Chapter 261: Mystery of the Invisible Barrier

Lady Sherria smiled gently, then shook her head a little.

"I used to believe that I could never be anything other than a Saintess. But that was not true."

She paused before continuing.

"That belief was merely a prejudice I had imposed upon myself. Those limitations never truly existed in the first place. Lady Shangguan Wan’er is someone who embodies that truth, and so are you, Qiu Nuoya."

Lady Sherria’s expression softened.

"I have no intention of seeking a way of life outside my role as a Saintess at this point. However, I have finally realized that I do not have to become the kind of Saintess dictated by outdated traditions. I can simply become a Saintess in my own way."

"Thank you," Lady Sherria said, expressing her gratitude to Qiu Nuoya.

He couldn’t help feeling that he hadn’t really done anything deserving of her thanks. Still, Lady Sherria had reached her own conclusions and found the resolve to move forward. Qiu Nuoya thought that was something truly worth celebrating.

"However, at this rate, I doubt Prince Dorian will agree to dissolve our engagement so easily. If Prince Lucien succeeds to the throne without any trouble, perhaps the royal family will no longer have any need for me..."

That was a rather complicated issue.

To begin with, Qiu Nuoya wasn’t even sure whether Prince Lucien actually wanted to inherit the throne. It was obvious that he adored Shangguan Wan’er, but his intentions were difficult to read. He seemed to like her, yet he didn’t give the impression of being so deeply in love that he wanted to marry her.

If anything, their relationship seemed more like that of close friends.

Besides, Qiu Nuoya simply couldn’t understand Prince Lucien’s way of thinking. The prince had actually declared that he was perfectly fine with sharing his girlfriend with another man.

Still, interfering in other people’s romantic affairs was a good way to invite trouble. Qiu Nuoya decided to leave it to the people involved to work things out between themselves. He would neither look nor ask.

"Even so, the fact that your friend turned out to be the Hero feels almost like fate, Qiu Nuoya..."

"Haha, fate? I wouldn’t go that far..."

If he says something like that, there’ll be someone else who gets annoyed and makes a face again.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Qiu Nuoya suddenly realized something.

Come to think of it, Viktor had been nowhere to be seen for a while.

He had been with him all the way to the other side of the hedge, so it was strange that he hadn’t shown himself during all this commotion.

Qiu Nuoya turned around and spotted Viktor standing on the other side of the hedge, staring at him with a thoroughly displeased expression.

Wondering what Viktor was doing over there, Qiu Nuoya tilted his head and called out, "Viktor, why aren’t you coming over here?"

Without saying a word, Viktor reached out and tapped the air as though there were an invisible wall in front of him.

Huh? What’s that? Is he doing some kind of pantomime?

Unable to make sense of it, Qiu Nuoya tilted his head in confusion. Viktor sighed, then beckoned for him to come over.

Qiu Nuoya approached as instructed, only to watch Viktor extend his arm toward him and have it stop right in front of his face, as though an invisible wall were blocking his way.

"Viktor, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing!? This! It’s a defensive barrier! Why are all of you able to walk straight through it as if it’s not even there!?"

"Huh?"

When Qiu Nuoya reached out his own arm, there was no wall at all. His hand passed through the space without the slightest resistance. Apparently, however, an invisible wall existed specifically in front of Viktor.

Viktor clearly wasn’t happy about this. He grabbed Qiu Nuoya’s arm and pulled him over to his side of the barrier.

"Huh? What? What’s going on here?"

"That’s exactly what I’d like to know!"

Come to think of it, Prince Dorian had been shouting earlier that they had trespassed on royal property. Qiu Nuoya had assumed it was nothing more than an unreasonable accusation, since there had been neither signs nor defensive barriers anywhere in sight.

But it turned out there really was a defensive barrier after all.

That hedge was probably the boundary between the royal family’s private garden and the garden belonging to the guest quarters. Qiu Nuoya and the others had crossed it without even noticing.

Still, how could they possibly be blamed when they hadn’t even realized there was an invisible wall there in the first place? This was clearly an unavoidable accident!

"Qiu Nuoya, is something the matter?"

"Oh, Lady Sherria. It seems there really was a defensive barrier here, so we actually did trespass on restricted property after all."

"Oh my, so there really is one."

Lady Sherria reached out her arm, but just as expected, her fingertips were stopped by the defensive barrier, preventing her from reaching through to the other side.

Qiu Nuoya, on the other hand, could pass through it without the slightest resistance, as though the barrier did not exist.

"So even you cannot pass through it, Lady Sherria... Considering that Nuoya can cross it freely, perhaps people who came from another world possess some special skill that allows them to pass through defensive barriers. However, there is one person who does not fit that theory."

As he spoke, Viktor glanced sideways at Warren.

Well, he had a point. Even if Qiu Nuoya and Xiao Tao could pass through the defensive barrier thanks to their cheat-like abilities, Warren should certainly have been stopped by it.

And yet, both of them were standing on the other side. That could only mean Warren had somehow passed through the defensive barrier as well.

"Nuoya, I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble..."

Xiao Tao approached with an apologetic expression.

"Don’t worry about that. But how exactly did you and the others get in there?"