Sylvan had been waiting for her in the top-floor attic early on. Today, he was dressed far more neatly than usual, no longer wearing his clothes in a way that exposed his chest like before.
Elara sat down across from him. Sylvan stood up and gave her a formal bow, then got straight to the point without wasting time.
"Your Majesty, thank you for coming in person today. I wanted to ask, was it you who resolved the strange incidents that broke out a few months ago in the Gugin Sea region of the Southern Frontier and near the westernmost border of the Carnation Kingdom? I also heard that even after your entire army was infected, you still managed to use a special method to bring every soldier back safely, without a single loss?"
Elara had found the weakness of the Puppet Soldiers in the Gugin Sea. Once Oswyn developed a special pill to resist them, she sent troops with the pills to the Carnation side, resolving the incident for them.
The Carnation Kingdom and Plumera Kingdom were both on the western side of the Central Continent and not far from each other. The Puppet Soldier eggs spread infection very easily. If Elara hadn't intervened, the infection would've eventually spread into Plumera, and the more people infected, the harder it would have been to stop. Resolving it early meant she wouldn't need to worry much about the aftermath.
Given how massive the disturbance from the Puppet Soldiers had been throughout the western territories, it made sense that Sylvan's intelligence network would catch wind of it. But for Sylvan to use the excuse of an "urgent matter" to summon her, just for the Puppet Soldier eggs… Elara had a bad feeling.
"What is it? Don't tell me people from your organization encountered those things too? Were they infected?"
Sylvan nodded directly, not hiding anything. He had summoned her to ask for help. After all, even with the vast connections and resources of his group, they couldn't find a way to save the infected without harming anyone.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Sylvan nodded and reached under the table to retrieve a sheet of drawing paper.
Since the rise of paper production in Plumera, Sylvan's network had become the biggest paper buyer. Over the past year, both he and most of his upper ranks had grown used to using paper. Among countries trading with them, paper had become a favorite and essential item for royalty and scholars alike.
Sylvan laid a portrait out on the table. The image showed a man in white robes with a cold yet elegant demeanor.
Elara found him familiar… after thinking for half a second, she remembered. Wasn't this the white-robed man she had seen on the second floor of Sylvan's headquarters when she first arrived in this world and earned her first fortune through the "tiered question reward system"?
He and another man were the first high-ranking members she had met. Their backgrounds had seemed unusually distinguished, but it looked like they had only stopped in Plumera briefly while on a search in the southwestern corner of the continent.
Though Elara got to know them through Sylvan's "question system," she hadn't seen them much afterward. To this day, she still didn't know their true identities.
"This gentleman is actually the true master of our network." Even if it was just a portrait, Sylvan looked at it with genuine reverence.
"Our network's influence spreads across many countries in the Central Continent, but in truth, it was this gentleman who built everything. Without him, none of this would exist today…"
Sylvan paused briefly, then smiled at Elara. "Pardon me, Your Majesty, I've strayed off topic. In short, I heard you've had some interactions with this gentleman before. The reason I called you here is because he's in trouble and I'm hoping you'll lend a hand."
Elara looked at the white-robed man in the portrait, her brow furrowing slightly. "Don't tell me, he's the one who got infected?"
"No, not exactly." Sylvan picked up the teapot and poured fragrant tea into her cup.
"But the land he rules and the region under his governance have run into problems. Around three and a half years ago, a rare snowstorm struck the area near the edge of the Frozen Soil Forbidden Zone in the Northern Frontier. After the snowstorm, strange incidents began to occur in his domain."
"To protect his people and stabilize the rule of the Petunia State, he's spent years personally traveling far and wide, hoping to find a divine solution to these strange occurrences."
Elara's slender fingers tapped lightly on the rim of her tea cup. "So your network originated from the Petunia State, a top-tier nation in the Northern Frontier?"
Sylvan paused for a moment, then smiled. "Yes, Your Majesty, I thought you already knew."
He chuckled softly, a pleasing sound. "That gentleman is the true owner of our organization. He is the firstborn son of our Petunia State's emperor, the current Crown Prince."
…That was a shocking identity. She had unknowingly met someone standing at the peak of power in this world back when she had just arrived.
Elara could still recall how the white-robed Crown Prince, despite his aloof aura and seemingly unapproachable appearance, handled matters with reason and fairness. He had none of the arrogance expected of a prince from such a powerful nation. In fact, he seemed quite eager to recruit talented individuals.
With that kind of background… no wonder when she had negotiated with them regarding Lord Gregory and his faction, he and the blue-robed gentleman had casually handed her control over a hidden force embedded in the Gregory Estate for ten years.
With the immense power of the Petunia State behind them, a small third-tier country like Plumera was never worth worrying about.
Elara picked up her tea and took a sip. "So who was the blue-robed gentleman that accompanied him?"
Sylvan paused again and thought for a couple of seconds before replying, "Ah, so Your Majesty not only met our Crown Prince, but also Perseus?"
"The Crown Prince is part of the imperial family, while Perseus is the only legitimate son of Duke Qing, a highly ranked noble of the Petunia State. The two are cousins who grew up together."
"However, although Perseus enjoys spending time with the Crown Prince, he doesn't care much for managing our organization. He's more interested in mysterious mechanisms and unsolved puzzles."
"Well, since you recently received the Golden Silk Token from the Workshop of Marvels, you might have seen or heard of Perseus there."
Noticing Elara raise her eyes, Sylvan softened his tone and explained, "The Workshop of Marvels is divided into one Chief Master, three Hall Leaders, six Section Heads, and twelve Academy Heads. The Golden Silk Token in your possession was probably given by either Lucian, one of the three Hall Leaders, or his brother, one of the six Section Heads."
"Perseus is also one of the three Hall Leaders, but his research interests differ from the Zishu family. So if you haven't met him within the Workshop, that's not unusual."
Elara listened calmly, her expression unchanged, but deep inside, she was surprised once again.
It turned out that even back when she first arrived in this world, she had already encountered not one, but two people standing at its peak.
At that time, when she first met Lucian in Geranium Kingdom, his public identity was just one of the twelve court heads of Tiangong Pavilion.
In reality, both of them had deliberately kept a low profile and hidden their true status. But thinking about it now, it made sense. Given the power of Tiangong Pavilion, traveling all the way to the western edge of the continent just to attend a minor third-tier nation's banquet would already draw attention.
If Lucian had attended with his true identity as one of the six hall masters, the other top-tier powers would definitely take notice and start investigating what secrets were hidden in such a seemingly ordinary third-tier event.
If that happened, Elara's plans for the Hundred Nations Banquet would have become several times more difficult to carry out.
But then again, it wasn't just Lucian, one of the six hall masters, who went quietly to the Hundred Nations Banquet in Geranium Kingdom. His older brother, Frederic, also went without anyone noticing.
As one of the three palace masters of Tiangong Pavilion, he actually went to a banquet in a third-tier nation himself... could it be that the banquet was hiding some unknown, secret world-class treasure or rare artifact?