[Vol. 7] Chapter 19: I'm Single, No Plans for Marriage!
That night, in the royal palace of the Mingjiao Tribe.
In a place that was completely secret and free from outside interference. Nitila’s private chamber.
The young princess of the Mingjiao Tribe watched in curiosity as the black-haired girl carefully placed a formation plate in the corner of the room. She observed Violet's skilled, meticulous adjustments and couldn’t help but voice her doubts.
“Miss Violet, can this thing really connect directly to the mainland? The [Ghost Sea] and [Great Whirlpool] are notorious for disrupting space magic. Plus, the Eastern Sea Pearl is over 10,000 kilometers from the nearest coast of the Austre Empire. Even the most powerful space magic shouldn’t be able to teleport someone across that kind of distance, right?”
Still adjusting the [Invisible Spatial Gate], Violet replied without looking up.
“That just means you don’t understand space magic well enough. Not that I’m some expert either…”
“In theory, any distance can be crossed with space magic. The only limit is how advanced the equipment or mage is. That’s why I needed a stable, unmoving, and safe environment to set this thing up.”
“This isn’t some ordinary portal, it’s a high-end version, recently upgraded by a friend. I only have a few of these, and if I placed it on a moving ship, it would turn into a one-time-use item, which would be a huge waste.”
“Alright, done~”
Violet clapped her hands and stood up.
The circular formation plate began to glow, and above it, a silvery-white, rotating gateway appeared. A mysterious aura spread from the portal, sending faint ripples through the air.
Nitila, unfamiliar with such magic, couldn’t fully comprehend what she was seeing. But Violet understood it perfectly. The purest essence of [Space] Magic.
Just as the princess had mentioned, the Eastern Sea Pearl wasn’t too far from the [Great Whirlpool], only about a thousand kilometers in a straight line.
However, that strange anomaly created a distorting force in the spatial medium, causing fluctuations in density at different levels.
This severe interference made teleportation incredibly difficult.
If Violet hadn’t infused the portal with Xiao Kong’s divine power, even the high-end teleportation devices she brought from the game wouldn’t have been able to break through the [Great Whirlpool]’s interference and connect directly to a distant teleportation network.
By the way, due to material limitations, even though the origin of Illusory World had been identified and some of the Spirit Veil Tribe members displayed abilities similar to Dawn and the players, most game-turned-real artifacts were still difficult to replicate. Even Xiao Kong could only enhance a portion of Violet's items rather than fully recreate them.
Of course, Violet wasn’t about to sail all the way back to the mainland, that would be a massive waste of time and resources. This whole plan had been prepared long before she even arrived at the Eastern Sea Pearl Archipelago.
As Nitila hopped off her soft, fairytale-like bed, decorated with colorful, adorable seashells, she took small steps toward the portal. Her pure, longing gaze resembled that of a little dolphin watching its best friend leave on a long journey.
“So… Miss Violet, you’re leaving alone right now?”
“...?”
Violet pretended not to hear the princess’ obvious suggestion of "Why don’t you take me with you?", knowing it would only complicate things, so she just nodded.
“I’ll leave right away. If nothing unexpected happens, I should be back before midnight. Uh… but something unexpected probably will happen, so maybe by morning instead. You don’t have to stay up waiting, just get some rest.”
“No matter what, I’ll definitely be back tomorrow. You can count on that, little princess~”
Violet had meant it as a simple reassurance, just so this somewhat clueless princess wouldn’t stay up all night waiting for her.
But Nitila seemed to misinterpret something entirely—her sapphire-blue eyes widened, and her delicate face flushed with a sudden rosy hue.
“W-Wait… Does that mean you're going to stay out overnight? So Miss Violet already has a partner?! No wonder you’re so eager to go see them… W-Wait, um… Can you at least tell me if it’s a he or a she? Don’t tell me it’s both?!”
“Ugh… But with Miss Violet's charm and strength, it’s actually quite…”
“What nonsense are you even thinking?”
Violet let out a long sigh, pressing her fingers against her temple in exasperation. Unable to hold back, she flicked the young Mingjiao princess on the forehead, making her yelp in pain. Seeing Nitila’s teary-eyed, pitiful expression, Violet casually explained:
“The kind of relationship you’re imagining doesn’t exist. Well… at least not for now! So stop overthinking things. It's true that I'm in a hurry because there's someone I really want to… No… You’re way too young to be obsessing over stuff like this.”
“But it was you who said something so misleading…”
Honestly, she might take longer than expected because there were several places she needed to visit, and this trip would take a while.
Before Nitila could dig up any more gossip, Violet waved her hand, turned around, and stepped into the portal, disappearing instantly.
As the silver vortex slowly faded and the portal device vanished without a trace, Nitila, still rubbing her aching forehead, finally lowered her hands.
With a thoughtful expression, she gently rested a hand on her flat stomach, hidden beneath her smooth, flowing dress.
Then, with a light, relieved smile, she murmured softly.
“So that’s how it is… At least she doesn’t have a partner yet…”
……………………………
Wrapped in the familiar sensation of weightlessness and floating, Violet raced through the vast expanse of space.
The true nature of spatial teleportation wasn’t about instantly appearing from one point to another. Instead, it was a form of ultra-fast travel through spatial rifts.
And since this time, the distance was far greater than usual, the journey felt especially long.
During the teleportation, Violet suddenly felt a strong external force pulling at her. Something similar to what she had once encountered from the Demon Lords of [Chaos]. However, this force wasn’t as overwhelming and didn’t interrupt her travel.
That must have been the [Great Whirlpool], the legendary singularity at the heart of the endless sea, said to devour everything that crossed its path.
Although she was quite curious about its true nature, now wasn’t the time to investigate.
Her destination was a series of places where she had left teleportation markers during her past journeys, the capital of the Human United Kingdom, the new Tree of Life growing in the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains, the capital of the Holy Empire, and the Sky City of the Azure Sky Kingdom.
She planned to visit all of them tonight, gathering information on the changes of the past six months and seeking the answers she needed.
As for her first stop. The silvery void around her gradually stabilized, and as her vision cleared, she stepped through an opening portal, arriving inside a simple yet elegant wooden house with an ancient charm.
Immediately, a surge of life energy flooded her body, warm and soothing like being immersed in an invisible hot spring. Though it didn’t provide any real benefit to a godlike priestess like her, the sheer comfort and familiarity made her relax involuntarily, her eyes narrowing slightly in contentment.
Not far from the portal, floating mid-air, sat an exquisite woman with emerald-green hair and eyes, appearing like a youthful maiden yet radiating a grace and wisdom far beyond her looks.
She lounged on a vine-woven hammock, watching Violet with a gentle smile.
This was the southernmost point of the world, beneath the canopy of the Tree of Life, at the peak of Sky Island. The abode of the goddess.
The woman lightly leapt down, landing as softly as a drifting leaf, her smile unwavering.
“You really have changed… quite a lot.”
Violet smiled as well, stepping forward and raising her arms to embrace the woman. Just like old friends reuniting after a long separation.
No, not like ‘old’ friends.
That part didn’t need to be said.
“You’ve changed too, Sethlin. How have you been? Missed me?”