Catherine entered the study with heavy steps, her delicate face etched with solemnity.

As she looked up at Lady Elizabeth, who was deep in thought with her eyes closed, a flicker of hesitation crossed her face, as if she had something to say but stopped short.

"Have you still not made contact with Queen Angelina?" Lady Elizabeth asked, supporting her forehead with one hand, eyes still closed.

Catherine shook her head, silent for a moment before speaking gravely, "She has imprisoned Queen Angelina. The Shadow Hand and the Silver Hand have all returned to the imperial capital."

Lady Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes, her expression cold with a determination Felix had never seen before. A hint of scorn curled her lips as she said icily, "So impatient already?"

She had overestimated that woman, yet underestimated her at the same time. In that woman’s eyes, there was no such thing as politics.

Her actions proved that she didn't care about the empire at all; the entire imperial capital was merely a chess game to her. As long as she could secure the final victory, the downfall of an empire meant nothing to her. Lady Elizabeth knew she was losing. Compared to those who hid their schemes deeper, she was far too exposed.

Half of the imperial capital's attention was on that woman, and the other half on herself. Lady Elizabeth was well aware that she had unwittingly become that woman's greatest enemy, a tool to force those lurking in the shadows into the open, and the first opponent in this confrontation!

The two women simply stared at each other in silence, their atmosphere chilly and tense.

...

"Alright, I lost..." Felix shook his head, sighing with a wry smile, and then recounted everything that had happened at the burial site. He knew this sensitive woman had sensed something, but he also knew she wouldn't relent; she was too aloof, sometimes as cold as ice.

Felix had always been puzzled about his feelings for this woman, but one thing was undeniable: he cared deeply about her opinion.

She was a strange woman. From the first time she expressed a desire to have a child with him, her uniqueness had been deeply imprinted in the softest part of Felix's heart.

Aurelia listened quietly, absorbing every detail Felix shared, the doubts she had, everything she wanted to know.

Although he spoke in the most mundane tone, she knew the events were likely far from mundane, especially upon hearing they had encountered a death knight. Her hands involuntarily clenched tightly, turning pale.

"I don't even know what I am now. I possess the power of a death knight, yet I am still alive," Felix said, taking the woman's hand and placing it over his chest, where a deep but strong heartbeat could be felt. Perhaps this was the answer to all their questions, the root of it all.

Felix gazed quietly at the woman before him. Their encounter had been quite dramatic, and their intersection even more incredible.

Perhaps he had never thought that a woman who had held a sword to his neck upon their first meeting would leave such an impression in his heart.

His relationship with this woman was the most mysterious, his feelings the most unclear, which was why Felix felt compelled to tell her everything.

Light Ranger ignored Felix's gaze and surprisingly pulled out a third-rate knight novel from her space ring, sitting in front of Felix and reading it with relish. One minute passed, then two.

A stiffness finally crept onto Felix's face as he watched the woman engrossed in her book. He cleared his throat and asked in a low voice, "Don't you think you should say something?"

"Say what?" Aurelia lifted her eyes from the book to Felix.

Felix was at a loss for words. After brewing his emotions for a while, he finally spoke in a slightly hoarse, disappointed voice, "I've become a death knight."

"So what?" Aurelia interrupted him, a trace of confusion on her face, then asked, "Does it matter?"

Felix was somewhat speechless. Initially, he really cared about this woman's opinion of him now, as a death knight, a dark creature. Should he leave or continue to stay by her side?

But now, seeing that the woman in front of him didn't seem to have any opinion on this matter, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.

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"Hmm?" Prompted by Felix, Aurelia seemed to finally remember something. She looked up at him, her amber eyes blinking, then asked, "Can a death knight have children?"

Felix was silent for a long time, weighing his response, and finally nodded his head in a mix of sadness and anger.

Upon receiving the answer she sought, a satisfied smile appeared on Aurelia's face. Then she nonchalantly returned her attention to the third-rate knight novel in her hands, engrossed once again.

Felix didn't know what to say.

Was the ability to have children all that mattered?

As Felix acknowledged the answer he had given, a bittersweet smile appeared on his face, mixed with a sense of heroic tragedy.

He now realized he was utterly defeated by the woman in front of him. Her leaps in logic were like a towering mountain, always a step ahead of Felix, no matter how fast he tried to catch up.

"Hmm. This is for you." After finishing a chapter, Aurelia took out another book from her space ring and handed it to Felix.

Felix, thinking it was just another mundane knight novel, took it without much thought and casually tossed it onto the table. He had no interest in such melodramatic, third-rate knight tales. But when his gaze fell on the book's cover, he was stunned!

Printed in silver-white letters on the black leather cover was a single word:

"Ecclesiastes!"

The book was engraved with ancient sacred marks, passed down from angels – a special script on "Ecclesiastes." On the back cover was an image of a valiant six-winged angel, a figure from ancient times whom Felix couldn't recognize from memory. Perhaps this angel, too, had been forgotten over the passage of time.

Upon opening "Ecclesiastes," Felix infused a stream of mental energy to resonate with the magical runes imprinted on it. To prevent the pages from decay, enchanters would attach these runes. Based on the changes in the runes, a skilled enchanter could roughly estimate the age of the magic book. It dated back to the era of King Solomon's downfall, the period of Solomon’s repentance to My Lord!

"Ecclesiastes" was born in an era when the holy light shone across the land. In that age, knights were the spears of My Lord. The intertwining of divine and royal authority controlled the continent's destiny. The schism in My Lord's faith led to the collapse of a vast empire, with the Solomon dynasty ending as it lost the holy light’s protection.

In that era of flourishing faith, the Pope was also the emperor of the empire. It was for this reason that a knight’s loyalty shifted from the king to faith in My Lord.

It was a bygone era, lost in the river of history, all traces of it buried under time's dust. Perhaps only a caster who had lived through the long ages in the world's corners would know of its secrets.

"Where did you find this book?" Felix asked, surprised, looking at the woman with a calm expression. To his knowledge, "Ecclesiastes" had always been shunned by the Vatican. Most of the one hundred and twelve copies made were destroyed by the Papal Chamber arbitrator, with only a few surviving in the hands of the public.

"Dragon's Lair," Aurelia replied nonchalantly after glancing at "Ecclesiastes."

Felix was astonished, looking incredulously at the woman. "You went into the Dragon's Lair? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

Ordinary dragon species don't collect treasures; those that do, like wise flying dragons with a purer bloodline than the hopping dragon species, are usually adult golden species dragons capable of understanding and possessing rare items like "Ecclesiastes."

"The red dragon went out for mating, so I went in to see if there was anything interesting," Aurelia said indifferently, raising an elegant eyebrow, then returning her attention to the third-rate knight novel in her hands, seemingly engrossed in its mundane plot.

Felix left the private residence at six in the evening by magical time.

The two didn't have much to talk about. One frowned in concentration, reading "Ecclesiastes," while the other sat quietly, flipping through a cliché-filled third-rate novel. Occasionally, when they looked up at each other, a strange feeling of connection seemed to arise, bringing an inexplicable warmth to their hearts.

Unnoticed, an afternoon had passed.

Light Ranger temporarily stayed in Felix's private residence, while he returned to Felendia to prepare an alchemical potion to heal the scars on his neck. Dragon tongue grass had already been gathered, and with a few common herbs, he could create a potion that healed wounds without leaving any scars.

Judgment Grounds.

The mottled cross, the uneven ground, the dark red of blood seeping into the foundation, and the thick aura of darkness.

Felix stopped here for a simple reason: he saw someone, a woman, Catherine.

"The lady wishes to see you," said the Knight Sister, her face bearing a seriousness Felix had never seen before. He had never seen such gravity on this woman, who could meet Mrs. Ireland's gaze as an equal. It made him pause, casting a shadow over his heart.

After speaking, Catherine turned and walked towards the Marquis Elizabeth's estate without looking back. On her third step, she paused but didn't turn around, just silently waiting for Felix.

"In the imperial capital, who could threaten Lady Elizabeth under Catherine's protection?" The thought crossed Felix's mind, and a name struck him like lightning – Princess Helen!

Only that woman had such power!

That mysterious woman, a fellow transmigrator from his own world, even if she had entered the cycle of reincarnation in this world, forgetting all past memories, her strength still instilled fear in Felix. He had too little time, even though he had risen from a low-level magic apprentice to the Silver Domain in less than three months.

In August, he arrived in the imperial capital, becoming Lady Elizabeth's "toy." He met Mrs. Ireland and thus encountered true power!

Three months – too short, too fleeting. Felix's face was solemn, his pale hands clenched tight as he followed Catherine's steps with a heavy heart.

Had their confrontation finally begun?

Felix's face was solemn, his pallid hands clenched tightly, and he slowly followed Catherine's footsteps with heavy steps.

The confrontation between them. Has it finally begun?

Is it time to fight? Is it time to take a stand?

Felix already had the answer in his mind.

This answer has been in his heart since the moment he felt it, for a long, long time.