Not only would getting such a title not help her achieve her goals, but it would instead become an invisible shackle limiting her.

Thus, Liora refused.

"There's no need for your help.", she shook her head:

"My current focus is on Knight training and becoming stronger. I've already reached the peak of the Great Knight rank. I believe that I might be able to glimpse at the rank beyond it if I'm lucky.", Liora spoke, and her eyes shone brightly when she mentioned the King of Knights rank.

It was as if that rank had been her lifelong dream, her only purpose in life.

Duchess Lobelia showed no anger even though her offer was declined. Instead, she cast Liora an appreciative look and nodded in approval.

"Indeed. For us, a mere noble title is nothing. Our only dream is to advance further. At that time, being a Baron, a Marquis, or even a King would not matter."

"Me too... I also had that dream once... I might have achieved it by now if I possessed a..."

The Duchess didn't continue her words. Her speech came to a halt abruptly as if she was unwilling to speak further.

Yet, the reluctance on her face revealed that she was greatly pained by her situation.

Her previous words and current expression would immediately pique one's interest, as if inviting them to ask further questions.

But Liora didn't inquire. It appeared that she really respected the Duchess's choice of not saying anything.

Silence soon shrouded the table, as the Duchess seemed to have fallen into memories.

Sometimes her face appeared sorrowful, others excited, and others gnashing.

It was only a few minutes later that she finally recovered, and her attention returned to reality.

"I'm really sorry. It's just that I recalled a few unfortunate things...", the Duchess coughed dryly to hide her embarrassment and apologized profusely.

Then, she continued on as if nothing had happened.

"Since you are planning to continue your Knight training, why don't you stay at the border for a little while?"

"Not only can you kill beasts and obtain their corpses to enhance your strength here, but the two of us will be able to communicate."

"You know... It's rare to meet someone who has reached the peak of the Great Knight rank. Much less a female Knight at that."

--

A few days later, the journey of the two women ended. Liora and the Duchess returned to Hope City.

As the memories of what had happened resurfaced in her mind, Liora couldn't help but show a mocking sneer.

She understood very well that appearances were often deceiving.

Often, it was only through actions that people's personalities were truly revealed.

Hence, Liora was not fooled by Duchess Lobelia's words and kind attitude. She knew that everything was merely an act.

Less than ten percent of what the Duchess said could actually be trusted.

Still, even though she knew this, Liora ended up taking up on Duchess Lobelia's offer to stay at the border.

Not because she was fooled by her act, but because it matched her future plans.

"Though our relationship is built on thin ice, it's ultimately beneficial to me at the moment. Not only can I gain information regarding the Empire through her, but I can also come in closer contact with other Great Knights."

"I believe that such a contact will greatly speed up my research.", Liora thought as her eyes turned to the glass vial on the table before her.

The vial was filled with a purple liquid that moved back and forth on its own, seemingly creating the outline of a flower on its surface.

As Liora reached out and uncorked its cap, a sweet smell filled the research room.

It was the smell of flowers, elegant and captivating, as if countless lobelias had suddenly grown and engulfed her.

This was not a coincidence.

The purple liquid inside the vial was the blood of Duchess Lobelia that Liora had secretly collected from the battlefield in Hope City.

And, through researching it, she had figured out quite a lot of things.

"No wonder all my previous experiments ended up as failures. The structure of Great Knights is different from ordinary humans, even if they are True Knights."

"Once a person advances to a Great Knight, it can be said that they are no longer humans. They have transcended their species, becoming members of a new race.", Liora thought as she lightly tapped the vial with her fingers.

"I saw this mentioned in the Knight Techniques that I previously collected, but I thought that it was just a figure of speech. After all, no such change occurred to me when I advanced."

This explained why her research had yielded no results.

It was as if she were trying to create medicine for a human, but rather than studying the human's body structure, she had gone and observed a bunch of rats.

Though one could indeed figure out a few things, it was impossible to truly apply them without really conducting experiments on the real subject.

This realization didn't disappoint Liora. Instead, it made her excited.

Since she had found what was wrong, it had now become way easier to fix it.

Instantly, she had the impulse to run out of the room, search for a suitable Great Knight, and place them on the operating table before cutting them open.

But she quickly restrained that impulse.

Now was not the time. This could wait for later.

She first had to take one more look at the rest of her experiments.

Putting the vial with the Duchess's blood aside, Liora grabbed a different vial from the side and placed it on the table.

The vials looked exactly the same as the one before it, except that it was now filled with a pitch-black liquid.

Just like the Duchess's blood, this blood also possessed extraordinary qualities.

Countless mouths were growing all over its surface, which opened wide and swallowed the air around them as if they were breathing.

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