Comparison Serena’s Left and Right Hands

If she could, Serena truly wouldn't want to ask this question—the answer hurts too much.

But things turned out exactly as Serena suspected. After that incident, the Princess Royal never held Evan again. She came to see him a few times, but it was just a formality—standing by his bed, asking a couple of questions, then leaving...

Serena still couldn't believe the Princess Royal would plant gu in Evan out of selfishness. But when she saw that faint brown scar on his neck, she could no longer lie to herself.

"Evan, I'm sorry." Serena looked up silently, not wanting her tears to fall.

Not far away, the rescued child seemed to sense Serena's sorrow. His hollow eyes showed a trace of confusion and some unease, staring at her without blinking...

Serena took a breath and stepped forward to pick the boy up. "Let's go outside and let Evan get some real sleep."

When Serena came out, Spring had just returned too. Seeing Serena, Spring nearly burst into tears. "Miss, I was useless. The Brocade Guard took everyone away."

"All nine of them? They took everyone?" Serena's eyes glinted coldly. It looked like the assassins at the city gate weren't just after the child—they were after them too.

When one plot fails, they try another. If they couldn't kill her at the city gate, they took all her people instead—leaving her with no one to use.

No question, this move was brilliant. Without her Eighteen Riders in Lyndaria, everything she tried would be much harder.

"Yes, all Eighteen Riders were taken away by the Brocade Guard. I gave them our identities, but they ignored me and insisted on dragging everyone off. From the look of it, they don't care at all about offending Eastlyn." Spring wasn’t stupid—she knew this was no ordinary trouble. But this was their turf and their law, and there was nothing they could do.

Even if they wanted to fight, now wasn’t the time. They were stuck with this loss.

Serena thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Use silver to grease some palms and make sure our people aren’t suffering inside."

Serena didn’t know how Lyndaria’s Brocade Guard operated, but she’d seen Eastlyn’s Bloodcloak Guard firsthand. Once someone was thrown into prison, she couldn’t get them out right away—but she could make sure they weren’t tortured.

Every Eighteen Rider was the best of the best. She couldn’t let them be ruined by schemes and plots.

Spring looked troubled. "Miss, our people in Lyndaria don’t have access to the Brocade Guard." Not just their own network—even Tianyu, the top local contact, couldn’t reach the Brocade Guard.

The Brocade Guard were the emperor’s personal force. If the crown prince could meddle with them, what would the emperor have left?

"Go find out what hobbies the eunuchs near the Lyndarian emperor have. Send them whatever they like. I don’t need them to bail anyone out—just a word to keep our people from suffering. After all, we’re victims in this too." Serena knew better than to fight the local powers head-on. As for the Princess Royal?

It’s been a whole day since it happened. If she really cared, she’d have sent someone to ask by now. The Princess Royal clearly didn’t value them at all.

"Understood." Spring’s eyes lit up and she hurried off to find a way.

They still had some connections in Lyndaria; finding out a eunuch’s hobbies wasn’t that difficult.

Not long after Spring left, Aaron Zuo came in looking utterly drained. "Do you need my help with this?"

"Not for now. As long as they aren’t tortured in prison, that’s enough." Once they’d been thrown in, the other side wouldn’t let them out easily, and Serena didn’t want to waste her energy fighting it.

Besides, Aaron didn’t have much pull in Lyndaria either. With the Princess Royal offended, the only option left was his retired prime-minister father.

But in politics, once someone stepped down, their influence faded fast. Aaron’s father had already retired; there was no need to drag him into this or make Aaron beg for help.

Aaron didn’t push it. He changed the subject: "Did you find out what’s wrong with Evan?" He’d investigated his princess-mother and even asked his teacher, but the more he found out, the colder his heart felt.

Serena nodded lightly. "Unless something unexpected happened, it’s likely the Princess Royal."

"I knew it was her." Aaron suddenly looked up, gave a bitter smile, and the surprise in his eyes quickly faded.

He’d already guessed as much...

"The gu won’t kill him, don’t worry." Serena didn’t know how to comfort him. "The Princess Royal used gu on Evan because she was afraid we’d take him away. So... we’re partly at fault too." After all, they’d been the ones to try and take Evan from her.

But Aaron didn’t see it that way. "How is this our fault? If she really loved Evan and wanted to keep him, would I have disagreed? Why did she have to use such methods? Evan’s so careful—how could she do this to him?"

Aaron suddenly exploded, shouting, yanking at his hair in frustration, and slamming his fists on the table...

With a loud bang, everyone froze in fear. The child in Serena’s arms was startled, face turning pale, and let out a terrified scream. Serena quickly soothed him, afraid he might hurt himself.

Aaron calmed down instantly and apologized awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to."

Aaron felt a pang of sympathy for the child. The boy reminded him of his own childhood—withdrawn, though his case was much more severe.

"Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to Evan. Divine Doctor Guile is great at unraveling gu. If you’re still uneasy, I’ll write to the Valley Master too." Serena felt guilty about Evan’s predicament, but now wasn’t the time to assign blame—the priority was breaking the gu.

"I trust you." Aaron finally regained a bit of composure. Serena, worried he’d sink into self-blame, asked, "Aaron, if you have time over the next few days, help me find out which family this child belongs to. He’s well-dressed, so he must be from a wealthy background. Half the reason for today’s city gate assassination could have been him."

"Alright, I’ll keep an eye out." Aaron agreed without hesitation.

Serena couldn’t take a child everywhere she went. Finding his family was crucial.

"Wuuu..." The child whimpered again, sounding like a frightened little animal, afraid Serena didn’t want him.

"Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning you. I just want to help you find your family." The boy was so sensitive that Serena didn’t dare say anything harsh.

The boy shook his head coldly. Even at the mention of ‘family,’ his face showed no emotion. He just stared at Serena, clinging to her.

He couldn’t forget that when he was locked up by bad people and called for his parents, they never came to help. When he was terrified and nearly dying, it was this older sister who saved him—not his parents.

He would never trust his parents again...