Chapter 937: Act 110 – The Embassy Advances
“Did you ask him who he was delivering the letter for?”
“I asked, and he said it was for an Earl.” The guard replied cautiously.
“Did he say who the letter was for? My father, or Grandfather, or me?” Faina continued to inquire.
The guard hesitated for a moment but did not answer directly.
“What’s wrong?” Faina finally noticed the guard’s unusual demeanor and couldn’t help but frown her beautiful brows in question: “What are you afraid of?”
“He said… he said… that the Earl said the letter was for… a bad-tempered young lady from the Loop of Trade Winds.” The guard stammered, thinking that this ‘bad-tempered young lady’ seemed to refer to the one in front of him. There were two young ladies in Rovoff Castle, one known far and wide as a gentle little angel, while the other… the guard hurriedly shook his head, feeling he was not far from the black jail.
Little did he expect that Faina, upon hearing this, not only did not get angry but instead her azure eyes brightened: “Really, he said that?”
It’s over, the guard thought, the young lady must be confused with anger, and someone is bound to suffer next, and it definitely wouldn’t be that messenger— after all, the messenger was merely a passerby adventurer, and that Earl was far away; the one to suffer right now could only be him. Realizing this, the guard couldn’t help but grimace and nod: “Yes, milady, I didn’t dare say a word more.”
“I didn’t ask if you spoke too much! Do you dare to embellish it? Where’s the letter?” Faina spread her hands and replied impatiently.
The guard hurriedly took out the letter—it was evident that this letter had undergone a long journey and had not been well-preserved; the surface was wrinkled, and the envelope was sealed with wax, bearing a stamp of a morning star and crescent moon. Faina recognized the emblem as that of the Erluin Embassy, her eyes brightening a bit more, “How did it get like this?” she asked.
“Because Anziluwa has been blockaded. It’s said the messenger encountered a bit of trouble coming from there,” the guard answered.
Faina then recalled the war in the southern Empire; separated by the Evergreen Path, it felt like it was in another world. The fact that this letter could arrive here indicated it must have departed before the war broke out; otherwise, by now, Anziluwa would have been completely inaccessible. She silently nodded and opened the letter, while the guard anxiously awaited his final fate, thinking to himself that since that Earl dared to call her ‘bad-tempered young lady,’ it surely wouldn’t be anything friendly, and the contents of that letter were self-explanatory. He wondered how furious this young lady would be after reading it.
The last maid who made a mistake was only locked up for a few days, but he felt this time he might end up imprisoned for life.
To his surprise, Faina quickly finished reading the letter—it wasn’t long, just a few short sentences—and then a smile appeared on her lips. She thought, that scoundrel is really infuriating for not coming to help me and instead wants me to do the work. After some internal complaints, she felt rather pleased and said to the guard, “Is that messenger still outside?”
The guard, awaiting his inevitable misfortune, was very well aware of this young lady’s temperament and had no illusions of luck, and now utterly confused, nodded honestly, “Still outside.”
“Good, you can go now, and don’t forget to give that messenger a little reward.”
“What?”
“What what, what are you dazed about?” Faina frowned at the servant.
“N-no… I mean,” the guard said, astonished, “Lady, do you not need to send a reply?”
“A reply?” This remark reminded Faina; although many admirers from the imperial capital often wrote to her, those letters never required a consideration for replies. Some letters came from spies in the imperial capital or close noble relations, and she had no need to reply to them. So, in Faina’s impression, correspondence seemed to only come one way. A reply—she thought, but suddenly recalled the knights outside the castle, a shadow of gloom floated over her heart: better wait for now.
“Oh, no need,” Faina replied. For some reason, she didn’t want outsiders to know her relationship with Brendel.
The guard was taken aback, thinking that if that guy were her enemy, then she ought to be furious. If not, she should at least show some belief; her ‘oh’ puzzled him greatly. At that moment, he felt that this young lady had suddenly become inscrutable. Rumor had it she had changed ever since returning from the Loop of Trade Winds, and it seemed true now.
But he dared not say more; that unfortunate maid was a lesson learned. Hearing Faina’s orders, he felt like he has been granted amnesty. He hurriedly lowered his head and left, fearful that this young lady would remember the dungeon incident, which would be counterproductive.
Once the guard left, Faina hesitated.
“That scoundrel asked me to investigate my teacher’s situation in the imperial capital; but what should I do?” she murmured to herself. “Right now, it’s not just my teacher; even Grandfather and my father have been placed under house arrest. If possible, I want to know what’s happening in the imperial capital.”
“By the way,” a sudden spark of inspiration glimmered in her starry eyes, “the Eryshiko family, I should have thought of them sooner. That scoundrel may not be familiar with them, but our family has a decent relationship with them.”
“That’s settled then.”
With that, this young lady nodded and confidently opened the door, walking in.
As for those knights from the inner court outside the castle, she had already decided to leave them hanging; the Flower Leaf Principality holds a bit of autonomy within the Cruz Empire.
…
Meanwhile, regarding the chaotic reaction in Rovoff Castle after hearing the bad news, after calming down her only sister, Faina immediately set about writing a letter to the Earl of Rowisen in the Evergreen Path. Since the time Veronica was put under house arrest, in fact, at this moment, the daily affairs of the entire Eryshiko family had fallen upon her brother, Earl Rodney. This Earl was currently acting as the queen’s envoy in the city of Juddun, south of the Violet Valley, working alongside Earl Wagner of the White Legion.
Of course, it sounded a bit absurd for the leader of the Blue Legion to take on the role of queen’s envoy, but nobles knew this was simply a royal olive branch towards the Eryshiko family. In fact, most believed that Her Majesty’s strict punishment of Veronica was merely for show; everyone knew the importance of this warrior goddess to the Empire, and she could not stay too long in the imperial capital at this time.
As for Earl Rodney himself, he might think so, or perhaps he had other ideas, but the reputation of the Earl had long since been one of debauchery and weakness and so not many paid attention to this ‘little character’ of the Eryshiko family.
To say that the only brother of the Empire’s warrior goddess Veronica, the nominal heir of the Eryshiko family, Earl Rodney, is a ‘little character’ is no exaggeration; it’s simply that this family has too great a reputation in the Empire, and everyone within it are all heroes. Veronica’s grandfather, Duke Tulip, was the founder of the Blue Legion. Before his era, the Empire only had three legions, and he single-handedly established the Azure Legion. Moreover, he was also one of the most renowned sword saints in the last generation of the Empire. Half of the swordsmanship Veronica practiced was directly taught by this grandfather. It was from him that the ancient Eryshiko family began to ascend to the center of honor and power.
As for Veronica’s father, he was a notoriously tyrannical figure, Lambert. His fame far surpassed that within the Empire, and if anyone in the past three hundred years had ever caused the Grey Hews Knights to lose their composure, it could only be this duke. In his time, the Emperor of the Empire praised him as the Great Wall of the North, and since then, Cruz has hardly gained any advantage over the Fanzan people, let alone in the past thirty years, a genius general, the ‘Lion’ Lorn, has emerged among the Grey Hews. Against such a contrast, the Empire’s citizens, especially those from the northern regions, long for this duke.
As for this generation of the family, there is naturally the famous Veronica, the Empire’s warrior goddess name coming from the Hazells. Almost everyone regards her as Lambert’s successor. Had it not been for a sword saint called Darus from Erluin emerging over a decade ago, overshadowing almost everyone of the same age, she may have already been a rising star in the Empire.
When compared to these elders and his even more powerful sister, Earl Rodney’s presence seems rather insignificant. Although, to be fair, as a descendant of a great family, this Earl still ranks above average in the noble circles of the Empire. At least during this time, the Eryshiko family under his care hasn’t encountered any disasters; rather, thanks to Her Majesty’s favoritism, everyone was surprised to find that this Earl’s relationship with the royal family seemed to improve further.
At this moment, this Earl was wholeheartedly dedicated to his current work, to the extent that his enthusiasm seemed somewhat excessive in everyone’s eyes—
Neither Her Majesty nor the White Legion could genuinely allow someone from the Eryshiko family to intervene in legion affairs; this is a foregone conclusion. In fact, it seemed that this Earl had perhaps gotten too optimistic about his position, as most people surreptitiously believed. In the imperial capital, rumors circulated about the ‘carefree fool’; since Rodney had heard of such remarks, he felt no embarrassment but merely sneered at it.
A group of useless fools!
This was the Earl’s evaluation of those muddled figures in Rustra. At this moment, no one understood better than him the importance of the position he was in.
The so-called cooperation with Earl Wagner was merely a surface-level statement; in fact, it should be the other way around, with that Earl assisting him. He was here not just to monitor the movements of the Evergreen Path; in fact, very few in the entire Empire knew what was happening in Anziluwa. At this moment, no one understood it better than him.
However, he carefully maintained this slight sense of superiority, concealing it from his appearance; to appease those fools in the imperial capital, he had to continue playing the role of the fool for a while longer, which was hardly a significant price to pay compared to the actual benefits. But at this moment, Rodney felt somewhat irritated, frowning at the cloaked individual in front of him, remembering he had said many times before that this guy should send a proxy to contact him. It seemed like he couldn’t trust anyone from Jotungrund besides himself, yet he insisted on bringing himself personally.
But this was the territory of the White Legion, and if those people discovered that their enemies were lurking within their control and communicated with him, that would be amusing.
He couldn’t help but feel anger at the risks involved.
The key was that he was uncertain of Earl Wagner’s position in this, and what kind of people Her Majesty had under her thumb. Other than her, very few outsiders understood this situation, and he dared not mess it up.
No one knew better than him how significant the implications were.
Because of this, Rodney had to suppress the rage within him and spoke in a deep tone to the mysterious figure before him: “I don’t care how many times I remind you, but I hope this is the last time. Time is short; what’s the situation in Anziluwa now, and how much longer do I have to wait for that person?”
“Earl,” the mysterious person’s tone was very respectful, showing no anger at Rodney’s impoliteness; their voice was a bit hoarse, “I understand your concerns, but I’m here personally because the situation has changed; we encountered some problems with our actions, and that damned dwarf messed everything up and even killed Lady Sargoss. However, fortunately, the outcome hasn’t changed; now, Lady of Dragons hopes that you can immediately return to Rustra and relay this intelligence to Her Majesty.”
Rodney paused slightly upon hearing this. He was just about to erupt but calmed down when he heard the words ‘Lady of Dragons.’ He understood very well what her status was in the Empire at this moment.
Return to the imperial capital—
Rodney frowned. His instinct made him reluctant to return to that place—he knew better than anyone that it was currently a terrifying vortex that could silently devour everyone at any moment. While he was participating, he certainly was not a fool; he had long suspected that Her Majesty was perhaps hoping to stabilize the Blue Legion by bringing him in.
Only that sister of his, who understood little about politics, still thought that these matters were limited to internal political struggles in the Empire. He saw more clearly than anyone that Her Majesty was changing, but he knew there was one person who saw even more clearly—Duke Helix of the Flower Leaf Principality. Unfortunately, he made the wrong choice.
After listening to the mysterious person’s words, Rodney remained noncommittal and merely nodded slightly.
“I understand. I’ll set out immediately.”
“No,” the mysterious figure stopped him, “you’d better wait a bit longer.”
“What?” Rodney frowned. His respect for the Lady of Dragons certainly wouldn’t extend to these lesser figures. After being provoked repeatedly, he would certainly make sure these folks understood the consequences of angering him.
The mysterious person seemed to sense this lord’s anger and hurriedly explained, “You needn’t worry; this is for your own good. As I know, in no time at all, a letter will arrive in your hands.”
“A letter?” Rodney was slightly taken aback.
“Probably from Rovoff Castle, my lord.”
The Earl’s eyes brightened a bit: “The news of Duke of Flower Leaf’s arrest has been released?”
The mysterious person nodded.
“I understand. I’ll go meet that young lady; does Her Majesty want me to bring her to the imperial capital?” Rodney asked.
“I’m not sure, but you can certainly ask the Lady of Dragons about it when the time comes,” the mysterious person replied, sounding raspy.
Those damned lizard people brought up the Lady of Dragons again, Rodney clenched his teeth and nodded. He knew that since Her Majesty had released this news, it was likely that the final decision was not far off. At this time, he aimed to delay his return to that cursed place for as long as possible without a doubt.
“Just what is the situation in the imperial capital now—”
He mused internally, and upon thinking of this, he raised his head to gaze at the hidden figure before him, saying: “Mr. Shalicks, do you have anything else?”
“Of course not, unless you wish for me to stay and have tea with you, Earl.” The mysterious figure chuckled and replied in a hoarse voice.
Rodney would rather this fellow die right now than waste time having tea with him. If not for serving Her Majesty, he wouldn’t want to be around these stinking individuals. He replied unkindly: “Mr. Shalicks, you’re free, but I have one thing to inquire about. What place are Erluin’s embassies heading? It seems since Valgris fell, there has been no news from them; haven’t you discovered their whereabouts?”
Upon hearing this question, the typically composed mysterious person suddenly stiffened.
“What’s wrong?” Rodney, of course, noticed this subtle reaction.
“…That was precisely what I forgot to mention; my apologies,” the mysterious one awkwardly cleared his throat, “The Erluin embassy is likely currently on its way to Ruin Port.”
“What!?”
