Three days ago, in a courtyard of Baron Ludwig's castle.
Brando, accompanied by Maynild and The Shire, arrived at the courtyard behind the castle. The entire courtyard was covered by the shade of a giant oak tree. Under the oak tree, a woman with shoulder-length black hair sat in a wheelchair. Sunlight shone through the branches and scattered on her body. She didn't move at all. Beside her stood a tall silver-haired woman. The silver-haired woman was Silver Dragon Mistress Mithral. The woman in the wheelchair was a stunning beauty, but her exposed skin and face were extremely horrifying. Her skin was covered in burn scars, and pieces of necrotic brown skin were molting. The new red skin that was left behind after the molting didn't match her white skin at all.
If it were any other woman who suffered such a blow, they might have gone insane. However, Delfien, the daughter of the prime minister, sat quietly in her wheelchair. One of her eyes was already blind, but her other eye was as calm as ever. Deep within the purple pupil, there was a deep light. It was as if this disaster didn't happen to her and didn't affect her at all.
When Brando saw the prime minister's daughter again, he couldn't help but be stunned. The first time he saw this woman in the Loop of Trade Winds, she was indeed like this. But when he saw her again, this prime minister's daughter had become an unreasonable shrew. He couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. He didn't know which one was the real her. However, this prime minister's daughter was quite famous in history. She was a famous genius of the empire. Knight Maynild beside Brando was calmer. Seeing that Brando didn't say anything, she spoke on his behalf. "Delfien, you want to see us?"
The prime minister's daughter looked up at her and Brando and nodded. "I want to negotiate with you."
"Negotiate?"
Delfien didn't mention what happened before. Brando knew that this woman was famous in history for her wisdom. Since she didn't bring it up, it meant that she had thought it through. She didn't care to talk about the past because she knew it wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't make any difference, and it wouldn't make up for what she lost. It was a pure waste of time. Such a woman was frighteningly calm, so Brando also became serious. He wanted to hear what she was going to say.
Unlike normal people, Delfien didn't want to talk about the ins and outs. Skipping the beginning, she said, "I came here through a mercenary called Solinz. He's quite famous around the imperial capital. He's also known as the Owl. He has a subordinate called Boli Firefelt. He's a dwarf, but I suspect that the two of them aren't on the same side. It's all thanks to these mercenaries that I was able to leave the imperial capital and find you near the Surging Milky Way. They were able to escape from the people my father sent to chase me, bypass the encirclement of Jorgendy Ridge's army, and find a small diplomatic group like yours. I thought they were quite capable. "
Before Brando could react, Maynild answered coldly. "There's no such powerful mercenary in this world. In other words, you were able to find them because someone wanted you to find us." Brando heard this and couldn't help but look at Maynild in surprise. He felt that Maynild's tone was very similar to the senior he was familiar with.
"It's not someone. It's Her Majesty the Queen who wanted me to find you. Later, I learned that they have a direct superior called Rodney. He's a count of the empire. I'm sure you already know him."
"Her Majesty the Queen? Why? "
Delfien didn't even have the slightest expression on her face, as if she was narrating something that had nothing to do with her. "I'm also curious as to why Her Majesty the Queen has repeatedly caused trouble for a mere Count Erouine."
"Repeatedly?" Maynild asked.
"And the last time in Tónigel." This time, Brando reacted.
The words of the Prime Minister's daughter immediately planted a seed of doubt in his heart. Yes, after the explosion in the heart of the Deadly Tundra, Constance came to find trouble with him. It could be said that she was testing him because of the Azure Lance. But before that, he and Her Majesty the Queen had no interaction at all. Although he made the Holy Cathedral of Fire suffer a lot in Ampere Seale, the world knew that the Holy Cathedral of Fire was the Holy Cathedral of Fire, and the Empire was the Empire. The Silver Queen should be thanking him, and even less likely to cause trouble for him. The enmity between Delfien and him was formed in the Loop of Trade Winds. Such a thing should be insignificant in the eyes of someone as high as Constance, but not only did she notice it, she even took the trouble to make use of it. This was not something that a supreme person of the Empire would do, unless she was so bored that she would pay attention to the daily activities of the nobles in the small countries around her.
It was possible to say that there were a few emperors in the history of the Empire who were controlled by the Holy Cathedral, but the Silver Queen was definitely not such a person. Now it seemed that not only did she have the Empire's government to deal with, she also had a lot of things to prepare in private.
How could she find the time to pay attention to an insignificant existence like him?
This was obviously premeditated.
But the problem that puzzled Brando was how the Silver Queen knew of his existence. There was only one reason why she was targeting him, and that was that she already knew that he had the inheritance of the Dark Dragon. But how did she find out? Or was this a mysterious connection between the inheritors of the Dark Dragon? But this was obviously nonsense. Why was Her Majesty the Queen able to sense him, but he couldn't sense her at all? And it was unlikely that it was because he was Darius' grandson. Constance had obviously absorbed the gray gemstone from his grandfather, and if she was interested in an old friend like him, it should be because she wanted to repay his kindness.
Of course, Brando didn't expect the Queen to remember his grandfather's kindness to her in the past. He would be thankful as long as she didn't cause trouble for him. He shook his head and suddenly remembered Delfien's words. This daughter of the Prime Minister said that she wanted to negotiate with them, so she must have some ideas about the ins and outs of the whole thing.
These were her conditions.
Delfien saw Brando's gaze return to her and knew that he had thought it through. She said bluntly, "These are my conditions."
"What do you want?" Brando thought that this daughter of the Prime Minister wanted nothing more than freedom. After this incident, the enmity between them was extremely deep, but she obviously couldn't take revenge here. She had to find a way to return to the Imperial Capital, or at the very least, leave this place where she was being watched. But what Brando didn't expect was that Delfien replied, "I heard that you have an assistant in Erouine. I met her once in your territory. She is an outstanding noble and I believe that she can manage your territory well. But with this ability, she can only be regarded as an outstanding female official. She is far from qualified to be an assistant. "
When Brando heard this, he didn't react for a moment. When he finally understood the true meaning of these words, he was stunned and stared at the daughter of the Prime Minister in shock.
"What … do you mean by this?"
"My meaning is already very clear. You just don't want to believe it. There is a most outstanding candidate in front of you. It depends on whether you are willing to accept it or not." Delfien replied indifferently. Her voice was a little hoarse, perhaps because of the burning of her vocal cords. "I am very confident in myself. I believe that in the entire Empire, there is no one more outstanding than me."
"But …" Brando felt a little dizzy. Although he wasn't the direct cause of this daughter of the Prime Minister becoming like this, if she wanted to vent her anger on him, he definitely couldn't escape. Not to mention that he had previously 'caused' her fiancé's death. At least, he knew that Delfien definitely thought so. Putting himself in her shoes, Brando felt that if he was in her shoes, he would definitely stab his enemy to death. Even if he couldn't kill him, he would definitely not treat him kindly. However, the thinking of this young lady in front of him was clearly different from that of ordinary people. Brando originally thought that his thinking as a transmigrator was already very unique in this world, but compared to this lady, it was simply too vulgar.
"Why did you do this? What's your motive?" Maynild very calmly asked the question he wanted to ask the most at this moment.
"I thought about it. Her Majesty the Queen urged me to leave the Imperial Capital for two reasons." Delfien still spoke in the same way. "The first is to send a letter —"
"A letter?"
Delphine explained carefully, "I obviously can't really cause you any trouble. Although I once thought that I could, at that time, I didn't have a clear understanding of your strength. I won't deceive myself. At least from what I see today, I was quite naïve at that time. Since I can see this point today, Her Majesty the Queen must have known this long ago. Then, she asked me to be by your side, is it just to make you feel disgusted? I don't think Her Majesty the Queen has the leisure to do so, so there's only one possibility. She asked me to appear by your side for some other purpose. I carefully recalled the entire process of my actions. In the process of my actions, I don't seem to have caused you any trouble. So, either Her Majesty the Queen's plan failed, or she must have achieved her goal through some means that I can't imagine beforehand. "
"My Lord." She inadvertently changed the way she addressed him. "You must know that reality is not a bedtime story. In reality, the more complicated a plan is, the higher the chances of it failing. Since Her Majesty the Queen spent so much effort to arrange a chess piece like me, she obviously didn't intend for it to fail. So, after careful analysis, I came to a conclusion. In Her Majesty's plan, as long as I appear in front of you, her plan will succeed. "
Brando was confused. It took him a while to sort out the logical relationship in this paragraph. "You're saying that, when you appear by my side, you've already sent a message." Before he finished speaking, he suddenly frowned. If Delfien's words were not aimless or deliberately misleading, then there was a big problem. What message did Constance send, and who did she send the message to?
This meant that there was likely to be someone planted by the Silver Queen around him.
He immediately remembered what Delfien said earlier. If Constance had spies around him from the beginning, then her subsequent actions would make sense. Why would she be so interested in him, a small person in a remote area, and repeatedly find trouble with him? It was obvious that she knew about his existence from the beginning. Brando suddenly realized that the Silver Queen had obtained the inheritance of the Dark Dragon for nearly twenty years. Compared to him, she obviously knew more about the Dark Dragon. Within such a short period of time, he had witches who came to seek refuge with him. So, there was no reason why Constance didn't have witches following her.
Therefore, it was very likely that the Silver Queen had planted spies among the witches. When Babasha announced the appearance of him, the successor of the Dark Dragon, he had already entered the Queen's sight. The more Brando thought about it, the more he felt that this was very likely. Recently, he had a vague feeling that someone was encouraging the nobles to cause trouble in Fathom Harbor, but he had not been able to find the culprit until today.
Brando was silent for a while and frowned. There was a spy around him, but he did not know who the spy was. There were too many possibilities. It could be mercenaries, adventurers, or even witches. The composition of the power in Abies Territory was too complicated, but there was no other way. Other than the Planeswalker cards, he did not have his own people to use in the early stages of Tónigel's development.
Seeing Brando's expression, Delfien knew that he had figured out the cause and effect. She remained silent until Brando continued to ask, "Miss Delfien, what do you think Her Majesty the Queen wants you to convey?"
"As I said earlier, Her Majesty the Queen wants me to leave the Kingdom for two reasons. The second reason is that she wants me to leave my father and grandfather. In fact, this is a private secret. Currently, I have been at the helm of the Nidevon family. My grandfather is old, and my father is far from his ability. In addition, my position in my grandfather's heart is extremely important. If I leave the Kingdom, I will fall into Her Majesty's control. If she continues to threaten me … "Delfien paused for a moment," I haven't received any news from the outside for many days. But I'm sure you know the situation in the Kingdom. "
Brando heard her words and could not help but feel shocked. The fate of the Nidevon family was actually in the hands of a young girl who was not even 20 years old. She clearly knew how important he was, and yet she still dared to leave the Kingdom to seek revenge. If one were to say that this was reckless, it was indeed reckless. He had personally experienced this kind of recklessness. She had repeatedly sought revenge on him and caused him quite a bit of trouble.
However, if one were to say that this woman was brainless, it was clear that even if Brando was brainless, Miss Delfien was definitely not brainless. This could only mean one thing. The person who died in the Loop of Trade Winds, named Viscount Elman, was very important to this woman. He could not help but feel a little jealous. To be able to make such a genius fall in love with him, that fellow was really lucky.
After a moment of silence, he nodded. "Your grandfather and father are under house arrest, just like the other nobles who opposed Her Majesty the Queen. Right now, the entire Kingdom is under the control of the Silver Queen. There is no second voice."
Delphine wasn't surprised at all. She nodded. "That's my motive. I'm a member of the House of Nidwen. I can't just watch it fall. Although it's my fault that it ended up like this, now that I've calmed down, I won't be stubborn anymore."
Brando remained silent.
Delfien had a good reason and sufficient motive, but this woman was just too smart. How could he be sure that everything she said was true and not just to gain his trust and wait for an opportunity to deal a fatal blow? In the end, compared to Delfien, he was just a mortal. He knew that he could not let go of his hatred so easily, especially when he saw the crisscrossing scars on this woman's face. If he kept her by his side, she would definitely be a ticking time bomb, and the most terrifying kind.
He thought for a moment and replied, "You can work with me for the time being, but other than me, you actually have a better choice."
"You mean the Crown Prince?" Delfien shook her head. "Compared to him, I still think more highly of you. The Crown Prince has Ludwig's military aristocracy supporting him. The Nidevon family can't help him much at this time. Even if I stand by his side, it will only benefit me at most. This is not what I want. On the other hand, Your Lordship, although you are a foreigner, you are now considered an influential force in the empire. I hope that as long as Your Lordship is strong enough in the future, you can ensure the Nidevon family's influence in the empire. On the other hand, if the Nidevon family can maintain their influence in the upper echelons of the empire, it can also strengthen Your Lordship's position in Erouine. This is a win-win alliance. "
"You also know about the Crown Prince?" Brando was extremely shocked. He almost thought that there was a mole by his side. He didn't even tell the witches about this matter. Only the people closest to him knew about it.
"It's not hard to guess. I've followed Your Lordship all the way from Loen Harbor. I've seen Your Lordship reach this point today. It's already considered a desperate situation, and there's almost no way to break out of it. However, Your Lordship is still fearless. Clearly, you already have a trump card. I've summarized the recent events and can only conclude that the Crown Prince is still in your hands, "Delfien replied quietly.
When she said this, Brando and Maynild immediately frowned. However, Delfien seemed to know what they were worried about. She said, "Your Lordship, please don't worry. I've only been able to guess this because I've followed you all the way. The Silver Queen believes that she has planted someone by your side and is taking advantage of you at every step. She might not expect you to have a backup plan."
"But, didn't you say that she has planted a mole by my side?"
The Prime Minister's daughter smiled. "I'm sure Your Lordship is very strict with your Lordship. The mole that Her Majesty the Queen has planted can't always deliver information to Your Lordship's ears. Otherwise, she wouldn't have arranged such a plan for me to deliver the information. From this, it can be seen that this mole is just a hidden chess piece that Your Lordship has arranged in advance. This chess piece hasn't really come into play yet."
Brando thought about it and agreed. His territory was very different from the territories of other nobles. He had a lot of mages under his command. It wouldn't be easy to secretly send any information out of Abies territory through magic. Thinking about it this way, the Silver Queen had planted a mole by his side. It was very likely that she really knew about his existence, but as for how many secrets she knew about him, she probably didn't know too much.
He nodded, and the question returned to the original one.
"But," Brando asked, "How can you prove that what you're saying is true? I'm a layman, and I really don't feel at ease with having an enemy by my side. I might let you go, but as an aide … You know, there's nothing between us other than enmity."
"I have no way to prove it." Delfien answered quietly. Her remaining eye shone brightly. "But I have something you want. The Silver Queen has obviously decided to use the mole by your side. She's secretly targeting you, Your Lordship, but Your Lordship doesn't seem to have any idea how to deal with it —"
Brando took a deep breath.
… …
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