### Chapter Seven: Spoils
**Tap, tap, tap—**
At noon, iron hooves clattered over the desolate streets as Skarlij and Lady Catherine, accompanied by dozens of elite hunters on beast mounts, galloped toward the royal palace. Their speed wasn’t exactly breakneck, but the scrawny citizens scurried aside, standing by the road, all ragged and tattered, bowing and hat tipping to the departing cavalry.
“Your Majesty, look, the townsfolk are grateful for you!”
In the row, a rugged man named Hoover chuckled, clearly enjoying the Chielis people’s respect. But Skarlij, leading the charge, remained stone-faced. After a moment, he slightly shook his head. “No, they’re just scared of me.”
“The work we have to do in the Empire’s southern territory might be much harder than we expected,” Lady Catherine interjected, riding her noble white steed.
“The south is not like the north. These folks won’t easily trust the Shanter Army, even after we’ve decisively smashed the Fourth Knights Order, breached Chielis City, and captured Emperor Keynes. The only prominent noble who has come to flatter us so far is Entas, and the Kreem family…”
“The rest are too busy figuring out how to transfer their assets,” Hoover added, grinning. “Worry not, Your Majesty! Before we leave, not even a fly will escape this place! If anyone dares run, I’ll raid their homes myself; their riches will make perfect military pay—solving our immediate financial crisis!”
At that, neither Skarlij nor Catherine responded.
After a moment, Skarlij turned to Catherine, asking, “I heard a rumor that with the Northern Army’s blockade lifted, there’s been some action from Ferenburg?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “They’ve gathered a force of nearly six thousand from Feiyanshan and Heralar to rescue the royal city. They’re probably already on their way, but they likely haven’t heard that we’ve already conquered this place. Once they do, I doubt they will have the guts to come.”
Skarlij pondered for a moment. “Any news from Lafael?”
“Lafael has got five thousand Hawks on his side, already stationed themselves at the Ice River Basin. If all goes well… they should be in time for Pepe’s birthday.”
Catherine’s lips curled into a slight smile. “He still doesn’t know that his sister returned alive. I intentionally left that out of my letter. I want to see his reaction when we finally meet.”
“Hehehe!” Hoover cackled from the back.
The cavalry turned down the next street curve, the massive royal palace coming into view.
“Is Pepe with Queen Elizabeth?” Skarlij suddenly asked.
“Not that I know of,” Lady Catherine replied, shaking her head, her expression shifting to a sigh. “I had someone prepare a temporary room for her in the palace, but she probably won’t even stay there… Ugh, she’s been avoiding us for days now, and when she does show up, she hardly talks to us, keeping her distance, always looking glum…”
She paused for a moment.
“I’ve been thinking, Skarlij, how many secrets do you think she’s still hiding from us? It feels like her newfound strength and personality shift didn’t just spring out of nowhere. It makes me uneasy, and the more I think about it, the more anxious I get—I just don’t know how to ask her.”
“How about—”
Hoover chimed in, furrowing his brow after thinking for a moment. “I’ll go talk to her?”
“Not a chance.”
Skarlij shook his head, a look of resignation on his face. “If we, as parents, can’t figure it out, what makes you think you can? Who knows what’s really going on in Pepe’s mind…”
“What has she experienced to change like this?” Lady Catherine murmured, laced with deep concern.
…………
In the palace’s front hall, hunters and royal city soldiers were busy counting boxes of gold and silverware, gems, and silk—all valuable items scavenged from the palace. The most lavish treasures were found in the chambers of the Emperor’s concubines; it could easily be said that wealth was scattered everywhere. Usually, the hunters would go in empty-handed and come out adorned with shiny jewelry, even their hat brims stuffed with countless gems.
With such irresistible temptation, it was inevitable that some would try to stash away some for themselves. Both the Northern Army and the Royal City Army entertained such thoughts, and supervising commanders were no exception. If such behavior was discovered by the opposing side, it often led to intense confrontations.
“Get lost! You greedy imperial sc*m—”
“What’s going on, what’s going on?!”
“Dare to lay hands on the Workshop Hunters?!”
“Don’t want to live anymore…”
“I’ll k*ll you!”
These kinds of squabbles swiftly escalated from a few individuals to a dozen, and then to even more.
Fortunately, everyone was exercising a degree of restraint. So far, none dared to draw swords—after all, they were on the same side. A few punches and kicks were thrown, both sides receiving minor injuries, and when a commander rushed in, the hidden treasures were revealed, promptly halting the turmoil.
“Your Emperor and our Queen already have an agreement in place.”
The injured royal city soldier grumbled, wanting to argue with the Northern Army, while throwing in some empty threats: “The items in this palace are supposed to be repaid to Ethanbel! If you don’t want to comply, we’ll just go to Skarlij and have another brawl!”
As it happened, this soldier had also secretly stashed away a ruby not long ago, now tucked in his underwear.
“Hmph, as if you lot were the ones who conquered this city; without our Royal City Army, you’d probably still be camping outside, unable to even set foot through the gates!”
“Shut your mouth—”
Such provocations immediately reignited the hunters’ tempers: “The valuables in this palace, if exchanged for coins, could bury you right here! You think you can have it all? Can you even afford it?”
“And you’ve got to be blind! Haven’t you noticed that iceberg still standing on the eastern wall? What a bunch of nonsense, that Ethanbel’s fortresses could smash to bits before our little princess!”
“If Miss Peilo hasn’t returned, you can still bark away, but once she does, you’d best lie low in front of the Northern Army!”
In fact, only the upper echelon of the Northern Army, like Hoover and Firebird Annie, who knew the little princess of Shanter Castle had “died” two years ago, understood the situation. A small handful of elite hunters who had been close to Hoover and Skarlij were also in the know.
Everyone else was still unaware that Miss Peilo was indeed the Pope Knight “Silvya.” Most had no idea she had even been away studying at the Royal Academy, much less what she had become. What was clear, however, was that she had completely surpassed her father and was now the Northern Army’s strongest force.
As for how strong…
They had no such idea; they just felt that across the entire Empire, even counting all those clerics in the Church, no one would be her opponent.
After all, they had never seen anyone create the level of chaos Miss Peilo did.
Thus, many in the Northern Army felt a bit inflated.
As the two sides argued more intensely, it seemed a fight was imminent. More and more people gathered upon hearing the shouting, and the front hall of the palace became a chaotic scene. However, at some moment, the hullabaloo abruptly ceased.
Tap, tap, tap.
Clear footsteps approached, and the crowd stepped back in astonishment. The elegantly clad queen glided through the corridor, followed by a host of noble officers, striding toward them.
“What’s going on?”
She stopped not far from the crowd, scanning her surroundings with a beautiful frown as she asked, “What’s all the noise about?”
“Um…”
Everyone exchanged glances, none daring to speak up.
Yet soon their gaze focused on a small figure behind Her Majesty, cloaked in a black cape that swept the ground, the large hood veiling her face, but a few strands of pure black hair fluttered free.
“Is it…”
“The little princess?”
“Miss Peilo…”
Whispers erupted among the hunters, both those who recognized her and those who didn’t, quickly growing in volume.
The supervising royal commander hurriedly jogged forward, paying his respects to the Queen and quietly relaying what had occurred—essentially, reporting the Northern Army’s little misconduct. Upon hearing this, the Queen’s brows knitted tighter.
Just then, Skarlij and Lady Catherine entered through the main door, followed by the muscular Hoover and several hunters. Upon seeing the disarray, he momentarily froze, his gaze scanning the visibly injured hunters before landing on Queen Elizabeth.
“What’s happening?”
He approached, asking the same question with a bright smile. “The young lads squabbling again?”
“…These items, both the Northern and Royal City armies are entitled to.”
The Queen replied calmly. “How to distribute them requires a discussion with Skarlij. Until then, no one is allowed to take anything on their own. Violators will be temporarily detained and prohibited from participating in future actions against guilty nobles.”
The operation of capturing guilty nobles was essentially raiding the homes of those ministers who supported Keynes and seizing their valuables, just like in the palace.
Despite the suffering of the Chielis citizens, the wealth of these nobles was not to be underestimated; it wouldn’t be surprising if they were richer than the palace itself. Everyone knew this, and usually, during such moments, they could take a little for themselves, as long as it wasn’t excessive—nobody would bat an eyelid.
Thus, countless eyes lit up.
Only Hoover murmured blankly, “So they really plan to raid their homes…”
“Alright, everyone back to work. There will be plenty of fun to be had afterward.”
Skarlij laughed heartily, waving for the hunters to disperse. The Queen signaled the royal commander to withdraw as well; this minor thing didn’t seem to concern either of them. The new Emperor of the Empire couldn’t help but crack a joke: “Those who got injured, what a shame! Next time, don’t let others get more hurt than you!”
The Queen merely shot him a glance before returning to silence.
“Pepe.”
Lady Catherine, with a wide smile, strolled over, reaching out to pat the girl behind the hood, sweetly asking, “So, how did you sleep last night?”
“Um.”
The girl nodded.
In truth, she hadn’t slept at all the previous night.
But that wasn’t important.
“Father… Dad.”
She quickly sidestepped her mother and approached Skarlij. “Where can I find the Commander of the Fourth Knights Order? I have something to ask him.”
