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Then again, rebelling against Lauren was normal to Olivia, so she did not have any qualms about it. But her displeasure against the former would double.

After Byron, Olivia and Silas finalized their plans, Olivia left with her entourage.

When they left the mansion, Olivia immediately noticed Lauren\'s presence along with her entourage and several Aureole female mages nearby.

As Olivia suspected, Lauren indeed had people watching her every move. However, due to the special array around the mansion, the latter\'s people could not locate the former.

After leaving the mansion\'s periphery, Lauren and the others finally found them.

Lauren sat on a white horse and silently watched Olivia\'s carriage approaching. Because she was wearing her full body armor, no one could see her expression. Nevertheless, the mere fact that an almost palpable pressure loomed over the rest of the Aureole members meant she was angry or worried— it could even be both.

"Lady Olivia, your orders?" The leader among the female mages in Olivia\'s entourage asked when she saw Lauren ahead.

"I will meet with Lauren alone. Follow us at a safe distance and watch over that person."

"Yes, Lady Olivia," the three female mages replied in unison.

Without further ado, the carriage stopped, and Olivia and her entourage alighted.

Lauren raised her visor to look at Olivia.

Olivia returned her gaze before turning to the left side and left.

"Such a rebellious woman. Does she not realize the trouble she caused?"

One of Lauren\'s entourage murmured behind.

"Stay here and wait for my return."

"Lady Lauren?"

"What do you mean, Lady Lauren...?"

Before the rest could even voice their question, the first female mage who managed to ask a question— albeit incomplete— was answered.

Lauren dismounted from her horse and followed Olivia.

"Lady Lauren, please wait—!"

"I will talk to Olivia alone. None of you is allowed to follow," Lauren cut them off at once. She knew there were a number of female mages with her who disapproved of Olivia, especially of how she was always disrespectful toward Lauren. For this reason, she preferred to talk with Olivia alone.

Lauren wanted to avoid escalating matters between them when there was no issue in the first place.

It was true that Olivia blamed Lauren for what happened to her mother, but that was not really an issue between them. At least, Lauren believed that it was not an issue that would force them to fight.

She also believed that Olivia only acted disrespectfully toward her whenever the female mages who disliked her talked behind her back to prove their point. It was as if she wanted them to have more reasons to dislike her.

The two walked for almost thirty minutes inside the woods before stopping at a small clearing with a small pond to the side.

Olivia looked up at the sky, which had already turned into a pale tint of orange, before finally speaking, "It is easy to see the sky from this position."

Lauren did not respond, but she looked up and saw the pale orange sky.

If this were any other day, she would have admired how beautiful the sky looked because it possessed a certain charm during sunset. Few people would agree with her, though, since it was far more attractive to see the sky when the sun was rising. The feeling both moments instil in a person was also different. The latter gave off a feeling of hope, while the former sometimes gave people the sense of something ending— of course, this ending did not have to be a bad one.

Anyhow, the current setting did not allow Lauren to admire the sky. She even felt a little annoyed because she could also see the hole in the sky, with a fiery ball— frankly, it did not look like a ball anymore but a ring because of the massive hole in the middle— filling almost a quarter of the view she was seeing.

Realization hit Lauren as she furrowed her brows and looked back at Olivia.

Olivia was never the person to start an idle talk. If she pointed out the sky, it meant whatever she wanted to talk about was related to it.

Olivia had her back on Lauren while she continued to look at the sky. She asked, "How far are you able to see or sense from here?"

"Far enough to know powerful magic fluctuations were coming from that direction. Moreover, the magic fluctuations did not come from one person but several people."

"Good," Olivia nodded. "Our talk will be quick then."

"What is going on, Olivia?" Lauren could not help but ask. After all, Olivia did not have her usual hostile attitude toward her.

Olivia finally lowered her gaze before looking back at Lauren. She smiled wryly and said, "A lot is going on right now, and the Aureole will be in danger if we don\'t do something soon."

Her words immediately confounded Lauren. She frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Before I answer your question, answer mine," Olivia responded, wearing a solemn expression.

"Ask."

"How long will you feign ignorance on that woman\'s deceit?"

Lauren\'s expression turned serious as soon as she heard her question. As expected, Olivia was also aware of the mole inside the faction and that she was part of Lauren\'s entourage.

"When have you known about her?"

"Answer my question first."

Lauren fell silent. She studied Olivia\'s face for a few seconds before heaving a sigh of resignation and said, "A powerful family is backing her. I can\'t do anything to her until I am 99% sure I can keep the Aureole faction safe."

Olivia shook her head, "What are you even afraid of? A powerful family? It\'s just the Boyd Family. Why are you even hesitating?"

"There are far more powerful people involved this time," Lauren told her with a bitter smile. "I can\'t tell you much because I don\'t have proof yet."

Olivia fell silent after hearing Lauren\'s response. Frankly, she did not expect the latter to tell her that. To be precise, she did not know Lauren was already looking through the people working with that \'powerful family.\'

Obviously, that powerful family was the Boyd Family, and the \'far more powerful people\' involved were the Royal Family. The Boyd Family being a branch family of the Winfrey Family was no secret.

With narrowed eyes, Olivia said, "How much do you know?"

Lauren smiled wryly and said, "It\'s your turn to answer my question."

"I\'ve known from the beginning," Olivia replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"How?" Lauren asked in confusion.

"Answer my question, and I\'ll tell you."

Lauren sighed inwardly. Initially, she thought that Olivia wanted a truce and would work with her unconditionally. But it seemed Lauren had been mistaken. The kind of back-and-forth they had was no different from when Olivia showed her annoyance toward her.

"My information is still lacking, but I know that apart from the family backing that powerful family, twenty-seven more noble families, a few old noble families and new ones, working for them. They are also recruiting several small to medium factions. As far as I know, if you know about what happened to Master Noir\'s disciple, Tyr, and the Lumley Family— well, they are making use of that incident to recruit the Three Noble Families to their side."

Lauren paused as she remembered something. After a short silence of pondering, she added, "I don\'t know why they are recruiting families and factions to their circle. But judging from the number of people they already gathered, it\'s like they are preparing for something big."

Olivia could not help but let out a derisive laugh from Lauren\'s judgement. She could say Lauren realized the gist of the situation by only relying on the movement of the Boyd Family and their conspirators. However, Olivia also realized that Lauren\'s imagination was far too limited.

"\'Preparing for something big\'? You\'re right. It is big because a war can very well happen if this continues."

Lauren\'s eyes almost popped out of their sockets from shock.

The Ylfaen Empire had been peaceful for a few years, and although most had recovered, if a war broke out, what would happen to those factions, families and such?

"If you know something, tell me everything."

"I will, but I want you to do something first."

"What?"

"Kill the mole."