Book 2: Chapter 46: The Undying Princess

“Clang!” The iron lock hit the solid hallway floor, making a loud noise that startled the many intruders in this subsidiary keep.

“Hey, open the iron grate quickly. Once we check the last level, we will leave immediately. The mayor is waiting for everyone,” a middle-aged townsperson frowned and covered his nose. “It smells terrible in here!”

The Dungeon Sub-fortress held many fierce wild beasts. With few windows and doors, the place was filled with animal droppings and body odor. Although the main keep of Albert Castle and the four subsidiary keeps had been invaded by the townspeople, the Dungeon Sub-fortress only had filthy cells and torture devices. Ordinary townspeople just checked the lower levels and stopped going deeper, directly exiting the subsidiary keep.

The ones still inside the Dungeon Sub-fortress, insisting on checking every cell, were the militia teams led by constables from various small towns. Their task was to prevent ordinary townspeople from harming the innocent inside the castle, minimize damage to Albert Castle, and gather evidence about the Albert Family’s crimes related to the epidemic disease and any antidote.

“Hey, look! What is… this thing? A wolf? It’s… too big, isn’t it?” After opening the hallway grate leading to the top-level iron cells, the first few townspeople who entered stared in shock at the creature inside the iron cell ahead.

“This is probably the magical creature Saint Healer Totti mentioned…” The two militia constables exchanged a look, swallowing hard as they looked at several large werewolves.

“Let’s be quiet. These werewolves are probably sedated. Don’t startle them!” the constable softly reminded all the townspeople.

“Sir, there’s a live person here!” A townsperson who had walked to the end of the iron cell area suddenly spoke in a hushed voice, waving to the two constables.

In this innermost cell, there was a human whose limbs and neck were locked in iron collars. This person knelt on the ground, head bowed low, face hidden by messy hair. But judging by the build and exposed skin, it seemed to be a young man.

“Sir, he’s still alive!”

“Go open the cell door and get him out!” The two constables looked at the iron cell with angry expressions. “The Albert Family indeed has secrets they want to hide!”

The fact that a demon hunter family kept magical creatures made the two constables, who knew about demon hunters, somewhat uncomfortable. But since the Odia Region was a frontline area against evil creatures, they could understand this practice.

However, if there was a live person in the cells, that changed things. Imprisoning and judging living people should be the responsibility of the secular authorities. This meant the Albert Family had encroached upon the two constables’ jurisdiction, which naturally angered them.

Several townspeople struggled for a while and finally used a crowbar to break open the iron collar locking the young man. They helped him out of the cell.

“Huh? Why does he seem familiar?” One constable brushed aside the young man’s messy golden hair, looked uncertainly, and turned to his companion.

“…Who are you?” the young man suddenly opened his eyes and asked in a hoarse voice.

“We are the constables from Odia, gathering evidence of the Albert Family’s crimes!” The other constable crouched in front of the young man, speaking softly to comfort him. “Young man, you are safe now. Tell me, why were you secretly imprisoned by Baron Albert? And who are you?”

“Gathering evidence of the Albert Family’s crimes? Who am I…?” A pained expression suddenly appeared on the young man’s face. He trembled all over, clutched his head with his hands, and fell to the ground. “Albert… Who am I?”

“Hey, he… I know who he is!” The constable who had been frowning and thinking hard suddenly widened his eyes, pointing at the young man as if he had seen a ghost. “He is… Baron Albert’s eldest son, Stephen Albert. I attended his funeral!”

“I am… Stephen Albert?! My Nina… No, Mary! Little Miller…” Hearing the name Stephen, the young man suddenly stopped trembling. Mumbling to himself, he straightened his upper body. The confusion in his eyes slowly cleared.

“I remember now… I remember everything. Haha, so I am still alive. That old man didn’t have the heart to kill me?!” A wild joy appeared on Stephen’s face. “What a pity about Nina… Hah, so what? Aren’t there other witches in Maiar Forest?”

“Stephen, if you are Stephen, then you remember what happened over a year ago, right? Does Baron Albert’s Undead Plague have an antidote?” The two constables exchanged a look and asked with pleasant surprise.

“Over a year ago… Has it been over a year already? No wonder I’m so hungry!” Stephen glanced at his thin hands, looked up at the two constables and the other townspeople, and showed a meaningful smile. “I don’t know any Undead Plague. I just know I’m very hungry. Really… thank you for letting me out!”

Under the dim hallway lights, Stephen’s shadow on the wall rapidly enlarged and pounced toward the constables.

“Ah! You… What are you? Help… Help!” Faint screams from the constables and townspeople could be heard from the top level of the Dungeon Sub-fortress.

…

Surprise, astonishment, confusion, seriousness… Many expressions appeared on the faces of the two groups confronting each other in the Banquet Hall. Only the person accused by Qin Lun seemed indifferent.

The one Qin Lun called the Undying Princess of Albert, Elizabeth in her princess dress, still kept a sweet smile on her round, snow-white little face. The little princess played with her curly golden hair using her chubby fingers. Holding the doll in her arms, she took two steps forward.

“What a brilliant deduction! Doctor Stan, a demon hunter like you could have become the chief of staff of the Demon Hunter Corps even during the end-of-the-world era over three hundred years ago.” Elizabeth playfully winked at Qin Lun. “But I still have one question. Can you answer me truthfully?”

As soon as Elizabeth spoke these words, the demon hunters showed shocked expressions. Although they already believed Qin Lun’s deduction in their hearts, hearing confirmation from a seemingly young girl still made them feel it was hard to believe.

“My little princess, whatever question you have, please ask!” Qin Lun nodded with great interest.

He didn’t mind buying more time. Although the main keep’s door was very sturdy, it probably couldn’t hold out long against thousands of townspeople. His task was done. He had no interest in participating in the likely upcoming battle. Escaping Albert Castle in the chaos was the best choice.

“Hee hee, Doctor Stan, you just said you had another piece of evidence that ruled out Laura’s suspicion!” Elizabeth pouted, sucked her chubby finger, and blinked her big eyes. “Can you tell me what that evidence was? Little Elizabeth thought her disguise was very good!”

“Oh? That!” Qin Lun frowned and spread his hands. “Actually, it’s better if you don’t know! Because… even without that evidence, your disguise was terrible!”

“Tell me! If you don’t, Elizabeth won’t let you go!” The girl angrily swung her doll and waved her small fist fiercely.

“Alright, I’ll talk about that decisive evidence first!” A faint smile appeared on Qin Lun’s face. “Do you remember the first night I came to the castle? After dinner, I met you on the parapet outside the castle.”

“Of course I remember. It seemed to be raining that day!” Elizabeth tilted her head and thought. “You didn’t suspect I was an Undying One just because I got wet in the rain and didn’t get sick, did you?”

“Haha, of course not!” Qin Lun smiled. “It was after I became a demon hunter that I realized something was off that night! You told me the Albert Family motto that night, right?”

“A thousand years of duty, a thousand years of protection, a thousand years of glory!” Elizabeth lowered her eyelids and said in a somewhat serious tone. “Was that it?”

“Yes, that’s it! You said at the time that your father said that!” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed, and his face showed seriousness for the first time.

“After becoming a demon hunter, I learned some things about Stephen from Bonnie. It seems in your impression, Stephen didn’t like fighting and had no interest in becoming a demon hunter. Although Nina’s identity was only exposed a little over a year ago, as her husband, I believe Stephen should have known this truth earlier than you did. Otherwise, Nina wouldn’t have taken him to escape to Maiar Forest!

If Stephen knew Nina’s true identity long ago, then a question arises. Someone who disliked fighting, didn’t want to be a demon hunter, and even hid the truth that his wife was a Witch Maiar — why would such an Albert descendant keep the family’s demon hunter motto on his lips?”

Elizabeth made a bitter face, her eyebrows scrunching together. She seemed to already know what Qin Lun would say next. Sure enough, Qin Lun gave her a meaningful look and continued with a smile.

“Therefore, I suspected at the time that your father wasn’t Stephen Albert! When I saw the portrait of the first Baron Albert in the Albert library subsidiary keep, and saw that motto below the portrait, I knew who your father was!”

Qin Lun bowed gracefully to Elizabeth. “Please accept the respect of a junior demon hunter for your father. The first Baron Albert, Lorenzo Albert, is a role model for all of us demon hunters!”

“You guessed it after all! Forget it, no need to pretend to be polite anymore. I’m starting to dislike your cleverness!” The smile finally disappeared from Elizabeth’s face. She sighed helplessly and waved her hand weakly. “What other flaws were there?”

“Yes, many! But compared to this guess, they are just small details!” Qin Lun nodded honestly. “If you’re done asking, I have questions for you too! I wonder…”

“You want to ask me why I became an Undying One?” Elizabeth calmly closed her big eyes, as if falling into distant memories. “It’s fine, I’ll tell you all! Father once said that if I ever got tired, I didn’t need to worry about the Albert Family anymore. I could tell the whole world everything!”