Chapter 288: Other Suspect

In the Dream Domain, Ivy and Emilia used different kinds of strange abilities and started their battle.

Each of their spells appeared eerie and terrifying!

Some of Emilia's attacks even caused the Dream Domain to break.

Thankfully, Ivy's [Nightmare Loop] spell restored everything whenever Emilia broke the Dream Domain and didn't affect the outside atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the coachman named Omen stared at the empty blue sky and raised his eyebrows.

"It seems it will take some time for the battle to end." He muttered solemnly and sat on the ground.

...

Meanwhile,

Merchants' District, City of Iron.

At that moment, a four-wheeled carriage entered the merchants' District and soon moved towards the auction house.

A few minutes later, Jessie and Destiny Lady walked out of the carriage and soon stood in front of a three-storied building.

It was the Crescent Crew Auction House!

Jessie looked around, soon saw a white-haired gatekeeper, and waved her hand towards him.

The gatekeeper appeared to be around 50-years-old, had black eyes, and wore simple leather armor over his regular linen shirt.

"Do you know where Lady Bella is staying, Mr. Neil?" Jessie asked as she went near the building's entrance.

Meanwhile, the black-haired gatekeeper glanced at Destiny Lady, sized her up and down, and asked.

"Why are you looking for Lady Bella, Young Miss?"

At this moment, Destiny Lady released her wisdom power, scanned the whole auction house, and responded.

"Actually, she left something important in our mansion house when she visited us yesterday. That's why we came here to give it to her."

Upon hearing her words, a troubled expression appeared on Neil's face.

He then let out a deep sigh and spoke.

"Her house is in the next street. But even if you go there, you won't find her now."

"She left the city?" Destiny Lady instantly made a possible guess and asked.

A surprise flashed on Neil's face.

He nodded his head and responded.

"Yes. She returned to the auction house yesterday evening and even took the company's carriage before going somewhere."

"Did she say something about where she is going?" Jessie continued to ask.

Meanwhile, Neil wore a bitter smile and shook his head.

After asking a few more questions, Destiny Lady and Jessie glanced at each other and returned to their carriage in disappointment.

Jessie stepped into the carriage, sat on the leather seat, and spoke solemnly.

"We got no clues."

Meanwhile, Destiny Lady also entered the carriage, sat on the opposite seat, and nodded her head.

"We should focus on something else. Other than Bella, whom do you suspect most?"

Her question startled Jessie greatly.

She pondered for a moment and answered.

"Other than Bella, it should be the Griffon Family Head Andy... Wait. I have slight suspicion on Archbishop Abel, Lady Natalia."

"Archbishop Abel? Why are you suspecting him?" Even Destiny Lady didn't feel anything wrong about Archbishop's visit and got curious.

Meanwhile, Jessie nodded her head and spoke.

"I also don't have any suspicion on him. But our Teacher seems to have noticed something odd about Life Church members. Three months ago, he told me to ask the Life Church members that if anyone had met Archbishop Royce during the last few years. At first, I didn't find anything odd about his request. But when I heard Archbishop Abel's reply, I started to feel something is not right." She paused for a moment, ordered the coachman to go to Life Church, and then continued.

"First, Emilia Wilson seems to have met Archbishop Royce in the past and even chatted with him once. Second, our Teacher's grandson was actually a Withering Shadows member. But what's more surprising thing is that Charles was actually a member of Emilia's Team!"

At that moment, Destiny Lady suddenly recalled Archbishop's suicidal note and frowned.

"Archbishop Royce also mentioned that he had done something wrong to Charles in the suicidal note, right?"

On the other hand, Jessie nodded her head and spoke.

"I did some research about this 'Charles' during the past three years and learned quite a bit, Lady Natalia. This guy seemed to have met Lady Bella in the past and was on odd terms with her."

At that moment, Destiny Lady raised her eyebrows and asked in surprise.

"How do you know about that?"

In truth, even she found out about the 'Amber Curse' after Charles lured the Red Prince into the Tower of Elements and turned all the gold coins into dust.

The Tower Spirit even spent some money to get that information from the Amber Church.

But hearing Jessie mentioning such classified information made her feel surprised.

At that moment, Jessie shook her head and responded calmly.

"Lady Bella was the one who told this information to me a few months ago. But there was more secret to this 'Amber Curse.' In truth, Bella also suspected that Archbishop Royce might be the one who put that curse on Charles. Moreover, she told me that he was the one who transferred her to this kingdom. If she is an enemy, she wouldn't have said those things to me. I feel that something must have happened during these past few months."

As Destiny Lady heard those words, her expression turned serious.

"Archbishop Royce... Emilia and her teammates... Abel Wilson... Bella... Are you suspecting that these guys' memories were somehow manipulated by something? But Archbishop Royce is dead... Moreover, why would Bella place a black card into Mage Silas's room? What is the opposite party's aim?" She asked in puzzlement.

Meanwhile, Jessie wore a thoughtful look on her face and spoke.

"I think this manipulative force might have not expected that Mage Silas and Mage Rachel would come here to look for Charles. Their arrival must have caused a disturbance in someone's plan. That's why this manipulative force is trying to separate them from here."

Destiny Lady's face froze for a moment and soon turned into an understanding one.

"Then, this manipulative force's aim should be Rhea's coronation ceremony, right?"

"I'm also suspecting the same thing, Lady Natalia." Jessie nodded her head and then added.

"If my guess is not wrong, you might have long been involved in this manipulative force's scheme."

As they were discussing, the coachman drove the carriage towards Commoners' District and stopped in front of the Life Church.

Both of them ended their discussion and walked out of the carriage to ask about Emilia's whereabouts.

Unfortunately, they soon learned that Emilia and her teammates hadn't returned from their mission and went to the old mansion in disappointment!

...

In the meantime,

Oswald and Rachel continuously flew towards the Iron Kingdom's southern border and reached the Dreamymaple Forest region around 11.A.M!

Oswald flapped his golden wings, slowed down the momentum, and shifted his attention towards a small town near the forest.

"That should be Pearlford Town. Let's go there and gather more information about the Dreamforce Lair before starting the scout mission." Rachel spoke as she also controlled her wing spell and descended from the sky.

Both of them soon choose a safe location to land and started walking towards Pearlford Town.