The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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Out of a sense of caution, Aurora left immediately after making sure that their carriage had reached the edge of the 'Wonderland of Doom', and Evelyn could only watch her form disappear with a forlorn sigh.

She didn't know when she would be able to meet her teacher or Nadia again, but she also knew that avoiding this adventure now would only make it more dangerous later.

Although Gwendolyn had told her that she would be able to keep the Lord of Bones occupied for a while, Evelyn couldn't be sure how long this 'while' could be. She just hoped that it was long enough for her to grow up.

Of course, even if the Lord of Bones himself could be entangled by Gwendolyn, his forces would probably still be able to operate freely. After all, this was not the 'New World', where Gwendolyn's influence penetrated every street and corner of the continent.

Even if the influence of the Lord of Bones in the old world couldn't be compared to what he had in his own continent, the development of Temple of Shinra was still far more advanced than Gwendolyn's forces.

Evelyn still recalled how her teacher had warned her to never visit the 'Golden House', which was an auctioning hall set up and operated by the Temple of Shinra, and this was far from being the only force that was under the indirect control of the Lord of Bones.

If they were all ordered to keep an eye out for her, Evelyn expected that she really couldn't show her face anywhere in this world except maybe for the most remote of regions.

Of course, this wasn't really too much of an issue since Evelyn still had the concealment cloak that Aurora gave her, which allowed her to hide her identity even from people at a much higher level than herself.

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The 'Wonderland of Doom' was a vast zone connected to three different countries by land - Gwyntere, Lavinia, and Terrazyme.

Although Evelyn's final destination this time was in Lumenzarha, which could only be accessed by going through Terrazyme first, there was still quite some time till the 'Trial by Fire' actually started, so she decided to arrange a few things in her home country first.

This was why the route they took while exiting the Wonderland of Doom was one that led them to the outskirts of the Lavinian Empire.

Evelyn knew that Aurora was unable to leave the academy and take care of these things for her, and Gwendolyn couldn't be expected to care for such 'minor matters', which left only herself to care for the Knox family.

Even though she hadn't shown much affection for them, Evelyn didn't want to leave the fate of her 'parents' to fate. It was only a matter of time before someone small-minded enough decided to use their existence to threaten her - regardless of whether it was effective or not.

The existence of the Lavinian Princess under her command was able to assure her before, but that wasn't the case anymore once the Temple of Shinra got involved.

After all, even the Emperor was careful while dealing with the Temple's forces.

They could put up resistance to try maintaining their independence, but not to the point of offending the Lord of Bones. Under such circumstances, if one little princess tried to protect a family that the Temple of Shinra wanted to persecute, it was unlikely to have any good effects at all.

Moreover, their bond didn't allow Evelyn to convey anything but the most basic of feelings across, making her unable to pass on any complex instructions.

Had Bree fully recovered her intelligence, it would still be possible to delegate this kind of task to her, but unfortunately, that was not so.

Of course, Evelyn knew that she would have to be careful not to expose herself, or it might just bring a bigger disaster down upon the Knox family.

But she never planned to directly visit the mansion anyway, so if there was someone keeping watch over there, they were bound to be disappointed.

According to the scroll handed over by Gwendolyn before she left, Evelyn knew that she still had around seven months before the Trial by Fire started, and she planned to get there around thirty days in advance to meet up with 'Bonnie', the descendant that the Blue Moon Throne seemed to care about so much.

In these few months, Evelyn knew that she had to prepare as much as she could, not just for herself, but also for everyone who cared for her. Settling the matter of the Knox family was only one of the things she planned to deal with during this time.

Their first destination after exiting the Wonderland of Doom was a small border town of the Lavinian Empire.

Evelyn had already started sending the signal to call the Lavinian princess towards herself before she had even left the Wonderland of Doom, and she expected that the girl should be able to reach the town by tomorrow, if she wasn't here already.

As for what excuse she would use to get here, Evelyn had no idea.

Of course, the matter of entering the town also had to be handled carefully, as Evelyn didn't want to expose her identity to the Temple of Shinra, so she placed a few small illusions on Cecilia's face before making her take care of all the conversations.

The identities of Amara, Vivian, and Bree were easy enough to look into for anyone who bothered, and Amber was also well known to be her friend in the academy.

In contrast, although Cecilia had shown off quite a bit during the ride to the academy, their involvement outside the White Lily Palace hadn't been much after the first few days.

In the eyes of outsiders, they could be considered acquaintances at most, and their relationship could easily be explained by their 'ancient family' origins.

Cecilia couldn't feel the 'illusions' that had modified her facial features just slightly, but knew that Evelyn had sharpened her eyebrows and slimmed down her chin to make her look more beautiful than cute.

Of course, as someone who considered herself extremely charming, Cecilia couldn't help but feel greatly offended. "Am I not beautiful enough?!"

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