Volume 4, Chapter 34 – The Turmoil of Greyan’s Death

Translator Note

…the title ruin the fun smh

The next morning.

Just like the day before, Fia and Anastasia were walking on the path to the audience chamber.

Although the person presiding over the noble council was still the Second Prince, Kalsey, with Fia only responsible for observing, showing up and not showing up were two different things. Even if Fia just sat there without saying a word, she could change the entire direction of the meeting’s topics.

As for last night’s bath, after Anastasia had explained that nobles were attended by maids while bathing, Fia had done everything in her power to refuse her help. One, it was too embarrassing, and two, she was not a child and knew how to bathe herself. Although Anastasia was disappointed, she couldn’t force Fia, so Fia had easily escaped that ordeal.

Unlike yesterday’s hurried pace, the current Fia was flipping through a thin booklet filled with the elf language as she walked. When she turned to one of the pages, she suddenly tapped it with her finger.

“Let’s go with this one. The location and size are suitable. It’s not in the bustling city, but it’s not too far from the urban area either.”

“This is… Baronet Eli’s farm?” Anastasia, dressed in her black and white frilly maid outfit, leaned in. She tilted her head and looked at Fia’s profile. “Won’t it be too expensive? I feel it’s a bit of a waste.”

“But there are no other large and suitably located sites nearby. Those places are either too far or too small. I don’t want to treat Friede and Lianne and the others like outsiders. Aside from the evil witches, the rest of them are just pitiful people.”

What Fia was holding was a list of properties for sale in the capital. As a metropolis with a population of one million, Blossom naturally had its own real estate agencies. If Fia had wanted a family home, it would have certainly taken more than a day to gather the listings. But from the beginning, she had told Colita that the properties submitted must be large enough to house three or four hundred people and not too far from the bustling city. There were not many large sites that met these conditions, so Colita had quickly collected the information and handed it to her.

“But Baronet Eli’s farm is too big. With proper planning, it could house not just three or four hundred, but three or four thousand people without a problem. And the price is five thousand gold coins. That’s too extravagant.”

Anastasia was completely unaware that her long golden hair was brushing against Fia’s neck, making it itch. The pleasant, mature scent from her hair was also making Fia feel self-conscious.

Fia could only pretend that nothing was happening.

“It’s located in a place rich in ley lines, after all. It’s normal for the price to be a little higher. If we choose a place that’s too shabby, wouldn’t it seem like we’re mistreating them?”

“No… I believe those witches would be more than grateful that you’re willing to take them in. They wouldn’t be picky about this and that. If not for your orders, there’s no way a witch could even enter Blossom.”

“Hah, Anastasia, while five thousand gold coins is expensive, it’s nothing to me now. To be able to buy it outright is already a cheap price. By the way, now that you’re no longer the captain of the Imperial Guard, your salary as a maid should be paid by me, your master, right? If you need money for anything, you don’t have to tell me. Just take it directly from the palace’s daily expenses. You’ve earned it.”

“Uh…”

A troubled look appeared on Anastasia’s face with its pale green markings.

“Is that alright? Colita is usually in charge of expenses. If I were to use them without permission, it would set a bad precedent. Besides, life in the palace is comfortable. I have no need for money.”

“There will always be things you want. Human desire is endless. You’re just suppressing yourself too much. I’ll talk to Colita. As for the other maids, I trust they’ll have the sense to know that only you are special, Anastasia.”

After Fia finished speaking, her gaze fell on several members of the Imperial Guard who were jogging towards them. It was perfectly normal for them to appear in the palace, but to see them jogging in the corridors made one feel that something major had happened.

Fia chose to remain silent.

Only after the soldiers had saluted her and hurried away did Anastasia, watching them go, frown and ask.

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“What’s going on in the Royal Castle today? There are soldiers rushing about everywhere. I have a bad feeling.”

“We’ll find out when we get to the audience chamber. We can ask Kalsey or Erin Slate.”

“Understood.”

Seeing that Anastasia was not suspicious, Fia, who was walking slowly, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Anastasia didn’t know what was happening, but Fia knew everything clearly. The reason the Imperial Guard was in such a hurry was because of Erin Slate’s actions last night.

After Erin Slate had left her palace, she had immediately used the Holy Tree as a relay to establish contact with Fia via [Remote Message]. In their conversation, besides explaining the process of how they had met, she had also explained the purpose of the princess’s organization and their current operations.

First, the purpose of the organization was to prevent the Apocalypse. This Apocalypse was the same divine oracle the Milcandis Holy Kingdom had received from the Goddess of Life, except the princess knew more details, including where it came from.

The Apocalypse she knew of was a disaster brought upon the World Tree Continent by a collaboration between the Darkborn and Chaos. And through years of investigation, the princess had identified “The Sovereign” as the main culprit behind this union, which was the fundamental reason why Balor had recognized her.

The Darkborn were divided into two major factions. One was represented by Absolute Evil, whose main purpose was the indulgence of desire. The other was the elusive Sovereign, who was the ruler of their own faction, with a status equal to Absolute Evil.

Although Erin Slate didn’t know how the princess had learned so many secrets, it didn’t change the fact that everything she had done later had verified her predictions. For example, that Chaos would appear on the continent, that The Sovereign was in the process of being revived, and even that the number of people with the Darkborn Disease would increase—all of this was within her predictions. This god-like foresight was one of the reasons why Erin Slate and the others admired her.

As a result, the princess’s several secret operations had greatly delayed The Sovereign’s revival. To this day, he had not truly recovered his strength. It could be said that, even looking at the entire World Tree Continent, the princess and her group were among those who had fought the Darkborn the most. Erin Slate’s strength as a Sword Saint was also obtained through countless battles with them.

It should be said that while this organization sounded like a great and powerful one that was saving the world, in reality, it was not as formidable as one might imagine—not everyone was at the Sixth or Seventh Rank.

The reason they, who were not strong enough, could fight back and forth with The Sovereign was because his side was not united and was too weak.

Because The Sovereign had not fully revived, his faction was in constant internal strife. Any Darkborn with a little strength would want to stand up and be the boss. This prevented them from gathering their forces into a single rope. In addition, the process of reviving him was overly complicated, requiring the revival of different body parts in different locations, which gave the princess the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

For example, in the revival ceremony where the princess had encountered Balor, there were only two or three hundred Darkborn guarding the altar in total, and the strongest was only at the Fourth Rank. The princess had only brought a dozen people with her to break in and slaughter all the Darkborn who knew the ritual process. Only weak ones like Balor, who knew nothing, had survived.

Therefore, this organization was less a savior and more a group doing what they could within their capabilities. Of course, it was undeniable that this was still saving the world and preventing the Apocalypse.

In addition, according to Erin Slate, the princess seemed to have been looking for something, and was particularly interested in strange languages and Saints, which reminded Fia of her using clumsy Human Alliance language. When Fia asked if the princess had ever mentioned a completely unfamiliar language to Erin Slate, her answer was no. The princess had never acted like a person from a different world, which Fia found a little strange.

And apart from their actions against The Sovereign, Erin Slate was now carrying out a liquidation of Prince Schain.

Because she had misinterpreted Fia’s statement about losing her memory as an instruction for action, she had formulated a plan with it as the core.

Prince Schain had brought a group of considerable elite troops to the capital, which meant he had a tendency to take violent action. Now that the Elf King had left Blossom, Erin Slate decided to lure him into rebellion so that he would walk right into a trap, thereby crushing his forces.

The reason the Imperial Guard was in such a hurry was because earlier today, Erin Slate had led them to raid a baron’s house. This baron was part of Schain’s faction.

The reason for the action was that the baron was housing Schain’s hidden elites and a large number of weapons. The capital of Blossom did not prohibit people from buying weapons, and residents could even carry them on the streets. But the regulations strictly limited the number of weapons that could be stored at home. If a noble purchased a large number of weapons in a short period of time without reporting their purpose, they could be considered to have rebellious intentions—Silvar was not without its rebellions. Erin Slate’s uncle was a case in point.

With the pretext of the baron secretly storing a large number of weapons with the intent to rebel, the Imperial Guard in the city would naturally be mobilized to investigate other nobles in the noble district house by house. This would put immense pressure on Schain’s side, making him anxious and uneasy.

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It was worth mentioning that the intelligence network built by the princess had played a considerable role in this. If not for the informant discovering Schain’s elites sneaking into the city and his faction secretly purchasing a large number of magic weapons and items, Erin Slate’s plan would have been impossible to begin with. From this point alone, one had to admire how meticulous the princess’s thoughts were, to a degree that was difficult for ordinary people to imagine.

After passing a few more members of the Imperial Guard, Fia and Anastasia finally arrived at the entrance to the grand hall. Just like yesterday, they could hear the noisy sounds from inside before they even reached it. The only difference was that Fia felt as if something was missing. After thinking for a moment, she realized that there was a person missing from in front of the hall.

The armored Greyan was not here.

“Lord Greyan isn’t here?” Anastasia’s low gasp made Fia turn her head.

“Does Greyan come every day?”

“Yes. Whenever there is a meeting, he will stand guard at the entrance without fail. He has never been absent in decades.”

“…”

An ominous premonition rose in Fia’s heart. She quickened her pace and walked into the hall. Sure enough, the moment she appeared at the entrance, all the nobles in the hall fell silent and looked towards her in unison. The Prime Minister and the Second Prince, Kalsey, in particular, walked quickly towards her with grave expressions, as if a major incident had occurred.

“Kalsey, what happened?”

“Esteemed Sister, something terrible has happened,” Kalsey, his eyes filled with a firm will, said in a deep voice. “General Greyan is dead.”

“What?”

For a moment, Fia thought she had misheard. She couldn’t help but ask for confirmation.

“You said Greyan is dead?”

Kalsey, who looked like her older brother, looked directly into her eyes and affirmed seriously.

“Yes. Just a short while ago, General Greyan was found dead at his home by a maid. The cause of death is unknown.”

“For that old thing to die at this particular time… it couldn’t be worse,” the Prime Minister added with a grim face, following Kalsey. Greyan was the founding marshal of the kingdom and held almost absolute authority in the military. His death was no small matter, not to mention that it had happened right after his conflict with Fia. At this point in time, people who didn’t know the full story could easily connect his death to her.

Fia understood this implications instantly. Of course, she knew that his death had nothing to do with her. First, she had stayed in the palace all of last night and hadn’t gone anywhere. Second, she had indeed fought him during the day, but she had not used a killing blow, and had even held back a considerable amount of strength. She had even healed him with healing magic after the battle.

After all, Greyan had been drinking in her palace last night. The nobles, including his daughter Yulisha, had all seen him laughing heartily. He had not looked like he was in any trouble at all.

How could he have suddenly died?

Fia’s fine brows furrowed deeply. She couldn’t help but think that this was Erin Slate’s doing, for example, to create an opportunity for Prince Schain and accelerate his rebellion, so she had killed Greyan.

But she hadn’t given Erin Slate the order to assassinate him, nor had Erin mentioned it in her report last night. Fia didn’t think she would hide such a major event, let alone do something that would bring trouble upon herself at this juncture. She was not a reckless person.

Not to mention that Erin Slate was no match for Greyan in the first place.

Ultimately, who could have killed Greyan so secretly?

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He was a Seventh-Rank warrior known for his defense. At his level, his perception was far beyond that of an ordinary person. Even Anastasia could sense someone approaching while she was asleep, let alone him. And once he had been alerted, it would have been difficult not to cause a commotion in the Royal Castle. To be able to assassinate a Seventh-Rank warrior in a place with the [Citadel of Silence], Fia couldn’t think of anyone in the capital who had this kind of strength.

—Except for herself.

It was like a carefully designed trap…

“Could it not be a natural death?” Anastasia, also frowning, asked from behind Fia.

The Second Prince did not get angry at this subordinate’s presumption. He still had a grave expression and answered in a heavy tone.

“I am not sure, but the report says it was a homicide. The news just arrived at the hall, only a little before you, esteemed Sister. The Prime Minister and I haven’t had time to inspect the scene yet.”

“We’ll go now.”

“Wait, Your Highness! If you go now, you will only add fuel to the fire! If even we can think of it, so will Godley! Your going will only make the situation worse! He and the military will surely take their anger out on you! You should quickly return to the palace and lie low! No, come to my place!” the white-haired Prime Minister hurriedly tried to stop Fia, who had already turned around. If even those who were on her side would immediately think it was her doing, then Godley and the military, who were already at odds with her, would be even more so.

As if to confirm his words, the corridor outside the hall quickly became noisy. A group of armored Imperial Guard members were blocking the way, but as if an invisible wall was pushing them, although they stretched out their hands to block, they could only retreat step by step.

Then, Godley, holding a sheathed longsword and with a menacing aura, appeared at the entrance. With him were several other middle-aged men in armor with angry faces. They were all from the military.

The moment he saw Fia, Godley’s eyes widened. His face was flushed, like an angry bull, and he roared as he charged straight for her.

“Dofilia, you venomous witch! Give me back my father’s life!”

“Godley, Lord Godley! Please calm down, calm down!”

As Godley rushed over, Prince Schain walked up to him, trying to hold him back, but Godley didn’t even look at him and threw his hand away.

However, Schain’s action clearly reminded the other nobles present, especially the Prime Minister, who gritted his teeth and stood directly between Fia and Godley. And when the other nobles saw the Prime Minister take a stand, they also quickly followed suit.

“Stop right there, Godley! This is the grand hall, not a place for you to act wild!”

“Lord Prime Minister, please step aside! My father dedicated his life to the kingdom, even wearing a cursed suit of armor to save the former king! Yet today, the royal family has cast aside his merits and will not let the matter rest! If this can be tolerated, what cannot?! Even if I die today, I will get justice for my father!”

As he roared, the red-eyed Godley took a step forward. The surrounding Imperial Guard did not dare to stop him for a moment. Even the nobles standing in front of him took a timid step back under his aura, for fear that he would swing his sword at them in a fit of rage.

“You’re mad! Your father had already apologized to Her Highness last night and made up! She also forgave him! How could she harm him again? There must be something strange about this!”

“Please calm down, Lord Godley. General Greyan was drinking in esteemed Sister’s palace last night. At that time, his body had already recovered. This matter has nothing to do with her, no matter what.”

“Besides Dofilia, who in the entire palace could have harmed my father?! It must have been her who did something yesterday, deliberately letting him die this morning to pretend it wasn’t her doing! Get out of my way! All of you, get out of my way!!!”

Godley’s voice was so loud it made one’s ears ache. Even the crystal chandeliers on the ceiling shook. The entire hall was silent. People even slowed their breathing, afraid that making too much noise would attract his attention.

“All of you, step aside.”

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In the silent moment, Fia waved her hand, causing the nobles blocking her path to move to the sides. She and Anastasia walked out of the crowd to confront Godley.

“I express my regret and anger at your father’s death. I was not responsible for it. If you have any sense left in you, take me to see your father. We might be able to find some clues that way.”

“Give me back my father’s life!”

Godley had clearly lost his mind. He didn’t even wait for Fia to finish speaking before he drew his sword with a clang and swung it at her head. But at the same time, Anastasia, who was already prepared, took a step forward and blocked his strike with the mithril sword held diagonally in front of her.

The ear-piercing sound of metal clashing made one subconsciously close their eyes.

Seeing that the person blocking him was Anastasia, Godley’s anger intensified. He glared viciously at the Sinner’s Mark on her face, his face, red with rage, full of ferocity.

“Get out of the way! You base slave!”

“I am no longer the captain of the Imperial Guard who is influenced by outsiders, Lord Godley. Her Highness is the crown princess of the kingdom. To raise a sword against her—is punishable by death!”

“Then I’ll start with you!”

Anastasia’s warning words only enraged him further. He used both hands to push, trying to force her back, but he didn’t expect her strength to be even greater than his, and that she even had the guts to counterattack.

After being pushed back, Anastasia kicked him in the chest. The swift and heavy kick sent him flying like a sandbag, crashing into the people behind him. Then, she followed up, the tip of her sword aimed at his neck.

—Before that, she was stopped by the other people from the military.

Although these men were unarmed, they were different from the high and mighty Godley. They were all men who fought often and had rich combat experience. Even with a weapon in her hand, it would be difficult for Anastasia to fight one against three.

“That’s enough. Calm down. You should know that none of you are a match for me.”

A cold and dead-silent voice sounded. Fia’s anger-filled warning made everyone shudder and subconsciously stop their actions.

Then, another group of people arrived at the entrance.

It was Yulisha, with her long, aqua-blue hair and magnificent clothes, arriving with other people from the military.

“Dofi!”

Seeing that Fia was alright, the anxious Yulisha breathed a sigh of relief. Then she quickly walked to her side and looked at the struggling Godley on the ground with an angry face.

“Godley, are you mad?! Someone, drag him away for me! To dare to draw a sword in the grand hall, a bunch of idiots!”

Even with Yulisha’s words, the restrained Godley was still unyielding. He shouted as he was dragged out of the hall.

“I won’t let you go! Dofilia, you must pay the price! You must!!!”

His hate-filled roar echoed in the silent hall.