He was completely unaware of what was happening to the Seventh Princess.
Upon entering the city, she had confidently told him, “Come find me if you run into trouble.”
At this very moment, she was deep in crisis.
After comforting Theia, Lin Gui sent her back to their stronghold in the refugee district.
He then headed straight for the Carter Royal Library, located in the First Ring.
His purpose for this trip was very clear.
He wanted to look up the true history of the Carter Kingdom.
Elvia had adamantly claimed that the Carter Kingdom had never had a queen.
However, Lin Gui still decided to search for clues in the history books himself.
The scale of the Royal Library was grand.
It was a massive white building constructed right against the mountain.
Its towering archways and spires that pierced the sky showcased the union of knowledge and royal power.
The interior space was astonishingly vast.
At a glance, several tiers of circular galleries surrounded a central, high-ceilinged hall.
Densely packed bookshelves resembled a forest of steel, stretching all the way to the edge of his vision.
The air was filled with a distinct scent of old paper, ink, and a faint hint of wood varnish.
The sheer volume and variety of the collection was immense, covering almost every field, including history, geography, magic, martial arts, and folklore.
A few elegantly dressed scholars and young nobles were sitting on soft armchairs by the windows, reading.
The library was quite peaceful, with only the occasional sound of turning pages and hushed whispers.
Lin Gui walked in wearing his signature tattered mage robes.
He immediately drew several undisguised looks of disdain.
However, when their gazes fell upon the icy wolf-head badge on his shoulder, that disdain vanished in an instant, replaced by surprise, scrutiny, and even a faint, barely perceptible wariness.
Lin Gui ignored their stares.
With a clear objective in mind, he headed straight for the section housing the historical records of the Carter Kingdom.
He did not search aimlessly, starting instead with the lineage of the current king and tracing it back, generation by generation.
However, this process was even more tedious and... ridiculous than he had anticipated.
The official history of the Carter royal family was heavily whitewashed, tedious, and long-winded.
It was stuffed with deliberate, even absurd praises of the achievements of past kings.
“...His Majesty King Carter III, wise and martial, led his army on an eastern campaign to expand the territory, once occupying one-third of the central continent...”
Reading this passage, Lin Gui couldn't help but mock it in his mind.
Occupying one-third of the central continent?
During the Golden Age, the Carter Kingdom didn't even occupy a tenth of the borderlands.
This boast was simply too outrageous.
He flipped through the pages quickly, focusing on any records regarding the relocation of the kingdom's capital.
However, he found absolutely nothing.
According to official records, the Carter Kingdom had seen a total of 367 kings in the borderlands.
Since its establishment in these mountains by the first King Carter in the year 236 of the Golden Age, the Royal Capital had never been relocated.
Aside from the crisis forty years ago when the Demon God descended upon the world, affecting the entire continent, the Carter Kingdom seemed to have never experienced the “doom of national destruction” described in the Hero's final words.
What was even stranger was that in the entire history of the Carter Kingdom, there was no record of any “Hero” ever being born.
“Could it be... the era of the queen and the Hero is even older than the Golden Age, belonging to ancient times?”
Lin Gui fell into deep thought.
That would be a distant past from over five thousand years ago.
It was more than four thousand years earlier than the establishment of the Carter Kingdom.
With such a vast span of time, it could easily sever the continuity of a civilization.
Just as he closed the heavy history book in his hands, he was about to search for other miscellaneous records or local gazetteers that might contain hidden history.
A familiar, deliberately lowered female voice came from beside him:
“Searching for news of a queen's existence here is futile.”
Lin Gui shifted his gaze.
He saw Elvia, dressed in splendid attire, standing beside him at some point.
She wore a beautifully tailored, elegant princess gown, her long golden hair elaborately braided and adorned with simple yet noble jewelry. Under the soft lighting of the library, she looked radiant and breathtakingly beautiful.
However, Lin Gui's gaze did not linger on her for long.
Looking past her, he glanced toward the library entrance. His tone was flat as he spoke.
“Did you run into trouble and need a place to take refuge?”
A sweet, innocent smile blossomed on Elvia's face.
“I don't know what you're talking about. I just heard from my servants that you came to the library, so I came specifically to see my companion.”
As she spoke, she quietly drew closer to Lin Gui and naturally took his arm, looking just like an intimate couple.
She did not even wait to quietly heave a sigh of relief.
Lin Gui's cold words instantly pierced right through her disguise.
“Solve your own problems. I will lose you in a moment, and please believe I have the ability to do so.”
The smile on Elvia's face froze instantly.
She lowered her voice, a trace of exasperation in her tone.
“Hey! Don't be so heartless, alright? I'm your companion, after all! Your loyal servant!”
Lin Gui chuckled softly and began counting on his fingers.
“First of all, now that we're in the Royal Capital, I no longer need you to guide me on the so-called ‘Golden Route’.”
“Secondly, I'm already a Mid-tier High Rank. My rank will catch up to yours very soon.”
“Furthermore, on the way to Shield City, I have team members far stronger than you to act as our front line.”
“Finally...”
He paused, looking at Elvia.
“You don't even have the most basic ‘sense of belonging’ as a team member.”
“You could drag the team into trouble at any moment for your own benefit.”
“So, Elvia, tell me. Aside from the antidote to the ‘Demon's Poisonous Kiss’ that you don't want me to waste on you, what value do you actually have to me?”
Elvia's face turned pale.
Lin Gui smiled and continued.
“Haven't you always wanted me to cure the poison in your body?”
“Help me find the Queen's Tomb, or find out the real reason Roger went to Avalon.”
“Whichever one you complete, I can immediately neutralize the poison in your system.”
“And during this time, I will guarantee your safety.”
“How about it, Princess Elvia?”
Elvia's eyes flickered.
“Aren't... aren't you afraid I'll leak your secrets?”
Lin Gui smiled, but his smile sent a cold shiver down Elvia's spine.
“Go ahead and leak them if you want.”
“That is, if you aren't afraid of being constantly ‘watched’ afterward by a mage who can completely conceal himself so well that even a Legendary expert cannot find him.”
A sudden chill ran down Elvia's back.
She recalled Lin Gui's mysterious and unpredictable 【Shroud of the Gloomy Night】.
And his ruthless way of dealing with enemies.
She had no doubt that if she really exposed his secrets, she would spend the rest of her life living in invisible terror.
“...Fine! It's a deal!” Elvia nodded with a smile.
“Very well. A pleasure doing business with you.” Lin Gui nodded.
Striking while the iron was hot, Elvia immediately spoke up.
“Then, as the first step of our cooperation, come with me to the marriage registry.”
Lin Gui: “???”
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