Chapter112

"You don't need to feel bad, Oswyn. Being imprisoned is also a form of training. Your senior and junior brothers and I all know what happened, but because it's your personal test, we can't interfere. But since you were able to bring the Princess of the Plumera Kingdom into the Valley of Divine Medicine, I believe she's not the vicious person she's said to be. You clearly think well of her. Her character must be different from the rumors. That puts my mind at ease."

Oswyn stared wide-eyed at his master's slow hand signs. What did he mean by saying Oswyn thought highly of her? And what did he mean she wasn't vicious in Oswyn's eyes? How could she not be? She used to hit him all the time. Lately she hadn't hit him, but she still got on his nerves every day.

And what was that about being imprisoned being a form of training? He had clearly said he was offering himself for justice. It was justice. Justice. Why was his master so sure he had been locked up by her?

Oswyn's face turned red. His mood, which had just started to improve after returning to the valley, was now blocked again.

It was all that big-mouthed senior brother's fault.

Oswyn was so annoyed he didn't even want to talk to his master anymore. But then he saw his master walk over to Elara. His pale eyes, nearly the same color as his white hair, looked at her with a calm gentleness. His fair fingers slowly began to form signs.

"Your Highness's visit to the valley is an honor. I apologize for not greeting you properly. Oswyn has troubled you these two years. The valley's food and clothing are plain. If there's anything lacking, I hope Your Highness will forgive us."

Just as the white-haired master finished signing and was about to let the young boy beside him translate,

Elara had already raised a hand in salute. "Master, that's too much. Oswyn is very good. He has helped me a lot. The Valley of Divine Medicine is also wonderful. Its plain elegance makes it a rare hidden paradise."

The pale-colored eyes of the master flashed with surprise. His gaze toward Elara became even more kind. "You know sign language? Your Highness truly differs from the rumors. You are clearly a person of great learning and wide knowledge."

A small smile appeared on Elara's face as she looked at the man before her, dressed all in white and almost like an immortal carved from snow and ice. "You flatter me. I only saw it once in a random book."

Before she could finish, Oswyn's startled voice cut in from the side. "You! You know sign language?!"

He stepped quickly in front of Elara. When she nodded, the flush on Oswyn's face deepened, turning from red to pale and back again.

She. She knew sign language? Since when? Back then she spent all her time messing around in bed with men. Where would she find time to learn sign language?

Even more importantly, if she knew sign language, then... hadn't she just seen everything he had signed to his master?

Oswyn's face flushed even more. Shock, embarrassment, and the desperate urge to save face clashed on his face.

Just as his face was starting to look like a five-colored watermelon, a small apprentice ran over to the white-haired master and whispered, "Master, the medicine is almost ready."

The white-haired master nodded, then turned to Elara and signed again. "Your Highness came a long way. I've already asked the children to prepare some food and wine. It'll be ready in about half an hour. Please feel free to look around. There are some patients I need to tend to."

"Please go ahead."

The white-haired master gave her a slight bow and left with the apprentice.

Oswyn, still blushing and angry, refused to even look at Elara. But when he heard the master's words, he quickly followed. "Master! Let me help you! I'll help you!"

The master turned and signed, "I don't need help here. Go to the dining hall and help prepare the food to suit the princess's tastes."

Oswyn had just wanted an excuse to get away from this awkward and shameful scene. Now that the master had given him one, he nodded quickly and turned to leave for the dining hall without saying a single word to Elara or the others.

Elara understood why he left like that and found it a little funny, though she didn't mind his retreat at all.

Since this was her first visit to the Valley of Divine Medicine, Elara naturally wanted to take a good look around.

The young apprentice guided them toward the dining hall, pointing out the sights along the way.

As she looked around, Elara's mind instinctively began to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the valley's location.

To put it simply, the geography of this place was excellent. Even though Elara didn't know much about geomancy, she could still tell this was a place blessed by nature. Surrounded by tall and steep mountains, it was easy to defend and hard to attack. The entrance was guarded by a large Five Elements formation. Unless a massive army came to flatten the entire mountain, this valley truly had the means to endure for a long time.

But since the valley was within the Plumera Kingdom's borders, and half of it fell within the Marigold County under her control, Elara had to consider more than just the landscape.

The Valley of Divine Medicine was the strongest medical sect of their time and located within her kingdom. She couldn't let such a good resource go to waste. The future of her kingdom's medical development and talent recruitment could start right here.

Still, this kind of secluded sect, living away from the world and hardly accepting new disciples, would be hard to recruit directly. She needed a solid plan.

Elara thought up several ideas in her head. For now, they were just rough outlines. The details weren't filled in yet. After all, she had only just started dealing with Marigold County. If she wanted to draw in the valley's power, she would need to eliminate people like Lord Gregory and reclaim full control of the Plumera Kingdom first.

"Master, someone is spying," Uno suddenly said in a low voice, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Elara paused, then subtly glanced around at the peaceful surroundings. "People from the valley?"

"No. I think they're outsiders seeking medical help. They carry a strong scent of blood. They must've noticed someone arrived and came to check. Right now, there's one at your front left, front right, back left, and back right. Should we handle them?"

Elara looked at the apprentice who continued introducing the sights around them politely and sincerely, and then at General Qi, who had already noticed something was off and was now slightly on alert.

"No need. Send a few people to Oswyn's master. Find out who these patients are. Check their identities, but don't alarm them."

"Yes."

Elara kept a calm face and continued walking as if nothing had happened. About half a cup of tea's time later, the dining hall appeared ahead.

The people who had been watching them quietly disappeared as they neared the hall. But the moment Elara stepped inside, she immediately felt over ten cold, sharp stares directed right at her.

She naturally looked into the dining hall and saw that on the far left, four or five tables were already occupied by a group of men dressed strangely. They all had a chilling and sinister air about them.

Their clothing didn't resemble anything worn in the Plumera Kingdom. Instead, it reminded Elara of the southern tribes she had seen in old martial arts dramas from her past life. They wore black, with bizarre and creepy masks on their faces. Their collars and nails were stained a deep red, giving off an eerie and dangerous feeling.

Unlike System 92's slightly worried tone at the end, Elara wasn't worried at all about what Bluebell State would do to the Plumera State.

The reason was simple. On the map of the continent's southwest corner given by System 92, although the Plumera State was close to Bluebell, Bluebell actually bordered three third-rank powerful states directly: the Flame Abyss, the Golden Kingdom, and the Veneration Kingdom.

Just from their geography, you could tell that the four powers were in a stalemate. Even though Bluebell was the strongest among them, if it really wanted to attack a smaller state, it would have done so already. But it hadn't, which meant it was wary of the three other powers it bordered and wouldn't act lightly. Otherwise, it might be attacked by all three at once.

Elara went over the situation of the southwest in her mind, then let the thought go.

Issues between powerful states were still too far off for her. She needed to focus on solving the problems right in front of her.

She looked down and continued eating as Oswyn introduced each dish and placed it on her plate.

Just as they were almost done eating, the doors of the dining hall burst open again, and two large men stormed in.

These two were clearly wearing uniforms from the Divine Healer Valley, and their clothes were of a finer quality, which reminded Elara of what the original host remembered from her first time seeing Oswyn — he had been wearing the same style.

Elara had a guess about their identities. She saw the taller and more muscular man glance around the dining hall. When he spotted Oswyn at their table, his eyes narrowed slightly, and then his gaze locked right onto the only woman at the table — Elara.

"So you're the Princess of Plumera?"

The man strode over. Elara then realized he really was tall and broad, nearly as big as Damon. He also had a very handsome face, with sharp, masculine features.

But despite his intimidating appearance, what he said after she nodded and confirmed her identity caught her off guard.

"So you're the one who imprisoned my junior brother in your house? Not only bullied him but also tried to steal his purity? You want to make it so he can never marry anyone else again?"

Elara, whose thoughts usually turned quickly, actually froze for a moment. The whole table fell silent.

Just then, another man — this one not as strong-looking and a bit leaner — came jogging up behind him, breathing a little heavily.

He was wearing a similar outfit and was also good-looking, though not in the strong-featured way. He had a gentle elegance, like Mathias or Scholar Fu.

This second man reached the table, wiped the sweat off his forehead with one hand, and smiled as everyone sat in stunned silence.

"Senior brother, you can't ask it like that. There are so many people here. If you ask like that, you'll embarrass Oswyn. You should at least be more tactful — like asking first if Oswyn's still a virgin…"

"Pfft—cough cough cough…" someone sitting near Elara who came with her to eat couldn't hold back a laugh and ended up choking instead.

Oswyn's face turned dark red and black in seconds.

If it weren't for the fact that both the smiling second senior brother and the stern first senior brother looked completely serious and sincere, Elara would've thought they were just messing with Oswyn on purpose.

Was asking "is he still a virgin" really more tactful than accusing someone of stealing his chastity?

In her last life, Elara strongly believed in two sayings — "there's nothing too strange in the world" and "there are a thousand versions of Hamlet."

But now that she was face to face with it, she really couldn't understand how these two brothers thought.

No wonder that white-haired master earlier, as soon as he saw Oswyn, asked if she was the one who had locked him up. That blunt personality definitely ran in the family.