At night, Alexia sat alone on the sofa in her room, deep in thought.
The image of Alice's defeat was vivid in her mind.
The person she had always admired had lost, and it was a crushing defeat, without any ability to fight back. Most importantly, the opponent looked much younger than Alice.
"How can I get Milia to teach me!"
Alexia wanted to become stronger, and currently, finding Milia was the best option, because she was very strong.
Alexia stood up and paced back and forth.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
Alexia heard the sound, walked over, and opened the door.
No one was outside the door; it was empty. Alexia stepped out of the room, looked left and right down the corridor, and saw no one.
"Strange!"
Just as Alexia was about to turn back into her room, she suddenly felt a hard blow to her head. Then, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.
When she woke up again, she was hanging, and her eyes were blindfolded.
She had no idea who had kidnapped her, and she couldn't see anything.
"I am Alexia, the Second Princess of the Midgar Kingdom. The Knights Order will not let you get away with kidnapping me!"
There was no response.
It was quiet, completely silent around her, and Alexia heard nothing.
Then, a whip lashed savagely across Alexia's body.
And the one whipping Alexia was Milia.
Milia clearly remembered Alexia constantly trying to prevent her from becoming Xi Nuo's girlfriend.
If she said she would beat her at night, then she definitely had to beat her.
How could she beat the older sister and not the younger sister? Sisters should share difficulties and suffer together.
"You, do you dare let me see your face!" Alexia shouted furiously.
Her response was three more lashes.
Alexia gritted her teeth and endured.
The whip struck Alexia's body savagely, but she didn't utter a sound.
Alexia calmed down for a moment and began to ponder who it could be.
First, anyone who could kidnap her in the academy dormitory must be someone from the academy, and they must have a grudge against her, and their strength must be extremely high.
Based on all of that, the only person it could be was Milia.
Alexia had seen the other party looking at her with extremely fierce eyes more than once.
Moreover, the other party seemed to dislike her very much.
"Milia, I know it's you! Let me down quickly, or I'll report you!"
Another whip lash was the response to Princess Alexia.
The whip cracked against Alexia's body, but she simply chose to grit her teeth and endure.
After a hundred lashes, Milia stopped. She had other things to do, which was to find Xi Nuo.
It wouldn't be good if the princess died after being left there.
Milia used magic to form two small flying knives, cutting the rope that was suspending Alexia and the cloth covering her eyes.
Alexia fell from the tree, her backside hitting the ground hard.
She still gritted her teeth and endured, not making a sound.
Looking around, she found that she was within the academy, next to a tree in front of the teaching building, with half a rope still hanging from it.
She had just been suspended there.
"Milia! I'll remember this grudge!"
Alexia touched her backside with her hand; her backside was the most painful part of her entire body. Alexia felt that Milia had deliberately whipped her backside hard.
She had fallen on her backside just now, adding injury to injury.
However, they were all just superficial wounds; she would be fine after a period of rest.
But it really hurt.
Alexia limped towards her dormitory building.
The dorm supervisor immediately came to meet the limping Alexia.
"Princess Alexia, what happened to you!"
The dorm supervisor called a doctor, and after the doctor's examination, Alexia was found to be fine.
Then she lay on a hospital bed in the same room as her older sister, Princess Alice.
Alexia looked at Alice, and Alice looked at Alexia.
"Alexia, what happened to you?" Alice asked curiously.
"I was also beaten by Milia!"
"This!"
Alice herself had intended to challenge Milia, so getting beaten was understandable, but Alexia... with her strength, sparring with Milia was a bit overconfident.
Alice still didn't voice her thoughts.
"Alexia, are you alright!"
"I'll be fine after a few days of rest, just like you, Sister!"
Alexia didn't tell a third person about this, as she still had a favor to ask of Milia.
"For the sake of becoming stronger, these injuries are nothing!" Alexia thought to herself.
At this moment, Milia had already found Xi Nuo.
The two were currently in the outskirts.
Milia held a weapon, and so did Xi Nuo.
Milia instantly flashed in front of Xi Nuo. Milia swung her sword, which Xi Nuo blocked.
"Your speed is fast, but your magic burst is a bit lacking!"
Xi Nuo repelled Milia with a single sword strike.
Then he launched a fierce attack; each attack was incredibly sharp.
Milia almost couldn't parry each time.
Xi Nuo controlled his magic intensity to be on the same level as Milia, and he also used a slime sword as his weapon.
Actual combat is the fastest training method for growth.
Milia had already understood all the theoretical knowledge; now it was time for practical training.
Milia barely managed to block each time, but she still held out for a long time against Xi Nuo. The two went back and forth, and after ten minutes, Milia still narrowly lost to Xi Nuo by one move.
"Your strength has improved; keep up the good work. That's all for today; I'm a bit sleepy!"
Xi Nuo extended his hand and cast healing magic, and all of Milia's injuries were healed.
The two returned to Xi Nuo's residence!
Next door, Xi De was wiping his precious collection, ensuring they were spotless.
Then he sat alone on the expensive chair in the middle of the collection.
"This is the image of an Eminence in Shadow in my mind! But I always feel like something is missing..."
Xi De knocked on Xi Nuo's door.
Xi Nuo had just returned home through the window.
He used his magic to sense that it was Xi De knocking.
"Xi De, it's so late. Is there something you need?"
Xi Nuo pushed open the door.
Xi De saw Milia, wearing pajamas and holding Xi Nuo's arm.
"Why is she here with you!"
Milia suddenly froze. She had enveloped herself in magic to become invisible; she shouldn't have been seen, she thought.
"The incredibly powerful goddess at the academy is my subordinate, don't you think I'm amazing?" Xi Nuo chuckled.
"So that's it. The incredibly powerful goddess at the academy is secretly your subordinate. This indeed fits the Eminence in Shadow's low-key yet incredibly awesome persona!" Xi De thought to himself.
"Milia, I forgot to tell you, Xi De is Lord Shadow of Shadow Garden!"
Xi Nuo spoke.
"He? Lord Shadow!"
Milia had an expression of disbelief.
"He's so ordinary, someone who wouldn't get a second glance in a crowd, is actually Lord Shadow!"
Looking at the surprised Milia, Xi De smiled proudly.
"It seems my role as a background character was too good, so good that the other party finds it hard to believe I'm Lord Shadow!"
"Lord Shadow, let me introduce you. She is a member of Shadow Garden, codenamed Omicron. You can also call her Milia!" Xi Nuo explained.
"Didn't Shadow Garden disband?" Xi De said in an extremely low voice and very quickly.
"Eh?" (Milia)
"Eh!" (Lord Shadow)
"Nothing!" Xi De said.
Two years ago, Alpha had approached Lord Shadow again, stating that they were going to various parts of the world to thwart The Order's schemes.
Xi De subconsciously believed that Alpha, like his former friends, was planning to stop playing along with him and abandon him.
She just found it hard to say directly.
Xi De expressed his understanding.
Then Alpha and the Seven Shadows went their separate ways.
As for Milia, because she was a special person, the lifeline of Viscount Olba, and Viscount Olba was a crucial chess piece in overthrowing The Order.
To reassure Viscount Olba, Milia had stayed by Xi Nuo's side.
After all, Xi Nuo was so strong that protecting her was utterly simple.
Xi Nuo listened to the two 'Eh's.
And they both looked at each other, completely bewildered.
He couldn't help but want to laugh, but he thought of all the painful things he had experienced to stop himself from laughing.
"So, Xi De, what did you want to see me about!"
"I wanted to show you my collection!"
It was too painful to keep good things to himself without sharing or showing them off.
Xi De just wanted to share his masterpiece.
As a fellow Eminence in Shadow, Xi Nuo naturally became the first person Xi De thought of.
However, Xi De was oblivious and often didn't like to use magic to investigate his surroundings, frequently getting lost.
Because of this, he didn't realize there was someone in Xi Nuo's room.
"Alright!"
Xi Nuo followed Xi De into his room.
Inside the room was a separate compartment, which was a storage room, filled with Xi De's collection.
Xi De entered the room first, transformed into Lord Shadow, sat on the chair, and artfully produced three wine glasses, along with a bottle of red wine.
"This is the authentic 'The Scream' by Munch, worth ten billion Zeny! It's always been priceless on the market! To think I'd see it here!" Milia exclaimed, looking at the painting on the wall.
As the daughter of a viscount, she had some knowledge of these artworks, and Xi Nuo had even told her to learn a bit more about them in her spare time.
For this, Milia had spent a lot of time researching these items.
Xi Nuo did this so that in such a situation, he wouldn't appear awkward by not recognizing anything.
"A fine vintage wine from Bordeaux, Southwest France, worth 900,000 Zeny!"
"The wine glasses are also from France, worth 450,000 Zeny!"
"And this ancient desk lamp, it's a highly commemorative desk lamp used by the first emperor of Cishama, worth 3 billion Zeny!"
"And this!"
"And this!"
Milia rattled off the origin and value of every item in the room in one breath.