In the Intis Consulate in the "Generous City" of Port Bym.
Ileane sat in front of the vanity, staring at her beautiful but slightly haggard reflection in the mirror, lost in thought for a good few minutes.
The time since she had escaped the Black Death had been both full of expectation and full of torment for her. She was terrified of being discovered by pirates or adventurers, captured by "Vice Admiral Disease"
Only after using the remnants of her family's connections to hide in her homeland's consulate and obtain a ticket to leave the sea did she relax a little.
But this still wasn't enough to settle her heart. She believed that truly setting foot on the Northern Continent would be the end of everything.
Thinking of this, Ileane couldn't help but raise her right hand and touch the skin of her cheek, which wasn't exactly fair but was healthy enough. She found that its fineness had improved a lot compared to when she was a sea merchant, giving her the illusion of turning back time and returning to her maiden years.
Actually, after entering the Intis Consulate, she had another option besides escaping the sea, which was to cooperate with the Church of Storms, the Loen military, and some spies in the consulate to use herself as bait to capture "Vice Admiral Disease" Tracy.
But after thinking for a long time, she ultimately gave up on this plan. She even begged her elder relative and friend who served as a military attaché at the consulate not to tell anyone that she was hiding here.
No matter what, she never actually harmed me… In many ways, she would accommodate me, satisfy me…
Ileane slowly inhaled, then let out a long breath.
She shook her head, letting her longing for freedom, her nostalgia for her homeland, and her longing for her family reoccupy her heart.
She looked at herself in the mirror again and coiled her falling red hair up into a bun, loop by loop.
Then, she darkened and straightened her eyebrows, strengthening the shadows to make her face look more sharply contoured, more deeply lined.
After this bit of makeup, Ileane became a bit more androgynous, full of heroic spirit.
She took off her clothes, bound her chest flat with cloth strips, then put on a white shirt, a black vest, men's trousers, and a double-breasted long coat.
Finally, she took her silk top hat and placed it on her head, completely concealing her coiled red hair.
At this moment, she looked more like a handsome young man than a woman in the mirror, especially her eyes, which were green like emeralds, seeming particularly suited for this kind of disguise, possessing a captivating depth.
Ileane waited patiently for a while until someone knocked on her door.
She picked up her luggage, opened the door, and went out, following her elder relative's friend all the way to the side gate of the consulate grounds.
A carriage was already waiting there to take her to the port, where she would board a passenger ship to Pritz Port in the
Ileane had extraordinary anti-tracking skills. She carefully examined her surroundings, including the coachman.
A local native, lean and sturdy, not fond of wearing a hat, his features unchanged from when she saw him before, a slight nervousness in his expression. This was normal… Having finished her confirmation, Ileane thanked her elder relative's friend, picked up her luggage, and boarded the carriage.
As the wheels rolled, she pursed her lips and looked out the window, seeing Intis plane trees whizzing past.
This gave her the illusion of being back in
It was a sun-drenched metropolis, located in the area sandwiched between the Leyn River and the Serenzo River. It had beautiful scenery, many varieties of roses, and a flourishing humanistic culture and arts. It was a holy land for painters, musicians, and novelists.
It was the capital of Intis, the first truly cosmopolitan metropolis rebuilt by Emperor Roselle. It was also Ileane's hometown, the place where she grew up, a city she often saw in her dreams and shed tears for.
After an unknown amount of time, Ileane suddenly felt something was wrong. The surrounding streets were becoming increasingly deserted and remote.
Although she had been a sea merchant and had long been active in the Fog Sea, making her unfamiliar with Port Bym of the Sonia Sea, her Sequence 9 "Hunter" instincts gave her enough alertness.
"Is this route correct?" Ileane shifted her position and cautiously asked the coachman.
She was ready to jump out of the carriage at any moment, ready to condense a fireball.
The coachman did not turn around, looking straight ahead at the road, and said with a fawning smile: "Honorable miss, this road is shorter and not prone to traffic jams. "You see, Port Bym was built many years ago. Back then, there weren't so many people or so many carriages. Many streets are very narrow and get very congested around noon and evening. Walking is faster than taking a carriage."
Really? Ileane thought about it and believed this explanation, as she had encountered similar situations in many cities.
Trier was still better. When Emperor Roselle remodeled the old city, he had the foresight to expand the roads. Even today, they are sufficient… Just as Ileane had this thought, she heard the horse pulling the carriage neigh, seeming somewhat in pain.
"Wait a moment, miss. It seems to have stepped on something." The coachman pulled the carriage to the side of the road and jumped down himself.
Ileane didn't think much of it at first, but a glance out of the corner of her eye showed her that this was a silent alley with no one around.
Her heartstrings tightened instantly, and she was about to crash through the carriage and roll outside without hesitation.
Regardless of whether this was an overreaction, she felt she had to do it.
Just then, an intense fear suddenly surged deep within her heart, as if she was being stared at by a starving monster.
The pressure from the spiritual level made her hesitate, preventing her from rashly taking action.