Princess Liana now looked exactly like a young girlfriend, completely different from her strong exterior presence—as if she were two different people.

“Are you going to inform Princess Mephilia about today’s events?” Minoga asked.

“Yes.” Liana stood up and thought for a moment, deciding it would be better to take a bath first.

Liana was about to instinctively call out Loraviel’s name but quickly held it back.

This again reminded Liana of what Oliphia had just told her.

“Loraviel has been gone studying for about a week now, right?” Liana asked.

“Yes, about that long.” Minoga nodded. She hadn’t learned much about the relationship between the two, only knowing that Loraviel had discovered Princess Liana’s true personality.

She roughly understood that Loraviel felt grateful toward Princess Liana and wanted to repay her kindness.

Moreover, Loraviel had the ability and talent, which was why Minoga wanted to help her.

Could it be that Princess Liana had already noticed this?

If Princess Liana actively asked about this, it would mean she had noticed, and Minoga would tell Princess Liana everything she knew.

But if Princess Liana didn’t ask, she would keep quiet.

Regarding the relationship between the two, Minoga didn’t want to interfere too much. Rather than involving outsiders, it would be better to let them resolve things themselves and make their own discoveries.

“Can you help me ask if I could meet with her?” Liana asked.

“Well...” Minoga was somewhat troubled. Lady Orleya’s thoughts were truly difficult to fathom, but since it was her granddaughter’s request, she should agree, right?

“I’ll ask.”

“Thank you.” Liana nodded. “Also, please check if she’s had any accidents recently, since her training involves poisons.”

“I understand. Princess Liana truly cares deeply about Miss Loraviel,” Minoga said.

“This is just what I owe her.” Liana hoped she could properly clear things up with her, at least to resolve any misunderstandings.

However, Liana could never have imagined what kind of scene would unfold when she met with Loraviel.

After she said these things, Liana went to take a simple bath.

About half an hour later, Liana walked out of the bathroom and casually waved her hand, using magic to bring the hair dryer to her hand.

“Princess Liana is now becoming quite proficient with some basic magic,” Minoga praised.

“Don’t treat me like a child.” Liana also needed to gradually get used to using magic.

After simply drying her hair, Liana took the initiative to contact Mephilia.

However, Mephilia seemed a bit busy. Just as the communication was about to end, she finally connected, followed by Mephilia’s hurried voice, “Sorry, sorry! Liana, I’ve kept you waiting!”

But there was no image. Liana asked, “Mephilia, are you busy with something?”

“Wait a moment, I’ll be ready soon.”

Liana heard what sounded like a cabinet opening, followed by rustling noises.

About two minutes later, Mephilia’s image finally appeared before Liana.

However, Mephilia’s golden hair tips were now dripping with water.

Now Liana understood what Mephilia had been doing. She had been bathing, which was why she couldn’t answer the call promptly, and the rustling sounds had been her getting dressed.

“There’s no need to rush. It’s not like I couldn’t call back,” Liana said, unable to hold back a smile seeing Mephilia’s flustered appearance.

“How can you blame me!” Just mentioning this made Mephilia upset. “This is the first time you’ve taken the initiative to contact me! Usually, I’m the one who reaches out to you, so of course I was in a hurry!”

“...” Liana averted her eyes guiltily. Mephilia was right, and she had no rebuttals.

“Look at me!” Mephilia said.

“Alright, alright, I’ll take the initiative to contact you more often in the future,” Liana consoled.

“You’d better!” Mephilia clearly didn’t quite believe Liana’s words.

“I definitely will. It was just because of some special circumstances before,” Liana explained. “See, I’m taking the initiative to contact you now, aren’t I?”

“Then you must have something to discuss with me now, right?” Mephilia immediately saw through Liana’s little scheme.

Liana laughed awkwardly, “The main reason is to see your face.”

Although knowing full well that Liana was making excuses, Mephilia couldn’t help but fall for it. Besides, she was already happy that Liana was taking the initiative to discuss matters with her instead of keeping things bottled up like before.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Mephilia asked.

“It’s not anything particularly urgent. Why don’t you fix your hair first? It must be uncomfortable having wet hair in such cold weather,” Liana said.

A few minutes later, Mephilia had arranged her hair.

“Usually, Minoga helps you with your hair, right?” Liana asked.

“Yes,” Mephilia nodded.

Minoga spoke up at this point, “Under normal circumstances, Princess Mephilia completes these tasks on her own. She only asks for my help when she needs to handle some matters or communicate with Princess Liana, which effectively utilizes her time.”

“You’re really busy.” Like Erinna, Mephilia should have been enjoying campus life, but now, for various reasons, she carried a lot of pressure. “It probably won’t be long before Minoga can return to your side to take care of you.”

“Minoga should stay by Liana’s side to protect her.” Mephilia waved her hands repeatedly. “It’s just drying hair, not something troublesome. There’s no need for Minoga to come back. Besides, if I truly have any inconveniences in daily life, I can also have a maid come to take care of me.”

“No, no, no.” Liana shook her head. “Minoga must go back.”

“Why? Has Minoga done something to upset you?” Mephilia asked.

“No, not at all! I really don’t mind that anymore.” Liana explained her thoughts and what she wanted to do to Mephilia. “I want to fabricate a death—my own death.”

“What do you mean?” Mephilia frowned, her intuition telling her this was a very dangerous matter.

“If Mephilia stays by my side, others definitely won’t make a move against me. This way, it would be impossible to fake my death,” Liana said.

“So, in the end, why must you die, Liana?” Mephilia had difficulty understanding why Liana was so fixated on this.

“Before, I was your weakness. Others wanted to exploit me to expose your vulnerabilities, to prevent you from focusing on the Lisat Kingdom election, using my actions to diminish people’s trust in you,” Liana said.

“I understand that,” Mephilia said. “But isn’t that unnecessary now? Loraviel has left, and you don’t need to disguise yourself anymore, right? Besides, I’ve gained a lot of support recently, and with the Countess Rose incident, as long as you don’t do anything excessive later, there won’t be any problems.”

Liana shook her head. “And now, I’m still your vulnerability. You have almost no competitors left. You’ve done everything to the best of your ability, and even revolutionized magic, thwarting Countess Rose’s plot. These achievements are enough to give you a significant advantage in the election. Moreover, because I’ve recently been revealed to be a normal person instead of the temperamental persona I used, using me against you is simply impossible.”

“So, Liana, you have no need to die,” Mephilia still couldn’t understand.

“But do you think they will give up on the election, Mephilia? That’s impossible. If they ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) could easily give up, they wouldn’t have had Countess Rose do such things.”

Power struggles can be extremely cruel.

“And with Minoga not by your side, your safety will become an issue. After all, with Minoga by my side, they can’t do anything to me, so they can only target you directly,” Liana said. “Moreover, because of my existence, Erinna will face some difficulties in becoming the Duchess of Venus. That’s the second thing I wanted to discuss with you today.”

Mephilia’s expression changed slightly. What Liana said did make some sense, but not much. “If that’s the case, just increasing some guards would suffice. Apart from the Judges, nothing would harm you, and Judges can’t act without a reason.”

Liana shook her head and relayed to Mephilia what she had told Erinna today. “The royal family not interfering in nobility affairs has probably become a thing of the past. They won’t just stand by and watch. For Venus Dukedom to be in its current state, they must have intervened behind the scenes.”

“Erinna is also impressive like you. Without external interference, she would definitely smoothly become the ruler of Venus. But similarly, I am also the biggest weakness of the Venus Family. That’s the third thing I wanted to discuss with you,” Liana said.

“There’s more?” Mephilia was starting to suspect that Liana was deliberately piling up all these matters to discuss at once, especially since Liana had only recently left the Lisat Royal Capital.

“Yes, Mephilia, you should be well aware that the King of Lisat despises slaves, and our family follows the King of Lisat. There are almost no slaves in Venus Manor. But recently, I purchased a slave,” Liana said.

Mephilia remained quite calm this time. Compared to Liana’s fake death, this matter seemed rather insignificant.

But Liana’s next words made Mephilia less composed.

“She is an elf slave.”

“It couldn’t be Sephirena, could it...” Mephilia had a bad premonition.

With Liana’s nod, Mephilia’s suspended heart finally sank.

The matter of purchasing a slave could be barely explained, but what she purchased was the princess of elvenkind!

Still, Mephilia also believed that Liana must have her reasons for doing this. “I understand.”

“You’re calmer than I expected,” Liana said.

“I told you, as long as you don’t do anything that harms yourself, I will support you unconditionally. It’s just purchasing a slave.”

Just purchasing a slave? But this wasn’t any ordinary slave.

Nevertheless, Mephilia’s support made Liana very happy.

“But for your previous request, I still maintain my skepticism. It’s too dangerous for you.”

Liana could anticipate that Mephilia would never easily agree to this matter. After all, Mephilia truly treasured her and couldn’t bear to see her get hurt.

“Mephilia, you know I could proceed with this without telling you at all,” Liana said.

“You also know how I would react if you did this on your own,” Mephilia would absolutely not compromise on this issue.

Liana also knew that if she really proceeded without telling Mephilia and just forged ahead alone, Mephilia would definitely be angry.

And it would be the kind of anger that couldn’t be soothed.

“That’s why I’m discussing this with you now, isn’t it? When I encounter things that are difficult to decide, I now actively come to talk to you, don’t I?” Liana said gently. “I know that if I engage in high-risk behaviors that put myself in danger, you would definitely be angry.”

“For your safety, for Erinna to smoothly become the Duchess of Venus, and for me to quietly begin my training without disturbance from others, this is necessary,” Liana patiently explained her reasons for wanting to do this.

“I’m still too weak right now. You having Minoga stay by my side indeed ensures my safety, but what about you? If they can’t deal with me, no matter how difficult, they will come for you. You will inevitably have moments of vulnerability. I don’t want to see that happen.

But sending someone else to protect me isn’t necessarily safe either, is it? You would constantly worry about my safety, which is also a mental torture for both of us. Additionally, with the Venus Manor issue and the slave situation, I am the only breakthrough point.

I also want to quietly make up for the years I’ve wasted, practicing my magic in a place where no one knows.

And most importantly, there’s the matter of Princess Sephirena.”

“I understand.” Mephilia bit her lip. “Give me a little more time. You need to make some preparations too, right?”

“Mephilia, you’re the best!” Liana immediately broke into a smile, completely different from her serious expression just now.

“I haven’t agreed yet.” Mephilia still needed to make some preparations. She had to ensure absolute safety measures for Liana.

“Yes, yes, yes.” Liana looked at Mephilia with a smile. Since Mephilia had already compromised somewhat, it should definitely not be a problem. Probably now Mephilia just wanted to prepare some things for her safety.

“What is your plan?” Mephilia asked curiously.