The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 205: Living In Secrecy

Chapter 205: Living In Secrecy

Annalise walked forward toward the tall trees while holding the little lion in her arms as securely as she could. Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest both in excitement and anxiety as she got closer to the trees.

Even from the distance, she could feel the powerful energy of the illusion spell that was cast over the trees, hiding whatever lay beyond them. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to get past through that illusion or not but any doubt that she had about the control her powers had over this place soon left as she reached the tree line and easily stepped past them.

Neither Annalise nor the little lion had any idea of what they should be expecting to see on the other side of the illusion ward but the view that actually appeared in front of them as they stepped past the tree line was the last thing they could have ever imagined even in their wildest dreams.

"... it’s so tiring that I want to just sleep for days without even thinking about the coming days and reg hectic schedule waiting for me."

"I know right, the academy is driving me crazy. If anyone is having actual fun throughout this ongoing magical tournament then it’s none other than those nobles and royals."

"Why do we have to suffer in order for those people to feel excited and entertained? When are we going to get past all this nonsense?"

Annalise and her familiar watched with their jaws hanging open as a group of girls in their late teens walked past them while talking about their academy.

Their attention was soon pulled away from the girls and toward a group of people who walked past them and entered the building standing right next to them which seemed to be a tavern.

Annalise hurriedly looked behind her and realized that she and her familiar had just walked out of an almost broken door that seemed to be the entrance of an abandoned shop. She initially planned to leave a speck of her energy essence at the place so that she won’t forget from where they entered the city spread across in front of her but seeing the state of the store, she didn’t see any problem in finding it again. Besides, the less they would grab the attention of the locals tge better it would be for them.

"Master, though no one has given us any attention so far, I’ll still suggest you change your appearance and hide me, or we will stand out too much among these people." The little lion suggested as its sharp eyes followed the various Seelies that were roaming across the well-developed city.

There were witches, shifters, pixies, fairies, and even some elves and angels roaming around as they entered one building or existed another. Some were shopping, some were selling, some were walking by, and some were just standing or sitting in groups as they chatted.

Annalise moved into the shadows of the tavern to hide from the eyes of locals and once she was assured that no one was looking at her, she cast the spell to change her appearance while making sure not to catch anyone’s attention because of the spell.

Once she no longer looked like her usual self which would have stood out too much because of her hair and extravagant dress, she cast an invisible spell to hide her familiar before putting it down on the ground.

"Make sure to stick with me no matter what happens." She instructed the little lion which immediately nodded its head in understanding.

The two of them finally stepped out of the shadows and moved farther into the city. They seemed to be currently in the market area as there were all sorts of stalls lining up on both sides of the huge street and shops were also standing on both sides along with taverns, restaurants, and herb halls.

They walked ahead for some time and finally reached the end of the market street where a square was located with a fae’s statue built in the very center of the square and surrounded by a circular ring of flowers that were in full bloom.

As Annalise stared at the statue, she felt a strong sense of pull toward it as if she had seen the statue, or the woman in the form of that statue, somewhere before but no matter how hard she tried to recall, there was no particular memory of that woman but just the sense of familiarity she was experiencing.

She shook her head to get rid of her thoughts before she stepped ahead and moved further to inspect the huge tower standing right after the square on the right-hand side. She didn’t need to be a genius to know that the tower belonged to the witches.

There were buildings surrounding the tower that were built in the same architectural design as tge tower, making it pretty clear that those were also the lairs of the witches and wizards. Even from the outside, she could feel the strong sense of charms and elixirs that were being used inside those buildings and towers.

Walking further, they came across another huge mansion-like building that was completely different from the witches’ tower but still as big and grand as that.

"Seems like this is the mansion where the Alphas of the five major shifter clans live and the houses and buildings surrounding this mansion all belong to the shifters." The little lion stated as its eyes scanned the mansion and the buildings around it. Being a shifter itself, it recognized tge strong presence of the other shifters nearby very easily.

"Is this place the hidden lair of all the Seelie bloodlines that escaped from the catastrophe that hit tge Seelie Realm?" Annalise asked as she looked around herself, realizing that all those races who were rumored to be extinct were actually alive and living in secrecy in a magical sphere that someone created.

The question was... who exactly helped all these supernaturals back then?