Chapter 86

“I heard the news before, too. The Crown Princess was acting rudely. And her brother tried to embarrass himself, but Lord Panacio’s son, Captain Panacio, stepped forward and ended up making a terrible mess out of it? There was even a man from the Mansou family who got fired because of it and their whole heritage line is also receiving insults left and right?”

Arya gave Define a repulsive look and said,

“It’s a misunderstanding. When I questioned him, he immediately jumped up from his seat. He said he never insulted the Mansou family, and that he didn’t even know that the family was engaged in trafficking.”

“He must be lying. He probably overheard the story in the family and made a big mouthful of it to show off. What else would it be.”

Arya waved her hand up in the air, signaling the maid who was massaging her feet to leave. Then she sat with her legs crossed, leaning deeply against the sofa. Define clung to her.

“Not at all. That’s not the way to access such critical information. Also, he said he didn’t have any other choice from the situation. Because of the sudden appearance of the princess, and how the gatekeeper suddenly hurt her, he thought that if he had sided with Willis, he would have been forced into a corner and end up becoming prisoners together with him.”

Define lowered his body over Arya and said to her. She said nervously, sweeping her head away.

“She’s a very powerful girl. I thought she’d come crying to me when he was going to be taken away to jail, begging me for forgiveness for her wrongdoings, but to think she solved it in a way like that.”

“That’s why. By the way, the problem is that the Mansou Family is being completely misunderstood. They’re trying to eat the hounds when the hunt is over, and they’re trying to repay the money they borrowed before they can harvest it.”

“It’s understandable. I’ve been insulted by Lord Panacio.”

“Your Majesty, I don’t know what to do. I have to collect and sell wheat for cash, but they’re fussing at us to quickly pay them back right now…”

“Even if you don’t want to, first, you have to calm down. There’s not much time left until the big event. It’s time to coax as many people as possible in your arms. When Valore becomes the emperor, tell them that he’ll give them a one-year monopoly on the items they’re smuggling.”

“Okay. And…”

When Define looked at her with a still-shaky face, Arya asked in a nervous voice,

“Is there anything else?”

“The First Prince has doubts about the ability of the Imperial knights.”

“He’s suspecting their skills?”

“There was a competition between the Phoenix Knights and Lord Waters. The Phoenix Knights were defeated unilaterally, which is embarrassing to call it even a showdown.”

“The Waters are famous for their natural-born talents and also that of unrelated family. Moreover, the Phoenix Knights is a collection of trash, but just because the Imperial knights’ lost one battle of ability, he’s become suspicious.”

“There they talked about how the current Imperial family would rate expert classes. By changing the practice of continuing the sword while fighting, the Imperial knighthoods have been dumbed down.”

“You’re right, aren’t you? But you couldn’t help it. Didn’t they agree at the time?”

“At the time, even the first prince’s camp agreed to easily push their talents into the Imperial knights, but we have the right to make personnel decisions, which led to complaints. They say we need to re-verify the imperial knights’ skills. They said they couldn’t let knights who were inferior to mercenaries protect the imperial family. At this rate, we’re going to be blamed for the dishonor of using expedient methods to do business.”

“Leave it alone. How can they confirm it? Rather, try to be strong, attack them for trying to defame the Imperial knights. If anyone is suspicious of their abilities, they should be punished severely and be silent about it. Keep a tight rein on all the knights’ lips who were there that day. I don’t think anyone’s going to say anything about that day anyway. Even if they open their mouths, we can deny whatever it is. It’s more than that, isn’t it? It’s all about the Crown Princess Sienna. She was the first person to talk about Valore’s birth.”

Define trembled loudly when Arya put the rumor about Valore’s birth in her mouth. Then he looked up at Arya with a face full of resentment and said,

“That’s why. The empress said she must be a dumb bitch who has no idea of politics, but her behavior in the meantime is nothing to worry about.”

“I heard there’s no way a son of a bitch can come out from under the criminal. I thought she was a soft girl, but she must be feeling very proud.”

Arya stroked her wrist. The look of her eyes still vivid as she grasped her cheeks who seemed lively. If anyone saw her, they’d think she’d have the means to eat her parents alive. She had such a fierce look that made herself out to look that way.

“If the Crown Princess is too hard to handle, shouldn’t you take care of her before she gets into any more accidents? It seems there are other men as you said before…”

“We haven’t found any hard evidence yet. I’m sure that there has been a man going in and out of her bedroom. ”

“If there’s no physical evidence, we can just make it, isn’t that right?”

Arya gazed down at him with a pitiful sound and clicked her tongue.

“Didn’t that wicked woman make her name within the Holy Empire? If we try to make a false charge against her, we’ll end up taking the heat for nothing.”

“All she’s done is put her name in the Holy Empire. Do you really think they’re going to care about it?”

“Didn’t you see it on her wedding day? Princess Sienna has close relations to the high-ranking priest. Even if they don’t have close ties with each other, if we mention her injustice, they will outrightly say that the Holy Empire is right. They want to influence the Laifsden Empire by any means necessary. We shouldn’t provoke them thoughtlessly. Although they’re noisy ones, boasting about loudly on how they believe in God, they’re also crazy about war. There’s no answer if they show up with the Holy Knights to punish those who are afraid of their faith if we do something.”

Arya shook her head and said,

“It’s a war against Castro. It’s necessary to keep Carl at bay, but if we were to go to war with the Holy Empire…”

She stopped talking as if she didn’t want to think. Although she was covetous of the Emperor’s power, the Imperial power of the war was as good as trash for her.

“Well, those lunatics don’t make sense of negotiation. They’re supposed to be talking about God’s voice or his orders, and then you’re going to turn your eyes and attack him until there’s no more grass left, Danny. So they’re not going to lose Chuck with that little country. Why, of course, is the goddess the most powerful in the land? If I had believed in the goddess of the moon, I would have done it.”

“That’s what I’m like. It certainly wasn’t the Goddess of the Earth until the marriage was carried out as if it had broken up because it knew it would be like this.”

“What did you know? I guess I was just lucky.”

Arya nodded at Define’s words.

“I don’t think I can afford the leisure to care about Princess Sienna. We’re going to have a short time to go. I tried to move on after attracting more neutral people, but I don’t think I can. It’s already been three years since the Emperor disappeared. The excuse of illness is no longer working. First of all, the sorcerer says drugs alone can no longer stop corruption.”

“What a waste of time. Have you heard from Castro?”

“We’re going to launch a major airstrike in a week. A full-fledged war will begin. Even if Valore were to become the emperor, Carl wouldn’t be able to care about the capital. It’d be better he dies in that war rather.”

“However, we must remain alive until the second king is born. If there is no heir to the Imperial family, the Imperial power will weaken.”

If we were to kill Carl and then kick him out to his death, the empire would not retain its name. If the empire were to be annihilated by each nobleman fighting against each other to become the emperor, there was nothing to be gained for Arya.