For a moment, Nightingale felt that the whole black and white world trembled.
Out of the Mist, the scene in front of her returned to normal. The darkness of the God's Stone disappeared, and her heart, which was about to jump out of her chest, retreated. The man on the ground was not Roland, but a guard whom she had never seen before. He was wearing the uniform of the Honeysuckle Family, and there was a dark red mark on his chest, which looked like a gunshot wound.
"Why are you here?" A familiar voice sounded beside her.
She turned her head and saw that the speaker was Roland. He was surrounded by several guards in a corner of the hall, so she did not notice him when she rushed into the room.
"I..." Nightingale opened her mouth and found that her throat was very hoarse, and her hands and feet were cold and numb. Her body was very weak, as if she had survived a disaster. At this time, the only thing she wanted to do was to hug Roland tightly, but she knew that she could not do so. There were other nobles here. If she wanted to be independent of the Security Bureau and the strong shield of the territory, she could not be too close to him in front of everyone.
Although her head clearly told her that she could not do so, her body could not help but walk toward Roland. She spread out the Mist, passed through the guards, and hugged him tightly.
There was a sudden cry of surprise. Obviously, no one could understand why a witch suddenly appeared and disappeared again without saying a word.
In the Mist, she tightly stuck her arms to the prince's back, buried her head in his chest, and listened to his heartbeat, as if this was the only way to prove that everything was just a false alarm.
Roland seemed to realize something. He clapped his hands to the nobles and said, "Everyone, go to the dining room and enjoy lunch. Don't leave the castle for the time being. The meeting will continue in the afternoon!"
When only the prince's guards, Pérot, Sylvie, and Lightning were left, he asked, "Is the murderer related to this assassination?"
Nightingale gradually calmed down. She reluctantly took three steps back and revealed herself. Pretending that she had never been near the prince, she said, "Yes, when I found out that the mastermind behind the criminal was a guard of the Honeysuckle Family, I immediately rushed over." She recounted what she had seen and what Maans had confessed. "I didn't expect that the enemy's real purpose was to lure us away and find an opportunity to strike … Luckily, you're safe and sound."
"To be able to plan this far, taking into account the timing of my visit and the witches," Roland sighed, "This person is really wasted as an assassin."
Pérot immediately knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Highness, I really don't know who he is."
"Rise, for you have said so, and I do not like to inflict blame," he interrupted, "but you are equally at fault. You have been negligent in the servants of the Castle, and in the defence of the outskirts."
"I …" Pérot opened his mouth and finally lowered his head. "I'm guilty."
"Investigate his identity and background. I want to know the results now."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
After the eldest son of the Honeysuckle Family left, Nightingale asked about the situation in her heart, "What was the situation at that time?"
"It was a close shave," Roland smiled. "Thanks to Sylvie's warning … But then again, he chose to do it in the conference hall, so he was already at a disadvantage."
After listening to the prince's story, she finally understood the process of the assassination. But in fact, it was not as easy as he had described. Although weapons were not allowed in the hall, the enemy had hidden a dagger in his clothes. In addition, he was indeed a castle guard, so no one searched him and he was directly allowed to enter the hall.
If there was any mistake made by the assassin, it was that he carried a God's Stone of Retaliation. It was very normal for the guards to wear a God's Stone of Retaliation, but it was particularly conspicuous in the hall. In order not to interfere with Sylvie's observation, all the nobles attending the meeting had taken off their God's Stone of Retaliation. The sudden appearance of a black hole made Sylvie notice him. When he walked towards His Highness, Sylvie immediately warned him.
Although Roland said the following scene in a very relaxed manner, Nightingale still broke out in a cold sweat. The hall was about 20 meters long and wide. From the time the enemy heard the warning and started to run to the long table, only a few breaths of time had passed. His Highness had just pulled out his revolver and removed the safety when the dagger had already pierced his body. The place that was hit was the back of the waist. Nightingale, who had experienced assassination training, naturally knew that compared to the chest and the head, the waist was extremely difficult to defend. Once it was injured, the severe pain could immediately make the target lose the ability to resist, and the next step would probably be to cut the blood vessels in the neck.
Fortunately, His Highness Roland was wearing a protective suit specially made by Soroya, so the dagger could not penetrate the coating and could not stop his next move. The gun was fired almost at the assassin's body, and the loud roar made the scene a mess. Two 12-millimeter bullets directly took away the enemy's life.
Nightingale knew how thrilling the process was. If His Highness had not removed the safety in a panic, and if the gun had not been fired smoothly, the consequences would have been unimaginable … She turned her head and glared at Lightning. Lightning immediately lowered her head and looked like she was admitting her mistake.
"Your Highness, I've found out the truth." Pérot walked into the hall again. "His name is Shio. He's not a native of the Western Region, but he used to be a castle guard for Duke Ryan."
"Duke Ryan?" Roland frowned. "Why did you choose such a person as a guard?"
"He's just an ordinary guard. At that time, every family lost a lot of men, so I chose those who had little to do with the Duke. This has always been Stronghold's practice …" Pérot said. "I don't think it's possible that he carried out the assassination to avenge the Duke."
"He's not lying," Nightingale thought. After the fall of a great noble, apart from the subordinates who had been enfeoffed with lands and titles, the rest of the people were also resources in the eyes of the other nobles. For those who were divided, it was just like a change of master. Since the Honeysuckle Family had surrendered to His Highness Roland a long time ago, and Stronghold had always been managed by Pérot, this group of people had not been investigated.
"How many people with such backgrounds are there?" Roland asked. "You've also used people from the Wild Rose, Maple Leaf, and Wolf Families?"
"Only three or four outside the castle." Pérot nodded. "The servants, subjects, and serfs of the other three families were assigned to the Honeysuckle Family and the Elk Family. I promise they won't appear in Stronghold."
"Well, I don't care about those people, but in the castle area, even the guards on the periphery must be chosen from your family. Do you understand? As for the guards in the castle, I'll arrange them myself. "
"Yes, Your Highness."
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