Peiluo yawned and sat up in bed, his upper body immediately feeling a chill. If he could, he would have liked to stay in the quilt forever, not only for the warmth but also for the company of Shirley.
"Aren't you going to sleep a little longer?" The woman beside him turned over and murmured sleepily, "It's still early, isn't it?"
He leaned down and kissed her forehead – Shirley's brown hair was soft and curly, her skin was as smooth as a baby's, and she had a pair of lovely big eyes. He first met her in the Longsong Theater, and almost at first sight, he was captivated by those eyes.
"It should be almost noon, I have to go downstairs and see if there's any official business to deal with," Peiluo said in a low voice, "If you don't want to get up, just keep sleeping. I'll have a servant bring lunch to the bedroom later."
"But I want you to stay with me," Shirley reached out her arms and hugged his waist, "It's snowing outside anyway, what official business could there be to do?"
What she said wasn't wrong. Since the Evil Moon descended, the whole city had become abruptly quiet. The theater performances became once a week, all the merchants in the market had left, and the taverns had closed their doors. If you walked on the street during the day, you might even think it was a ghost town.
Then... maybe I'll sleep a little longer? After pursuing Shirley for nearly a year, he had finally gotten his wish, and Peiluo was really reluctant to leave. Last night's joy had exhausted him, but now he had returned to a state of full energy. After lunch, maybe he could indulge in some more intimacy.
Just then, there was a knock on the bedroom door.
"Lord Peiluo, there's a blue letter for you."
He was stunned for a moment, then immediately turned over and got out of bed, picked up the robe he had thrown on the floor, and put it on. "I'll be right there."
"Lord?" Shirley murmured.
"Wait for me," Peiluo hurriedly fastened his belt and left the bedroom. After a while, he returned to the room, climbed back into bed, and was holding a letter wrapped in blue paper.
"What's this? Who wrote it to you?" The woman was now basically awake. She yawned and sat up, leaning against Peiluo.
"It's from Border Town," he replied, "It should be a personal letter from His Highness the Prince."
He tore open the envelope, pulled out the letter, and quickly scanned the contents, his brow furrowing. "His Highness wants me to go to Border Town."
"Now?" Shirley asked in surprise, "Are you going in this weather?"
"Yeah, I guess there's something important." Peiluo sighed, "I'll prepare my things later, and leave this afternoon. You should go home first. I'll come find you when I get back." He couldn't help but think of a year ago, when he had braved the wind and snow to travel by ship to Border Town, bringing Duke Ryan's warning to Longsong Stronghold. And now, the reason he was going to that barren land was because of a letter from the town lord, which made Peiluo sigh at the impermanence of fate.
"Can't you just pretend you didn't see it?" she said a little displeased, "Even if he captured Longsong Stronghold, you're the actual head of the stronghold. Even the King's orders don't necessarily have to be carried out immediately, right?"
If it was the Duke, that's exactly what he would do, but Peiluo knew the Fourth Prince's temperament. He affectionately stroked her head. "It's not the same. The King may not be able to control the Western Region, but Roland can... He's not just the Lord of Border Town, he's the master of the entire Western Region."
……
After entering the Evil Moon, there wasn't much official business to deal with at Longsong Stronghold. He simply gave some tasks to his subordinates, and by the way, pulled his father, Earl Helmon, to the castle to oversee things. Peiluo set off from the castle. Unlike last time when he only had one assistant with him, this time he was traveling in the Duke's private "Lionheart," with more than a dozen servants and apprentices, plus two family knights, which could be described as a grand spectacle.
Just as he was passing through the outer city district, on his way to the stronghold's dock, the commotion coming from the street corner caught Peiluo's attention.
He saw a dozen people gathered in a circle, seemingly watching something. Judging by their clothes, these people were all commoners, probably residents from the surrounding area who had been attracted by the noise. Occasionally, a few sharp shouts like "Devil!" and "Hang her!" would come from inside the circle.
Peiluo's heart stirred, and he said to the knight beside him, "Go take a look. If it's just a common dispute, tell them to go back into their houses."
"Yes, Lord."
The knight pushed aside the outer crowd, walked to the middle, and drew his sword. The crowd quickly scattered. In the end, he brought back a woman and two children. One of the children had a hemp rope around her neck.
"What's going on?"
"Lord," the woman fell to Peiluo's feet, "Quickly kill her! She has fallen into being a witch!"
This word made Peiluo pause slightly. "A witch?" He shifted his gaze to the other two. The taller boy immediately stood in front of the girl, looking fierce and ready to pounce, but his face was bruised and swollen, obviously from being beaten badly just now. "She's not a minion of the devil! The plays all say it, there are good witches and bad witches. What right do you have to judge her?"
"Are you sure she's a witch?" Peiluo ignored the boy and continued to ask the woman.
"That's right, Lord. Don't be fooled by those plays in the theater. If the Church was still here, they wouldn't allow them to spout nonsense on stage. This beast is also a little devil. I'm punishing her on behalf of the Church, Lord. Quickly strangle her, so that the aura of hell won't spread to Longsong City!"
"Get to the point!" he shouted.
After the woman rambled on and on, Peiluo finally managed to figure out what had happened. After the church was burned down by Tifeike, she and some other believers spontaneously organized themselves to continue preaching and praying in the outer city, waiting for the Holy City of Hermes to send a new priest and rebuild the Western Region Church. As for this incident, it was purely coincidental. The girl was using her power to remove snow from the roof of a resident's house when the woman saw her, which led to the scene before.
In her narration, the woman repeatedly complained about the absurdity of the content taught in elementary education and the theater's performances that reversed right and wrong, which made the nearby onlookers only dare to grab the boy, but few were willing to help her strangle this hateful devil. In the past, her body should have been hanging from the rafters... These hateful words made Peiluo's brow twitch.
"Take her back and interrogate her thoroughly," he ordered the knight. "This time, you stay at the stronghold. When I return, I want to see that all the believers related to her have been imprisoned."
"What... No! Lord, how can you do this—" The woman hadn't finished speaking when the knight slapped her back into her stomach.
"Are you really a witch?" Then Peiluo looked at the terrified little girl. "Show me."
The latter knelt softly on the ground, without any reaction.
Peiluo shook his head and repeated in a louder voice, "If you can prove that you are a real witch, I can let you leave."
After a long while, the girl hesitantly put her hands into the snow. Soon, nearly an inch of snow gradually melted into flowing ice water.
"I see," Peiluo nodded. "Come with me."
"Go?" she looked up. "Where?"
"A place suitable for witches to live in." He signaled the servant to pick up the girl and continue towards the dock.
"Put her down, you liar! You promised to let her go!" The boy tried to rush up, but was stopped by several other servants. The shouts gradually disappeared behind him.
.(。)