The King Of Warriors novel (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6286

Jared and Gwendolyn journeyed south, traversing desolate ice plains and trekking across frost-locked barrens until the road to Cloudhaven City finally appeared beneath their feet. After five days of flight, a jagged silhouette of stone and steel crested the horizon.

Cloudhaven City.

The city had once been ravaged by war, but now it had recovered seven or eight tenths of its former vitality.

The city walls had been reinforced again, and the cultivators on patrol duty upon the city walls were exactly twice as many as before.

Caravans and wandering cultivators moved in and out of the city gate in an endless stream. It still couldn't be called prosperous, but at least it was no longer a picture of desolation.

"So this is Cloudhaven City?" Gwendolyn looked at the city in the distance and lifted a brow slightly. "It's bigger than I expected."

"One of the top ten great cities in the Fourteenth Firmament. Of course it isn't small."

Jared said, "But compared to your Celestial Palace, it's still nowhere close."

Gwendolyn let out a light laugh. "The Celestial Palace only has me in it. What kind of big place is that? Your Cloudhaven City is different. Just the cultivators on patrol duty upon the city walls alone number no fewer than 300."

Still talking, the two of them headed toward the city gate.

The guards at the city gate recognized Jared at once and hurriedly bowed. "Mr. Chance, you're back!"

Jared gave a small nod. "How have things been in the city lately?"

"Reporting to Mr. Chance, everything is well," a guard answered respectfully. "Roland has kept the city in perfect order. It's just..."

"Just what?"

The guard glanced at Gwendolyn beside Jared, hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice. "It's just that Miss Vivian keeps talking every day about when you'll be back..."

Jared said nothing.

Gwendolyn shot him a look that wasn't quite a smile.

"Let's go." Jared cleared his throat and strode through the city gate.

The city lord mansion of Cloudhaven City sat right in the city center, a sprawling estate that covered an enormous area.

Two guards stood at the entrance to the estate. The second they saw Jared back, they immediately ran inside to report it.

Jared hadn't even made it into the courtyard when a dark figure shot out from inside.

It was Lydia.

She wore a fitted black outfit, her long hair tied high behind her head. Everything about her looked sharp and capable.

"Jared!" She rushed right up to him and grabbed his arm. "So you still remembered how to come back. Do you have any idea how many days you've been gone? It's been almost a month. Didn't you say seven days at most?"

"If you'd come back a few days later, I would've taken people and marched straight to the Celestial Palace..."

Jared hurried to explain himself. "Something unexpected came up. It delayed us."

Then Jared glanced at Gwendolyn, apology written all over his face. Gwendolyn only smiled, though, and didn't seem to mind what Lydia had said.

"Unexpected? What unexpected thing?" Lydia's gaze went past Jared and landed on Gwendolyn behind him.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

It was an extraordinarily beautiful face.

Her features were delicate and cool, her brows distant as mountain lines, her eyes like cold stars.

She stood in white, clean as snow, with ink-dark hair falling behind her. There was a kind of nobility around her that looked born into her.

Most importantly, this woman was beautiful.

Not the kind of beauty built on careful dressing, but the kind that seemed natural all the way through, the kind that made it hard to look away.

Lydia's eyes stayed on Gwendolyn for three full seconds before turning back to Jared.

"Who is she?"

Her voice was calm. Calm enough to put an edge on the air.

Before Jared could answer, someone else stepped out from the courtyard.

It was Vivian.

She wore a light green dress, her long hair loose over her shoulders, her features soft and gentle.

But the instant her eyes fell on Gwendolyn, they narrowed just a little too.

"Jared, you're back." Her voice flowed out soft as water, but under that softness sat a trace of caution that barely showed. "And this is?"

Jared looked at the two women in front of him and suddenly felt like he was sitting on a bed of needles.

By instinct, he glanced at Gwendolyn, hoping she would step in and explain.

Gwendolyn only stood there, light and still. The corner of her mouth even lifted a little, like she was enjoying the show.

Jared drew in a breath and forced himself to speak.

"This is Gwendolyn, the Palace Mistress of the Celestial Palace."

The courtyard went silent in an instant.

Lydia's eyes went round. "The Palace Mistress of the Celestial Palace? That Celestial Palace, the most mysterious place among the celestials?"

"Get some rest first. I'm going to go see what's happening."

Gwendolyn shook her head. "Don't worry about me. Go do what you need to do."

Lydia glanced at her and said evenly, "I'll take Lady Frost to a guest room so she can rest."

Gwendolyn looked back at Lydia, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly. "Thank you for the trouble."

The two women held each other's gaze.

Something in the air seemed to crackle.

Jared cleared his throat and pulled Vivian along with him toward the Council Hall.

Behind them, Lydia and Gwendolyn headed for the guest rooms, one in front of the other.

After a few steps, Lydia suddenly said, "Lady Frost, you and Jared... are you really nothing more than a transaction?"

Gwendolyn didn't slow down.

"What do you think?"

Lydia bit her lip. "I don't think so. The way you look at him... that's not how you look at someone you're just making a deal with."

Gwendolyn stopped and turned to look at her.

A trace of amusement flickered through those deep eyes.

"Then what kind of look do you think it should be?"

Lydia shifted her face away under that gaze. "How would I know?"

Gwendolyn let out a soft laugh and kept walking.

"Don't worry. I won't take your place."

Her voice was soft, but every word landed cleanly in Lydia's ear. "I have my mission. He has his road. We only... traveled together for part of the way."

Lydia froze for a beat and stayed where she was, watching Gwendolyn's back disappear at the end of the corridor.

Something tangled and hard to sort through rose up inside her.

This woman... maybe she wasn't all that unbearable after all.

To be exact, what she had with Jared was nothing more than a transaction too.

It was only over this stretch of time that her own heart had started, little by little, turning toward him.