Becoming the Demon Lord: Taming the Demon Queen Begins

Holy Maiden Aeliana gave the piccolo a quick blow, and the sound that came out seemed perfectly fine.

Still, Aeliana looked a bit puzzled, running her fingers along the piccolo.

"Strange... Why does it feel like there's a faint smell of lactic acid on this piccolo? And it feels a little sticky too. Am I imagining things? What could this be..."

Aeliana was clearly confused and wanted to investigate further.

But Sylvia, who had been watching from the side, suddenly seemed to remember something. Her face flushed red in an instant.

"How could I forget something so important? I should've at least cleaned it before giving it back to her!"

"We're in the middle of an important conversation, and you're over there inspecting a piccolo?" Sylvia tried to divert attention, but the piccolo was already in Aeliana's hands. She had no choice but to stop her from looking any closer.

"You're right."

Aeliana paused for a moment, then let the strange thought slip from her mind. She carefully placed the piccolo into her spatial pouch.

After all, it was a Heavenly-level artifact. Even if it had just a speck of dust on it, she wouldn't want to touch it unnecessarily.

Seeing Aeliana put the piccolo away, Sylvia's slightly awkward expression finally eased.

"Besides returning the piccolo, I assume you had something else you wanted to talk about?"

Sylvia's gaze locked onto Aeliana, as if she could see right through her.

"Heh, yeah, there's something else."

Aeliana gave an awkward laugh, then sighed. "Sylvia, could you cut me some slack? Every time I'm around you, I feel like I'm standing here naked, like you can see right through me."

"Well, there's no one else around, is there?" Sylvia replied with a cool smile.

Though her smile carried no hidden meaning, it was enough to make Aeliana quickly swallow the rest of her words.

"Alright, alright. Actually, I have a little secret to tell you."

Aeliana leaned in close to Sylvia's ear and whispered, "It seems that some kind of treasure has been unearthed in a restricted area near Holy Emperor Luminis' domain."

"A treasure? Since when did you start caring about treasures from other Holy Emperors?"

"It's not that I care, it's because..." Aeliana quickly explained the situation.

Normally, unless it's some kind of divine artifact that could shake the entire continent of Elant, treasures rarely attract the attention of massive powers like Blooming Sanctuary or Sky Sanctuary.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

But this time, it was different.

Something significant seemed to have happened in the Sepulcher of the Sacred. Aeliana had already sent disciples to investigate several times today, and she had even gone there herself twice.

Aside from the strange occurrences within the Sepulcher, she had noticed some other odd things.

Recently, in a desolate region under Holy Emperor Luminis' control, it seemed that some kind of treasure had appeared.

If Holy Emperor Luminis had simply sent people to retrieve the treasure, it might not have raised any eyebrows.

But his behavior was strange.

After the anomaly in the restricted area, not only did he keep it quiet, but he also pretended to send low-level disciples there.

On the surface, it looked like a simple training exercise.

It wasn't until Aeliana herself went to the area that she realized something was off.

Those disciples weren't there for training at all—they were secretly searching for something.

The so-called "training" was just a cover.

That desert restricted area was technically open to practitioners from all sects.

Even though there had been some strange occurrences, most practitioners were completely unaware. Since Holy Emperor Luminis hadn't reacted, they assumed nothing important had happened and didn't even consider going there to search for treasure.

Aeliana continued, "If Holy Emperor Luminis hadn't acted so strangely, I might've thought it was just an ordinary artifact.

But with all the effort he's putting into hiding the truth, there's definitely something fishy going on.

The value and power of that artifact are probably far beyond what we can imagine. And more importantly..."

At this point, Holy Maiden Aeliana's playful demeanor completely vanished. "The situation in the Sepulcher of the Sacred has been getting stranger by the day. For a Heavenly-level artifact to surface now, I can't help but suspect that this artifact might be connected to whatever's happening inside the Sepulcher."

"I see…"

Sylvia fell into deep thought after hearing this.

Based on what Aeliana had said, Holy Emperor Luminis' actions were indeed suspicious. And the most important part was that the artifact might be tied to the Sepulcher of the Sacred.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Sepulcher of the Sacred was one of the most significant and mysterious places on the entire continent of Elant. Anything related to it could potentially affect the entire continent.

If there was even a chance that this artifact was connected to the Sepulcher, they couldn't afford to be careless.

"That desert restricted area is open to practitioners from all over the world. Should we go investigate?" Sylvia asked, her voice cold and calculating.

"Let's hold off for now."

Aeliana quickly stopped her. "Holy Emperor Luminis has gone to great lengths to keep this hidden. He's clearly afraid of word getting out. If we go there directly, we might tip him off.

Instead, we should send a 'disciple' to blend in and see if his people are capable of securing the artifact without drawing attention."

Sylvia raised an eyebrow. "And this 'disciple' you're talking about is…?"

Aeliana smiled knowingly. "I already have someone in mind."

As she spoke, both of their gazes slowly turned toward Timothy.

"Huh?"

Timothy looked left, then right.

Sure enough, there was no one else in the hall but him.

So, after all that discussion, they were planning to send him?

"This task is yours," Sylvia said, clearing her throat. "Holy Emperor Luminis has no real grudge against Sky Sanctuary, so he's unlikely to do anything too drastic. Securing the artifact isn't the priority. Just focus on keeping yourself safe, and maybe use the opportunity to improve your strength and… physical condition."

When she mentioned "physical condition," Sylvia's eyes darted away for a moment, and she seemed a little embarrassed. Stay updated with empire

"Oh, right. I almost forgot about that," Aeliana chimed in. "Improving your physical condition is something you should definitely work on."

"I'm glad you understand," Sylvia said softly.

She glanced at Timothy, and Timothy looked back at her. The two exchanged a knowing smile, as if they were perfectly in sync with each other's thoughts.

Meanwhile, Aeliana looked from one to the other, feeling like she was missing something.

"Physical condition? Timothy isn't a regular person. He's at the Ocean's Gate level—his physical condition should already be top-tier. Why would he need to improve it?"

But the way Sylvia and Timothy were smiling at each other only deepened her confusion.

It wasn't exactly a display of affection, but the silent exchange between them felt oddly intimate, leaving Aeliana standing there, completely bewildered and a little dumbfounded.