Chapter238

The status of slaves in this world was incredibly low, and Elara had experienced this firsthand when she arrived here.

Like when she saw people treated like goods at the Plumera City gate, picked and trampled by Lord Gregory's son. And like the slave markets she saw in every country, where people were stripped naked and hung on outdoor walls waiting for buyers.

Elara couldn't imagine someone as noble as Leif had such a tragic past.

She frowned slightly and asked in a calm voice, "His past... how much is it connected to what happened this time?"

Elara didn't believe Leif was targeted just because he was a man from the Carnation Kingdom. If that old duchess in the north wanted a man from Carnation, she could've gone to a smaller kingdom and done whatever she liked.

Why focus on Leif, a foreign prince from a mid-sized third-tier country?

Elara had only believed about twenty percent of the rumors she heard in Sargassum.

Rumors were just that. No one knew how much had been twisted or changed as they passed from mouth to mouth.

"You're sharp, Bai San," Mr. Yu turned his teacup slightly, his dark green eyes deepening. "If I had to guess, his identity is at least ninety percent of the reason."

"Ninety percent?" That meant this was aimed directly at Leif?

But Leif didn't have a good reputation in Sargassum. During her two days there, no matter where she went, Elara never heard a single kind word about him.

Most nobles avoided mentioning him and seemed to dislike him, just like the common people. Actually, it was probably because the royal court disliked Leif that others followed their example.

Even those who had never met him hated him, believing he wasn't one of their own but a disgusting foreigner from the Carnation Kingdom.

In such a situation, Leif would have had no real power in court. He posed no threat to anyone. So there was no reason to target him—unless someone had discovered he was the head of Zhaiyun Pavilion.

"And that's not all. Though this matter seems to involve only Zhaiyun Pavilion, Sargassum, and Salvia Kingdom, it also ties directly to both you and me. That's why I wrote to you."

Elara's frown deepened, and her thoughts raced. She quickly reached a conclusion. "Could it be related to Edelweiss, still struggling to survive in the northern region?"

If there was an outside force connected to both of them, it had to be Edelweiss.

"Yes," Mr. Yu poured tea for them both and continued, "This whole matter is closely tied to Leif's past. Let me explain everything."

"You've probably heard the stories about his background—even in Plumera, they must have spread in some form."

Elara nodded. When she first met Leif, the System had already gathered information on him.

But all the information was just scattered rumors, filled with contradictions and hard to trust.

Mr. Yu pushed a small pastry toward Elara. "Leif's father really was the younger brother of the previous ruler of Sargassum. Not the current one—the generation before."

Previous ruler... Elara looked at Mr. Yu, listening as he continued.

"Before the last king of Sargassum took the throne, Leif's father was the strongest rival in the royal family."

"But he wasn't interested in power. He only cared for music and poetry."

"He didn't want to fight his brother for the throne, but his powerful maternal family forced him to try."

"In a struggle for the crown, the worst thing is to show division before the fight even begins."

"Leif's father didn't side with his mother's clan. In the end, their attempt failed."

"He and his maternal clan were punished, stripped of all status, and sent to Dead City County in the far southwest of Sargassum."

Mr. Yu paused and looked at Elara. "When you first traded with Leif, you knew the biggest issue in Sargassum's land was the salt-ruined soil. Dead City County was called that because it's the worst area."

"That region is almost completely uninhabitable."

The father of Leif and the maternal family behind him were exiled to the Death City County of Sargassum. It should have been a road to death, but something strange happened. It was as if Leif's father wasn't destined to die—on the road to exile, he unexpectedly met Leif's mother.

Mr. Yu spoke with a few traces of emotion in his eyes, "Leif's mother was originally a royal princess from a second-rank matriarchal nation in the central continent. She was also targeted during a struggle for the throne and was forced to escape to the southwest corner of the continent, hiding in Death City County of Sargassum, where no one dared to enter."

The officials and soldiers escorting Leif's father and maternal family didn't dare go into the Death City. After delivering them into the county, they only guarded the outside to prevent escape.

Once inside Death City, more than half of Leif's father's family had already died. Leif's father himself was barely holding on, yet under these conditions, he unexpectedly saved Leif's mother, who had almost died after entering the city.

Mr. Yu smiled as he spoke, "It really feels like the plot of some recreational side story I've read before. But we should be thankful for such a plot—without it, Leif wouldn't have been born, Zhaiyun Pavilion wouldn't exist, and the economy of Dahlia wouldn't be thriving because of him."

The Kingdom of Dahlia was the strongest third-rank country within the Zhaiyun Pavilion commercial circle. Mr. Yu became the most prestigious crown prince in the southeastern corner of the continent because of his exceptional military and political talents.

In just ten years, he turned Dahlia into a dominant power. However, his economic capabilities weren't as sharp and powerful. Compared to the military and political strength he built up on his own, Dahlia's economy only began to develop after he befriended Leif and Dahlia joined Zhaiyun Pavilion.

Elara quickly processed this information and combined it with her own analysis. She felt that the story Mr. Yu just told about Leif might be connected to her and him, particularly in the importance of Zhaiyun Pavilion's involvement with their two countries.

If that's the case, then for Elara, it truly was a problem that must be addressed.

The Plumera Kingdom still could not afford to lose Zhaiyun Pavilion.

Mr. Yu took a sip of tea, gently shaking the fan in his hand. "Leif's father, after saving his mother, lived with her in Death City County for over half a year. During that time, they gradually developed feelings for each other."

"Leif's father loved poetry and music and was a deeply emotional person. Once he loved someone or something, he would give everything for it and act with extreme, reckless passion. Just like how he gave up the throne because he loved poetry and peace over conflict."

Elara thought: This is… the peak of obsessive, love-driven thinking?

"But when he found out that Leif's mother was a royal princess from a second-rank matriarchal country and that she had only come to Sargassum to take refuge and would return soon, Leif's father felt deep reluctance. He secretly found a medicine that could transform him into a man acceptable in a matriarchal nation and forcefully changed his body."

Mr. Yu paused his spinning teacup and looked across at Elara, who had also quietly stopped her movements.

When he noticed a trace of similar, unspoken emotion flicker in Elara's eyes, the corners of Mr. Yu's lips lifted slightly again.

He and Elara were clearly the same type of people—unable to understand such extreme and obsessive behavior for the sake of love.

They both prioritized rationality over emotion. Mr. Yu had heard many stories about tragic, beautiful love, but whenever he finished listening, he would only sigh. The emotional ripples that followed were weak to the point of nearly disappearing.

He was guided by reason, so he would never allow himself to fall into such a tragic state. Still, he didn't think emotions were bad, since many beautiful things created by humans were born from feelings.

Though love-driven deaths were tragic, they also had a unique, breathtaking beauty.

But as someone guided mostly by logic, he might never truly experience that feeling...

Mr. Yu's thoughts shifted slightly as he tapped his fan and continued, "Although Leif's father changed his body and didn't want her to leave, he never tried to use the child or himself to make her stay."

"He was someone so emotionally driven that he could only think with his heart. But when it came to people and things he cherished, he was extremely considerate, often thinking only from the other person's perspective and neglecting himself."

"He willingly became a man suitable for a matriarchal kingdom just to preserve the bloodline of the one he loved, to leave behind a memory. Other than that, he didn't even tell Leif's mother that he had taken the medicine to change his body."