Hate Me, Miss Witch!

In the southern region of the Western Continent, there is a forest of silence.

This is a deserted forest.

It is said that humans lived here in ancient times that cannot be traced back.

Even in that barbaric era when the extraordinary race disappeared and the spark of human civilization began to shine, the earliest human kingdoms were established around the Forest of Silence.

Just as several epochs passed, traces of human beings faded from this ancient forest sea, returning to eternal tranquility.

Deep in the Forest of Silence, there is a dark garden beside a lake.

The girl with black hair and black skirt stood quietly by the lake.

Her eyes were covered with a thin layer of night, making them unreal and hazy, making it difficult to see clearly.

Suddenly, at a certain moment, the thin shadow was penetrated by red-gold light.

It penetrated the night and also penetrated the shadows.

Then it fell straight in front of her, on the quiet lake and the ruins beside the lake that had been weathered to the point of being hollow, and only the outline of the original building could be vaguely discerned.

next moment.

In that red-gold light, shadows surged.

Between the alternation of illusion and reality, on the weathered and decaying ruins, the thin night gradually intertwined——

In the end, it turned into hazy and abnormal, fleeting lights and shadows on the ruins.

Augustina just looked at the hazy illusory light and shadow quietly, with light flowing in her red-gold eyes, like flowing lava.

The Shadow Council has strongholds throughout most of the Western Continent, even in the Lost Kingdom controlled by the cult.

However, few people know that the headquarters of the Shadow Council, as well as the residence of the leader of the Council, the Queen of the Night, are located in this inaccessible and silent forest in the southern region of the mainland.

Even the very few senior members of the Shadow Council who knew the name of the Forest of Silence found it difficult to understand Ogutina's purpose of setting up the parliament's headquarters here.

The Shadow Council's status is enough to set up a headquarters in any capital city in the Western Continent, and those big cities with a dense flow of people and strong people are more suitable for the Shadow Council to carry out various intelligence operations.

There is no need to set it up in this place, which at best can be said to be undisturbed, but at worst can be said to be a remote, out-of-the-way place.

However, only Ogutina herself knows——

The Forest of Silence is her hometown.

The ruins of the Ancient Dragon King's Court and the last fragments of the once prosperous civilization were buried in the Forest of Silence.

And more than that——

Forest of Silence.

It was also the place where Ogutina and the human boy met for the first time.

And the forest country near the Forest of Silence——

It is also the source of the first footprints left by that human boy in the First Age.

…

The pale night light surged over the desolate ruins.

Very weak, but with a hint of mystery of antiquity and decay, it flows quietly on the lake.

After a long time, the night and shadows faded from the ruins.

Even the fleeting light and shadow on the ruins disappeared.

The remaining buildings were no longer shrouded in the night, and became much darker in an instant, never regaining their previous luster.

As if losing the last trace of mystery, the remnants of the buildings decayed and turned into scattered chalk smoke.

In the eyes of the girl in the black dress, the red-gold color, like the majesty of an ancient king, also disappeared, and was once again obscured by the hazy night, making it difficult to see the full picture clearly.

"The prince of the forest country."

"Pushed out by the rebels and sacrificed to the sleeping dragon in the Forest of Silence..."

"I didn't expect that you had such an identity in the First Age."

"Well... after the forest country gave the last prince as a sacrifice to the evil dragon, it collapsed due to internal strife for power."

"There is also the line that the rebel general said during the rebellion - "A man lives between heaven and earth, how can he live in depression for a long time under others"... These words are very characteristic of you at first glance. "

"This kind of thing is also in line with your bad taste, and it should have something to do with you."

"But with your current status, you would still argue with a few minions who are not even legends..."

"As you are now the husband of the Queen of the Empire and half the owner of the White Tower, this should be regarded as pure black history."

A slight smile couldn't help but form on the corner of Ogutina's mouth.

"It seems that a certain Prometheus-level file can contain some more black material."

There was a hint of pleasure in her words.

The Shadow Council is the largest intelligence organization in the entire Western Continent. This is a fact that every transcendent in the Western Continent knows and recognizes.

But no one knows that the founder and leader of the Shadow Council had the original intention of establishing the Shadow Council in the first place——

In fact, she just wants to recruit some people to help her collect information and black materials about someone.

Someone, like the wind appearing in the first era, appeared in Ogutina's life.

Then, the human boy disappeared like the wind.

He was the first intelligent life Ogutina saw when she was born.

For the Dragon Clan, the first creature they see after breaking out of their shells has a significance that even surpasses that of their biological parents. It is an existence with irreplaceable special significance.

However, after that, the human boy disappeared completely.

No matter how much Ogutina searched in the Western Continent, she could never find any trace of him.

Because of this, Ogutina's feelings towards the human boy were extremely complicated.

On the one hand, it is the uncontrollable longing that emerges in my heart.

On the other hand, although he knew that the other party most likely did not know about it and did not do it intentionally, he was still full of regrets about his disappearance for two epochs.

So much so that later in the Fourth Age, when Ogutina finally reported back through the parliament stronghold in the Imperial Capital and discovered the traces of the young man——

She knew clearly that Xia Ya didn't know her at all, and she shouldn't show up now...but in the end she couldn't control herself, and took the initiative to come to the imperial capital, and molested the ignorant young man several times. .

Watching the unsuspecting Xia carefully facing herself in the dark night garden, cautiously probing and guessing...

In Ogutina's heart, the resentment towards the two epochs of being arranged to play also dissipated a lot in a moment.

Including that she has been insisting on collecting the other party's information, and even recorded many embarrassing things from Char's childhood in that Prometheus-level file. In fact, it is the same principle.

It looks like an extreme fan who is driven by love and hate, and collects negative information about each other everywhere.

Buzz buzz——

A slight vibration in the distance interrupted the girl in the black skirt's somewhat contented reverie.

Her expression condensed, and she turned back into the mysterious and difficult-to-see-through Queen of the Night.

"explain."

"Yes, Sir Chief."

From the sound transmission circle came the respectful words of the person in charge of the Dark Night Garden from the Shadow Parliament's stronghold in the Imperial Capital.

"Your Majesty Xia Ya, he has been to the Dark Night Garden."

"According to your previous instructions, I told him that you are currently in retreat and no one knows where you are."

"And as you instructed, he has been given the highest level of access to all the inventory and intelligence archives of the Shadow Council."

As he spoke, the person in charge secretly swallowed.

Most of the powerful people on the Western Continent only know that the Shadow Council is very rich.

But there is no specific concept of how rich one is.

As a manager of the Shadow Council, he had been promoted by the leader because of his role as the head of the Imperial City stronghold, and had truly entered the upper echelons of the Council. Only then did he know very clearly...

It has been inherited for thousands of years, and it is always hoarding wealth as an intelligence dealer and arms dealer. How deep is its background?

It is no exaggeration to say that if we do not count the powerful men and the inherited holy relics and strategic knowledge, in terms of the total amount of wealth, the Shadow Council is even enough to compete with any one of the empire, the Holy Theocracy, and the alliance of princes.

If it weren't for Ogutina herself who was only interested in collecting intelligence and hoarding gold coins, but had no interest in expanding her power, then the Shadow Council could have established its own country and become the fourth pole of the order camp in the Western Continent.

That was a powerful force that could shake the entire Western Continent.

"However, His Majesty Xia Ya doesn't seem to have mobilized much wealth."

"He just checked a few pieces of Death Report Angel-level information related to the First Age, and then took two holy relics from the warehouse."

"Furthermore... His Majesty Xia Yamian also made it clear that these two holy relics are only temporarily borrowed and will be returned later. He also left extraordinary resources sufficient to match the value of those two holy relics as the rental fee."

…

"Are you not even willing to take the resources of the Shadow Council for free, but are you only willing to obtain them through transactions?"

"Don't want to owe me a favor?"

"Obviously, even the Shadow Council itself was created just to find you..."

The girl in the black dress muttered to herself, but no one heard her.

On the outside, she answered quickly and calmly.

"Um."

Ogutina nodded slightly.

"Well done, that's all."

She tapped her finger, as if she wanted to actively cut off the magic communication.

But suddenly, Ogutina's action of cutting off the call paused for a moment.

"During this period, there shouldn't be any new women around him."

"With His Majesty Xia's current status, as well as the multiple identities of the new queen's husband and the leader of the sword bearer... plus your previous instructions, we naturally dare not conduct too in-depth investigation."

"We can only guess based on His Majesty Xia Ya's behavior when he appeared in public in the imperial capital."

"So far... apart from the Blue Silver Witch who is the master of the White Tower, and Queen Isadella, His Majesty Xia Ya has probably never attended public events with other female companions."

"Well, there is also the orphan of the Winter Flower family, Airora Ingulit. Your Majesty Xia Ya is visiting the Dark Night Garden with her this time. Sir, you should have seen her before. she."

Ogutina's movements froze, and then she returned to normal.

"I see."

"After that, you continue to do what I said before."

On the other end of the magic communication, the person in charge hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly.

"My lord, when Xia Yamian came down, he seemed to want to meet you."

"Since you are so concerned about his news and have never really been in retreat, why do you want me to use the reason that you are in retreat to reject Xia Ya's crown..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ogutina's chuckle.

"Because, if I see him now."

"Then it's possible that I'll have to lose to Sylvia and Isadella for the rest of my life..."

Magic communication is cut off.

The Forest of Silence returned to tranquility.

Ogutina put away the sound crystal and quietly stared at the calm and waveless lake in front of her.

Those eyes were obscured by the night, making it difficult to see clearly.

"Actually, why don't I want to see him?"

"But--"

"A trustworthy and intimate pet..."

"There is a difference between a partner who walks hand in hand and supports each other."

A slight red-gold color flowed in Augustina's eyes.

She knew very well Xia Ya's current mentality. He must be very confused now about how he should face himself.

Are they close partners who signed a contract like before?

Or simply friends and allies.

Perhaps in Xia Ya's mind at this moment, the current self is not as easy to get along with as the well-behaved young dragon.

However, no matter which one Char finally chose, it was not what Augustina wanted.

No matter how close the relationship between the pet beast and the master is, they can lie on Char's head all day and night, listen to stories, and doze off, but in the end they are just companions.

When Char took the two holy relics from the Shadow Council, the rental fees he left behind were ironclad evidence.

When he took something from the White Tower, why did he use the words "borrow it temporarily" and "will definitely return it later"?

And Ogutina doesn't want to be just a friend or a companion.

Instead, go one step further.

Her thoughts moved slightly.

The next moment, a small and simple hourglass appeared quietly in the palm of Ogutina's hand.

There is fine gravel passing through it, lingering with the ripples of time.

Holy Relic "Hourglass of Time"

Previously, Ogutina used this holy relic to return her consciousness to the end of the Third Age, where she met Char in the city that never sleeps.

And now.

As nearly a year has passed.

This holy relic carrying the Sands of Time has finally completed its charge and regained its powerful mystery.

"Even in your heart, I may never be as good as the eldest lady of the Winter Flower family, or your golden elf teacher."

"After all, compared to Aurora and Hathaway, I was indeed too late."

"However, I still don't want to lose to Sylvia and Isadella like this."

Ogutina pursed her lips.

She knew very well that there were already too many people in Xia Ya's heart, leaving not many vacancies.

After discovering his merciless passivity, Xia Ya has now consciously avoided attracting bees and butterflies, and is unwilling to provoke others irresponsibly.

Therefore, if you want to carve out a place for yourself in Xiaya's heart that has already been filled by others.

The only way is to take the initiative.

Create more new memories together with him.

"So, the first era——"

"Also, the Lost Island..."

"Is it right?"