"Who is it?" Brando asked.
"A man from Cruz. He said he was looking for us. When we met this guy, he was being hunted down. We saved him from the Cult." As Charles spoke, he waved his hand behind him. The bushes rustled, and a young man in ragged clothes walked out from within. The young man's face was pale, and he looked like he was still in shock. His grayish-blue eyes were filled with vigilance. Finally, his gaze landed on Brando.
Brando felt that the young man looked familiar at first glance. Then, he remembered that he had seen the young man before. It was near the Cat and Beard Inn. Judging from how close he was with the young waitress, they must be lovers.
He remembered that the two of them went out together, but now, only the young man had returned. Something must have happened.
However, the city was in chaos right now, so it wasn't surprising that anything would happen. Fortunately, the girl named Seti was a kind and easy-going girl. Zhang Heng frowned. Subconsciously, he hoped that nothing would happen to her. If something were to happen to her at this time, even he wouldn't be able to help her.
He thought for a moment and asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Although the young man named Alcra was down and out, his mind was still clear. He said, "My lord, please help us. The Secret Society's disciples want to use Seti to deal with you."
Brando immediately became alert. "What do you mean? What's going on?"
Alcra then repeated the conversation he heard between the Secret Society's disciples in his own language. Brando realized that the young man's language skills were outstanding. In just a few sentences, he was able to describe the whole incident. Brando was furious. He did not want to provoke the Secret Society, but he did not expect them to come knocking on his door.
He was worried for a while, but then he remembered that the Roman had White Mist with him. He calmed down a little. No matter what, the girl was just an ordinary person, and White Mist was the contracted spirit of the Witch Empress. The chance of poisoning White Mist was too slim. The Tree Herders obviously did not think of this.
Only then did he put away his worries and notice the suspicious points in the young man's words. However, before he could say anything, Charles, who was beside him, voiced his thoughts first.
"These people are really digging their own graves." The Shire frowned. "Fortunately, the Roman lady had White Mist with her. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable. But how did they know the relationship between the Roman lady and my lord?"
Alcra was worried about Seti but he knew that both of them were responsible for this incident. He hesitated for a moment before replying, "I'm sorry, Seti and I told them … The Conclave has many informants in Rushta and most of them are ordinary people like us. We only told them that there were guests in the inn but we didn't know that the young lady … was your fiancée."
Old Nidevan, who was watching from the side, suddenly spoke. "There's no doubt that only the people around Her Majesty the Queen would know your identity, and the only one who has the motive to order the cultists to do such a thing is that person. It seems like our previous guess was correct."
"What guess?" Charles had not experienced the previous discussion, so he could not help but be confused when he heard this.
"It's the Dragon Queen." Medissa walked over and answered. She then explained to Nidevan about Prime Minister Nidevan's speculations.
The young wizard servant couldn't help but reveal a rather shocked expression. He pondered for a moment before saying, "It's that baby girl from back then?"
"What did you say?" Brando immediately looked at The Shire.
The Shire slapped his forehead. "I suddenly remember a lot of things. Remember when you asked me about Miss Amandina's father in Braggs? I suddenly remembered that I was looking for something just like them."
"What is it?"
"Are you Mister The Shire?" Brando and Old Nidevan asked at the same time, but Old Nidevan was obviously more confused. He looked at The Shire carefully. "Why are you still so … young?"
The Shire did not answer the question. Instead, he continued. "Perhaps it's the answer to a question. It's like a clue scattered in my mind. I often remember looking for something in the Alcala region, but there's no systematic answer. It's like a fragmented dream after a long sleep."
"Then what is it?"
"What I remember is not the same as what Mr. Tulman said. I remember that your grandfather and the princess brought back a baby girl. That baby girl was wrapped in a piece of bright amber. That night, only Shippard, Pamid, and I witnessed it. That's right, Shippard is Miss Amandina's father."
"What happened at that time?" Old Nidevan's voice was trembling, like a puzzle that had been pursued for decades and was finally about to be solved. At this moment, it had nothing to do with the queen, the Imperium, or even the truth itself. Even in his dreams, the old man was troubled by the puzzle itself that was made up of countless complicated knots.
Brando pursed his lips. This puzzle had also troubled him for a long time.
"I remember that Her Royal Highness wasn't in a good condition at that time. Oh, that's Her Royal Highness today. She looked very weak and emotionally unstable. She avoided us and secretly discussed with your grandfather for a long time. In the end, your grandfather brought the baby girl out and asked us to find a reliable person to send her away. He also asked us to keep this a secret."
"Her Majesty was not in good condition at that time. How bad was it? Were there any obvious external injuries?" Old Nidevan asked.
"No, there were none. But she looked very weak, as if she was suffering from a serious illness. Her mental state was also very unstable. I remember that she was against taking the baby girl away for a while, and sometimes she was sobbing softly. She seemed very helpless. Of course, this is my personal judgment."
"What about Mister Darius?"
"Mister Darius' face looked very heavy."
"Was that before or after?"
"What before, what after?"
"Before or after Her Majesty entered the final battlefield?" Old Nidevan asked loudly.
The Shire looked at the former prime minister of the empire strangely and replied, "Of course it was after. They brought the baby girl out from there."
"Before that, how was Her Majesty?"
"Very good. There was nothing wrong."
Old Nidevan took a deep breath and seemed to be a little hesitant.
The others were far away and did not understand what was going on. They thought that they were arguing. The sound of the argument spread far away. A few stray dogs were wandering around the edge of the forest. When they saw the crowd, they ran away with their tails between their legs.
Someone saw a fire in the direction of Rushta. The stars lit up the dark night sky.
The air was filled with the smell of dryness and burning.
"Are you sure that the baby girl was wrapped in amber, The Shire?" Brando asked.
The Shire nodded.
"What happened after that?"
"We found a reliable person in the alliance. Your father's fiancée, Princess Gloria, who was serving as the envoy of Erouine in the alliance at that time, entrusted her to bring the baby girl back to Erouine overnight."
"What happened after that? Did you see her?"
"Later, when I returned to Erouine, I saw her once. It was about three years after the Holy War, in a small town near Randner."
"What about the baby girl?"
The Shire shook his head, "I did not ask, and she did not say. I only asked her some things about your grandfather."
"Some things about my grandfather."
"Yes. Four days after we sent the baby girl away, the Bugas and dragons arrived. Her Highness' attitude was very cold, and what she described was completely different from what happened at that time. This meant that your grandfather had to take the blame for her. The three of us who knew the inside story did not understand. We asked your grandfather about it, but he was not willing to say more. You know what happened after that … "
The young wizard sighed, "For the next few decades, the three of us have been searching for the answer to this question. Now it seems that the one closest to the truth should be Shippard, but he died too early."
Brando looked at him deeply and replied, "Perhaps you are the same, The Shire."
The Shire paused for a moment before he reacted, "Perhaps, my lord."
Brando looked at the old Prime Minister beside him. The old man's face was a mixture of confusion and contemplation. "I seem to have grasped something, but I always feel that there is a layer of window paper between us. This feeling is really uncomfortable." The latter could not help but shake his head.
"No matter what the truth is, we have to be on our way. Perhaps when we meet Her Highness, we will be able to answer the last question in our hearts."
He glanced at the burning city of Rushta and gently closed the form in his pocket watch.
At this moment, Alcra, who had been staring at Little Nidevan beside Old Nidevan, suddenly asked carefully, "You are the Prime Minister?"
Little Nidevan was slightly taken aback. Not many people around his father would address him that way. But when he saw the latter, he immediately understood. In the entire Empire, there were not many people who could associate him with the title of Prime Minister of the Empire. But in Rushta and the surrounding areas, there were still many who could recognize him.
He nodded silently.
Alcra could not help but look at the others present. He could not recognize many of these nobles. He originally thought that they were just Brando's servants, but Little Nidevan's appearance had obviously changed his opinion.
When his gaze fell on Old Nidevan, he could not help but feel even more complicated. He almost could not believe it. The old Prime Minister was at the peak of his power in the Empire, but after the death of Grand Emperor Grantocrates, he also lived in seclusion for decades. If not for the fact that he looked somewhat similar to Little Nidevan, Alcra would not have believed that this was the legendary figure in front of him.
Once he was convinced of this, the way he looked at Brendel was completely different.
"My Lord." He carefully lowered his head and spoke respectfully.
Brando glanced at him. Although this young man and the girl's actions might cause trouble for him, he knew that they had no choice. Besides, Seti's brother did die on the battlefield of Ampere Seale. Although he was not the one who started the war, he could not blame the girl.
Perhaps this was the biggest mistake of the Holy Cathedral and Her Majesty. They had unknowingly changed the fate of many people, but they had never felt guilty about it.
This kind of arrogance had been deeply rooted in the nobles' hearts for hundreds of years.
He replied, "Don't worry. The White Mist knows what it is doing. Seti is just an ordinary person. It will not do anything to her."
Alcra did not know who the White Mist was, but such a noble made him feel at ease. He looked at Little Nidevan and the old Prime Minister and could only feel relieved. Not to mention, this noble's servant had saved his life.
After a moment of silence, he said, "My Lord, if you want to enter the city, I may know of a secret passage that can take you into the inner city."
"Secret passage?"
Brando was stunned.
"The nobles in the inner city built the passage. The priests of the Conclave bribed these nobles. I happen to know where the exit of one of the secret passages is." Alcra replied.
Brando was not interested in the secret passage itself. He only asked, "Is the passage guarded by the cultists? Are they the ones you mentioned?"
"Yes, but there aren't many people there on normal days. That secret passage is very remote and the entrance isn't big. It's a backup passage for the priests." He looked at the others present and calculated in his mind. "But I think it should be enough to pass through your subordinates."
"So the cultists prepared these secret passages for many people to pass through?"
Alcra paused for a moment. It was obvious that Brendel's question was out of his expectations, but he was a smart young man and immediately realized where the problem lay. He frowned and replied: "I'm not too sure, but I think that's the case."
"You said you know the location of one of the secret passages. Are there many of them?" Brando asked again.
"Not many, but there should be more than two or three."
Old Nidevan's eyes flashed as he listened to the conversation. "The inner city is in danger."
"This is our chance," Little Nidevan said excitedly. Little Nidevan seemed rather excited. "Her Majesty is too arrogant. Perhaps Dragon Queen Gwendolyn has deceived her. The Tree Shepherds must have made preparations."
"The problem is, we still don't know what she is after."
"There is no need to know," Brando replied softly, "We will not take the secret passage."
"Not the secret passage?" Alcra really did not understand what this noble was thinking.
Brando's face was cold as he replied coldly, "Before we meet Her Majesty, we will collect our debt —"
… …
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