Chapter 186: I Want to Protect You, Lady Amelia

Amelia and Roger terminated the connection at last, each returning to their respective duties. For a long moment, Amelia simply stared at the crystal orb resting before her in silence, mentally organizing every scrap of intelligence gleaned from their exchange.

Then, she began calculating the logistics for the upcoming trek.

Amelia was not so naive as to view this journey as a routine excursion to a landmark from her past. The Tower of the Absolute Star was not a realm where a child at her present cultivation level could tread without calculating every single step in advance.

She knew the lethal scale of the hazards within.

If anything, her prior familiarity with the location made her far more anxious than an uninitiated traveler. She possessed knowledge of obscure, high-mortality zones within the tower that most people were utterly ignorant of—and she was acutely aware that the passage of time meant nothing had remained static.

A multitude of variables refused to be ruled out.

Certain monster species inhabiting those sectors over the intervening years might have mutated, evolving into entities vastly more powerful than those recorded in her memory banks. Entirely new, unmapped apex strains could have emerged.

Or worse yet...

A new Monster King might have been birthed.

Or a War Hero for one of the monstrous races dwelling within those depths.

When it came to beast species, the emergence of a Monster King or a War Hero was no ordinary development. It was akin to a sacred grace descending directly from the heavens upon an entire species.

A entity born with such a mark was not merely marginally stronger than its peers; it was fundamentally distinct in terms of potential and latent power output. The gulf between such a creature and the rest of its kind was so vast that comparing them was like comparing two entirely separate species.

It was precisely like a War Hero being born into a nest of standard worker ants.

Rather than being a slightly larger or stronger ant, it would be born roughly the size of a grown human, endowed with a physical vessel and overwhelming force beyond anything a common ant could comprehend.

The manifestation of such a entity was not mere species evolution.

It was an absolute calamity for everything in its vicinity.

Should Roger encounter beasts of that caliber, Amelia was far from certain he could handle them single-handedly—regardless of his current power. Roger had indeed grown formidable, securing his footing in the Prince Realm, yet Amelia could not accurately map every unknown horror waiting inside the tower.

That realization alone forced her to recalculate her operational parameters repeatedly.

Then came the secondary issue.

The Cave of the Grandest Heritage.

Amelia lacked its exact coordinates. She knew it resided within the Tower of the Absolute Star, but she could not verify which specific floor housed the cavern.

This was no minor detail.

It was the deciding factor in whether the objective was tactically feasible in the first place.

If the cave rested within the lower floors, the scenario remained manageable—especially with Roger acting as her vanguard.

However, if it was situated anywhere beyond the 40th floor...

Amelia paused her train of thought.

Even with her ancient experience, she could not realistically visualize reaching those heights in her current vessel. It would mean confronting environmental hazards and entity tiers that exceeded her physical tolerance threshold by orders of magnitude.

Placing a hand over her brow, she let out a long sigh.

"This expedition will be exceedingly perilous... I must run these calculations again to ensure nothing goes awry."

She refused to commit a single strategic error.

In the past, she had possessed the overwhelming power required to enter lethal zones without dissecting every minute variable.

But now?

She was six years old.

Her cultivation barely touched the first tier of the Star Realm.

Her soul might carry the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime, and her mind might be an archive of supreme knowledge, but knowledge alone could not conjure the raw power she had lost.

Thus, absolute caution was her only viable shield.

Finishing her meal, Amelia pushed the plate aside and looked up at the system window floating before her. She willed the interface to dismiss itself.

In the blink of an eye, the screen vanished.

Amelia blinked in surprise. It appeared the system was beginning to directly execute her basic mental commands.

She didn’t dwell on it. It was already late, and her body required rest. Tomorrow, she would begin procuring the necessary supplies and verifying that no detail—no matter how seemingly insignificant—was left unaccounted for.

Rising from her desk, Amelia turned toward her bed.

Before she could take a step—

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Amelia halted.

The rhythmic tapping on her chamber door carried a distinct, recognizable cadence. She had no need to ask who stood outside.

She recognized him instantly.

Albert.

Her brow furrowed slightly. Albert rarely sought her out at such an ungodly hour, leaving her to wonder what had prompted his sudden visit. Perhaps he was still anxious over her earlier behavior—especially after seeing her distracted state while staring at a system interface invisible to his own eyes.

She had no choice but to grant him entry.

"Enter, Albert," she stated calmly.

The moment her voice registered, the door swung open.

Albert stepped into the room with hesitant strides. He remained in his humanoid form, though it retained distinct draconic features: twin small horns protruding from his head, miniature wings folded against his back, and delicate scales tracing parts of his face. His eyes carried an intense look that immediately signaled to Amelia he had arrived with something weightier on his mind.

Advancing a few paces, Albert halted before her.

Lowering his head slightly, he spoke: "I apologize, Lady Amelia... but while standing outside the door, I inadvertently overheard something I was not meant to hear."

Amelia blinked.

She grasped his meaning instantly. He was referring to her muttered observations regarding the expedition and its inherent risks.

Yet she couldn’t fathom the reason for his excessive remorse. Why act as though he had committed a high crime simply by overhearing a few isolated words?

She observed him in silence.

Albert pressed on rapidly, as though fearing his nerve might fail him if he delayed:

"To be frank, Lady Amelia... I wish to accompany you to act as your shield."

Amelia’s eyes widened slightly.

Albert continued, stark seriousness etched across his young face: "I want to prove to you, Lady Amelia, that I am fully capable of repaying your extraordinary beauty!"

Silence descended.

A long, agonizingly heavy silence.

Amelia raised her hand slowly and pressed her palm against her forehead, closing her eyes.

A genuine headache was beginning to throb behind her temples.

Just moments ago, she had been sitting at her desk running complex threat models on Monster Kings, analyzing upper tower floors, calculating mission failure probabilities, and searching for tactical avenues to minimize lethality.

And now...

Albert had marched in with absolute gravity to declare his desire to escort her into a death trap just to prove he was worthy of "repaying her beauty."

Amelia was at a complete loss for words.

This young dragon possessed an astounding, almost miraculous talent for turning any high-stakes, life-or-death scenario into something that made her want to slam her head repeatedly against the nearest wall.

Opening her eyes, she fixed her gaze upon him.

Albert remained standing there in absolute earnestness, looking for all the world as though he had just delivered the grandest proclamation a noble knight could ever offer his princess.

Amelia let out a deep, defeated sigh.

It appeared this expedition had become drastically more complicated before it had even begun.