The Dibo River sparkled under the setting sun. Every time this happened, the sunset glow floating on the surface of the river would shoot into the window, dyeing the hotel hall crimson. Through the window lattice, one could see the Imperial Capital standing on the horizon. It was a majestic shadow. The high tower and the city walls left a thick shadow in the setting sun.
After wiping the last table, Seti stood up and wiped her sweat with the back of her hand. She looked at the door with surprise. The light at the door dimmed, and a few cloaked travelers walked in. They were guests. Seti was surprised that there would be guests at this time of the year. Since the war in Metz, the number of merchants on the road had decreased. The business of the hotel was getting worse and worse. The owner of the hotel even decided to close for the time being.
The first person to walk in was a foreigner. He had long dark brown hair that was rarely seen in the Empire. His face was somewhat handsome. Although it couldn't be said that one would fall in love with him at first sight, at least his facial features were well-defined and handsome. His brown eyes contained a divine light, and his expression was filled with warmth. It was as if one would feel a sense of familiarity at first glance.
Behind him, there was a taller man who seemed to be his companion. He looked even more handsome and wore a hood. Although he took it off as soon as he entered the house, revealing his slightly curly short hair that reached his ears. He looked around with a cynical look in his eyes.
Behind him were a few girls. Seti could not help but feel strange. Who would bring so many girls with them at this time of the year? She could not help but suspect that they were a group of slave traders. However, she quickly realized that she was mistaken. These girls were obviously not simple. Just the look in the eyes of some of them made her not dare to look at them directly. She had only seen this kind of aggressive temperament from the real big shots in the city. How could they be female slaves?
"What a strange caravan." Seti noticed the caravan parked outside the hotel. Only traveling merchants would use this kind of caravan to travel to and from the Bank District.
The people who entered the hotel were Brando and his companions.
Thankfully, the old caravan they bought from Eleven Leaf Town had safely arrived at their destination before it fell apart. It was the hotel with the name 'Cat and Beard' written on the signboard.
Not more than ten miles from Rusta, this old Renaissance building stood on the banks of the Silver Bridge of Holy Waters. It was plain on the outside, except that it was a little too shabby. The paint on the sign and door was peeling badly, and the roof was patched up in many places. But the windows were bright and clean, and there were a few pots of ivy on the windowsill beside the door. They were well taken care of by its owner.
The inn's business seemed to be very quiet, probably because of its remote location. Delphine mentioned that this was the farthest inn from the east gate of Rushta. Only some merchants who did not have much money would stay here temporarily.
However, this was the reason why they chose this hotel.
Seclusion meant safety.
The waitress of this inn was actually a mountain girl. Her long hair was as red as fire under the setting sun, and he was a little surprised. But when they went up the stairs, Ciel turned back and said with a smile: "It looks like the little girl is suspicious, so it's just as Lady Sidney said, our disguise isn't very good."
Brando came back to his senses and replied, "This is what I expected."
"I thought you would be troubled by this, my lord."
"I won't be troubled by useless things. I just don't want to do useless things."
"What do you mean by useless things?" The Shire sighed, "It's been a while since I heard a new word from you, my lord."
Brando slapped his mouth in annoyance, "It's meaningless things."
At this time, the Roman who was walking in front was paying attention to their conversation. Of course, she had been eavesdropping on their conversation. She had long forgotten about her anger at Brando in the carriage. When she heard this sentence, she could not help but deliberately fall behind and asked with her eyes wide open.
"But how can it be meaningless? If Her Majesty catches us, will she hang us on the gallows? I heard that the nobles treat their prisoners like this. If that's the case, should we disguise ourselves or something? "
"Because it's useless." Delfien who was walking by the side answered.
Ever since she started taking the spring water, the scars on her face had faded quite a bit. At least, she didn't look so hideous anymore. Some parts of her face had even started to shed, revealing the new skin that was as smooth as mutton fat.
Most importantly, she no longer needed to rely on the wheelchair to move. Although she still had some mobility issues, at least she could move freely like a normal person.
"Useless?"
Brando nodded, "When we were on the road, did the patrolling Knight not stop to check on us when they passed by us?"
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"The key lies in the frequency. We've encountered too many patrolling knights along the way. As far as I know, such knights would only do a routine patrol around the periphery of the imperial capital in the early morning and before the evening on normal days. This means that Her Majesty the Queen has strengthened the security around the imperial capital, but she did not order them to check on the floating population entering Rushta. "
"Is that so?"
"Yes." Delfien nodded, but she glanced at Brando with some surprise. She did not expect him to be so familiar with this place. After all, many natives of Rushta did not know how the security around the imperial capital worked.
The Shire smiled, apparently already knowing the answer to this question. "This means that the hospitable Her Majesty the Queen has implemented a method of security. It seems that she is very confident in her tentacles. She is only afraid that we will not enter the city."
"In other words, as long as we enter the city, she will be able to find us?"
Brando nodded, "At least that's what the Silver Queen thinks."
Romaine analyzed what she had learned and could not help but frown, "If that's the case, Brando, should we split up?"
"Hmm?"
"That means, let me bring Brunhilda and the others into the city to attract the Queen's attention. You and Teacher Mephisto find a way to sneak into the city to save Scarlett —"
Brando could not help but feel angry and amused at the same time. He patted her on the forehead, "What are you thinking? Things are not that bad yet. I don't think the Silver Queen will make things difficult for us so soon."
Roman hurriedly covered his forehead and dodged backwards, asking, "Why?"
"I don't know why," Brando shook his head and replied softly, "But I have a feeling that the Silver Queen is waiting for us to enter the city —"
… …
After the sun had set below the horizon, the curtain of night had truly enveloped Rushta. In the darkness, specks of light floated up and down like stars in the distant horizon. Further away, flashes of light flashed across the pitch-black sky from time to time. Only those who lived in Rushta knew that it was actually the ornithopter of the Nazer people.
As Rushta was near the border of the Nazer people, both sides had a large number of troops stationed at the eastern border. Even under the night sky, there were still groups of pegasus Knight and magic-guided ornithopters patrolling the crisscrossing sky.
Vahina stood by the window and stared at the quietly flowing river under the moonlight. She could not help but recall the scene of the last time she came to the imperial capital. Things had changed with the passage of time, and she had fallen from the status that was revered by the people to the clouds. Forget about maintaining the glory of the past, even her father and brother were imprisoned in the belly of this terrifying 'beast' in front of her.
But she did not know why, but at this moment, her heart was calm.
* Knock knock knock * Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Everyone in the room turned around and saw Medissa pushing open the door and entering the room in her martial attire.
She closed the door behind her and breathed a sigh of relief before looking at Brendel. "My lord."
"Metisha, how is it?" Brando nodded at her. He had sent her out to gather information, and from her expression, she seemed to have found something.
Metisha replied, "It's alright, it's not too troublesome. My Lord, the engagement ceremony will be held half a month later. At that time, there will be a banquet in the Garden of the White Rose in the Saint Contifer Palace. There will also be a celebration in the city. In fact, Rushta has been preparing for this since a week ago. "
Brando could not help but snort coldly. Obviously, he was very disdainful of what Cruz had done to Scarlett, "It seems that the Silver Queen wants to use this to dilute the atmosphere in the imperial capital. But I don't think it will be effective. She doesn't even think about what she has done before."
"It's just to get rid of the dissidents." Delfien replied calmly.
Metisha could not help but look at the prime minister's daughter. She frowned slightly before continuing her report, "Countess Lache of Wa, I mean Scarlett, is said to be living in a castle outside of Rushta. But when I went to see the place, it was empty."
"Is it fake news, or has she been moved?" Brando asked.
"She should have been moved, my Lord. I was worried that the Silver Queen had left some spies in the vicinity, so I did not dare to stay for too long. But later on, I asked around and found out that there was indeed an important person who lived in the castle before, but they moved out a few weeks ago."
"It seems that the Silver Queen has already predicted our arrival. Otherwise, she would not have to do this." Delfien was indifferent to Metisha's gaze and analyzed with a calm voice.
Brendel did not answer, but he did not have any objections. He had already expected this, and Amandina's analysis was exactly the same as well.
"What about the others?" He asked again.
Metisha turned her head, "Miss Delfien, your father and grandfather are imprisoned in the Moss Castle. The commander of the Azure Army and the Duke of Flower Leaf are also imprisoned. But as far as I know, the higher-ups of the Holy Cathedral are not imprisoned there. As for the whereabouts of the Great Cathedral, not many people know. Many people do not seem to know what happened in the Holy Cathedral that day, nor do they know that the Holy Cathedral of Fire has now been divided into two. "
Hearing this, the Saintess of the Leo Palace, Sidney, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, frowned slightly. Faena showed an anxious expression, "Metisha, I …"
"The Moss Castle is not a special prison," Delfien interrupted her, "That is the palace of the royal family, so they are only under house arrest. After all, my father, grandfather, and the Duke of Flower Leaf did not stand out to openly oppose the Silver Queen."
"What about that person? Why are they being arrested?" Romaine was counting the expenses of the recent days, and could not help but raise her head and ask curiously when she heard this.
"Because they did not immediately express their stance. The Silver Queen is going to do something too big this time. For safety reasons, she will first suppress all unstable factors to the minimum."
"Miss Delphine," Medissa's dissatisfaction became more obvious when she heard Delphine's words. "According to what you said, I don't see any reason for you to choose His Lordship. What the Silver Queen needs is the attitude of the House of Nidevan, and you represent the attitude of the House of Nidevan. I don't know what you're planning, but if you dare to harm His Lordship —"
The Silver Fairy Princess pursed her lips and did not finish her sentence. But looking at her cold eyes, Delfien knew what she was going to say next.
Brando was also slightly startled, and could not help but look at Metisha with some surprise. He knew that Metisha had never truly accepted this daughter of the Prime Minister, but this was the first time she had made her stance so clear.
Delfien smiled, and only raised her head to look at Brando with her light purple eyes. She did not answer.
"Miss Delfien …" Brando could not help but speak.
"Does the Count not trust me?"
"But you do have more choices, don't you?" The Shire finally interjected, choosing to side with Metisha.
Delfien could not help but gently shake her head.
Brando sighed, "It's because of the change in the Ivy League, right?"
The Prime Minister's daughter turned her head with a 'you knew it' look on her face. She hesitated for a moment, and then nodded gently, "But that is only one of the reasons. My grandfather never supported the late Emperor to pass the throne to the Silver Queen, so His Majesty supported the Palut family to counterbalance the power of the Prime Minister. They used this method once when the royal family fought against the Holy Cathedral, but this time it was not as good as the last time."
"The change in the Ivy League," Mephistopheles, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke, "is it referring to that matter?"
Everyone's eyes were on him.
"… I, I just happened to know."
"Mephistopheles, you're not a revenant from Madara?" Brando only then realized that he did not know much about the vampire siblings. He knew about the past of Metisha, The Shire, the Nightsong Tiger, and Felaern. Even Hipamira would occasionally mention some of her experiences in the Holy Cathedral of Earth, but Mephistopheles and Andrique had always been tight-lipped about their origins.
Before this, he had always thought that before they became card creatures, they were just ordinary dark nobles from Madara, or perhaps they had some background. But when he heard Mephistopheles' words, he knew that he was wrong.
Mephistopheles was not a revenant from Madara. He was most likely born in Metz, or else he would not have known about what happened back then.
Mephistopheles looked at him and nodded, "My Lord, you guessed right. My sister and I are not dark nobles from Madara. We were from Cruz when we were alive, and Metz was our hometown."
"So it wasn't a coincidence that I summoned all of you out of the tomb that day?" Brendel nodded.
"I don't know much about the laws of the Cards of Fate, but perhaps that is the case."
"I understand," Brando replied, "Since you were once from Metz, then you must have personally experienced that incident back then?"
"Not exactly, but my sister Andrique and I did go through that dark period of history. I only remember that my family and friends died in that turmoil, even myself. That period of history was even crueler than the narration. Sir John Lorison's experience was just the tip of the iceberg."
Mephistopheles smiled faintly, "I really don't want to recall too much about that period of history. If it wasn't for my Lord mentioning it, I wouldn't have even brought it up."
"I'm sorry." Brando did not expect that he would accidentally reopen a scar and could not help but feel apologetic.
"It's alright, my Lord. Time will heal all scars." Mephistopheles smiled, "It was after the Holy War, and the Holy Cathedral of Fire was facing a general decline of faith and confusion. The undead and the cultists took advantage of the situation and stirred up trouble within the Empire. The Holy Cathedral of Fire was most heavily infiltrated by All for One during that period, and there are still many historical problems left behind. I remember that during the most chaotic period, East Metz and Mehotofen, which are close to Arjean, bore the brunt of the attack. There were even a few dukes who were bewitched — "
"I, I heard about it," Vahina suddenly spoke, "I heard from my wet nurse about the scene at that time. It was said that many people died at that time. Countless people were crucified every day, and the nobles were also full of assassinations and conspiracies. That was the darkest period of the Metz region. The countryside was the territory of the witches and heretics. They pulled out the tendons of the people and skinned them, using the harshest methods to torture the priests and believers of the Holy Cathedral."
"It was the same in the cities. Every day, there were witches being burned at the stake. Similar scenes were happening all the time." Mephistopheles recalled the scene at that time and could not help but frown.
"I never thought that such a thing would happen in the Empire." The Shire was a little surprised. Although he had heard of the turmoil, he did not experience it for himself. He could not imagine how serious it was. "What happened after that?"
"After that, it was the so-called Ivy League Rebellion. The chaos in East Metz turned into a real turmoil. Several famous nobles died in the chaos, and some of them were comrades and close friends of Nidevan's who had fought side by side with him." Sidney spoke at this time. As a person involved in the Holy Cathedral, she could be said to be the one who knew what happened the most. "In a fit of rage, the old chancellor was ordered by the Silver Queen to lead the army into East Metz and quell the rebellion in one fell swoop. He even captured two of the twelve patriarchs of the Tree Herders."
"Two?" Brando noticed the number.
"The Lord of Filthy Blood, Loclair, and the Withered Whip, Lainey. But the latter escaped during the process of being escorted."
"He escaped, but my grandfather always suspected that Her Majesty let him go." Delfien finally spoke. "At that time, Her Majesty and my grandfather had a great disagreement on how to deal with the cultists. In fact, according to the law of the Holy Cathedral, the cultists should have been beheaded long ago. But the last one escaped, and the last one is still imprisoned in the Thorn Fortress. Most of the cultists and fallen dark lords were only sealed and not completely destroyed. Sir John Lorison was just one of them."
"This was the order given by the Silver Queen herself." She sighed. "What puzzled my grandfather the most was that the Holy Cathedral actually backed down."
"This matter sowed a grudge between Her Majesty and my grandfather. But not just because of personal reasons, but because my grandfather saw that Her Majesty had other intentions. Although he was not biased towards the Holy Cathedral, but as a veteran of the Imperial Faction, he did not want to see the Imperial Family and the Holy Cathedral truly break apart, and thus lead the Empire to eternal damnation. "
She took a light breath and said, "So everyone should understand now. Now that everything has happened, it's even more impossible for my grandfather to stand with Her Majesty. This is also the reason why Her Majesty secretly plotted to make me leave the capital. I should have seen through this long ago, but I was blinded by hatred."
"Me, me too." Vahina looked at Brando and gritted her teeth. "I can represent Mehotofen, Brando. I will stand on your side. I am the first in line to inherit Flower Leaf Territory. I can make this promise."
"Miss Vahina." Metisha looked at her and comforted her. "Don't worry, we are not targeting you."
"Thank you, Medissa." Her Royal Highness of Flower Collar couldn't help but blush.
Delfien ignored Metisha's words. She turned to Brando and asked, "So my lord, what should we do next?"
"There is still half a month," Brando replied. "Seems like there is still plenty of time. We will do our best to find out where Scarlet is being held. I will only consider launching an attack on the day of the celebration if there is no other choice. But before that, we need to find a way to invade Tessburg. On one hand, we need to save your and Vahina's loved ones. On the other hand, we need to gain more allies. "
He glanced at Sidney. "It would be best if we can find out where the Holy Cathedral's higher-ups are being held."
"Will they be killed by Her Majesty?" The Shire suddenly interrupted.
"She will not do that," the Lion Palace's Saintess finally spoke. "Before we obtain the Holy Sword Oderfeiss —"
"Then let's do that. We will split up and investigate," Brando replied. "Even though the Silver Queen is confident that she will be able to find us, we still have time to play hide-and-seek with her."
He paused for a moment.
"I will give her a surprise."
… …
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