I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

Elena led Ji Tian through the corridor and stopped in front of a carved wooden door with a small plush rabbit hanging on the doorknob.

"This is my room." Elena pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Ji Tian in.

The room was smaller than he had imagined, and apart from the bed, bookshelves, and desk, it was almost entirely filled with all sorts of dolls.

A faded watercolor painting hangs on the wall, depicting the crooked old oak tree behind the manor. The brushstrokes are childlike, clearly a work from childhood.

Ji Tian walked up to the painting and examined it for a while. "Did you paint this?"

Elena stood behind him, her gaze fixed on the painting. "Yes, I painted it when I was seven, back on my fiefdom with my parents. The old oak tree hadn't been struck by lightning yet; it was lush and leafy. In the summer, I often climbed it to read... Pretty mischievous, huh?"

"It's alright, not too naughty." Ji Tian remembered that around the same time, he had already become friends with the village children by playing the dragon in the game "Dragon Quest".

She walked to the bookshelf, her slender fingers tracing the spines of a row of books, and pulled out a thin booklet. The cover was decorated with several crooked drawings in colored crayons, which could be vaguely made out to be flowers, a sun, and a small, unrecognizable animal.

"This is my 'Magic Notebook' from when I was five years old." Elena turned to the first page, where a few lines were drawn and the word "fire" was written in crooked handwriting below.

Ji Tian took the booklet and flipped through a few pages expressionlessly. Each page was marked with lines of different colors, labeled "water," "wind," "earth," "light," "darkness," and so on. Some pages were even accompanied by incomprehensible doodles, such as a circle with wings and the words "My Magic Pegasus" written next to it.

"You were very diligent when you were little." Ji Tian handed the booklet back.

Elena couldn't help but laugh: "You mean 'childish'?"

Ji Tian remained noncommittal, his gaze falling on the windowsill. There sat a teddy bear, about half a person's height, with a piece of cloth of a different color sewn onto its belly, the stitches fine and dense, as if it had been added later.

Elena followed his gaze and explained, "That bear was made by my mother for my eighth birthday. Later, it fell and poked a hole in its belly. I didn't want my mother to be sad, so I secretly sewed it up myself."

She walked over and gently stroked the neatly arranged dolls. "When I came to this fiefdom, I brought everything, but I didn't take anything from this room. Because I wanted to prove that I had grown up."

Ji Tian didn't speak, just stood there quietly. The twilight outside the window gradually deepened, bathing the room in a warm orange hue.

A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, followed by a maid's voice: "Madam, Miss is in her room—"

The door was pushed open.

A middle-aged woman wearing a dark blue dress stood at the door, her light golden hair tied up in a high bun, with a pearl hair clip tucked behind her ear.

Her face bears some resemblance to Elena's, but her eyes possess a more serene composure born of years of experience.

"Elena! My precious daughter!" Her voice was filled with barely suppressed joy.

Elena turned around, but before she could say anything, her mother pulled her into a tight embrace.

"You silly child, you came back early without even saying a word in your letter!" Her mother released her, cupped her face in her hands, and looked her over from left to right. "You've lost weight... Did you not eat well in the East? How did Gregor take care of you? And were you tired on the journey? Why didn't you rest first? Were you hungry? I'll have the kitchen..."

Elena smiled and pressed her hand down, "Mom~ I'm fine. You can catch your breath first."

The mother breathed a sigh of relief, only then noticing that there was another person in the room.

Her gaze fell on Ji Tian, ​​scrutinizing him from head to toe, from his white clothes to his black hair and the calm expression on his face. Then she turned to look at Elena, her eyes filled with a question of "Who is this?"

Elena turned to the side, her tone as natural as if introducing an old friend, "Mother, this is Ji Tian. He's the person I often mention in my letters."

The mother's brow twitched slightly.

She certainly remembered that her daughter had mentioned this person in her letter, saying things like "teaching to read" and "good friend." Gregor had also mentioned in his letter that he and her daughter had a good relationship.

She always thought that what her daughter said was just an excuse for a girl who was just beginning to experience love, but she never expected that their relationship was so good that her daughter would take him into her bedroom alone!

Could it be that—

Ji Tian nodded slightly and said, "Hello, Auntie."

The mother snapped out of her daze. With her daughter present, she didn't ask any questions, but simply nodded slightly. "You must be tired from the journey. Elena, I only had time to prepare a few new outfits for you. They're in the closet. Go try them on and see if they fit."

"I understand." Elena knew that her mother had deliberately sent her away so she could ask Ji Tian some questions. She responded and turned to walk towards the door, signaling to Ji Tian with her eyes to "talk more."

Ji Tian glanced at her to indicate that he understood.

Elena went out, leaving only her mother and Ji Tian in the room.

The mother sat down in the chair, straightened her skirt, looked up at Ji Tian, ​​and smiled, "Sit down."

Ji Tian sat down in another chair.

Elena's mother tentatively asked, "I heard from Gregor that you were quite helpful in the Eastern Territory?"

"You're too kind, Mr. Butler. I didn't help much."

In other words, it's about clearing out the monsters around your territory and getting magic crystals along the way.

She nodded, seemingly feeling it inappropriate to interrogate him on their first meeting, and only asked a few trivial questions: How long did it take to get here? Were you cold? Were you hungry? Are your parents healthy? Ji Tian answered concisely, following the script Elena had taught him.

The Viscountess didn't find the other party impolite; on the contrary, she thought it was quite rare for a young man to be so unsophisticated.

……

locker room.

Elena changed out of her riding outfit and into a well-tailored light apricot-colored long dress.

The dress had no elaborate lace or embroidery, but the neckline was low, revealing a section of her fair collarbone and neck. A matching silk ribbon was tied around her waist, outlining her already slender waist as if it could be grasped with one hand.

She wasn't quite used to the fashion of the capital, so she pulled her collar up a little, but it didn't work.

Her hair had been restyled, with a few stray strands falling beside her ears, making the pearl earrings on her earlobes sway slightly. The light from the magic crystal lamp shone from the side, casting soft shadows on her cheeks, making her eyes and brows appear more languid and charming than usual.

Elena pushed open the locker room door, still feeling a little uneasy: Ji Tian's mouth was so tight that she had to force him to say "it's delicious." What if his mother asked something and he choked her with a simple "hmm"?

She lifted her skirt and took small steps through the corridor, just in time to meet a maid carrying a tea tray heading towards the study at the corner.

Elena reached out and took the tea tray. The maid hesitated for a moment, then waved her hand, saying, "I'll do it."

The maid bowed and withdrew.

Elena pushed open the door with a tea tray and saw her mother looking at Ji Tian with the eyes of a "mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law," while Ji Tian sat there without changing his expression.

She handed the teacup to her mother, then handed one to Ji Tian, ​​and sat down next to him.

Seeing the somewhat quiet atmosphere, the mother took a sip of tea and took the initiative to start the conversation, "Your father has been very busy these days. The situation in the capital has been quite turbulent recently. Count Augustus has just taken office and is going to replace a batch of officials, which has affected your father as well. But it's alright, it's just a few minor positions that have been transferred, so it won't affect the overall situation."

Elena nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Her mother took her hand again and asked her all sorts of questions, from the weather in the fiefdom to whether the flowers on the estate had bloomed, from Gregor's health to whether the crooked tree was still there.

Elena answered in an orderly fashion, occasionally glancing back at Ji Tian.