[Location: Minister of the Seal's Office]

Beatrice carefully helped Louis arrange his cuffs, looking at him wearing the Saint Louis Academy's warrior series knight uniform, a hint of amazement flashed in her eyes.

She said casually:

"Louis, when you go to Saint Louis Academy, don't casually talk to some bad women, okay? Now you have a fiancée."

Louis looked speechless.

Did he seem like the kind of guy who easily attracted trouble?

If he really couldn't resist wanting a taste, the pretty maids in the Prince's Mansion would have long been devoured by him.

Of course, he wouldn't foolishly blurt this out, he just said with a grin:

"They won't come near me. In the face of the empire's bright jewel, they will only feel inferior, so rest assured, Beatrice."

"Or maybe..."

Louis leaned in, his long eyes carrying a hint of mischief:

"Beatrice..."

"Hmm?"

"Don't move."

Louis reached out, gently pressed his thumb on her soft lips, then retracted it, and wiped it on his own lips, saying:

"I've remembered the taste of this lipstick, and I won't forget it before coming back."

Accompanied by the sound of a doorknob turning, Qian walked in:

"Your Highness, the arrangements at the academy are already..."

Louis: ...

Beatrice: ...

Qian paused for a moment, blinked, and said:

"Stay safe."

Then retreated at a speed Louis couldn't discern and closed the door behind them.

Vaguely, the two seemed to hear a satisfied chuckle.

Beatrice was a bit overwhelmed, and blamed:

"It's all your fault; when you leave, Qian will laugh at me again."

Louis shamelessly said:

"How could that be? You're the Eldest Princess, she would at most secretly laugh in private."

It felt like since that incident at the engagement ball, the Prince seemed to become increasingly audacious.

The most damning thing was that she didn't seem very inclined to refuse.

Beatrice said: "You're going to kill me! Hurry and go to the academy!"

Louis said: "Alright, alright, I'm off."

Beatrice: "Hold on..."

Beatrice pinched her brow.

After being teased by Louis, she almost forgot about the main matter:

"When you're at the academy, if you get a chance, help me investigate something."

Louis nodded: "Tell me."

Beatrice suppressed the agitation in her heart, picked up a letter with the academy's seal from the desk, and handed it over:

"Recently, there's been a cleanup of spies from various previous factions, and something happened at Saint Louis Academy that may require your assistance to handle."

"A mage at the academy sensed a rift fluctuation in the realm."

"Based on assessments by the Secret Guard and Dark Crow, there seems to be a rift from the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm within the academy."

"Though White Tower quickly enhanced the spatial array's stability, unstable rifts still might release some shadow creatures."

"Powerful shadow creatures wouldn't bother, but it's hard to say about some lower-level ones."

"After all, the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm is rather troublesome among shadow realm regions."

"Your Sin Dragon Armament happens to perfectly cleanse the pollution of the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm."

Louis realized.

No wonder Beatrice wanted him to investigate directly.

First things first, he needed to understand one issue.

What exactly is the shadow realm?

Being a transition realm spanning the whole Star Continent and even covering territories in other primary material realms, the shadow realm is vast and quite dangerous.

The shadow monsters residing within have ecosystems drastically different from the main material realm.

And among them, some regions naturally possess extremely high danger levels.

The area where the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm is situated is precisely one of those.

Given its name containing "Nether," it's imaginable how infernal the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm must be.

Among the many strange stories Louis had read, there were records of the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm's horrors.

[Once, a god fell here]

This one sentence summarizes it all.

In the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm, devoid of sunlight or any starlight, no colors exist outside black, white, and gray.

The whole realm is a dark reflection of various real-life objects.

Shadows, bound spirits, ghosts, phantoms, and a multitude of undead creatures sleep and wander within this zone.

Among them even resides the vampire progenitor of Star Continent.

He dwells in the creepy semi-plane domain of the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm, as the world's first vampire archduke.

Logically speaking, the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm should be an extremely perilous place.

So how did it become so light-hearted from the mouth of his big wife?

Seemingly sensing Louis's confusion, Beatrice chuckled lightly and said:

"Once, the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm truly was a dreadfully dangerous place, but now, there's not much threat left."

Louis grew curious:

"Hmm? Why is that?"

"Because the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm holds many twisted reflections of the main material realm, and the last region it reflected was Tino City."

"It projected the Father's reflection into that area, where most creatures were granted equal death by the Father manifesting as the Black Sun."

"..."

What else could Louis say? Emperor Lao Deng, impressive indeed!

He helplessly asked: "Then what danger does the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm potentially hold now?"

Beatrice replied: "It's the Shadow Curse, a kind of curse that slowly erodes the human body, transforming it into chaotic evil shadow creatures."

"A Saint Louis teacher accidentally stumbled upon it recently."

"Under the influence of the Shadow Curse, he lost memory in the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm, continued to act in the academy as a half-human, half-shadow entity, only to be noticed when his body malfunctioned recently."

Louis fell into contemplation.

At this current time, it is indeed quite coincidental.

According to the records in the future diary, the timing of this Fallen Shadow Nether Realm's appearance feels awfully close to when Saint Louis Academy's secret chamber appeared.

Could it be Saint Louis's secret chamber actually embeds a half-plane within the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm?

Just as he pondered this, Beatrice sighed deeply and said:

"Actually, I need you to check on Olivia mainly because, for some reasons, Olivia is more easily drawn into the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm than others."

"While there aren't too many dangers inside, staying there long-term imposes a significant burden on her body."

"Your Sin Dragon Armament bears a terrifyingly incomprehensible curse against enemies."

"With an even stronger curse, you won't be affected by the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm at all."

"If, by any chance... Olivia really ends up in the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm, you may have to help bring her out."

Louis nodded. This matter was settled.

However, his doubts hadn't been solved, but seemed to increase.

Why would Olivia be more easily drawn inside?

Hold on, isn't it possible that...

If that's the case, then it's all the more reason to involve Grace.

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