Chapter 432: The Phantom Card that Seals the Succubus
Edward naturally would not refuse the invitation from Her Majesty the Queen, and arrived at the Hall of Silver and Tin on time.
When Edward reached the Griffin Bridge, he even ran into the Lord Chamberlain who had just left the Silver and Tin Palace. After a brief greeting with this honest and gentle old man, he strode towards the Silver and Tin Palace.
At Aiwas's request, Edward was not led into the side hall by the servants, but was brought directly to Aiwas's bedroom.
Edward had certainly been to the Temple of Silver and Tin before. He was also, at least in part, the Chief Inspector of Glass Island.
But every time he came to the Temple of Silver and Tin, he was either led into the reception room that could accommodate more than forty guests at the same time, or went to the Round Table Hall to attend the meeting on behalf of his adoptive father James.
Edward had only one experience of meeting Queen Sophia alone - when he had just returned from the Iris Kingdom.
At that time, Edward went to the Queen's study and personally explained to her the demands of the Iris people and the price they were willing to pay.
This was the furthest point Edward could go. As for reaching the royal chambers, that was absolutely impossible.
He was even a little nervous - although his face remained expressionless, his palms were already sweating.
Edward knocked on the door politely, and only felt relieved when he heard Edwards say "Come in" and pushed the door open.
As soon as he entered the door, his steps paused for a moment.
——Because there are too many people in the house.
Aiwass was sitting at his desk, apparently working on something.
Isabel moved a chair and sat next to him, very close to Aiwass, with a crow perched on her shoulder.
Ligeia stood across the table, also looking intently at Aiwass's work. Yulia stood at the corner of the table, holding her beloved stuffed bear, "Mr. Dad," and glancing at Aiwass.
There are a lot of people here, but no one pays attention to him, Edward thought.
"Master Edward."
The only one who had time to greet him was Lily, who suddenly appeared from nowhere. Edward added in his mind.
Lily led Edward to sit aside and served him hot black tea at just the right temperature.
"Thanks, Lily."
Edward responded politely and took a sip of the tea.
But then, he felt the unexpected taste and almost vomited.
Ligeia laughed a clear, wild laugh, as if she had succeeded in a prank. "How's it, boy? Does it taste good?"
"This is the black tea made by Miss Ligeia."
Lily explained thoughtfully.
"...It tastes quite good, Your Excellency the Grand Arbitrator."
Edward sat upright and answered politely and seriously.
“Tsk.”
Ligeia smacked her lips.
Although his expression was calm, his posture was standard, and his breathing was steady... Ligeia could tell at a glance that the boy was sweating profusely. Ligeia found it rather boring to tease such a well-behaved person, so she stopped talking to Edward.
She patted Isabel's shoulder to indicate that Edward had arrived, then returned to her seat and continued to watch Edwards write and draw on the tarot cards.
Isabel reluctantly turned her eyes away from the table in front of Edwards, stood up and smiled at Edward. The crow on her shoulder took off and landed on Edwards' shoulder again.
Edward's heart skipped a beat when he saw Isabel approaching him. He immediately stood up from his seat, knelt on one knee respectfully, and bowed his head. "The Silver Crown Dragon... greets you, Your Majesty."
"The Silver Crown Dragon blesses you, Edward Moriarty."
Isabel skillfully reached out and touched Edward's head, expressing "motherly love."
This is a more intimate etiquette, one level higher than kissing the dragon head ring.
Only after being touched by Isabel was Edward allowed to raise his head.
After meeting Edward's eyes, Isabel smiled brightly and generously and took a half step back. "Good evening, Brother Edward. Get up quickly."
Hearing this, Edward suddenly turned his head and looked at Aiwass.
He seemed to understand something in an instant, and then immediately turned his head as if he was afraid of angering Isabel.
He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, nodded respectfully and politely, and stood up.
"I wanted to keep Aiwass and Yulia at my place for the New Year, but you'd be too lonely over there. So I willfully asked Aiwass to invite you along."
Isabel's smile was bright and confident, and her slightly curved eyebrows seemed to possess an unusual affinity. "How about Brother Edward staying here tonight? There are still many vacancies in the Palace of Silver and Tin."
In fact, it was Aiwass who originally made this request, but Isabel instinctively realized that if she did this, Edward might blame Aiwass for being impolite or against the rules.
So she took over the responsibility very smoothly and used this as her own statement.
Aiwass, who was making cards at the table, naturally heard this.
He looked up at Isabel in surprise, and his eyes met hers as she turned around.
Isabel blinked her right eye quickly, the smile on her face not changing at all. Like the best actress, she left no flaws.
She was obviously aware of Edward's stiffness and awkwardness, so without waiting for his reply, she smiled and said, "By the way, Brother Edward—can I call you Lord Moriarty?"
"Qing" is a respectful title for knights unique to Avalon.
To be called "Qing" means to become a knight awarded armor by the queen.
Edward's extraordinary skills have already reached the threshold of the Arbitration Hall. However, he had previously rejected the invitation of the Arbitration Hall because of his adoptive father's opinion.
As a member of the Moriarty family, it is unlikely that he would enter the Round Table. The armor inherited by the Moriarty family is the armor left by the founder of the country, Modred, and this armor is worn by old James.
The Queen could not bestow armor upon other members of the founding family, as this would essentially split the family. Therefore, Edward was not like a commoner who could simply enter the Round Table by being bestowed with armor.
To circumvent this rule, one must personally acquire armor that is not inherited by descendants.
This type of armor is usually the official armor of a minister, obtained when taking office and discarded when leaving office.
So what Isabel said is actually equivalent to "Do you want to be a minister?"
But Edward hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and refused, "My father taught me... if a promotion isn't due to my own ability, I must refuse it. Because my ability can't control my power, so..."
"Of course, it's based on your achievements, Lord Moriarty."
Isabel simply chuckled and replied calmly, "Your peace talks with Iris are of great significance, bringing peace and prosperity to Avalon. This has already exceeded the scope of your duties as an Inspector General—"
While the Inspectorate is essentially a spy agency, it also serves as a supervisory body for the Supervisory Bureau. Senior Inspectors are roughly on par with Supervisory Bureau Directors, but are a half-level higher due to their responsibilities. Above the Senior Inspector is the Inspector General, who oversees all Senior Inspectors within a specific area.
A normal-sized town would only have one Inspectorate, while a city would typically have multiple. Multiple towns formed a county, and each county would have one Inspector General. Because Glass Island was the capital, despite being a city, it had a county-level staffing structure.
But even so, the identity of Inspector General was still not enough to sign a contract of this scale with Iris in his own name.
"For this reason, in order to make this contract more enforceable and to prevent the Iris people from turning against us, after speaking with the Prime Minister of Iris, I will appoint you as the Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Iris and award you with knightly armor at the round table meeting on the first day after the national funeral."
Isabel said seriously: "This is not to ask for your opinion, but to inform you."
After she finished speaking, she added, "This is also what grandma meant."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Edward immediately knelt on one knee again, accepting his new appointment without hesitation. Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, this was the second-highest position of power in Avalon's diplomatic system. The only problem was that he would have to stay permanently at Iris.
This kind of thing requires Iris's consent. In other words, Iris also hopes that I can stay there.
After realizing his new mission, Edward didn't question, didn't refute, and didn't say anything unnecessary. This was what a pure authoritarian transcendent would do.
And then, the smile on Isabel's face became friendly again.
She took Edward's arm with one hand and enthusiastically led him to her study: "By the way, Lord Moriarty. There are still some things I don't understand about this document..."
Edward was obviously very nervous about the relationship between Isabel and Aiwass, and even a little overwhelmed. He didn't know how to be rude or how to spoil the fun.
But if it's about work, he can calm down immediately.
Aiwass hadn't told Isabel about Edward's situation in advance. It was Isabel who, after meeting Edward, became aware of his character and instinctively chose a way that Edward could accept to get to know him.
"...I really want Sherlock to see it."
Aiwass sighed softly.
Sherlock hadn't seen Isabel in a long time, so he probably didn't know how quickly she would grow after being under real pressure. If he saw Isabel again, he would definitely be very surprised.
She is the type who, as long as she doesn't get crushed by pressure, will become stronger and stronger at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Thinking of this, Aiwass shook his head and continued to work on the card. Ligeia, with Aiwass's permission, watched him make the Phantom Card.
Every Phantom Card used by the Sinner Scholar records blasphemous knowledge.
It is different from regular Tarot decks, the most important of which is that there are no cards such as "Justice", "Strength", "Judgment" and "Temperance".
But the Phantom Devil deck also has several brand new cards that correspond one-to-one with the Tarot deck.
Among them, the card "Strength" corresponds to "Lust".
It can also be translated as "desire" or "longing."
This is a card belonging to the realm of love, and its attributes are also dark.
In the "Strength" card, there is a goddess of victory with the "infinity" symbol, or the ring symbol, on her head, bending down and stroking a ferocious lion.
The lion symbolizes lower animal instincts, or "beasts," such as impulse or chaotic passion, which are tamed by the goddess' love and guided by her compassion.
Therefore, the "Strength" card is actually a card that symbolizes "controlled power". It represents the constant self and also the beast master.
And in its alienated "Lust" card, it is almost completely opposite to the "Strength" card.
The card shows a beautiful, naked goddess lying drunkenly on a seven-headed lion.
Her right hand held the Holy Grail, from which dripped blood from the moon, from which countless snakes crawled out. Her left hand held the lion's reins, which were stretched so tightly that they seemed ready to fall out of her hand at any moment.
This is another explanation for the state between the constant self and the beast master - that is, the constant self has not actually completely tamed the beast master. It is also an explanation for why the path of love still has a chaotic and savage animal nature.
Chaos, love, passion, reins, desire, drunkenness, snake, out of control, blood, reproduction, moon... so many keywords are enough to prove the solid compatibility between this card and Succubus.
——This card is the phantom card that Aiwass carefully crafted to seal the succubus Emma.
The process of making this card is, in a sense, very dangerous...
But Aiwass was not afraid.
(End of this chapter)
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