......

    shiella went straight to the office of her mother at the headquarters of the flying dragon corporation.

    "mom, it''s me," called shiella as he knocked on the door.

    she did not have to wait that long before a mature woman''s voice answered from the other side of the door. "come in."

    click!

    right after entering, shiella immediately saw her mother busily reading through all the piles of reports before her.

    "mom, i know how you feel. but can you at least rest? i don''t know what arthur and i will do if something happens to you as well from overworking," said shiella as she sighed.

    she then walked over and glanced at the reports that her mother was checking before walking back and sitting on the sofa.

    she patiently waited until her mother finished.

    "how is it?" asked jane as she walked over and sat across her daughter.

    shiella sighed before replying. "you are right, mom. they are all making their moves. some of the big companies overseas are trying to set foot in our country."

    jane nodded. "that is only to be expected. after all, the soaring continent become the center of this storm due to our family''s conflict with multiple underworld organizations."

    "we have to be careful now, especially when we don''t know which company is being backed by our enemies," she added as she watched her daughter pour her cup of tea before continuing. "the main problem is the black serpent mafia disappearing."

    she then paused for a moment to take the cup of tea and took a sip before continuing. "they have covered their tracks very well, so our army is having a hard time tracking them."

    she then stared at shiella with her motherly eyes before saying. "you must be careful as well. now that we are at war with the black serpent mafia, you, as the heiress of both the springfield family and the flying dragon corporation, will be one of their main targets."

    "i understand, mom. but please, you have to take care of yourself as well," answered shiella as she looked at her mother worriedly.

    "i''ll keep it in mind," smiled jane before changing the topic. "tell me more about the proposal that you have sent."

    "you want to take over the true sight industries?" she asked with interest. explore more adventures at empire

    shiella rolled her eyes as she knew that her mother was dodging the previous topic before sighing. "that''s right. the game has become the main stage after the discovery of the tomb of the king of thieves. everything that is related to the game will be our main advantage over the others."

    "i''ve read the proposal. it is pretty good, especially when you are planning to connect the channel with those boys'' teams and promote your guild after the tournament. it is good," nodded jane before frowning. "but the true sight industries is under the octagon group."

    "their main base may be at the silver wing continent, but their global influence is not that bad. they are comparable to ours. how are you going to take that entertainment company from them?" she added as she stared at her daughter, wanting to see how she would deal with this issue.

    "i''m leaving!" said shiella as she stood up.

    jane continued to laugh as she further teased her daughter. "i know that you are still young, but getting into a relationship is a part of youth. there is nothing wrong with that."

    "i said-... nothing is going on between me and that guy!" refuted shiella, fully annoyed.

    "alright, alright. i believe you~! you can go now but don''t forget to visit your grandmother. she misses you a lot," said jane as she also stood and went back behind her desk to continue her work.

    shiella slightly nodded her head as she left the room.

    jane waited for quite a while, making sure that shiella had left, before turning to the long sofa where she had sat earlier. "it seems like my daughter does have some uncertainty about her feelings."

    a moment later, a beautiful woman suddenly materialized on the sofa, sitting gracefully while sipping tea calmly. "my disciple is not that bad either. but i do have to admit that he also has some problems that give me some headaches."

    "what about your other disciple? i thought their relationship was not like a normal brother-sister apprentice disciple either," said jane.

    "alyssa is alysson''s eldest daughter, who ran away from home," answered evangeline nonchalantly.

    jane paused for a moment before laughing. "so, the little first princess of the stuart family is under your care all along."

    evangeline knitted her brows a little before continuing. "but that little girl does have some problems with her family. i am not sure what happened exactly since she refuses to tell me anything."

    "she even asked me to seal all her memories with a mentality of wanting to live a new life," she added after a brief pause.

    jane looked at evangeline for quite a while, unable to believe those words, before asking. "sealed? not erased?"

    "then it only means that she doesn''t mean those words," she added.

    evangeline nodded. "hmm. in fact, she can break that seal on her own if she wants to. all she needs is to acknowledge her existence and accept her fate."

    "what a poor girl," she added as she stood up.

    seeing the actions of the latter, jane could not help but ask. "leaving already? it has been a while since we see each other. there is still a lot to talk about."

    evangeline smiled as she turned at the latter. "it is not like i am going anywhere. i''m currently staying at the springfield household. you can see me any time you want, as long as you come home regularly."

    "your daughter is right. we understand your grief about losing bernard. and i am sorry for being unable to save him. but you also must take care of yourself. you have to think of your children as well," she added before disappearing from the room.

    jane stared at the spot where evangeline disappeared before mumbling. "you are talking as if your husband is not in any danger."

    she then turned to the window and stared at the sky outside. "since you went ahead of us. just look over everyone and make sure that they are safe from that place."

    ......