rosalina’s mouth. "Mmmph!"
"Ohh? Is that right?" Julius’s smile turned sly and mischievous. He leaned in closer, clearly enjoying himself. "Go on, Mama. Don’t stop now."
Rosalina easily pulled Rosel’s hands away, laughing softly.
"She never left your side for days. She cried like a little baby the whole ti, ’Papa, Papa, wake up! Don’t leave , please! Please, Papa!’" Rosalina imitated the shaky, tearful voice perfectly. "She even cried in the bathroom so no one would see!"
"Shut up!" Rosel’s whole face burned bright red. She scrambled desperately to cover Rosalina’s mouth again, but it was no use.
Rosalina kept going, eyes sparkling with humor.
"And she even fell asleep right here on the bed, hugging your arm. You should have seen her little puffy face, cheeks all wet, nose running, the works."
Rosel let out a tiny, embarrassed squeak and buried her burning face into Rosalina’s shoulder, trying to hide from both of them.
Julius couldn’t hold back his soft chuckle, while Rosalina’s shoulders shook with quiet laughter.
The room filled with warm, playful energy as the little girl squird between her parents’ teasing.
*******
A/N: Rosalina’s new apearence, click on the comnt.
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