Chapter 398: I’m Looking For Someone
Two days passed quietly. During this time, things within the Lionheart family were more or less calm. The elders did their best to keep the incident hidden.
There was nothing else they could do—such a situation could heavily affect their honor and reputation. They also considered the possibility that spies might exist.
Still, they had no choice but to come up with excuses for Daniel’s behavior that day. In the end, Selera herself stepped forward and claimed it was her fault.
The anger of everyone slowly calmed down after hearing Selera’s words in support of that boy, and the matter was soon forgotten.
Daniel himself had spent the past two days training and also training Andreas. While the latter wasn’t weak, he still had a lot of room to improve.
Fortunately, Andreas hadn’t spent all those days drowning in depression. After a while, he pulled himself together and decided to get stronger—strong enough so that nothing like what happened to Ilaris would ever happen again, and so that he could always protect her.
To their surprise, even Olivia joined their training. Although they were considered rivals, neither Daniel nor Olivia cared, and Andreas didn’t mind either.
Now, both of them had been summoned to the Black Palace. The ones who would go on the mission had to be chosen.
As soon as they entered the Black Palace, both Andreas and Daniel felt the heavy gazes fall upon them—the invisible pressure that seemed to try to force them to their knees.
But neither of them moved. Instead, they faced the elders indifferently, greeting them in a tone that was neither humble nor offensive.
A beautiful woman was sitting higher than the rest of the elders. Seeing what those useless old men were trying to do, she released her own aura and suppressed theirs.
The elders flinched slightly at the sight, immediately withdrawing their auras. They didn’t know why the White Whale had acted like that, but they didn’t dare to question her.
"You know why we called you here, don’t you?"
"Yes," Daniel and Andreas replied at the same time.
"Good. We have prepared the amount of money the Corruption Worshipers demanded. But they also want something else—the key in your possession. Since it belongs to you, we can’t forcefully take it. So, what do you say? Will you hand over the key?" the White Whale explained.
The elders secretly growled inside. Why even bother asking? They should just take the key by force.
What could be more important than the life of one of the Patriarch’s descendants?
"I naturally don’t have a problem with it, but I have one condition," Daniel said with a smile.
"Boy, don’t push too far. This is for saving your friend as well," one of the elders said sarcastically.
"What’s your condition?" the White Whale asked calmly nonetheless.
"I want to personally go along with the one who’s going to retrieve the two of them. I’ll only hand over the key myself."
The elders frowned. Even Andreas gave his friend a strange look this time. Knowing Daniel, there had to be an important reason why he insisted on going himself.
"That’s all? No problem, you can go with them," the White Whale agreed without hesitation.
Seeing her response, the other elders didn’t dare say anything further. They could only sigh. Since the matter wasn’t of great importance and didn’t seem like it would cause any variables, they decided not to object.
After all, this boy wasn’t stupid enough to risk his friend’s life, right?
"Departure will be in two hours."
After hearing that, Daniel and Andreas bid farewell and left, returning to Andreas’s palace.
"Why do you want to go with them? Don’t you think it might be dangerous?" Andreas asked.
"I want to confirm a few things. Don’t worry. Besides, I’ll make sure nothing happens to Ilaris," Daniel explained calmly.
"Then take care of yourself," Andreas sighed, not trying to change his mind—he knew it would be impossible.
"By the way, could you look into someone for me? I want to know where she is now and how she’s living."
"Hm? Depends on who you’re asking about."
"Her name is Eva Irenwald. She’s an old friend of mine. If you can find her, I’d appreciate it," Daniel said.
"That surname? Don’t tell me she’s—"
"That’s right. She’s the last heir of the Irenwald family, and also one of my friends. She has something of mine that I need to return to her," Daniel nodded.
Andreas went silent for a moment, unsure how to respond.
"You do know that girl is an enemy of the Church of Destiny, right?"
"Yeah. And I’ve even saved her from them once before," Daniel chuckled.
"You’re insane... The Church is as fanatical as that girl. Still, it’s fine. I’ll try my best to use my connections to find her. I can’t promise you, but with my current status, I don’t think it’ll be too hard to persuade the elders to help me."
"Thank you. But don’t forget, they mustn’t know I’m the one looking for her, or why I’m even searching. Just come up with an excuse yourself."
In truth, Daniel had asked for help halfheartedly. He didn’t have much hope that Andreas, even with his connections, could gather any information about Eva.
If finding that girl were so easy, then the Church would’ve already captured her by now. What Daniel really wanted was just some information. With even a little, he should be able to track her down himself.
He also wanted to see what this girl had been doing all this time and whether she was doing alright or not.
The fact that Kaelos had also asked him about Eva made him a bit more worried—clearly, the church was doing everything it could to find her.
After their last conversation, two hours passed quickly, and it was time to leave. Daniel boarded a flying ship along with two Lionheart family commanders, heading toward their destination.
He hoped that Ilaris would be fine.