Cornflower Witch

Chapter 333 Tiya's Hidden Bloodline

The carriage churned gently over the gravel road, and Hiltiya leaned against the window, watching the scenery outside slowly change.

Seeing her friend whom she hadn't seen for five years should have been a happy occasion, but a faint sadness lingered in her mind.

She wrapped her arms around the pillow, buried her chin in it, and closed her eyes slightly.

I always feel like I have a lot on my mind, probably some things I care about, which I keep in a corner of my heart. They may not be big, but they've always been there.

She wasn't the kind of person who was particularly enthusiastic about striving or seeking fame and fortune. She often wanted to be lazy, stay in a quiet corner to sleep, play quietly, and watch the sunrise and sunset, and the clouds slowly drift by in the sky.

However, when she first came to this world, she still felt it was too dangerous, especially when she first saw that fiery red wolf. It made her feel anxious about her safety, as if a voice was urging her to move forward. The voice was not loud, but it had been there for a long time.

When will I be able to completely relax and have a carefree dream? Xilutiya's pale blue eyes stared at the fluttering gauze curtains in front of her, her gaze lingering for a long time.

If she had no memory of her past life, she would probably have happily gathered with her peers, then waved goodbye gracefully, looking forward to the next meeting.

But no, she's too intelligent and too sensitive; she tends to overthink things without even realizing it.

Even though she can still laugh and joke with the others now, she is slowly realizing that they are not so relaxed around her and there is a faint sense of awe and restraint.

This is only five years later. In the next five or ten years, everyone will experience different lives and have fewer and fewer common topics to talk about. In the end, it will just be a matter of maintaining superficial politeness, just like the childhood playmates she had in her previous life.

Progress is good, but as the gap between them widens, an invisible barrier slowly emerges. She can no longer share her amazing life with these friends, and they will naturally become more and more distant and estranged.

With this sadness in her heart, she sometimes wondered if she could forget everything and feel much lighter, like a child running through the refreshing orchard, searching for her favorite beautiful flowers and fruits, savoring every moment of freshness and sweetness.

Well, I'm being sentimental again.

Gently rubbing her cheek against the pillow in her arms, Hiltiya slowly drifted off to sleep.

The summer breeze outside the window continued to blow, and the small, fluttering gauze curtain occasionally brushed against her curly hair. The sleeping girl's brows were gently relaxed, forming a soft and beautiful appearance.

……

A month later, after handing over the affairs of the Sun Garden, Hiltiya took over the management of the garden. The younger generation she had mentored and trained over the past year took over, many of whom had now become third-tier gardeners and were familiar with Hiltiya's style.

"Don't worry, we will take good care of this place while Senior Tiya is in seclusion for further studies." The fact that Siltiya went to the Mage Alliance is still kept secret from the outside world. It is only said that she has advanced too quickly and needs to learn a secret technique to consolidate her strength. She will probably need to sleep for a period of time. Therefore, during this period, the affairs of the Sun Garden will be handed over to her subordinates.

"Well then, goodbye~" Hilti raised her hand, her fingers waving slightly as she bid farewell to these familiar faces.

After leaving Sunflower Garden, she arrived at the Woodland Alliance headquarters, 'Rainbow Woodland', where she met the bard she had seen several times before.

“This is our third meeting, Tia.” He spoke as if it were a fateful encounter from a poem, and waved to her with a smile.

“My name is Elofis, and I come from the distant ‘White Rose Forest,’ the homeland of elves and the place where white roses bloom.”

“Let me explain the detailed plan to you this time.” He led Siltiah toward the garden pavilion and began to speak slowly.

"Because this is a very important matter, your identity must be able to withstand the test and there must be no oversights."

"The members we send to the Mage Alliance are divided into two groups, one openly and one secretly. One group is elite students recommended by the Woodland, who go there for exchange studies. They are mainly alchemists, apothecaries, and scholars. The other group is more ordinary students who apply to go there to study at their own expense. If they perform well, the Mage Alliance will consider recruiting them and pay us a sum of money to compensate for the previous training costs."

"Having discussed the two groups that were openly known, the next two groups were those that were clandestine. The first group went to the Mage Alliance under various disguises, not as students, but with different identities and professions to gather intelligence, contact various forces, and investigate the situation within the Mage Alliance."

"The second batch, like you, will enter the Mage Alliance as free apprentices to study, join powerful schools of thought, and gradually become core members, obtaining the most crucial intelligence and secret techniques."

“I know this puts a lot of moral pressure on you. You’re not the kind of child who has no opinions of her own and would not lie to others with a clear conscience.”

"Therefore, we will not give you any mandatory tasks. Once you get there, you just need to focus on learning and treat it as an opportunity to explore a new knowledge system and delve into it in depth."

"When you truly reach a certain level, you don't need any conspiracies or tricks; your ideas and thoughts alone can gradually change the situation."

After listening to Elofis's words, Hilti nodded slightly, but still had some curiosity.

"What if I don't want to come back after I finish my studies there, or what if I gradually change my mind and no longer align myself with the woodlands?"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. We just haven't shown you enough care. It's like a grown-up child who doesn't want to come back because they think their parents are annoying." The elven poet shrugged helplessly.

"You are very smart, as are almost all geniuses."

“The methods used on ordinary people, such as threats, bribes, and control, cannot be used on true geniuses, because they can easily see through them and become their enemies, causing even greater damage.”

“I think that even if you no longer identify with the Woodlands in the future, you will still cherish some of the old feelings, so that when the Mage Alliance expands, it won’t be too violent and cruel. In that case, our plan won’t have been wasted.”

"Furthermore, given the distance and the rapidly changing circumstances, assigning you mandatory tasks often results in some awkward flaws. It would be more natural to let you improvise."

"Our greatest wish is to ensure the peaceful continuation of the Woodlands. As for the Mage Alliance, we don't actually have that kind of life-or-death hatred between us, which is why there are quite a few moderates within the Mage Alliance."

"However, this situation is slowly changing. As the strength of the Mage Alliance expands and resources become scarce, their desire to expand outwards is hard to stop. Right now, the moderates can still control the situation, but who knows what the future holds."

"You have two major missions there: first, to influence the upper echelons of the Mage Alliance and try to delay the outbreak of war; and second, to learn as much as possible about the Mage Alliance system and its core, cutting-edge arcane knowledge."

"If the path of the Mage Alliance is an inevitable destiny, then we should be the ones to change and adapt, rather than passively completing it under the conquest of others."

"Castles, secrets, and golden steam—the three complement each other, and the Mage Alliance has now begun to establish a recurring cycle of them. This is a great advancement in human civilization."

"Although they are rivals, we also respect their achievements. If it weren't for the inevitable conflict, many people in the Woodland Alliance would probably be looking forward to seeing how far they could ultimately go."

"However, not everyone in the Mage Alliance is so simple or kind. There are also many obsessed and crazy members. There are also quite a few who are intoxicated by power and pleasure and are corrupt. They are often supporters of the radicals because the expansion of the Mage Alliance will inevitably bring many benefits that can satisfy their ever-growing greed."

"Human nature is very complex. I hope you are prepared and remain cautious, carefully examining the various ideas and doctrines circulating there."

"That's all I have to say about the mission. Next, we'll discuss the specific details, such as your identity." "The ambiguity of your origins will affect your future development in the Mage Alliance. People won't care about the background of a random passerby, but they will definitely want to know about the experiences of a big shot, especially when that big shot is gradually standing in the eye of the storm. At that time, any small flaw will trigger a violent tsunami."

“You might think we’re being too cautious, or that you might not be able to reach that position, but not only me, but many important figures in the woodlands who have met you would not deny the absolute charm you exude. Even if you don’t learn the obscure and complex theories of the Mage Alliance in the future, your appearance and voice alone will be enough to change a lot.”

"Please have more confidence in your charm, Tia."

……

Three days later, Elofis led Siltiah to meet a reclusive sixth-tier wizard from the Woodland Alliance. The wizard did not appear to be old, but only about forty years old.

“Haha, but I’m actually 168 years old, child.” He laughed heartily, then looked at the young girl with gentle eyes.

"You're the child they were talking about. No wonder they all praise you. I couldn't help but get distracted when I saw you."

"Elofis has already told me that you'll be going to the Mage Alliance, but you'll need to do some minor disguises, such as your hair color and facial features." After saying that, he turned to look at the bookshelf behind him and searched for information.

"Most of the secret techniques and abilities used for disguise cannot be hidden from those powerful mages, and will also bring unnecessary flaws and hidden dangers."

"I will teach you how to change your appearance in a way that is the source of life."

"You must be very curious about what it means to be in the 'source of life' way. Let me put it this way: everyone has the bloodline left by their ancestors, but not every characteristic of it will be manifested."

"For example, if parents have different hair colors, their children will often only inherit the hair color of one of them, while the other hair color will not be manifested but will be hidden."

"Your current silver-white hair color is probably inherited from one of your parents, but as long as not both of your parents have silver-white hair, the hidden feature will come out and bring about a magical transformation."

"This..." Hilti listened, blinking slightly. She thought of the difference between dominant and recessive traits in genes. She hadn't expected that there would be a similar situation in a different world.

"I know that my hair color is probably inherited from my mother. According to you, if I use this secret technique, I can make my hair color and other physical details revert to the characteristics of my father's bloodline, right?"

"Absolutely right, he is indeed a smart child."

"Would you like to give it a try, Tia?"

"Then let's give it a try." The girl nodded, suddenly becoming curious about who her father was in this life.

Could he be a descendant of a powerful family from the First Continent, or someone else entirely? I always felt that given my mother's personality, she wouldn't easily marry someone she didn't love. So what kind of person could attract my mother and make her willingly agree to marry him?

For the next week, Hiltiya studied the complex bloodline awakening technique here and, following the instructions, prepared her own potions and tested their effects.

"Phew, it took a lot more time, but I still managed to make it." The wizard handed a bottle of the prepared iridescent potion to Siltiah.

"Your mother's bloodline is far too powerful. Even this bottle of medicine I gave you can only suppress it for a period of time. After that, you will have to prepare it yourself and take it regularly to ensure the effect continues."

"I understand." Hiltiya took the potion and examined it curiously.

[Visible Bloodline Suppression Potion] (Tier 4, Excellent): A specially formulated potion for you that temporarily suppresses the visible characteristics of your bloodline, allowing hidden characteristics to emerge. (Duration: Three months)

Holding the medicine, Hilti felt a cool sensation spreading through her body as she slowly drank it. Then she sat down on a chair and waited for the medicine to take effect.

First, her hair color gradually changed, from the previous silver-white color to a light chestnut brown, then it became darker and darker, finally turning into pure black.

It seems I won't need to dye my hair anymore; my father probably has black hair. Then, Hilti took out a mirror to look at her face.

Her blue eyes gradually turned into a black crystal-like color, serene as water, perfectly matching her hair color. She even felt that the lines of her eyebrows had become much thinner and softer, making her look like a noble girl who had stayed in her boudoir for a long time and had never stepped out of the family gate.

"Black hair?" The wizard took out a special mirror to examine the girl's hair.

"This pure black color is quite similar to that of the inhabitants of the Sixth Continent, a land blessed by the 'Emerald Dragon'."

"Although black hair exists on other continents, it is mostly a mixture of brown and black, and is not pure."

"Can you tell roughly where my father is from?"

"I guess they must be residents of the Sixth Continent, because only there do people have such pure black hair. Oh right, I remember now."

"Tiya, do you like sweets?"

"Sweets? I don't dislike them, so what?"

"How many sugar cubes do you like to put in your coffee?" the wizard asked again with a smile.

"About 1-2 pieces, any more and it won't taste good."

"Then it seems your father is indeed a resident of the Sixth Continent. They are more sensitive to sweetness. For other people, they would probably need to add more sugar to make it taste good."

“While you’ve avoided overly striking silver hair, your black hair is just as remarkable.” He stroked his chin.

"Forget it, thinking about it won't change anything. As long as you don't enter the Mage Alliance under the identity of 'Siltia', that's fine."

"Have you memorized the instructions for preparing the medicine? You'll have to do it yourself from now on. In a while, we'll arrange a suitable replacement identity for you and send you there to adapt."

"I've got it."

"Then look forward to it. Heading to the most prosperous central region of the Fourth Continent, you'll find not only mages, but also many ethnic groups and visitors from distant continents."

“I lived there when I was young…”

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(End of this chapter)