Chapter 74: The End of a Long Day 3

Shiora looked at her with a smile that was far too innocent.

"Since we’re on the subject of costly mistakes..."

Isadora immediately shot her an icy glare.

"Shiora."

"The crown."

Elena sat up straight.

"What crown?"

Isadora closed her eyes.

"We don’t need to tell this story."

"The crown of the kingdom," Selene replied cheerfully.

Elena’s mouth dropped open.

"Mother?"

Isadora sighed.

Shiora explained:

"At the time, Isadora was traveling with us and was temporarily transporting part of the royal treasury after a diplomatic mission."

"Temporarily," Isadora insisted.

"A merchant offered her an artifact supposedly capable of automatically detecting assassins from several kilometers away."

Elaria added:

"He had created an extremely convincing demonstration." "

Vespera murmured,

"With three accomplices hidden in the crowd."

Elena looked at her mother as if she were seeing a completely different person.

"You bought it?"

Isadora looked away.

Selene smiled.

"She practically gave the royal crown as collateral while she raised the necessary funds."

"Practically," Isadora repeated.

Shiora burst out laughing.

"I had to explain to her for an hour that an artifact that detects assassins shouldn’t start beeping when the seller himself approaches."

Elena put a hand to her mouth.

"Mother..."

"I was young."

"You always say that’s no excuse."

Isadora fell silent.

Selene slammed her fist on the table.

"Elena just won."

Shiora, of course, wasn’t spared.

Isadora turned slowly toward her.

"Since we’re talking about scams..."

Shiora’s smile vanished.

"Can we change the subject?"

"No," replied Isadora.

Elaria raised her eyes slightly.

"The mine."

Shiora closed her eyes.

"I hate you."

Selene smiled.

"We love you too."

Elena asked:

"What mine?"

Isadora replied:

"Shiora had discovered what she considered the deal of a lifetime."

"The reports were extremely convincing," Shiora muttered.

"A mine supposedly filled with mithril."

Lyriana rested her cheek against her hand.

"She invested all her savings."

"All of them?" asked Elena.

Vespera replied calmly:

"All of them." "

Shiora grunted.

"It wasn’t mithril."

Elena hesitated.

"What was it?"

Elaria replied:

"Almost worthless silver mica."

Selene burst out laughing.

"When Shiora discovered it, she wanted to find the merchant."

Isadora corrected her:

"’Find’ isn’t the word I would use."

Vespera added:

"She gathered several mercenaries."

Elaria:

"Prepared three wagons of weapons."

Selene:

"And began drafting a declaration of war."

Elena blinked several times.

"Against whom?"

Shiora crossed her arms.

"To her company."

Silence.

Then the whole table burst into laughter.

Even Shiora ended up smiling.

"I was this close to getting my money back."

Isadora raised an eyebrow.

"You were this close to triggering a trade conflict between four cities."

"Details."

Then came Astraea.

Since she wasn’t there, she unfortunately couldn’t defend herself.

So the anecdotes were particularly numerous.

The forest that was almost burned down.

The time she tried to heal a wild animal that later turned out to be the offspring of an extremely high-ranking beast.

Another time she disappeared for three days because she decided to follow a forest spirit without telling anyone.

Then the conversation gradually changed.

Isadora smiled.

"I especially remember the day Astraea announced she was pregnant."

The laughter subsided.

Lyriana raised her head slightly.

Shiora immediately looked touched.

"None of us saw it coming."

Selene smiled.

"Astraea herself didn’t understand at first."

Vespera added:

"She thought she’d been poisoned because she was constantly tired."

Lyriana gradually blushed.

Elena looked at her with amusement.

"I suppose they’re talking about you."

Lyriana murmured:

"Unfortunately."

Elaria smiled slightly.

"Astraea was terrified."

Isadora nodded.

"And happy."

Shiora looked at Lyriana.

"Then you arrived." "

Lyriana seemed to already know what was coming next.

"Don’t start."

Selene had a dangerous smile.

"She was tiny."

"Selene."

"And she had ears that were much too big for her head."

"Selene."

Elena started to laugh.

Shiora continued:

"Everyone wanted to carry her."

Isadora added:

"Astraea practically had to organize an order."

Elaria:

"Selene never followed orders."

"I was faster."

Vespera looked at Lyriana.

"You often slept in my arms."

Lyriana turned scarlet.

"I have no recollection of that."

"We do," Vespera replied.

Shiora rested her chin on her hand.

" "And when she started walking..."

Lyriana sat up straight immediately.

"No."

"She ran everywhere."

"No."

"She climbed trees."

Selene added:

"On the rooftops."

Elaria:

"In the storerooms."

Isadora:

"In the meeting rooms."

Vespera:

"In my lab."

Lyriana hid her face in her hands.

Elena was now laughing openly.

Shiora continued:

"She wasn’t afraid of anything."

Selene smiled.

"Once, she disappeared for almost a whole day."

Lyriana jerked her head up.

"I got lost."

"You told us you’d gone exploring."

"I was five!"

"Exactly."

Elena was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe.

Lyriana looked at her.

"Keep laughing."

Elena wiped her eyes.

"Sorry... but imagining you running around causing trouble..."

Lyriana narrowed her eyes.

"Very well."

Elena gradually stopped laughing.

She knew that look.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lyriana turned to the others.

"Since we’re talking about my childhood, let’s talk about Elena’s."

The knight’s face changed instantly.

"Lyriana."

Selene immediately became interested.

"Oh?"

Isadora smiled.

"I know several stories."

Elena looked at her mother with a betrayal.

"Mother!"

"You laughed at Lyriana."

"That’s no excuse!" "

Lyriana had now regained her composure.

And her smile was terribly satisfied.

"Elena followed me everywhere when she was little."

Shiora looked at the knight.

"Really?"

"Absolutely everywhere," Lyriana confirmed. "In the garden. In the hallways. During my training. Even when I was just trying to read."

Elena blushed.

"I wanted to learn."

"You were five years old."

"I was motivated."

Lyriana continued:

"One day, she tried to follow me while I was sneaking out of the mansion on a mission."

Isadora looked up.

"I remember that day."

Elena began to sink into her chair.

Lyriana continued:

"She lost me on a side street."

"I was little." "

"Then she decided to take a shortcut."

Selene was already smiling.

"What kind of shortcut?"

Lyriana looked at Elena.

"A drain opening."

The table fell silent.

Then Shiora asked:

"Did she go into the sewers?"

"Not exactly."

Lyriana smiled even more.

"She squeezed through an opening that was too narrow. She went down about two meters... then she got stuck."

Selene burst out laughing.

Elena immediately put both hands to her face.

Lyriana mimed a small voice.

"Lyrianaaaa..."

"Stop it!"

"Lyrianaaaa... I can’t get out..."

Even Vespera was smiling now.

Shiora leaned over the table.

"How long was she stuck?"

Isadora replied:

"Almost an hour."

Elena jerked her head up.

"Because nobody knew where I was!"

Lyriana added:

"When I finally found her, only her legs were sticking out."

The room erupted in laughter.

Elena blushed even more.

"You’re awful."

Lyriana calmly folded her arms.

"You were laughing a lot a few minutes ago."

"It’s not the same."

"Of course."

Selene wiped her eyes.

"Again. There must be others."

Elena looked at Lyriana.

"Don’t do that."

Lyriana smiled.

"You forget I’ve taken care of you for years." "

And it was true."

Lyriana had been much more restless during her childhood.

But after Elena was born, something changed.

She started trying to act like a big sister.

Calmer.

More cautious.

More responsible.

At least...

In theory.

Isadora smiled gently.

"Lyriana really calmed down after Elena was born."

Shiora nodded.

"She wanted to set such a good example that she completely changed."

Lyriana looked away slightly.

"Someone had to be responsible."

Selene looked at her.

"We were here."

Lyriana replied without hesitation:

"Exactly."

Another burst of laughter rippled through the table.

But this immediately gave Elena an idea.

She sat up straight.

"Since we’re talking about responsibility..."

Lyriana froze.

Elena smiled slowly.

"The infiltration mission."

This time, it was Lyriana who blushed.

"No."

Selene slammed her fist on the table.

"Yes!"

Shiora turned to her.

"What mission?"

Elena savored her revenge.

"Lyriana was to infiltrate the home of an important target. She had spent several days observing the staff’s habits."

Lyriana tried:

"This story is irrelevant."

"It’s extremely important."

Elena continued:

"Before going in, she had prepared several potions to maintain her alertness throughout the night."

Elaria frowned slightly.

"I remember."

Lyriana closed her eyes.

"Of course you remember." "

Elena smiled.

"Except she grabbed the wrong bottle."

Shiora was already laughing.

"What did she drink?"

"A particularly strong alcoholic beverage."

Lyriana murmured:

"The bottles looked alike."

Elaria replied:

"Not at all."

"It was dark."

"One was blue. The other red."

"Very dark."

Selene was already laughing.

Elena continued:

"She entered the compound. Avoided all the guards. Disabled the traps. Opened the master bedroom window."

Shiora asked:

"And then?"

Elena smiled.

"She lay down in the target’s bed."

Silence.

"And she fell asleep."

Laughter erupted immediately.

Lyriana hid her face behind her hands.

Selene had almost slipped off her chair.

Shiora was banging on the table.

Even Isadora was laughing openly.

Vespera asked calmly,

"How did she avoid being discovered?"

Elena wiped away a tear.

"The target had gone on an unexpected trip and didn’t return that night."

Shiora struggled to speak.

"So one of the continent’s best infiltrators infiltrated a highly secure residence... only to sleep in her target’s bed?"

Lyriana murmured,

"I wasn’t one of the best yet."

"That makes the story even better."

Elena smiled triumphantly.

"The next morning, she woke up, realized what she had done, retrieved the documents she was looking for, and returned to the manor without a word."

Lyriana looked up at her.

"How do you know all the details?"

Elena froze.

Isadora smiled.

"Because she found your report."

Lyriana slowly turned her head toward Elena.

This time, it was the knight who lost her smile.

"Mother..."

"You were fifteen years old and you were still snooping through Lyriana’s files."

Lyriana’s eyes flashed.

"Oh."

Elena immediately understood her mistake.

"Wait."

Selene sat up.

"Another story?"

Shiora smiled.

"We have all night."

Elena looked around.

Everyone now seemed perfectly willing to reveal their secrets.

"I regret coming down to dinner."

Lyriana smiled with a terrifying sweetness.

"I’m only just beginning to enjoy the evening."