Chapter 81 [Laod Appears]
"A bunch of idiots! They couldn't even catch a woman, and she even let her set such a huge fire in the palace!"
When the guards reported that the red-haired maidservant who was guarding King Nurenger IX had escaped, Keldor was furious.
When Cherk was in charge of guarding the palace, these men were all highly trained and obeyed orders. For some reason, they have become increasingly useless under his command over the years. Now they can't even handle such a small matter, making him feel ashamed in front of Füssen.
"It doesn't matter, she's just a maid. The capital is already under lockdown, she can't escape. We should hurry up and send more people to search the entire capital," Fusen suggested calmly.
"I'm going right now! With me keeping an eye on them, they definitely won't dare to cheat under my nose again." Keldo walked away without looking back.
Watching Keldor's hurried departure, Foussen's smile deepened. Thousands of guards, once well-trained, had long since been spoiled and wasted by Keldor.
Of course, if it weren't for the fact that Keldo was a good-for-nothing, Foussen wouldn't have dared to easily extend an olive branch to him for cooperation.
After all, anyone with a brain knows that outsiders are never as reliable as family. The reason Elijah has been tirelessly cleaning up the messes for Antonio and Cairdo is simply because they both share the surname Jude.
Unfortunately, Antonio and Cairdo not only failed to appreciate Elia's kindness, but were also swayed by the benefits promised by Foussen.
In fact, Fursen didn't say anything. He just wanted them to think that after placing Elijah under house arrest, he could use his position as the future king's uncle to do whatever he wanted, instead of having to follow Elijah's lead in everything.
Recalling the years of forbearance and Elijah's cold attitude, Antonio and Celdo couldn't wait to agree to Foussen's conditions and cooperated by having Elijah and Severi sent back to their respective rooms and kept under guard.
"Next, we'll let everyone know just how ruthless Lex really is. He actually murdered his seriously ill father for the throne. How can someone like that continue to be the crown prince? I guarantee that this news will spread throughout the kingdom's streets and alleys within a single day tomorrow."
Antonio was beaming with pride, even seeming somewhat impatient, eager to give the order right now.
He was much more cunning than his brother Keldo, fearing that Fursen would steal their credit, and then their efforts would be in vain.
With this in mind, Antonio couldn't wait to get Fursen out, and then he closed the door and discussed with his men how to completely ruin Lex's reputation.
Foussen pretended not to notice Antonio's thoughts and returned to his mansion in the royal city by carriage.
The butler, whose hair was neatly combed, came forward and told Füssen that a guest had arrived and had been led to the study to wait.
Fusen nodded and went up to the study on the second floor.
He pushed open the door and saw a hooded man standing by the window, admiring the night view with great interest.
"That fire at the palace just now was quite a spectacle, Fursen. Can you tell me what happened?"
"It's nothing, just a minor accident. Everything is proceeding according to plan. But, Laod, it's so late and you still have the leisure to come here to watch a show."
Fusen shook his head, walked to the sofa, sat down, and personally poured himself a cup of tea.
This pot of tea was brought by the housekeeper to entertain guests not long ago, and it still retains a little warmth. A stream of heat flowed down, soothing Fusen's stomach perfectly.
“As the youngest archbishop now, of course I’m free. Those old fogies would love for me to be even more free, so they can’t compete with me for the papacy.” Laod turned around and sat down opposite Foussen.
Looking at his face, which appeared to be only around forty years old, Fursen sighed softly, "If Lord Alonso had been able to hold on for a few more years, he wouldn't have promoted you to archbishop so early, exposing you to those people and making them wary of you prematurely."
"But it doesn't matter. As long as we control Prince Severi, once he successfully ascends the throne, with his support, no one can compete with you for the position of Pope. It was originally left to you by Lord Alonso."
Mentioning Severi, Laod also sighed, "Why didn't Elijah completely solve Lex's big problem back then? Otherwise, we wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble to make arrangements, and we almost let Severi's disappearance disrupt our plans."
"Hehe, who would have thought that Prince Severi, who had disappeared unexpectedly, would come looking for us again? It seems it's destined that he will be used by us," Foussen chuckled.
At the same time, a glint of light flashed across his eyes and fell into the clear tea, which he drank in one gulp.
*
Outside the city, Mela had already stripped down to just a slip of clothing. Since she couldn't start a fire, she had no choice but to pile up leaves and burn them to dry her wet clothes.
Furthermore, by draping clothes over tree branches to cover the smoke, there was no need to worry about it leaking out and attracting the attention of the guards on the tower.
"Tell me, why did you leave without saying goodbye?"
Yuriel crossed her arms and stared intently at Erica, not giving her any chance to escape.
“Hmm…” Erica rolled her eyes and mumbled, “I have things I have to do.”
"What is it?" Yuriel pressed, her tone suggesting, "Don't try to fool me."
"Oh dear, I can't explain my situation to you, so don't ask so many questions." After saying that, Erica even urged Yuriel to go back with Mela as soon as possible, saying that this place was too dangerous and not suitable for them to stay.
"You knew it was dangerous and still came alone!" Yuriel glared fiercely at Erica. "I don't care, we'll go together, or I absolutely won't leave!"
“Look at our little Yuri, she’s still the same as before, as stubborn as a donkey,” Erica sighed to Mela.
Mela casually lifted her eyelids. "I'm also very curious about what you're trying to do, Erica. Why do you want to get involved in the royal family's struggles and hurt an innocent person?"
"How did you know—" Erica's expression changed drastically, her feigned ease vanishing.
"Actually, I spotted you back in White Crystal City, but you seemed to have mistaken me for someone else and ran away too fast, leaving me behind."
As she spoke, Mela nudged the pile of leaves with a twig, letting the nearly extinguished smoke rise a little more.
"So it was you who was chasing me back then. I thought it was a pursuer sent by Mrs. Jones."
Erica braced herself with her hands on the ground, leaned back, and looked up at the boundless night sky.
"I knew it, how could she have noticed something was wrong so quickly?"
“But you caused me and Yuriel to be arrested as the culprits of the poisoning,” Mela calmly pointed out what Erica didn’t know.
"So you guys escaped?" Erica turned her head to look at Mela.
Mela shook her head. "No, I cured you of the poison. As your savior, I left Furhorst Manor with Yuriel in a respectable manner."
"I should never have let you become a witch in the first place, otherwise I wouldn't have ruined my plans now." Erica muttered a complaint upon hearing this.
“Even without you, I would still become a witch, after all, my talent is unmatched.” Mela retorted without hesitation, not giving Erica any face at all.
Erica gave a disgruntled snort but did not refute it, because what Mela said was indeed true.
Even without Erika, she would have become a real witch someday.
Just as no star loses its light due to temporary obstruction, it is merely temporarily covered by clouds.
"So now you can tell me what you really want to do. Maybe I can help you." Mela rested her face on her knee with her free hand and looked at Erica calmly.
“It’s nothing really, I just wanted to kill someone.” Erica smoothed her disheveled hair, her tone as light as ever. “A man named Laod. He should have died a long time ago.”
“Laod?” Mela and Yuriel exchanged a glance, both showing the same surprise.
"What? You know him?" Erica realized that things seemed to be beyond her imagination and quickly denied it. "How could that be? I have never mentioned to Yuriel who her father is."
“Father? He really is my father?” Yuriel couldn’t help but raise her voice, her throat throbbing as if a frog had been stuffed into it, making her head spin.
"So the old woman hadn't mistaken me for someone else," Mela said thoughtfully.
"Wait, can one of you tell me what's going on?" Erica was baffled by their reactions.
“Simply put, we met an old woman named Sanno on our way to find you. She said that Yuriel’s eyes are exactly like her father’s, so Yuriel must be her granddaughter. As for the man’s name, you know it, it’s Laod,” Mela explained to Erica.
"At first we didn't believe it, we heard that the old woman had mistaken many people over the years, but..."
Who would have thought that this time she would actually stumble upon Yuriel by sheer luck?
“So that’s how it is,” a complex look flashed across Erica’s eyes. “Perhaps it was fate that destined you to meet.”
After all, they are grandfather and grandson by blood.
Blood ties are the hardest thing to sever.
“Yuriel, Laod is indeed your father, and he is the one who killed your mother, my sister Eileen.”
“I once thought I had killed him and successfully avenged Eileen, but I never expected that he would escape by chance and even come to the royal city to become the youngest archbishop who is surrounded by people.”
“Ha,” Yuriel suddenly sneered, “The church is full of bastards who are all beasts in human form. It’s not surprising that a scoundrel like him could become a high-ranking member of the church. What’s more, he is one of the old Pope Alonso’s illegitimate sons. However, before that old man died, he was the only son he had left. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have received Alonso’s full support and guidance.”
Seeing Yuriel recover from her extreme shock and look at her along with Mela, Erica, for the first time in a long time, sank into her memories and began to tell a story that had long since faded.
This is the story of how young Eileen misjudged a man and fell in love with a two-faced scoundrel.
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