All eyes turned toward the source of the voice.
The speaker was none other than Princess Liliana, who had remained as silent and still as a statue throughout the entire ordeal, almost forgotten by everyone present.
She slowly rose to her feet.
The numbness and emptiness that had once clouded her exquisite face were gone, replaced by a fervent, almost burning radiance.
Her gaze swept past everyone, locking onto Commander Aeldara at the head of the table with searing intensity.
"Commander Aeldara, I confess. I was the one who deliberately stole the Magic Images depicting Her Majesty the Queen."
At these words, the Old Duke's vision swam with black spots. He swayed, nearly collapsing on the spot.
My little ancestor! How could you admit to something so damning in public?!
But Liliana's next words sent everyone's minds into a complete shutdown.
"I stole them not out of blasphemy, but from the purest... pilgrimage!"
Her voice rose in pitch, taking on the soaring, lyrical quality of a chanted epic.
"Before that moment, I thought I had witnessed all the beauty the world had to offer."
"Until I saw those images—that perfect silhouette, those divine proportions, every inch of skin sculpted by the gods themselves under the interplay of light and shadow!"
"That wasn't mortal beauty; it was the very embodiment of the concept of 'Beauty' itself! The ultimate form of art! The supreme, absolute 'Pure Beauty'!"
Liliana spread her arms wide, her expression a mix of frenzied passion and devout reverence. She was the very image of a fanatic preaching doctrine before a divine statue.
"What does Alex know? He saw only lust—the basest insult to art! But I saw a miracle! A Holy Light capable of cleansing the soul!"
Watching from the side, Lin Qingyue's eye twitched.
Damn! I thought she was a bisexual playgirl, but it turns out she's a crazy beauty willing to die for art?
This isn't a pervert; this is a hardcore stan—the most extreme kind!
If she were on Earth, it would be a waste of talent not to open a studio making ridiculously expensive figurines!
Liliana took a step forward, her azure eyes burning with fierce flames. She stared directly at Aeldara and made a request that nearly scared the Old Duke's soul out of his body.
"Commander Aeldara! I implore you, permit me to travel to Silvermoon City and once again witness the source of 'Pure Beauty' with my own eyes! I am willing to pay any price!"
"I need more detailed reference material! Different angles! Different lighting! Even in motion! Only then can I create a masterpiece that will be celebrated for generations, forever engraving Her Majesty the Queen's divine beauty into the river of history!"
Holy shit! The Pure Beauty Knight Order is invading! And their Commander is a princess!
Alarm bells screamed in Lin Qingyue's mind.
This was no longer a simple diplomatic incident. This was a crazed fan demanding to barge backstage and conduct a 360-degree, no-blind-spot photoshoot of their idol!
"Insolence!"
Aeldara finally spoke, each word laced with frost.
A palpable killing intent erupted from her, instantly sweeping through the Council Chamber.
The Old Duke and the other envoys shuddered in unison, feeling their blood freeze and a chilling cold seep into their very bones.
For the first time, Aeldara's crimson eyes revealed an undisguised, murderous rage.
It was the fury of a territory invaded, a treasure coveted.
"How dare you presume to casually gaze upon Her Majesty the Queen's sacred honor?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but each word struck like iron, carrying an absolute will that permitted no argument.
"Take your delusional fantasies and get out of Morningwind Harbor."
"If there is a next time, I won't hesitate to silence you permanently."
This wasn't a threat.
It was a sentence.
The fanaticism on Liliana's face instantly froze, replaced by a deathly pallor.
She could feel it—the other woman meant every word.
The Old Duke could no longer hold himself together. His legs gave way, and if his attendants hadn't caught him in time, he would have collapsed to the floor.
He scrambled and crawled before Aeldara, kowtowing and wailing, "Commander, please calm your anger! Her Highness the Princess was merely confused for a moment! We'll leave immediately! Right now!"
Without daring to linger for another second, he hauled up the soul-shaken Liliana and the still-smiling Alex, leading his terrified delegation as they fled the Council Chamber in a panicked, undignified scramble.
The farce had finally ended.
-
"Tsk, tsk. The world is full of surprises, isn't it?"
On the way back to Silvermoon City, Lin Xiyue was still replaying the explosive scene from earlier.
She nudged Lin Qingyue's arm, lowered her voice, and her face was practically screaming with gossip.
"Sis, what do you think is in that magic tome? What could drive a princess that insane?"
Beside them, Su Wan pretended to admire the scenery, but her ears were pricked higher than anyone else's.
Xia Lian's cheeks were slightly flushed, clearly torn between curiosity and embarrassment over the topic.
Before Lin Qingyue could answer, Aeldara, walking at the very front, suddenly stopped.
She turned, her crimson eyes sweeping over the four of them before finally settling on Lin Xiyue.
"You want to see?"
Her tone was still icy, but the terrifying killing intent had receded.
"Uh..." Caught red-handed, Lin Xiyue scratched her head awkwardly. "Just... a little curious."
Aeldara fell silent for a moment.
Lin Qingyue could sense the Commander's aura was incredibly complex right now.
It was a mix of wariness, reluctance, and the stifled frustration of someone forced to obey an order.
Finally, she retrieved several booklets from her spatial storage, bound with threads of moonlight silk.
"Her Majesty the Queen has given an order," Aeldara stated, her voice devoid of emotion, as if reciting a command that had nothing to do with her.
"If you are curious, you are permitted to view them."
She handed the booklets to Lin Qingyue, deliberately averting her gaze as if even looking at them was a desecration of the Queen's honor.
Ilanier... she even anticipated this?
A warmth spread through Lin Qingyue's heart.
This wasn't an order; it was a silent indulgence, a gesture of closeness. Ilanier knew her friends would be curious and had smoothed the way for them, saving them from being rebuffed by Aeldara.
Lin Xiyue immediately leaned in with excitement, while Su Wan and Xia Lian instinctively gathered closer.
Lin Qingyue turned to the first page.
The image depicted Ilanier standing sideways by a window, dressed in a translucent, moon-white silk nightgown. Beneath the sheer fabric, however, was a form-fitting undergarment that hugged her curves perfectly while keeping her modestly covered.
The bright moonlight shone through the window from behind, outlining her breathtaking silhouette in a heart-stopping shadow.
"Huh?" Lin Xiyue murmured in confusion.
Lin Qingyue continued to turn the pages.
The second page showed Her Majesty the Queen in a misty hot spring. Her silver hair, half-damp, draped over her shoulders. Countless flower petals floated on the water's surface. She was wrapped in a bath towel, revealing only her delicate collarbones and smooth, rounded shoulders.
The third page depicted her reclining on a soft animal-hide rug, draped in a loose silk shirt buttoned neatly to the collar. Her long, fair legs were crossed, the curve of her ankles as graceful as a swan's neck...
Each page was a masterpiece of artistic photography, brimming with storytelling and atmosphere, perfectly blending purity with allure.
Lin Qingyue flipped through the pages at a glance, then exchanged bewildered looks with her three teammates, who had also seen everything.
The air fell silent for three seconds.
"...That's it?"
Lin Xiyue was the first to break the silence, her face etched with profound disappointment and confusion.
"I thought it was some top-secret, scandalous material!" she muttered under her breath, pouting. "This is just like those high-end photo albums from Earth, right? It's more conservative than swimwear! So that princess was actually telling the truth when she said she was 'appreciating beauty'?"
Su Wan also looked thoroughly unimpressed. She glanced at the booklet, then at her own mage robes, and commented dryly, "Indeed. Very conservative."
Even Xia Lian, who was usually the shyest, merely blinked and muttered softly, "I feel like... some of the girls we see on the shopping street in summer wear more revealing outfits than this."
Lin Xiyue nodded in fervent agreement. "Exactly! Even in that 'foot-holding' scene the Prince was obsessed with, the hand was still half a meter away from the foot! And they treat this as a sacred relic?"
Lin Qingyue closed the booklet and returned it to Aeldara, a mix of amusement and exasperation on her face.
She finally understood.
For a world that had never experienced the information overload of the internet, lacked diverse entertainment, and whose aesthetic sensibilities were still rooted in a classical era, the impact of Ilanier's level of beauty and charisma, combined with magic images of artistic photography quality, was equivalent to a divine descent.
For a fanatical artist like Liliana, this truly was a "miracle" worthy of dedicating her entire being to.
Aeldara snatched the tome back, her movements reverent, as if it were a priceless treasure. She glanced at Lin Qingyue, her eyes complex, but ultimately said nothing and turned to lead the way again.
Just then, a cold, mechanical notification chimed in the minds of Lin Qingyue and her teammates.
[Ding! You have facilitated the return of the Elven Race's stolen tome from the Human Kingdom and witnessed the repentance of the "culprit."]
[The Dungeon "Shattered Alliance" has been completely repaired!]
[The Dungeon is about to close. The teleportation portal will open in ten minutes. All trial-takers, please prepare.]
[Calculating mission results...]
[Mission Rating: Perfect (SSS)]
[Rewards will be distributed after leaving the Dungeon.]
It's here!
Lin Qingyue's heart settled. The time to leave had finally come.
She gazed at Aeldara's tall, straight back and felt an unexpected pang of reluctance.
"Sigh, this is so sudden. We won't even have time to say goodbye to Her Majesty in person."
Aeldara, walking ahead, paused.
Lin Qingyue clearly saw her perpetually tense shoulders relax for a fleeting, almost imperceptible moment.
But the relaxation lasted less than half a second.
"Commander Aeldara," Lin Qingyue said, finding the situation amusing and deliberately speaking up. "Since we're out of time, could I trouble you to pass a message to Her Majesty for me?"
Aeldara slowly turned around.
Her shoulders, which had just relaxed, tensed again. The expression on her icy face was inscrutable, shifting unpredictably.
Her crimson eyes stared at Lin Qingyue, as if assessing what kind of trouble she was about to stir up now.
Lin Qingyue met her gaze with a smile of pure, harmless innocence.
"Just tell her I loved the incense in her bedchamber. I slept very comfortably."
"The breakfast was delicious too."
"If I get the chance, I'll come back."
"..."
Aeldara's expression completely froze.
A storm of emotions raged within her crimson eyes.
First came a flash of relief—She's finally leaving.
This sliver of relief was instantly swallowed by the sheer horror of—She wants to come back.
Ultimately, all these emotions collapsed into a chaotic vortex.
Vigilance, faint anger, helplessness, and a sense of fatalism—I knew this would happen—all tangled together into an impossibly complex web.
The way she looked at Lin Qingyue was exactly how one would look at a wild boar that had just devoured their finest, most succulent cabbage, licked its lips with relish, and declared, "Delicious. I'll be back for more."
The aloof Captain of the Knights remained silent for a full five seconds.
Her jaw clenched so tightly it seemed she was using every ounce of her strength to resist the urge to draw her sword.
Finally, a few words were ground out from between her teeth.
"I... will... relay... the... message."
Before the words had even faded, she spun around abruptly. Her steps were so swift they almost kicked up a gust of wind, her retreating figure so resolute it was as if she were drawing a firm line between herself and some terrible calamity.
Watching her flee in such haste, Lin Xiyue leaned in and whispered, "Sis, why do I get the feeling she looked at you like you're a repeat offender about to get thrown back in jail?"
Lin Qingyue just smiled without explaining.
Ten minutes later, four beams of white light shot into the sky outside Silvermoon City and vanished without a trace.