Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

The clerk quickly replied, "If you don't have time, you can let me know. It's not a big deal if you don't go."

Eleanor vaguely remembered that Tia was also supposed to participate in some kind of academic exchange.

She hesitated for a moment.

I accepted the invitation anyway.

Why not take advantage of a free lunch?

........................

........................

As Eleanor stepped out of her bedroom and went to open the living room door, the ravens, who were observing from afar, sensed something was wrong and quickly woke Freya, who was fast asleep on a telephone pole.

Freya looked like a capitalist hanging from a street lamp, her back hooked to the telephone pole, her two little legs dangling, her eyes closed and drooling in her sleep.

The ravens cawed loudly, "Freya~ Freya~ Someone's in the living room!"

Freya woke up abruptly, bewildered, and asked, "Where? Where is everyone?

"It's right there!"

Freya flew with the ravens to the balcony of the third-floor suite. She leaned on the balcony railing and looked down. Her pupils dilated when she saw the girl talking to the clerk in the living room.

Weird!

The witch clearly said she wouldn't be coming to the Iris Flower Garden this month!

Freya rubbed her eyes again, incredulous—the long white hair with highlights, the white shirt, the gradient dark blue trailing dress, and the fact that she wasn't carrying Tia's beloved cane, all the other clothing and accessories clearly indicated that the person in front of her was the doll "Frinna Bonaparte".

When she first heard the witch's description, she thought it was some kind of flower thief, but it turns out someone just logged in using her account!

Freya immediately sank into the deep sea temple and called out to Tia, telling her the astonishing truth she had discovered.

When Tia heard Freya's call, she didn't sink first, but went to Eleanor's room to take a look—it was as if the child's soul had flown away somewhere.

Alright, the case is solved.

In the bedroom, Tia saw that the lights outside were all off, so she closed the door tightly, moved the chair in front of the dressing mirror, sat down, picked up Eleanor's nail clippers and started trimming her nails, occasionally glancing at Eleanor on the bed.

Eleanor was a terrible sleeper. Since the weather had cooled down, she liked to roll around in bed a few times and then roll up all the blankets, leaving only her little head sticking out, like a little cat-like bug inside a bread roll.

I don't know how many hours passed, but then I heard a few sobbing sounds, like someone who had drunk bitter medicine.

"My head hurts so much..."

The cost of controlling the puppet was now overwhelming; Eleanor felt everything go black and she couldn't see anything clearly.

Tia said gently, "Would you like me to rub it for you?"

"Okay... Ooh!"

Before Eleanor could react, the girl sat down beside her and stroked her platinum blonde hair.

The cat-like insect on the bed trembled, but because of the blanket, it couldn't escape at all.

Tia smiled and said, "Your Highness, could you please explain to your loyal knight what you were doing just now?"

Chapter 349 Passing By

"What were you two doing yesterday? You were making such a racket."

"It's about Eleanor."

The next morning, in the living room, before class, Annie looked at Tia suspiciously.

She heard Eleanor sobbing coming from the master bedroom last night. She got up to check and was terrified to see the Royal Guards standing in the entire corridor.

Upon further questioning, it turned out that Tia had been the one who grabbed Eleanor and spanked her in the bedroom.

However, since they weren't going to use excessive force, or there was some other reason, the Royal Guards couldn't easily intervene.

But what exactly happened?

Anne was incredibly curious, constantly asking Tia questions.

Tia glanced around and, seeing no royal guards, said, "Eleanor misused my doll... I guess removing the curse from Eleanor before caused some connection between our souls, anyway, that's the gist of it."

"Because of her misuse of the dolls, the anti-suppression bureau specialists at the Iris Grand Hotel have increased the intensity of patrols and increased the number of people on night shift to three. Even the priest has come over."

Anne was initially puzzled when she heard that it was just misusing dolls, since Eleanor was a princess and there was nothing wrong with doing so.

Hearing that the anti-suppression bureau was working overtime because of her, he immediately felt relieved.

This brat needs to be taught a lesson.

Anne put herself in Tia's shoes and nodded repeatedly—she felt like hitting herself when she put herself in Tia's shoes.

"Right, right. And thankfully she's a princess..."

"Hey, if that's the case, does that mean Eleanor can go to the Iris Flower Garden?"

Anne suddenly realized the problem.

Tia nodded and said, "Absolutely—but the Royal Guards can't hear about this, otherwise it won't be something that can be resolved with a few pats on the backside. So last night, my excuse was that Eleanor was rummaging through my secret manual."

　 The secret manual is quite dangerous.

The oak tree in the earth that Eleanor treads upon does not conflict with the alchemical secrets.

However, there are many contradictions and conflicts between Tia's "Book of the Red Rose" and the philosophy of the Oak of the Earth. Furthermore, the act of consulting the secret texts and actively seeking knowledge itself is a call for the "Silver Door".

So when the Royal Guards heard that this was the reason, they were too embarrassed to stop them.

This really needs to be taught a lesson!

Even when Albert heard about this, he only raised an eyebrow slightly and didn't say anything more.

Even though the matter was dropped, Eleanor was placed under close surveillance, and the number of royal guards around her increased from twenty to thirty. Even when she slept, a lady guard would stand watch outside her window.

For the next two weeks, she didn't dare to project her soul onto the iris again.

Tia didn't really approve of Eleanor projecting her soul into the iris. After all, the iris was somewhat dangerous, especially since it was impersonating "Furynne Bonaparte."

As the saying goes, "the taller the tree, the more the wind blows." Tia's portrayal of Bonaparte, dubbed the "Great Protector," garnered many supporters but also attracted numerous opponents.

Not to mention that the iris itself is full of martial spirit.

If Eleanor were to go out one day, some guy might squat on the roadside holding a clock that spins backwards and rush up to her shouting "Long live the free iris!" Even if Eleanor's physical body is safe in Anzu, it would still be a loss.

Another half month passed.

Eleanor went to get out of class obediently for a whole month—and her cohabiting guardian, the knight-errant, and former director Miss Sulph, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Tia also began preparations for boarding the ship to the Iris.

.......................

On November 23, 535 AD, which happened to be a Sunday, Tia went to the Papal Palace to collect free milk after completing her final exams.

At noon in the Great Library of the Royal Cathedral, she sat by the window and enjoyed the warm winter sun for a while, when she saw Evelyn carrying a suitcase and walking ahead of Anne.

Evelyn exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Tia, "Miss Sulph! You're here too?"

The girl sipped her milk and mumbled, "I'm going to work for the Iris Flower Company."

"Irises?" Evelyn asked, puzzled. "Did you receive an invitation from the Alchemy Society?"

"No, that's not it. I'm responsible for observing the situation on the Iris Flower side, and at the same time providing some views and suggestions to my colleagues in the Anti-Suppression Bureau stationed in Iris Flower."

"Are you going to become the head of the intelligence agency?"

"There's no need to be so direct..."

Evelyn realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly apologized.

However, Tia's primary role was indeed that of a spymaster, and one that was tacitly accepted by both sides. Iris certainly knew that the person sent by Silver Castle wasn't some friendly ambassador.

However, the two sides are still allies, and the Iris government turns a blind eye to these minor actions that do not affect the overall situation.

Anne jumped out from behind Evelyn, grabbed Evelyn's arm and shook it, reminding her, "Sister Evelyn, you two stop talking for now. The ship will be here soon, and the church pastor reminded me to call Tia to go to the station."

"So early?"

"It's almost midnight! Tia, these days you only think it's too early if you get up at eight or nine. You lazybones~"

"Damn it, how dare they call me a lazy pig."

Tia squeezed the milk carton in her hand, then touched her lower abdomen, which was still flat with only slight curves.

Superhumans have never followed the rules of physics; they have small bodies but enormous energy.

The girl protested, "I'm not fat at all!"

Annie stuck out her tongue and changed her words, saying, "Little lazy pig, little lazy pig."

"Stop lying there, you lazy pig, hurry up and get going."

“Annini, take me with you.”

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you."

Annie came over and took Tia's hand, leading her ahead. She turned back and said, "Sister Evelyn! Hurry up and keep up!"

Evelyn was momentarily dazed when she saw the two holding hands.

Are they so close that they've already started using pet names for each other...?

And they don't hide it from people at all.

She only snapped out of her daze when she heard Annie call out, and quickly picked up the suitcase, "Ah, okay!"

The group boarded a train at the station, heading to New York and London.

Although Silver Castle was a political center, compared to the coastal port of New Orleans, Silver Castle, despite having several wharves, faced inland waterways that were neither wide nor deep, making transportation far less convenient than in New Orleans.

If they were to go to sea, they would have to depart from Newport News, board a research vessel converted from six frigates, and then be escorted by the Navy's fleet.

However, Count Perric will not be sending an envoy to command the fleet this time.

The reason was simple—just two days after the expedition fleet set sail, a frigate from the Empire, which was negotiating peace, also departed from Coldwater Port and entered the waters of the Ansu Sea.

Just a week before the Imperial fleet arrived and five days before the expedition fleet set sail, another dilapidated sailboat, after drifting at sea for who knows how many months, arrived at the coast of Ansu North Island.

On the deck of the sailboat, the tall female giant had thick bandages wrapped around her chest, carried three steel javelins on her back, had a row of homemade grenades hanging from her waist, and had two modified submachine guns strapped to each side, fully armed.

The sea breeze blew, and her hair, tied into braids, swayed in the air like red snakes.

A winged, thumb-sized fairy perched on her shoulder, looking at the map in the giantess's hand, and warned, "Aili! You've gone the wrong way again! This isn't Newport at all!"

The dejected giant behind him said dejectedly, "We'll never find Newport."

Ellie cursed and gave him the middle finger. "Tower, shut the fuck up! If it weren't for your constant nagging, we would have been in New York by now. How could we have veered off course and been swept away by the turbulence halfway there!"

"And this ship is fucking awful! It's about to fall apart after hitting a reef. Is this a modern ship? What era are we living in? Couldn't those unscrupulous merchants have gotten a fast sailing ship with a steam engine?!"

Chapter 350 Arrival in Fogmoon City

The fleet escorting the research vessel departed from Newport News on the 23rd and arrived at Golden Moon Bay two days later.

The route this time was basically the same as the one when Tia came to pick up Eleanor last time, the only difference being that there were no Silver Knights of Saint Engard escorting them.

Fortunately, the railway from Golden Moon Bay to Fog Moon City had been repaired and completed, so Tia and Anne didn't have to travel long distances by carriage.

Besides the professors and lecturers from Saint Laurent, the train passengers also included scholars from other universities in the Silver Castle region, such as Ansu National University. They chatted about their itinerary after arriving in Fogmoon City in the dining car, and occasionally exchanged jokes.

When the train arrived at the station, it was exactly eight o'clock in the morning.

Although it was still early, many carriages were already parked outside the station gates in the Fogmoon Castle District. Well-dressed and gentlemanly men and women from the Alchemy Guild, wearing white gloves and leaning on canes, could be seen everywhere.

Ladies and young ladies, dressed in fashionable pleated skirts and long leather gloves, stepped down from their carriages with the help of servants and stood outside the station gazing into the distance.

Some opened their fans to cover their faces, chatting and laughing with two or three friends beside them, occasionally glancing at the exit and boldly waving and cheering.

So much so that when Anne dragged her suitcase out of the station, she was still a little unaccustomed to it.

That's way too enthusiastic!

Although the nation of Iris was founded on alchemy, in this era where science is fashionable, their enthusiasm for scientists is no less than that of Ansu.

After all, this person isn't really into science and technology; they're more into celebrity worship...

Tia was also unexpectedly popular.