Volume 4, Chapter 51 – Speculation and Probing

“My Father is in peril. Naturally, I must go to his rescue myself. Do not try to persuade me. This matter is too strange and must be investigated thoroughly. Besides, I will not be treading into the Abyss alone. I have a helper.”

“A helper?”

Fia’s words made the faces of everyone at the conference table fill with confusion. Some of the smarter ones had already turned to look at the silver-haired young woman standing by her side. The rest stared straight at Fia, waiting for an answer.

Fia extended a hand towards Claire, directing everyone’s attention.

“She is my helper. Allow me to introduce her. Her name is Claire. She is a human I met in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom. She was of great help to me when I fought the Church and the Moon Dragon. Her strength is considerable.”

Following Fia’s introduction, Claire gave a very ladylike nod and a faint smile to the crowd. However, due to the curse of fear, her smile only made everyone’s breath catch, a tingling sensation running up their scalps.

Just how ‘considerable’ is her strength?

Hearing these words, Prince Schain’s already focused attention became even more concentrated. In the Milcandis Holy Kingdom and the Alfrieg Kingdom, the Sixth Rank was undoubtedly the pinnacle of combat power. But in Silvar, it could only be considered upper-mid level.

As the foremost power in the northern continent, while Sixth-Rank practitioners were not a dime a dozen in Silvar, they were by no means a rarity. Both the Sixth and Seventh Ranks could be described as having ‘considerable strength,’ but the gap between them was the difference between being able to use a forbidden spell and not. And there were only four people in Silvar who could use them, a number that did not include the former Eldest Princess. If this woman named Claire was a Seventh-Rank practitioner, the probability of his coup succeeding would be further reduced.

To his disappointment, Fia had no intention of elaborating. She just continued to push the topic forward.

“With her here, you need not worry about my safety. As for matters within the capital, they will be handled by Kalsey, the Prime Minister, and Yulisha.” As if feeling that this was not enough, Fia added, “I will be back before long.”

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It seemed Dofilia was leaving Blossom as well.

Prince Schain lightly stroked his chin, a secret joy in his heart. Originally, he had thought that once he raised the banner of rebellion, he would have to face her armed suppression. With his own side lacking a decisive force, he would have to race against time to get to the Holy Tree and obtain its blessing. But now, even Dofilia was leaving the capital. The only thing that could stop him was the contingent of less than a hundred Imperial Guards at the back gate of the Royal Castle.

Victory was almost within his grasp.

Wait. This is going too smoothly.

Just as the joy was about to show on his face, Prince Schain suddenly frowned. He took advantage of the nobles’ discussions to secretly glance at Dofilia, observing her every move.

Yelido’s death might indeed have been an accident, but Dofilia should, by all rights, be holding down the fort in the capital. It was true that she had lost her memory, but she must have already heard from the Prime Minister these past few days that he was at odds with her. No matter how eager she was to save her father, she should have thought of the possibility of a commotion in the capital after she left. Yet she was talking about going south to search for him. For things to go so smoothly, it was as if it were a trap deliberately set for him.

First, lure him into rebellion, and then, just as he was putting the coup into action, suppress it in one fell swoop.

At that time, Dofilia would have ample reason to kill him on the spot. Even if he was a royal, and the harshest punishment for royalty under imperial law was only exile, there was always the matter of “exigent circumstances.” She could totally act first and report later, using the excuse “the situation was urgent at the time, I had to kill Aldrich” to persuade the others. At that time, no one would say a word. He would have committed the crime of treason. Whoever dared to stand up for him would be branded with the same crime.

How insidious.

Prince Schain broke out in a cold sweat. He subconsciously glanced at the anxious-looking Prime Minister, thinking that this must have been the old bone’s idea. The Prime Minister looked like a nice old man, but in reality, he was an insidious and cunning villain. His current eagerness to keep Dofilia here was just him acting out a pre-arranged script.

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Old fox. Such a good act.

Cursing internally, Prince Schain was in a difficult position.

Admittedly, this could all be Dofilia’s scheme. But it was undeniable that perhaps things weren’t as complicated as he was making them out to be. Being overly suspicious could be interpreted as caution, but it could also be interpreted as dithering. The world only judged by results: success was caution, failure was weaving one’s own cocoon. What if he was just overthinking it? Then he would have missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

After a moment of thought, he came to a conclusion. He had to send someone to follow her, so he could monitor whether she had actually left Blossom. This was undoubtedly the most stable choice. If she really did leave the capital, he could immediately take action. And if it was a trick, he would make other arrangements.

He weighed his words in his mind and chose a moment when everyone was arguing to speak up.

“To have a human follow you for protection, is that appropriate? Dofilia, I think you should go with the military. The army’s marching speed is a bit slow, but not by much. If all else fails, I will go with you to search for Yelido’s whereabouts.”

He said he would go with her, but he had already thought of an excuse to feign illness and not be able to travel.

As for why he had to pick on the fact that Claire was human, the answer was simple. The people at the conference table, including the southern nobles who supported Fia, had all expressed that she should not entrust her life to an outsider, especially one from the Milcandis Holy Kingdom.

Although Fia had emphasized Claire’s feat of destroying the Unsinkable Moon with a single blow, anyone could figure out that this was an exaggeration to emphasize her reliability. The truth was probably that Fia had helped Claire a lot, and the two of them had worked together to secretly destroy it while the Holy Kingdom wasn’t paying attention. After all, the Unsinkable Moon was their national treasure, a divine artifact. How could it be destroyed with a single blow?

As if exhausted by her father’s death, Fia, sitting in the highest seat, sighed deeply. She rested her left hand on her forehead and held her right palm up towards the crowd.

“My Father has always doted on me. Now that he needs me, I do not want to wait a moment longer. If you are trying to persuade me to stay in the capital for my safety, please stop. My life was given to me by my Father. Now that he is in peril, how can I, as his eldest daughter, not go to his rescue? If your own fathers needed you, you would surely be just as anxious. I hope you can all understand.”

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“But Dofi, you are being too rash.”

Yulisha, sitting below the Prime Minister, was the first to pick up the topic. There was not a trace of pretense in her expression, so much so that Schain began to doubt if this was a pre-arranged script.

“Let’s not even talk about the fact that you don’t know where Yelido fell into the Abyss. First of all, the journey from the capital to the southern part of the kingdom is long. You have lost your memory; you will lose your way after flying for a short distance. That will only be counterproductive. Besides, do you know what preparations to make before going down into the Abyss? A guide, tools, and applicable magic—you have none of them. This is too reckless!”

“I also agree with Her Highness the Royal Consort’s view. Your Highness, you should go with the military. Then, no matter what, there will be dedicated people to prepare what you need. Please do not act too hastily.”

After Yulisha and the Prime Minister had spoken, almost all the nobles on Fia’s side were trying to persuade her. Some even wanted her to stay in the capital and not go anywhere. The lack of a unified front and the scene of bickering made Schain feel surprised. These people did not seem to be acting at all. Their expressions and attitudes all seemed to be their genuine thoughts.

And that silver-haired, fear-inducing human girl hadn’t said a word. He couldn’t understand what they were doing. Normally, she should have stood up defiantly to prove her strength. Now that she had shown no reaction, she must have known that her claim of destroying the Unsinkable Moon was too much of an exaggeration. Schain did not take her seriously.

In the eyes of almost all the nobles of the kingdom, humans were creatures like maggots, the lowest of the low even among slaves.

The meeting soon descended into chaos with the dispute between the southern nobles and the princess. The remaining northern nobles all followed Schain’s lead. Since he did not speak, they only made some wishy-washy statements, with no constructive suggestions at all.

It wasn’t until five minutes later that the dispute finally came to a resolution.

The Captain of the Guard, Erin Slate, who had been listening from the side of the wall, stepped forward and brokered a compromise. Both sides took a step back. Fia could leave the capital to search for Yelido’s whereabouts in the Abyss. In exchange, she had to set out with the military. Although the Netherworld in the south was far from Blossom, with a forced march, it would only take four days for the army to arrive.

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It was worth mentioning that most people felt that Yelido was already dead. No one, including Yulisha, had any confidence that Fia could find him. Just as Schain had thought, on the one hand, no one had ever come back alive after falling into the Abyss. On the other hand, the “control” that prevented anyone from entering the Holy Tree also indirectly explained some things. Smart people only felt that the princess was just going through the motions.

Once everything was decided, everyone no longer dawdled. With a clear division of labor, they decided to adjourn the meeting in just a few minutes. However, just as Prince Schain was about to leave, Fia suddenly called out to him.

“Uncle, are you coming with us to the south?”

In an instant, he felt countless eyes on him.

So that was her game.

As long as he left the capital, she wouldn’t have to worry about any problems here. What a good plan.

Forcing a pained expression, Prince Schain slowly nodded.

“I will go with you. I don’t believe Yelido would die just like that. I will go and prepare now and set out immediately!”

“Thank you.”

Rising from her seat, Fia gave him a slight nod, then left the grand hall, surrounded by Claire, Yulisha, and Kalsey.