One must know, for Ellie, the word 'coincidence' could only apply twice; as the saying goes, 'things don't happen in threes.'
The first was her own face, which bore a striking resemblance to the strange Lord Bai Xia, to the point where the Elf King, and even Chao Lu, who should have served Bai Xia personally, could mistake her. Until the correct answer was found, this could temporarily be explained as a coincidence.
The second... was Chao Lu, whose appearance was identical to Bell's, save for hair color and race.
So, Ellie, who had already exhausted her two chances for coincidence, now saw a person before her... who could no longer be explained by coincidence.
Because, the one confronting Chao Lu, both in appearance and physique, was identical to a certain former young lady, Arche... This time, even the hair color was the same; the only difference was the race.
This "Arche" before her had a pair of cat ears on her head that in no way looked like mere decorations, and her tail, the same color as her hair, was bristling. She looked exactly like a cat-girl version of the young lady. What the hell was this?
However, no one present had ever seen or recognized Arche, so besides curiosity, there was no other reaction.
Ellie, on the other hand, was not only shocked but also confused. This was completely wrong, wasn't it? No matter how she thought about it, something was amiss. First, "Bell," and now an "Arche" popping up—it all felt very bizarre!
"Hmph! I don't have time to mess around with you, trash can! Lord Bai Xia, you're finally back! I'm going to pounce..." That "Arche" flashed past Chao Lu and directly pounced on Ellie, rubbing her head against Ellie's, much like a cat fawning over its long-lost owner.
Ellie no longer wanted to resist. If they were in Nazarick, only Albedo and Shalltear would dare to treat Ellie this way.
Ellie no longer had the leisure to care about this. The only thing worth celebrating was that Ligurit probably didn't know Arche, otherwise she would truly be unable to clear her name, no matter what river she jumped into.
In fact, when she first saw Chao Lu appear, she kept glancing at herself and Bell, clearly suspecting something.
But Ellie was truly wronged this time. She hadn't done anything bad; she was completely in the dark. And now, with an "Arche" added to the mix, it was even harder to explain anything.
"Hey! Snow Elf! Please pay attention to the occasion! Besides, Lady Ellie is currently dining." Chao Lu, expressionless, grabbed "Arche" by the collar, pulled her off Ellie, and then flung her. That "Arche," like a cat, did a graceful flip in the air and landed on all fours.
"Hah!!! Do you want to fight!! Scrap Metal Chao Lu!!" That "Arche" bristled again, showing a fierce expression as if to intimidate Chao Lu.
"If you want to fight, I'm ready anytime. You've never won against me anyway. But before that, Snow Elf, please pay attention to your surroundings, okay?" The expressionless Chao Lu reminded her.
"Hmm? Meow ah!! There are other guests here, too. Hmm? This guest looks a bit familiar? It's like I've seen her somewhere before? Uh... I can't remember. Anyway, sorry!" That "Arche" noticed that besides Lord "Bai Xia," there were other people present, so she immediately retreated to Ellie's side, scratching her head apologetically.
"Everyone, I apologize! This shameless cat is Lady Ellie's pet cat. Due to a lack of discipline, she has made you laugh." Chao Lu turned to the others and bowed slightly.
Ellie didn't know how to react anymore. After hearing Chao Lu's words, Ellie completely denied all her previous speculations about this Lord Bai Xia. Now, she really couldn't distance herself from this situation.
It was said earlier that things don't happen in threes; coincidences couldn't occur so many times. First, from Chao Lu's words just now, it could be inferred that Chao Lu and this cat-girl named Snow Elf were very likely Bai Xia's NPCs.
Otherwise, Chao Lu wouldn't have used the phrase "my Lady Ellie," and she also said that Snow Elf was a pet cat, which Snow Elf didn't deny.
Just from the conflict between Chao Lu and Snow Elf earlier, their relationship, at least on the surface, wasn't very good. The reason for their strained relationship might be vying for favor or something similar, which led to her making this judgment.
Now, let's talk about these two NPCs under Bai Xia! One is an automaton named Chao Lu, with the same face as Bell, except Chao Lu has long, straight black hair, and Bell has pink hair.
During her time with Bell in the Slane Theocracy, Ellie once complained that Bell, with her pink hair wearing a traditional Japanese-style miko outfit, created an incredibly explosive sense of incongruity.
However, didn't the current appearance of this Chao Lu perfectly match her complaint from back then? And their names were so similar.
Then there was this Snow Elf. There was even less to say about her. Snow Elf and Arche—simply placing them side by side might not reveal much, but when pronounced, they are homophones! (To clarify, these two names sound the same in the original novel, only the translations differ.)
As for the cat-girl setting... after all, the young lady in the web novel was indeed given a tail by Shalltear after being captured by her, but that particular plot was the kind of story good children should definitely not read.
And the most crucial point: Bell had always been by her side, taking care of her, just like her attendant.
Arche, too, was once mistaken by Shalltear as her servant and forcibly dressed in a Nazarick maid outfit. So, in a sense, Arche could also be considered her attendant.
Based on all of the above... Ellie could no longer find any excuse to say that she had no connection to that Bai Xia.
Although this was the truth, Ellie knew that ever since she transmigrated here, she had been operating under the identity of Elizabeth, but she had never known anyone named Bai Xia!
And what did the matters of the Six Great Gods from six hundred years ago have to do with her, who transmigrated six hundred years later?
Now Ellie finally understood the feeling of a prisoner who says, "I didn't do it," but is still wrongly accused of having done it.
The key is! She clearly wasn't Bai Xia, so how could Bai Xia's subordinate NPCs still treat her as Bai Xia?
Previously, when the Pandora impersonated Tabula Smaragdina, Albedo immediately recognized him, saying it was impossible not to recognize her creator. So, could this mean that Chao Lu and Snow Elf were not NPCs created by Bai Xia?
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