The Royal Palace

Celine felt she could no longer tolerate that shameless man. Even if she had to endure the wrath of Duke Deltar, she decided it was time to put an end to it.

Involving the two influential families, Geen and Delta, in a divorce was not just a private matter between them anymore; it had become a politically sensitive issue touching the nerves of the kingdom. Though determined, the most important thing before all this was Princess Claire's condition. If Baroque could really cure her, then without a doubt, the king and queen would stand by her and support her.

"Orc, do you know what it means to kill a noble mage?" Turgi, showing no sense of being a prisoner, stared at Baroque coldly. "It means that even with Lady Celine's protection, you cannot escape punishment... a punishment of death."

"Is that so? Then may I assume that since death is inevitable for me, why not kill another mage and enter the realm of the dead together?" Baroque's hand had a dagger, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, lightly placed on Turgi's neck, tracing a circle. The sharp blade brushed against his neck, sending a chill down his spine.

Turgi, feeling terrified, shouted at Lady Celine, "Keep this damned orc away from me! I am a mage, a noble mage...! If you let this orc harm me, even if you are the queen's sister, you must give the academy an explanation. Your reputation will be completely ruined. Do you really not care anymore?"

"Baroque, let him go!" Celine's mood was somewhat low as she spoke to Baroque. Baroque sheathed the dagger, watching Turgi with amusement, making the mage extremely uncomfortable.

Celine raised her head and said to Turgi, "I won't kill you, but being a Countess of the Empire is not to be trifled with. I will hand you and the dead man over to the king, and let the king decide your punishment. I have nothing to hide; let those with dark hearts say what they will!"

Baroque knew what to do. He reached out his palm and struck Turgi's neck, causing the mage to faint.

"Take him to the palace tomorrow. Tonight, you watch over him," Lady Celine said without looking back as she walked upstairs.

Seemingly still being Lady Celine's nominal attendant, this kind of thing did indeed require Baroque to handle it. Scratching his head, he saw Rak dozing off beside him and couldn't help but angrily pat its head, "You brat, if you had bitten both of those guys to death, there wouldn't be so much trouble now, would there? Now I have to stay up late to watch over them... No, I'm assigning this task to you, brother!"

Baroque dragged one person out of the living room, casually tossing him into the small garden outside, then kicked Rak out of the room and returned to his own. Leaving behind the tearful and aggrieved earth dog... It was clearly you who wanted them alive!

...Divider Line...

The next morning, a magnificent royal carriage sent by the palace arrived at the academy. The king's personal attendant came to pick them up. Upon seeing the scene outside Celine's house, he couldn't help but be stunned... Two people lying on the ground, lifeless, while an ugly earth dog was standing up, shaking its fur and elegantly peeing on someone's face, followed by a scream that startled countless birds flying away! "Damn dog, get away, get away...!"

"Rak, can't you keep quiet?" Baroque pushed open the door and walked out, somewhat groggy. After all the commotion last night, he hadn't slept well. ...And why did I say "we" in the last sentence? Because Lady Celine came down from upstairs, her eyes also slightly darkened.

Both of them walked out almost simultaneously, both with dark circles under their eyes, completely seen by the king's personal attendant... A group of crows was making a ruckus in his mind, setting his imagination ablaze!

Of course, as the king's confidant, he knew that there were some things he had to pretend not to see even if he saw them. Bowing politely, he said to Lady Celine, "Lady Celine, their Majesties are waiting for you at the palace to have breakfast together. Please come with me and don't keep their Majesties waiting too long."

"All right, Mr. Yuruban, we'll be right there," Lady Celine replied hurriedly, turning back to her room. This haggard appearance was not suitable for meeting the king and queen. Fifteen minutes later, she finally returned to her elegant and beautiful self, walking out and getting into the carriage. Baroque didn't have this privilege. If the king really let an orc into the royal carriage, then their dignity would be lost, becoming the laughingstock of the entire continent.

Once again, Sara was left here to watch over... with Rak. The carriage left, and Baroque followed on horseback. As for the two mages, one dead and one alive... Since Lady Celine intended to carry out her decision, they were key evidence and were also taken to the palace.

The palace was not far from the academy, and the royal carriage soon arrived. Though very grand and magnificent, after seeing the astonishing Mage Tower of the academy, the palace seemed somewhat diminished.

Entering the palace, the guards naturally would not allow dead people and prisoners to enter, so Turgi and his companion were temporarily detained aside. The carriage passed through the royal garden and stopped at a fairy-tale-like small building. This was Princess Claire's exclusive world, specially built by the king and queen for their beloved daughter.

"Their Majesties and the princess are waiting for you inside, Lady Celine. Please follow me," Yuruban said, at the same time sternly admonishing Baroque behind him, "Orc, this is Paddington Palace. Mind your manners."

Accustomed to human discrimination, Baroque's expression didn't change at all as he followed Lady Celine into the small building. As if nothing unpleasant had happened yesterday, the king accepted Lady Celine's greetings with dignity, and Baroque only bowed, kneeling in humility was simply out of the question. Yuruban was already furious, thinking his own negligence had allowed the orc to act so presumptuously in front of the king, just about to reprimand him, but King Korek waved his hand, "The orc is uncouth, but understandable. Yuruban, you may leave."

The personal attendant bowed hurriedly, suddenly remembering something, and whispered a few words in the king's ear. The king immediately frowned, looking at Celine. Celine briefly recounted what had happened last night, hiding nothing.

Yuruban, standing beside the king, suddenly felt a chill emanating from the king and knew the king was angry. He naturally wouldn't know that the king wasn't angry about the dirty business of Duke and Duchess Delta, but rather was regretting... Fortunately, the orc was fine. If the attacking mage had succeeded, then wouldn't his daughter's last hope be lost?

"Detain that mage," the king ordered coldly, turning to Celine with a gentle tone, "I will make certain people give you a satisfactory explanation."

"I trust you, Your Majesty. But for now, let us go to Claire. Nothing is more important than her situation."

The king nodded, stepping towards the bedroom, with Celine and Baroque following him into the princess's room.

Despite the slight improvement from the green arrow squirrel, Claire had fallen into a coma again this morning, and Queen Susan stood by the bedside, her eyes red from crying. Seeing Celine and Baroque enter, Susan stood up and embraced her sister, tearfully looking at Baroque with a helpless and expectant gaze, "Baroque... Shaman, please do your best. I can't bear to lose my baby... I'll die of heartbreak... Even though you, the orc, seem so young and even immature, I have no choice. I can only place my last hope on you."

"I will do my best, respected queen. Not for your position and power, but for the love of a grieving mother for her daughter!" Baroque said, then walked to the bedside, staring at the pale and bloodless girl who was in a coma.

The relationship between the king and Baroque had turned cold after their confrontation yesterday, each harboring no goodwill toward the other. They had an unspoken agreement; if Baroque could heal Claire, the king would do everything in his power to preserve the lives of Baroque's people. Conversely, if Baroque couldn't save his people, he would only watch them die in the arena. In any case, Baroque couldn't afford to be careless about this matter.

Everyone walked out of the room, and Baroque softly chanted shamanic spells. A faint light appeared on his hand, gently touching the girl's forehead, and he closed his eyes slowly.

Ever since stepping into the shamanic temple, the sphere in Baroque's mind had stabilized. This sphere, called the "Soul Sea" by orc shamans, was similar to the Spirit Sea of ​​human mages. However, it was filled with a completely unique power called "Soul Force," more mysterious and unpredictable than the spiritual power in the minds of human mages. After all, the primary purpose of a shaman's Soul Force was not to cast magic but to communicate with all living creatures.

Baroque's Soul Force was completely different. They also used it to communicate with natural elements, but it was only one aspect of it. It wasn't primarily used for casting magic. The greatest use of Soul Force was to communicate with all living beings. This process was extremely mysterious and inexplicable, just like Baroque and the Frost Wolf Rak. After their communication, Baroque naturally and effortlessly learned the wolf's magic, Frost Blade, and even developed an almost telepathic connection. Now, they could almost know each other's thoughts through eye contact, but they completely didn't understand the process.

Baroque vaguely felt that this was key, even easily learning beast magic was just the beginning. He had a strange premonition that once he deciphered this secret, it would bring about earth-shattering changes!

Putting aside his wandering thoughts, Baroque's emotions calmed down, and Soul Force gently enveloped Claire's head through his fingertips. ...Under the slow invasion of the light of Soul Force, the simple and weak Spiritual Sea of ​​the little girl gradually unfolded in Baroque's mind.

All humans have a Spiritual Sea, but some people can mobilize spiritual power, like a river, to practice magic, while others' Spiritual Seas are like stagnant water, unable to touch or feel the existence of elements, just ordinary people. Claire's Spiritual Sea was very lively. Under Baroque's "gaze," he even found that the seemingly small lake of spiritual power in it was constantly beating, rotating, and growing...! This was an exceptionally outstanding Spiritual Sea, a natural-born mage seed.

Soon, Baroque discovered the fatal flaw. At a certain position in the "lake" of the Spiritual Sea, it was dim and lifeless, like a gap, where spiritual power was constantly flowing away. It turned out that this was the cause of the illness!