Volume 5, Chapter 9 – Points of Doubt

Soon enough, Edith’s revenge arrived right on schedule.

Three o’clock in the morning, at the mansion’s entrance.

A carriage was parked quietly in the front courtyard. At Edith’s firm insistence, Yisi boarded the carriage.

Letting out a huge yawn, Yisi opened her half-awake eyes.

“Hah… it’s still the middle of the night. What are we going to do—” Her gaze involuntarily stopped on Edith’s reddened face. Although it wasn’t very clear due to the passage of time, the outline of fingerprints was still discernible. Yisi sobered up instantly. “Did someone hit you?”

Edith’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. She then forcibly suppressed the anger welling up in her chest and feigned a blank expression.

“What are you talking about? Are you still half-asleep?”

“And whose fault is it for dragging me out of bed this early? It’s only three in the morning,” Yisi retorted.

To be honest, she had at first thought Edith was launching a night raid and had gotten a little nervous, but it turned out she just grabbed her by the collar and yanked her out of bed.

With the rumbling of its wheels, the carriage began to move.

Seeing as how Edith had anger marks all over her head and looked ready to stand up and beat her at any moment, Yisi had the good sense to stop teasing her.

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Edith crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“I didn’t wake you up for no reason.”

She’s clearly just getting back at me for being seen drunk, Yisi complained internally.

“I’ve already told you that the representative for the Pescia Territory was removed from their post by Hetty three months ago. Therefore, for the past three months, the Pescia Territory has been all but cut off from the Royal Capital. To maximize our own interests, we must grasp all available intelligence related to the capital. This is for the sake of victory, as well as to minimize our own losses.”

“Hmm?” Noticing a contradiction in Edith’s words, Yisi also became serious. “Didn’t you say that as long as we cooperate with the Queen, we can achieve victory through a pincer attack?”

“Refina gathered some intelligence at a tavern tonight. The situation is not as optimistic as it appears on the surface. How many nobles with the rank of Count or higher do you think are participating in the rebellion?”

There is no Marquis rank among the Blood Clan; below Duke is Count. Currently, there are a total of ten Dukes and Counts who possess territories, and each of these great nobles controls an Alexia Tower.

Dispelling the drowsiness from her mind, Yisi frowned slightly.

The Blood Clan is divided into a total of fourteen large territories based on the distribution of the Alexia Towers. The royal family controls four of them. The remaining territories are divided by the Cloud Sea Mountains, with four to the north and six to the south. Considering the pressure one would have to bear to rebel, Yisi chose a number that seemed to be the absolute limit.

“I remember that all the nobles participating in the rebellion are from the south, so… three of them?”

Edith shook her head.

“Like you, I initially thought three was the limit. But after two years of development, there are now a full six nobles who have raised the banner of rebellion. Two months ago, the flames of war spread to the Vladimir Territory, south of the Royal Capital. That is one of the territories under the royal family’s direct jurisdiction—you may not feel the sense of crisis if I put it that way.”

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Edith paused.

“If the Vladimir Territory falls, the Royal Capital behind it will be the first city to face the rebel army. At that time, the royal family will be in an extremely passive position. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the fall of the Vladimir Territory is the beginning of the royal family’s defeat.”

“What about the nobles of the other four territories? Aren’t they helping?”

“Excluding our Pescia Territory, only two other nobles are willing to send troops to aid the royal family. In addition, I have studied the crystal you called the [Imperial Gift]. I can confirm that this is not Blood Clan technology. The monster it summons does not belong to any currently known species, and the same kind of monster has appeared on the Blood Clan’s battlefields. I remember you said you seized this from the Empire’s soldiers.”

Yisi had confiscated a total of four [Imperial Gift] crystals. Two were used by Refina to rescue Edith. Of the remaining two, one is in her hands as a collector’s item, and the other was given to Edith, who had asked for it out of curiosity.

“So you suspect the southern nobles are colluding with the Empire, Pepe?”

“This is just my conjecture. Until we know where the crystal actually came from, we can’t jump to conclusions. After all, it could be something developed by the rebels themselves. Besides, there are some other things that I’m very concerned about.”

At this point, Edith’s gaze shifted away from Yisi. She looked down slightly, a thoughtful expression flickering in her eyes.

“During this time, I’ve sorted through all the events that have happened since you took over my body up until now, and I’ve found some points of doubt.”

Edith held up her index finger.

“First point: Why did Samael want to kill you? You don’t have any grudges with the fallen angels, do you?”

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“None. I don’t know anything about the fallen angels.”

Yisi hadn’t paid it much mind before, but thinking about it carefully now, it was indeed suspicious. Why on earth did Samael try to assassinate her? Unfortunately, Samael had quietly left the Pescia Territory after Hetty’s death. Otherwise, she could have grabbed him and asked him clearly.

Edith raised a second finger with a solemn expression.

“Second: Where on earth did Ouranos’s body go?”

“I didn’t hide it or sneak a bite.”

“I don’t think you could digest something of that size either.”

Returning Yisi’s off-key joke with a dry one of her own, Edith continued to add.

“Third: From what Hetty said, the Demon Lord Tartaros and the Demon Lord Ouranos are not on the same side; they are even hostile to each other. In order to seize the territory that originally belonged to Ouranos, Tartaros had his fallen angels secretly aid Count Hillary. But in reality, with the strength of the fallen angels and the demon race, they could have easily crushed the current Blood Clan on a direct battlefield just by sending in demons. Why choose such a roundabout and failure-prone method?”

“Maybe they’re under some kind of restriction.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Yisi realized something was wrong. What could possibly restrict the actions of Demon Lords? Even if they could sign something like a peace treaty, it could easily become a worthless piece of paper. Besides, the Blood Clan is currently completely controlled by the Blood Clan itself; it doesn’t belong to any Demon Lord.

As if sensing the heavy atmosphere, Edith curved her lips into a slight smile and waved her hand to ease the tension.

“Well, maybe I’m just overthinking it. Apart from the first problem which needs to be solved urgently, the other two matters seem rather trivial.”

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“Isn’t the first problem that Samael wanted to assassinate me? We’ve already parted ways. You don’t need to worry about assassination anymore, Pepe.”

Edith showed a displeased expression. She took off her shoes and placed her feet, clad in white over-the-knee socks, on Yisi’s lap. The slender curve of her calves made Yisi politely avert her gaze.

“I have already told you that I like you, so your problems are my problems. No one is permitted to touch anything that has been marked by Loiswell, and that applies to you as well, Yisi. Whether you are willing or not, even if you think it’s just my own wishful thinking, I will protect you with all my strength. This is the will of Loiswell Edith Pescia, who stands here now.”

It was too direct an expression of emotion, to the point that Yisi didn’t know what to say. If this were in her original world, even with all of Edith’s bad habits, she would probably have felt honored.

Feeling troubled, Yisi managed to respond with a refusal that didn’t sound like a refusal.

“…I won’t be marrying into the Pescia family.”

Seemingly satisfied with this response, Edith stretched out her body.

“—Then I will simply work until you have a change of heart. It’s time to get off, my one and only partner.”

“Save the dreaming for when you’re asleep.”

Putting the absurdly ornate shoes on Edith’s feet, Yisi sighed and followed her out of the carriage.