Chapter 301 Thoroughly
Even though it was late at night, Yuanxin Palace was still brightly lit.
About five minutes ago, a heated argument erupted between the most distinguished men and women of the empire, one so fierce it made the eunuchs tremble. As usual, the king slammed the door and left, declaring that he "could not tolerate being in the same room with a whore."
Esmerel slumped back into her chair, exhausted, and rubbed her forehead slowly. She was surrounded by scattered documents and broken vases, her forehead was bruised, and her face was cut by flying porcelain fragments.
The king insisted that he had invited the two debaters to drink in public on a whim, and with incomprehensible reasoning, he claimed that the death of an old man who was already dying of old age was no big deal. Why drag him out of his comfortable place and interrogate him? His new beauty was frightened by the brutal behavior of the queen's guards and was in tears. He didn't know how long it would take to comfort her.
Esmerel was almost amused by his anger. Regardless of how long the owl could live, whether he was dying, whether his sainthood was real, or even whether he was actually an "owl"—what mattered was what everyone in the Silver Iris Empire thought, especially what those sorcerers thought.
This confusing poisoning had unfolded to this day, and while it was obvious that the Vatican was the cause, everyone almost tacitly accepted that it was the Vatican's culprit—but Esmerel, with her unwavering acumen and unwavering resolve, swore that Nova was definitely involved. Furthermore, this wanted criminal, who had been hiding from the authorities not long ago, now had his sights set on the Silver Iris royal family.
The eunuchs trembled as they fetched medicine and tried to treat the queen's wounds, but she impatiently waved them away. Silence fell as a silver-helmeted knight silently appeared before her, kneeling respectfully on one knee.
Esmerel propped his forehead on his hand and glanced at him expressionlessly. The newly arrived Silver Helmet Knight, the son of the Wharton family, what was his name, Winster, or Winston? He was young, his family was powerless, he acted impulsively, and his brain was slow. His only strengths were his loyalty, or rather, his forced loyalty, and his ease of manipulation...
Not as good as Jophiel Yialos, she thought.
The silver-helmeted knight was secretly watching her expression. Esmerel tapped the armrest with her nails impatiently: "Speak."
"...Your Majesty, news from Port Morris." The other party handed her a secret letter with both hands - this matter seemed to make him feel very devastated, his face was pale, panic-stricken and at a loss.
"Jophiel Yialos...confirmed mutiny."
“…”
Esmerel slowly stood up.
"Who confirmed this?" She looked down at the silver-helmeted knight kneeling in front of her and asked quietly.
"This is the news that Raven sent before his death," the Silver Helmet Knight replied tremblingly. He seemed to think the Queen was furious. "Almost all the spies we planted in Port Morris were captured one after another in a very short period of time. Six months of hard work was almost wasted. According to common sense, this speed can only be..."
——There is a traitor, and he is a very powerful traitor.
Above him, there was the rustling of someone reading a letter. The Queen remained silent, her breathing barely audible, yet this dead silence only frightened the Silver Helmet even more. Despite the bitter cold of winter, he felt a cold sweat soaking through his undershirt.
The Queen hasn't been in a good mood lately, the Silver Helmet Knight thought. Rumor has it that the eunuchs around her have killed another batch. If he hadn't been the least experienced and been pushed out, he wouldn't have wanted to risk this bad luck.
After a long moment, he heard a hoarse, rough, cold female voice, as if coming from the abyss, speaking from above his head, "...You, and Jophiel Yialos, have all been tricked."
What does that mean? The Silver Helmet Knight wondered blankly, could there be any other answer?
The queen had no intention of explaining to her subordinates. Instead, she suddenly turned around and kicked over the chair. The heavy, silver chair fell to the ground with a loud bang that made people's hearts stop.
The Silver Helmet Knight shuddered, shrank his neck silently, and wished he could disappear on the spot.
What a bunch of... idiots! Esmery suppressed his anger. The losses in Port Morris didn't have to be this great, but some people panicked over Ialos's "betrayal" and were frightened by the Shadow Chaser's bloody tactics of killing chickens to scare the monkeys. Believing they might be identified by the Knight Commander at any moment, they panicked and ended up getting even more involved.
Her opponent's control of the situation was so precise that it was chilling. Esmerel even began to wonder at which step that person saw through her chess plan - was it when she made the move, or even the moment she picked up the chess piece?
"...Nova." The queen slowly ground the name with her teeth.
As a fellow chosen one by God, she had complicated feelings towards this man, even mixed with a subtle sympathy, or a kind of arrogant pity and respect called "Let me see how far you can go under the teasing of God."
But now, the People's Party and the Okansele Society have extended their hands to the Royal City, and Yialos, who has been responsible for communication, has "rebelled" - since they have decided to completely break up, then in terms of political stance, they are enemies, and he is her opponent worthy of respect.
...The highest respect for the enemy is to kill them all.
"Let's get started." Esmerel slowly closed his eyes and said gloomily.
…
On the other side of the royal city, the professor also received news from Port Morris.
"Ore has done a good job. The intelligence network left by the royal city in Port Morris has been basically paralyzed." The black-haired young man opened the lampshade of the kerosene lamp, placed the secret letter on the flickering candlelight, and let the letter paper be completely devoured by the fire.
He seemed lost in thought, his mind wandering a bit. It wasn't until the tip of the flame touched his glove that he snapped back to reality. With a subconscious hiss, he immediately retracted his fingers, ripped off the scorched glove, and threw it on the table.
Azuka, who was making coffee for someone, turned his head quickly when he heard the sound and saw his nemesis frowning and reading the letter while sucking and licking his fingers in his mouth.
"Burned?" He frowned slightly, put down the work in his hands, forcibly pulled out the claw, and examined it carefully - fortunately, only the fingertip was a little red, and under the effect of the healing spell, it quickly returned to normal.
professor:"……"
He didn't even have time to speak.
"Are you too tired lately?" Azuka sighed and put the lampshade back on the kerosene lamp.
Since arriving in the royal city, he seemed to be doing this kind of erratic behavior more often. Last time, he was halfway through brushing his teeth when, with his mouth full of foam, he suddenly rushed to write furiously. By the time he'd waited in bed for a long time and found no one in the bathroom, he'd already been hunched over the table in his pajamas, writing three full pages with a frenzied expression, the foam around his mouth dried into crumbs.
"No, I've been keeping a regular schedule lately, and I'm in very good mental and physical condition now - I'm sure I'm not tired." Mr. Enemy looked at him expressionlessly. Although there was a little blue and black under his eyes, his gray eyes still tried to open a little wider, as if he was afraid that he would use this as an excuse to confiscate the coffee that was about to be obtained.
"Oh, in that case, it seems you don't need coffee?" The Savior narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I'm tired." The tyrant quickly changed his words.
Azuka: “…”
Seeing the person staring at him with a half-smile, Nova thought for a moment, then suddenly leaned over and kissed the person on the mouth - then, while the other person was stunned, he quickly dragged the cup of coffee from the savior's side.
"Be careful, it's hot." Azuka reluctantly helped the man steady the cup. "You've been behaving well lately and are in good health. I won't deduct your share of coffee for no reason."
At least she didn't hurt herself. At his urging, she was reluctant to eat and rest on time. She was woken up by nightmares by his side less often in the middle of the night. She was also willing to drift into his arms in a daze and seek some comfort from him to make herself feel comfortable - these were some good changes and signs. He had been a little worried that Owl's death would cause a greater mental burden on people, but his lover was obviously stronger and more powerful than he had thought before.
The other person glanced at him sinisterly, holding the cup, and sipping the coffee slowly and elegantly with the pride and arrogance of a winner.
"You said the same thing in bed," he said sarcastically, expressionless. "Excuse me, but you sometimes lack credibility. I hope you can reflect on this."
Behave yourself so this time it will be over soon or something - bullshit.
Seeing the savior's slightly stunned expression, as if he was choked by him, the black-haired young man lowered his head proudly and took another sip of coffee: It's not that only this guy suddenly choked people in an inappropriate way, he is very smart and also knows this trick.
"Are you suggesting I can continue my credit bankruptcy?" someone asked, seemingly surprised. He leaned forward slightly, one hand resting on the table, the other gently rubbing the back of the black-haired young man's neck, his fingers even seeming to move downwards. "Since you're so energetic..."
"—No!" The professor nearly choked on his coffee. He raised his head and glared at the man in annoyance, emphasizing each word: "No, you are allowed. Is this your self-reflection?"
"What a shame." The other person chuckled softly and kissed him on the forehead. "I was really looking forward to the day when I could lose all restraints and bully you completely."
professor:"……"
How "thorough" does this bastard want to be?! He thought incredulously.
The other person took advantage of his moment of distraction, took the coffee from his hand, and set it aside. Then, they gently rested their foreheads against his, their breaths blending intimately.
"Look, I've endured and sacrificed so much for you." With a gentle, coaxing tone, the great savior continued to ramble on without changing his expression. "So please tell me what you were thinking about just now, why were you thinking so intently? Okay?"
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