Pillar of Yita

Under the dim light, Fang Hong’s gaze fell on that notebook.

It was only two palms in length and less than fifteen centimeters in width, with very few pages, just a thin volume—the pages were slightly curled but well-preserved, with no visible nicks on the edges. With a ’wow,’ Fang Hong flipped open the title page with his hand, only to find the next page blank, the paper slightly yellowed.

He rubbed it with his hand; the surface was uneven, feeling somewhat coarse, just like the papyrus found everywhere in this region—but if it were a Queen’s diary, it seemed a bit too plain, at odds with her social standing.

Fang Hong noticed a detail: in the commercially vibrant Istania, the royals and nobles here mostly come from wealthy backgrounds, naturally pursuing a kind of luxurious air in their lives.

The royalty of Istania is not short of money; in daily life, whether it is Her Highness the Grand Princess or her grandmother Lady Farideh, every instrument they use, regardless of size, is elegant and exquisite, with top-quality materials and extremely meticulous craftsmanship.

Even the box given to him, to store this notebook pamphlet, was silk-covered, with a jewel-like appearance, clearly crafted by skilled artisans.

Royal documents are recorded on precious silk, while the nobles, a tier below, use snow-white pulp paper from the north—but seldom use papyrus documents because it is a crude item used by commoners.

Could it be as he thought?

Is this a collection book?

Why would the Queen keep such a book around?

According to the information provided by the Grand Princess, this is one of the few relics left by Her Highness the Queen, and judging by the careful preservation, it shouldn’t be something trivial. Otherwise, the Queen’s relatives aren’t fools, having spent so much manpower and resources over the past decade investigating clues related to it.

Once again, he turned his gaze to the notebook.

His eyes fell on the yellowed pages; in the center of the blank page, a line of small writing in delicate handwriting appeared.

The twisted writing, he naturally couldn’t understand, could only vaguely sense it was from a woman’s hand, but couldn’t conclusively determine it was the Queen’s handwriting.

Tata had no clue either; Miss Fairy knew many languages of Eteliria, but was clueless about shorthand, let alone learning it on the fly.

”Can the ink’s composition be analyzed?” Fang Hong asked.

Tata, kneeling beside, ran her small hand across each word, lifted her head to look at him, and shook her head slightly.

But after a moment, she softly spoke: ”However, there is a special scent in this ink, although it has lasted for so long, it still faintly lingers between the pages. It’s the scent of Bavarian glow dragon agave, the Osh people use the magic-laden scales of this flower to extract a type of unique acid in fixatives, a craft handled by local alchemists for more than three centuries of history.”

Suddenly, Fang Hong heard a flapping sound.

He instinctively turned back.

Not far away, Nini, barefoot, somehow got hold of ink, and was proudly marching across the desk, leaving a string of black little footprints on the birch desktop.

Fang Hong stared wide-eyed at the scene:

”Fang—Ni—Ni, what are you doing?!”

”Papa, hug!”

The little girl reached out her hands asking for a hug, seeming to love this prank.

Fang Hong had no choice but to pick her up, place her in his palm, carefully wiped the ink off her feet with a cloth, and then found that opened ink bottle, tightened the cap, the entire process accompanied by the girl’s non-stop giggles.

Fang Hong gave her a glance.

Nini didn’t mind, just sat obediently next to her sister, swinging her fair little feet.

But as Fang Hong put the ink bottle back, he suddenly thought of something—he turned the ink bottle around, letting the side with the label face him—a legacy from the past half-century Star Gate development, Eteliria learned much from Earthlings, including trademark law.

The trademark on this ink bottle also comes from the Osh Empire—the ink used by alchemists and magic guided conductors is not ordinary ink, with high demands for fade resistance, preservation time, and high magic power concentration.

This kind of ink can be provided in parts of Colin Ishurian, but the best quality comes from the Osh Empire.

One of the most important materials in the ink provided by the Osh Empire is the scales of the Bavarian glow dragon agave. This plant only grows in a narrow valley south of Bavaria, the kingdom once tried to have an Invoker steal seeds but failed to cultivate them.

Now Bavarian glow dragon agave is an important strategic trade material between the two countries, and the high-quality magic potion made from it is also under the control list of the Osh Empire.

The source of this item is extremely limited, the Royal House of Penelope, immensely wealthy, can obtain some through various channels, but including the Colin Ishurian Artisans’ Association Guild, ink using Bavarian glow dragon agave as raw material is also a restricted supply item.

If this notebook was not written by the Queen, its transcriber should not be an unknown figure either.

Either from the Royal House of Penelope, or an upper-tier figure of the Artisan Association, or from the Colin Ishurian Royal Family, or the upper nobility.