When Gilda came out to the courtyard, Felipe noticed her and remarked to Wuhlricht, “Gilda’s belly is
growing bigger by the day. She’s almost at the end of her second trimester, and it’s bing
challenging to hide it from people.”
Gilda frowned. “We’ll just have toe clean when it’s no longer possible to hide it. I’ve been avoiding
public spaces anyway, so there shouldn’t be any problem if I remain at home.”
“Frederick is a petty man, Wuhlricht said sullenly after looking at Gilda. “He refused to marry you when
he found out you were no longer a virgin, and it’ll probably piss him off that you chose to keep the
child.”
Wuhlricht paused briefly before adding, “Though I’m quite certain that he wouldn’t dare to confront us,
we
still can’t tell anyone that Severin is the father.
Gilda was a little taken aback by that, but she immediately understood the ramifications of revealing the
truth. She nodded and said, “I understand, Dad. You’re worried that the Horizon Sect might feel
deceived
and humiliated when they find the child’s father is from the same sect and I ended up marrying him.
Your
concern is that they might retaliate against us because of that, right?”
“Correct,” Wuhlricht said. “They’ll feel as if we’re ying some kind of sick joke with them, and our
im
that Severin had disappeared permanently would turn out to be a lie. If the Horizon Sect’s members
discover Severin’s involvement, they might resort to extreme measures and attack our sect. That would
be troublesome, especially since we’re not fully prepared to face them yet.”
Gilda understood. “We’ll have to keep the identity of my child’s father a secret then. Hopefully, our great
elder here can do us that favor too. It’s for the best if fewer people know about this. Once the child is
born
and our sect has grown stronger, we won’t have to worry about revealing the truth anymore.”
“I’ll keep the secret, of course,” Felipe said, “but it does feel unfair to you and Severin.”
“I don’t mind it,” Gilda said, “but I agree that this is unfair to Severin. He can’t even acknowledge that
the
baby is his.”
Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.
Wuhlricht then said, “If we are to grow stronger than the Horizon Sect, we will need a fifth–grade low–
rank
alchemist in our ranks. That is the only way. Fifth–grade low–rank pills are good enough even for level
three royal saints to make an easy breakthrough. Having more level four royal saints will surely bode
well
for us.”
After some thought, Felipe grinned. “Elder Severin might be our only hope then, judging from the
remarkable potential he has shown as ofte. He was already a fourth–grade high–rank alchemist
before
he entered the Paradise Secret Realm, so he might juste out of it a fifth–grade low–rank
alchemist!”
Gilda rolled her eyes and said, “But the gap between a fourth–grade high–rank alchemist and a fifth–
grade
low–rank alchemist is simply too huge, and the difficulty in reaching the next level is several times
higher.
We can’t ce too much of our expectations on Severin. He’s under enough pressure as it is.”
Felipe was amused at Gilda’s retort. “Look at you standing up for your man.”
“I’ll leave you to your chess game, then. I’m going for a stroll in the garden,” Gilda said as she left the
courtyard.
Once she was gone, Wuhlricht mentioned, “I wonder how Severin and the others are faring right now.
Do
you think they’ve found the miniature ck tower? I sure hope they did. Without it, we won’t be able to
reach that ce‘, and the chances of us bing supreme saints would be nearly zero.”
Felipe gazed toward the direction of the Paradise Secret Realm andmented, “The Paradise Secret
Realm ising to a close. We’d have to wait another six years if we don’t seed this time around.”
“We’re out! We’re finally out!” At that moment, those who had entered the Paradise Secret Realm were
forcefully ejected and found themselves back outside.