Several servants stepped forward and gave a slight bow to the foreign minister and the knights to show their respect.
Their faces looked exactly the same, even their voices were as gentle as flowing water,b"Everyone, please come with us."
"We will take you to the place where you can rest."
The ministers exchanged glances, while the knights gave a slight nod.
Under the servants' guidance, the group walked along a small path through the flower beds, heading toward the side of the huge mansion.
Watching the knights gradually disappear into the depths of the garden, Gwen paused for a moment.
After glancing at Viktor, she followed the knight order and left as well.
Since the servants had already come forward on their own to invite them to rest, everyone naturally understood.
This Grand Duke was probably going to say something to Aurelian.
And Viktor, as Aurelian's teacher, should naturally stay by the princess's side at all times.
At this moment, Vanilla was standing beside Aurelian.
She looked a bit helpless as she gently patted the little cat girl's head, casually stroking her cat ears twice.
"You don't need to stay with me tonight. Go get some proper rest."
Vanilla nodded obediently, then left together with the servants.
Soon, only the three of them remained in the entire courtyard.
"Come with me."
He left only this one sentence before walking toward the mansion on his own.
Aurelian looked at Viktor, and after receiving a nod from him, quickly followed.
The three of them passed through a luxurious golden corridor and arrived at an extremely spacious hall.
This hall was somewhat strange.
There was nothing placed around it, not even a tea table, not even a sofa.
It seemed to be just a simple room, aside from being especially large, it had no other purpose.
But Viktor raised his head and looked around.
As if he had understood something, he lowered his head and softly said behind Aurelian, "Your Highness, no matter what happens next, don't be surprised."
"After this, I won't be accompanying you anymore."
Aurelian was slightly stunned. Before she could feel confused, suddenly, the Grand Duke Barlow's voice rang out.
"A very interesting demi-human girl. There is a power on her that does not belong to her."
He spoke as if implying something, then turned his head to look at Aurelian again.
"Now, have you decided?"
Aurelian knew what the Grand Duke Barlow was referring to.
Necromancy.
This magic that countless mages rejected.
To be honest, she was somewhat against it as well.
After all, magic that toys with corpses and souls didn't sound normal at all.
But after thinking it over again and again, she still wanted to learn this miraculous magic.
A magic that could bring the dead back to life...
So, Aurelian took a deep breath, as if making up her mind.
"Grandfather, I'm ready."
She had never met this grandfather before, but perhaps because of their blood relation, when she saw Grand Duke Barlow with her own eyes, Aurelian still felt a strange sense of closeness.
Even though her grandfather didn't look very friendly,
he was very patient with her.
So, Aurelian chose to trust Grand Duke Barlow.
Hearing Aurelian's answer, the Grand Duke nodded, "Good."
He leaned on his cane and lightly tapped it against the ground.
In an instant, a ring of ghostly green flames surged up from beneath his feet, rolling outward.
The flames rapidly expanded, completely swallowing the entire mansion.
A deep, thick fog tightly wrapped around the surroundings, and the entire land began to change within the ghostly green smoke.
The originally spacious golden hall disappeared, replaced by rugged and broken towers standing within a shattered canyon.
Ghostly green mist slowly rose from the ground, submerging all those ruined towers.
A black swamp suddenly burst out from the sky, turning into countless writhing souls.
Dragging muddy black bodies, they drifted beneath the sky.
The sky was incomparably gloomy, that sorrowful and deathly aura falling from above, crashing straight into the earth.
Feeling the ruined world around her, Aurelian had a realization.
It seemed she had come again to that so-called intersection between the underworld and the living world.
But this time, she was a bit mentally prepared.
Then, Aurelian looked around.
One person was missing.
Teacher Viktor had disappeared without a trace.
Suddenly, she remembered what her teacher had just said.
So when he said he wouldn't be able to accompany her next, this was what he meant?
At this moment, Grand Duke Barlow's deep voice suddenly sounded, "The difference between necromancers and elemental mages lies in their source of energy."
Elemental mages need to communicate with the magical elements between heaven and earth, using control over the six elements to cast magic of corresponding attributes.
Necromancers, on the other hand, do not rely on elemental magic. Their power comes from...
"The domain of the dead."
Hearing this, Aurelian's body stiffened slightly.
At this moment, Grand Duke Barlow slowly walked toward the direction of the canyon.
Aurelian carefully followed behind him.
As if afraid that with one careless step, she would fall into that murky, bottomless canyon.
The Grand Duke stopped.
On the broken bridge over the canyon, a decayed and rotten wooden door appeared.
A bone-chilling, moldy aura spread out from the door.
It felt as if countless tiny demons were crawling over Aurelian's body, slipping into her nose and wandering through her internal organs.
This made Aurelian feel a strong wave of discomfort.
She could only stop in front of the wooden door, feeling the cold wind brush against her body.
Suddenly...
The wooden door swung open, letting out a harsh creaking sound.
Then, a sharp noise suddenly surged out, roaring from behind the door.
It felt as if a pair of ghostly long arms stretched out from behind the door, suddenly grabbing Aurelian's shoulders.
Aurelian's body trembled violently, her mind instantly feeling as if it was about to melt, an indescribable fear and pain sweeping through her entire body.
Then, her consciousness suddenly cleared, as if waking from a nightmare.
She looked at the wooden door again, only to find that it had already disappeared without a trace.
The surrounding scene had also drastically changed.
Before her was still that vast scorched land.
The towering, twisted towers from before had turned into smoke and scattered away.
Carrying that gloomy feeling, it was as if she had been thrown into the still depths of a winter lake, filled with cold and death.
Countless soul-like voids continuously circled in the air, dragging half bodies, clinging to invisible emptiness, struggling to move.
One soul passed right in front of Aurelian.
Aurelian even saw the twisted expression on that ghost's face, extremely horrifying.
In an instant, she felt her hair stand on end, her face turning pale.
But Grand Duke Barlow seemed completely unmoved by all of this.
He still walked calmly among those terrifying ghosts, tapping the ground with his unique cane as he continued speaking, "This is one of the domains of countless dead."
"It gathers tens of thousands of restless wandering souls."
Looking at the drifting souls above her head, Aurelian couldn't help but feel a wave of fear.
These non-living spirits made her heart feel cold.
She nervously hid behind Grand Duke Barlow, occasionally jumping in fright when some wandering souls suddenly rushed toward her.
At this moment, she couldn't help but feel a bit of regret.
She shouldn't have come to learn this necromancy in the first place.
However, Grand Duke Barlow paid no attention to Aurelian's fear.
As he walked, he continued introducing various aspects of necromancy to her.
"Here, you cannot attack them. You cannot force them to submit with strength or magic."
"There is only one thing you can do."
The Grand Duke stopped once more and again tapped his cane against the ground.
At that instant, the surrounding darkness gradually lit up with a soft glow.
The sky seemed to fill with specks of light like fireflies, gradually spreading out in all directions.
Like fine golden dust, it drifted toward the wandering souls around them.
"You must use the gentlest magic to softly touch them."
"To deeply connect, to purely purify."
The glowing magic gently illuminated the wandering souls, their twisted forms gradually sinking into it.
A warm and soft force, like a gentle embrace, slowly calmed the souls within that comforting vortex.
"Listen to their final wishes from when they were alive, soothe their twisted souls."
Under the light, the incomplete bodies of the undead were gradually restored by the waves of magic.
Their naked soul bodies ignited with ghostly green flames, gathering toward Grand Duke Barlow.
"Finally, make them willingly submit and become your power."
The magic gradually formed into heavy armor, covering the bodies of the undead.
They held cold, solid weapons, and the ghostly green flames beneath them seemed to provide endless power.
Like loyal soldiers, these now solidified undead lined up neatly before the Grand Duke.
They knelt on one knee, showing him the utmost respect.
But in the sky, there was still one soul left.
Grand Duke Barlow turned around, looking at that soul he had deliberately left behind, and spoke, "Aurelian."
"Now, you try..."
Before he could finish speaking, the Grand Duke froze.
As if he felt a bit of surprise.
For the first time, his eyes widened slightly.
Grand Duke Barlow subconsciously lowered his head.
He saw Aurelian also lowering her head, as if in fear, her eyes tightly shut.
One hand trembled as it clutched in front of her chest, while the other tightly grabbed the corner of his clothes.
As if searching for some sense of safety.
The Grand Duke looked at her, slightly stunned, and asked in a deep voice, "You... are you afraid?"
Aurelian kept her eyes closed, her body trembling slightly, unable even to respond.
The Grand Duke looked down at her, a trace of helplessness in his eyes, along with a hint of reminiscence.
'So similar... truly so similar...'
'Aurelian, your mother was once just like you.'
"Then... there's nothing we can do."
With a light tap of his cane, the undead were gently scattered as if blown away by the wind, like dust falling across the land.
Even that last wandering soul, ignited by ghostly green flames, turned into a speck of starlight and gradually faded away.
Across the entire desolate land, only the Grand Duke's deep voice echoed.
Carrying a trace of gentleness, a trace of compliance.
"Let's go."
"Let your grandfather teach you something else."