Chapter 168

168 Making A Move.

Valerian moved through the palace corridors at a calm pace, he was walking without any sound. The moment he put down his feet on the ground, he would slide in slightly to cancel the noise as much as he could. This was a method that Fallax taught him to maintain stealth. Fortuna was moving ahead of him at a distance of a few ten meters.

They did this on Fortuna’s insistence. She told Valerian that she can now control her dragon aura and remain undetected. The other thing that she had to her advantage was the shape she had taken. The cat of the princess did not seem to be a magical beast and thus, the secret forces hiding inside the palace will not mind her, and Fortuna will take them down silently with her keen senses.

Valerian’s task was to find the place where the vault was located. Ashlyn had told him that the only person other than the emperor, who had any knowledge about where the dragon treasure could be stored would be the prime minister or the old king, Ashlyn’s grandfather, who has left the capital and had been spending his old life in a scenic location with his wife.

So the target of their intrusion became the prime minister. Although the person was a mage, he was still within comfort range of Valerian to deal with. The layout of the palace was unfamiliar to them which affected their speed greatly.

They had turned a corner when Fortuna’s ethereal voice echoed in Valerian’s mind, “Two men, hidden in the gaps of the walls. This must be a protected area.”

Valerian nodded and stopped in his tracks as he asked, “Can you take them out?”

Fortuna said, “Yes, but they have a mana detection stone beam running across the ceiling. What do you think?”

Valerian did not reply as it was a troublesome thing. Mana detection pillars were similar to the ones they had seen in the Stellan Empire border. They had been traveling through the skies so did not have to worry about detection. However, mana detection pillars would sense mana channeling in the area, and not the person.

For example, if they cast a spell, this will trigger the pillar and they will be surrounded by enemy forces in a short bit. Fortuna asked again, “What shall we do? I do not plan to walk around in circles chasing my tail for you.”

.....

Valerian could not help but imagine this, but soon he composed himself and thought, ‘You can take down one guy with your melee skills if you can, and I will deal with the second one.’

Fortuna agreed and she moved closer to a guard in the gap. The guard had been observing this silly cat for a few minutes now, seeing it coming towards him, the man frowned, and clicked his tongue, however, he could not respond as it will reveal his position.

Fortuna walked closer, acting like a curious cat, and stood in front of the gap where the guard was standing, she sat down on her hind legs looking up at the head of the guard, and suddenly she jumped, surprising the guy completely. Then as the guard looked at her with wide eyes, Fortuna extended her paw toward his face, and then her slender jade-like paw turned into a big claw that slashed at the jugular of the guard.

The guard was so shocked that it took him a few moments to notice the warmth seeping out from his body and covering his shoulder. Blood poured out like it was tap water. The guard was still in shock as his life force ran empty. The other guard could also see the situation, he acted and charged at Fortuna, but what he found was his death. Valerian used his strength to throw a dagger at the guard from the side, catching him unprepared.

The blade stabbed right in the ear of the guard. To make sure that the person was dead, Valerian ran up to the guard and grappled his neck from behind, and snapped it. The kill was not as clean as Fortuna but it was still sleek for a young child. Valerian dragged the body of the guard with him, shoved it back inside the gap, and took out his blade from the ear, only then did the blood trickle.

Fortuna said, “The blood will become visible to the people soon, we should move quickly.”

Valerian shook his head and holding the neck of the dead corpse he channeled ice-cold mana inside the latter’s body. Soon the corpse froze up. Valerian did the same to the second guard that was killed by Fortuna and said, “This pillar over our heads, detects spell cast by the people, however, channeling mana without using the runes is fine. It will not detect it.”

Fortuna was surprised and then said, “To think you can act smart is such a pressuring situation. Let’s go. You need to finish a lot more.”

Valerian nodded and they moved in the direction where the mana-detecting pillar was extending into. They decided to follow the same strategy as they used in this attack.

...

While the cat and the young man were heading to the depths of the protected area, Sylvia was out to visit the Empress, and pass a letter to her. She knew the contents of the letter and was well aware of the consequences as well. However, she still walked over with great confidence.

She arrived in front of the Empress’s room and was stopped by the guard detail. The maid did not bow her head, she was a mage as well. Her status may be of a maid but it was not lower than these muscular hunks, while the guards were looking at Sylvia with a playful expression, she was looking at them with an expression of scrutiny.

The guard asked, “What is it?”

Sylvia did not speak but extended a letter in her hand over which it clearly said, ‘For Her Excellency.”

No matter how cocky these people were, they did not dare to tamper or play with things that belonged to the empress. Stephanie may seem to be a polite and decent lady on the surface, but she was very harsh when it came to dealing with the cause of her anger.

The guard took the letter and passed it to a man standing closest to the door. Sylvia caught a hint from the body language of the man and the corner of her lips turned upward slightly. The man looked at the envelope and then knocked on the door.

A calm voice sounded from inside, “What is it, Stark?”

The man replied, “Yoru Excellency, the second princess has sent you a letter.”

“Bring it in.”, replied the voice. A spark of glee flew across his eyes as he got inside the room.

Sylvia smirked and then walked away from the place. She has completed her task splendidly.

...

Inside the room, Stephanie was sitting on a big chair, reading a book in leisure. The door of the room opened and the burly figure in armor walked over with a letter in his hand. As he neared the Empress, his actions were filled with familiarity as the person said, “Your Excellency, your letter.”

While he handed the letter to Stephanie, their hands ‘unintentionally’ touched each other. However, that was it, the man bowed and said, “I apologize, Your Excellency.”

Stephanie shook her head and said, “It’s alright, you can leave.”

Stark nodded and left the room. He did not dare to do anything much as the Empress was being guarded by the secret forces. Those people in the shadows might overlook the slight rub of palms, but if they displayed too much familiarity, he will have his head looped off.

Stephanie looked at the letter in amusement and then took it out from the envelope to read the content. As she read it, her eyes widened and she was shocked. Her hands shivered and she gulped, cold sweat began to seep from her skin. She mumbled, “How can this happen?”

The letter mentioned, ‘Dear Fake Mother, you might be thinking why I wrote this letter to you? Well let me get to the point right away, after all, there has never been any need to go in a roundabout manner.

You are one month and fifteen days pregnant, so you might have been together with the foolish fake father earlier than that. However, I remember that during those days, your husband was out on a work trip to the easter border. So, with all my intelligence, I am sure that this child is not his. Shall I tell him about your dirty little secret?

Please come and visit me in the evening so that we can discuss this at length. Or I can also find your husband for a deep talk over philosophy and loyalty.

Yours lovely,

Messenger of Doom.’

Ashlyn had written this letter candidly, sending a signal as if she knows what was going on and scaring the shit out of the empress.