Before this, Qian Ye had never seen, nor had the opportunity to see, what a grand duke’s bedroom looked like. However, no matter how he imagined, he could not have conceived of the scene before him.
As a noble Duke of the demonkin, Lin Jiar also inherited the luxurious traditions of the demonkin elite, and the opulence was fully displayed in the spatial design. This could not simply be called a bedroom, but rather a bedroom area, with a massive hall at its center, surrounded by layer upon layer of rooms, resembling a small labyrinth.
The hall was grand and majestic, with a dome painted with prehistoric battles towering three or four stories high above the ground. Qian Ye carefully studied the frescoes on the dome, but could not discern which battle they depicted. The painting depicted a chaotic war among the four major races, interspersed with some smaller races, some of which he recognized, but most of which were unfamiliar to him.
The absence of humans in the painting indicated that this was a great war before the founding of the Empire. To be featured on the ceiling of Lin Jiar’s bedroom, this must have been an extraordinary battle, ending in the victory of the demonkin.
If this painting were to be moved back to the Empire, it would undoubtedly advance the study of the prehistoric period of Evernight and provide a better understanding of the conflicts between the races of Evernight.
Apart from this, the entire hall was decorated in dark and dark gold tones, occasionally interspersed with deep red, embodying the luxurious style favored by the demonkin. At the end of the hall stood a gigantic bed, large enough to accommodate a dozen people, even if all were as tall as Lin Jiar.
Qian Ye honestly did not like this area. It was too large, too empty, and felt very unsafe. Since he could remember, Qian Ye had rarely slept soundly. He was like a wild beast in the wilderness, always alert, even in his sleep, wary of everything around him. For him, the best place was one that was dark, warm, not too spacious, and had an escape route.
The hall was in disarray, utterly chaotic. It was not just Lin Jiar alone here; there were bodies scattered everywhere, dozens of them. They were both male and female, mostly naked, clearly engaged in a grand and debauched party before their deaths. Their presence in Lin Jiar’s bedroom area suggested that they were likely her personal slaves.
Qian Ye moved a corpse blocking his path. It was a young woman, completely naked, and by the standards of any race, she was a stunning beauty with a fiery figure and a delicate face. Her body was covered in bruises and minor injuries, indicating that the festivities had been quite intense. Her beautiful face now bore expressions of pain and despair, with her eyes frozen in the last image she saw: the door of the bedroom area and the crowd outside it.
Clearly, the war had come suddenly, and Lin Jiar had to join the fight, but the banquet in the hall continued. Not long after the battle began, Lin Jiar’s flagship was struck fatally by Qian Ye and cut in half. These slaves were not the crew of the ship; they were valued only for their looks and had little strength. In the critical moment, they could not even push open the door of the bedroom area and died under the erosion of the void origin power. Although the bedroom area had the last line of defense, which prevented them from becoming mummies, it prolonged their agonizing death.
Qian Ye shook his head, gaining a new understanding of the extravagance of the demonkin nobility. It was easy to imagine what Lin Jiar had been doing in the room before the battle. Apart from the various valuable decorations, there was nothing of interest in the hall. Thus, he began to search the smaller rooms one by one.
Most of the smaller rooms were for the slaves’ use, and Lin Jiar’s own bedroom was not much larger. It seemed she preferred to sleep in the hall. This room appeared to have nothing, but with the ship’s power lost, all hidden compartments and secret rooms were revealed to Qian Ye’s senses, so he quickly found the true secret chamber.
This secret chamber was elegantly furnished, with walls of calm natural wood carved with intricate patterns, and a smooth floor covered with high-quality carpets. On a crystal shelf, various books were neatly arranged, giving the impression of a tasteful study. In the center was a desk with an open notebook, the pen still in the inkwell, indicating she planned to continue writing when she returned.
Against the wall stood two dolls, each wearing a suit of armor, with different designs and varying qualities. Both sets of armor were old, showing signs of numerous repairs. Some damage was too severe to fix, leaving visible traces. For the current Lin Jiar, these armors were of mediocre quality, but they were kept in the most central secret chamber, likely as a memorial to the armor that accompanied her growth.
On another wall, some weapons were displayed, also as memorabilia.
In this secret chamber, only this notebook remained. Qian Ye sat down and began to read it. This was not an ordinary diary but a record of many secrets and various transactions. Most of the content was not suitable for public viewing, such as interactions between Lin Jiar and other demonkin or significant figures. Many of these entries were memories from her younger days, often under duress, or even direct violence.
These should have been painful memories, but as she wrote them, they transformed into thrilling recollections, and she seemed to savor them. It seemed that as her power and influence grew, fewer things could excite her. The humiliations of her youth now seemed more intriguing in retrospect.
Besides these, there were some interesting promissory notes. One note was from a Duke who wanted Lin Jiar’s help in a crucial war and offered several conditions, including lending his three underage children to Lin Jiar for a month, as long as they survived.
This promissory note, along with others like it, made Qian Ye understand a statement Song Zining had once made: in the eyes of those in power, nothing is off-limits if it benefits the greater good.
Other content involved a series of secret transactions, many of which held significant value. For example, in a conflict between the spider demons and the demonkin, a spider demon Marquis received substantial benefits, allowing the loss of a key defensive position, leading to the defeat of the spider demon army. This conflict resulted in the spider demons losing territory equivalent to three provinces of the Empire. Lin Jiar herself was part of this transaction, and she used three pages to bitterly criticize the Marquis’s superficiality and lack of substance.
If Qian Ye remembered correctly, he had heard the name of that spider demon Marquis. The former Marquis was now a Vice Duke and a rising star among the spider demons. If this transaction were exposed, it would likely cause a significant upheaval between the two races, and the spider demon Vice Duke would likely face severe punishment. Many prominent figures of the spider demons had fallen in that war.
The truly valuable thing was this notebook. Gossip aside, every powerful figure had a myriad of stories behind them. But these secrets were all potential leverage. If Qian Ye were in Evernight with this notebook, he might be able to rise to power, but it was more likely that he would be killed silently.
The notebook now felt heavy. How to use it, Qian Ye could not yet decide. He stored the notebook in Anduya’s space, carefully placing it away. The many secrets within might prove useful in the future.
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