18 Shut Up
This isn’t your romantic comedy headquarters, you know!
In the dungeon, Maid Morin—oh no, she should now be called Traitor Morin—is currently shackled to the rack with anti-magic chains.
Suddenly, cheerful footsteps echoed from outside the cell.
The sound of high heels clicking against the cold tiles reverberated through the damp, dark iron cage.
“Creak—”
The cell door swung open, and Morin barely registered the familiar, imposing voice giving orders to her gaoler.
“You guys stay outside. I want to question her personally with His Royal Highness.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The gaoler tossed aside a bloodied whip, as if it were a subtle hint about their unfinished business.
Leon’s gaze lingered on the whip for a moment, splattered with bl**d that told tales of sorrow reverberating through this dungeon.
When he lifted his eyes to Morin, the once-loyal maid now resembled a ruined statue in a wasteland—once shining, now only bearing scars of wind and rain. Her disheveled hair framed her face while the cold metal rack provided a grim backdrop, painting a picture of a traitor.
For traitors, no one from any race could tolerate them.
These traitors, cloaked in the skins of their kin, hide cold, gleaming blades beneath. Perhaps they never fully realized that the secrets they exchanged in the shadows would unleash devastating consequences.
Those silent acts of betrayal could snatch away the lives of countless innocents in an instant, even shattering a once-peaceful home.
Leon had experienced betrayal firsthand and witnessed the losses it brought.
Thus, he had little sympathy left for traitors, spies, or insiders.
Oh, of course, “sympathy” only referred to trying to understand the motivations behind their betrayal, not that he intended to go easy on them.
This change in mindset was largely thanks to that guy Victor; after learning the reasons behind his betrayal, Leon felt like asking such questions was just a waste of time.
So, before this fishing expedition against Morin, he told Roswiser that understanding a traitor’s motive was entirely unnecessary.
Hmm, looks like his fake wife actually took his words to heart.
“Do you want to ask, or shall I?”
Roswiser’s voice broke through Leon’s thoughts.
He snapped back to reality, leaning against the table with his arms crossed. “You do it.”
“Why? It’s clearly your problem.” Though reluctant, Roswiser didn’t outright refuse.
Leon chuckled. “You officials are way better at this than I am.”
Roswiser shot him an eye roll that screamed “Seriously?” “Then you better pay attention and learn something other than fighting.”
“Mm-hmm, on it! Show me your skills, Teacher Melkway!”
(Shut up! This isn’t your romantic comedy headquarters!)
Roswiser slowly turned her head, looking up at Morin on the rack.
“What instructions did Constantine give you?”
The only reply was Morin’s weak breaths.
“Besides reporting my due date, did he give you any other orders?”
The lifeless traitor still hung her head, offering no response.
“Morin, Constantine is dead. You don’t need to remain loyal to him. Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll make it quick for you to leave this world.”
“Hu…hu……”
After several rounds of threats and questioning, Morin remained tight-lipped.
As Roswiser was about to speak again, she heard a stifled laugh from behind her.
She slowly turned her head, silver eyes glaring at Leon. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing… Just thinking of something amusing.”
“What amusing thing?”
“I was trying to learn interrogation skills from the Silver Dragon Queen, but after an eternity, she hasn’t said a single word! Truly top-notch skills, Your Majesty.”
Roswiser shot him another eye roll, not bothering to argue but simply replied, “Idiot, just watch closely.”
With that, Roswiser stepped forward, gently placing her palm on Morin’s forehead.
Immediately, a faint silver light flickered and transformed into numerous stream-like tendrils that began to flow into Morin’s head through her skin’s veins.
Leon squinted, carefully observing and realizing that the magic Roswiser was tampering with was not just bl**d vessels but Morin’s magical circuits.
As her magic circuits were invaded by foreign power, Morin’s body began to rebel.
But, alas! With her hands and feet shackled, the only thing she could do was tremble and growl.
Undoubtedly, this process was a bit painful, but it shouldn’t be fatal.
Leon had faith that Roswiser knew what she was doing.
Even if a traitor deserved d*ath, it wouldn’t happen just yet.
After a few minutes, Roswiser withdrew her hand, letting out a sigh of relief.
Leon seized the moment to ask, “Did you use some memory-detecting magic just now?”
Roswiser took a brief breath before turning to Leon. “Yes.”
Leon shrugged, “If you have such a useful skill, why didn’t you use it sooner, Your Majesty?”
“Because memory-detecting magic has many limitations and costs.”
Roswiser lifted Morin’s chin so Leon could see her face clearly.
She looked a bit dazed, her gaze more vacant than before.
“First, the principle of the memory-detecting magic is to forcibly inject one’s own power into the target’s magical circuits in their brain. This causes irreversible damage to the target’s brain; if effective memories are not obtained, the target won’t cooperate during the subsequent questioning process. So, it’s only used in dire situations.”
“Second.”
She withdrew her hand, causing Morin’s head to droop once more.
Her complexion didn’t look too good either.
Leon looked at her, his instinctive concern bubbling up, but when it reached his lips, it didn’t sound quite so sappy. “It takes up a lot of your magic?”
But Roswiser shook her head. “Because I need to quickly skim through the target’s memories, I effectively bore the weight of everything Morin has gone through in the past few years in just a couple of minutes.”
Leon bit his lip, feeling a bit awkward, and managed to say, “You’ve worked hard…”
Roswiser huffed lightly. “Finally said something nice, idiot.”
Leon’s face turned red. Reflecting on how he had just teased Roswiser’s interrogation skills, now here she was, the Silver Dragon Queen herself, putting in this much effort just to extract information from Morin.
Wow, things were just on a different level now!
Once he regained his composure, Roswiser continued, “Constantine never told her anything about your human identity, so we don’t need to worry about that.”
Pausing, she felt that wording was a bit off, so she quickly corrected herself. “You don’t need to worry about that anymore.”
Leon raised an eyebrow, quickly catching onto the keyword she just speedily changed. “What you meant to say was ‘We don’t need to worry’… right?”
Roswiser: →_→
“Casmod, the dungeon of my Silver Dragon Race isn’t a place for you and me… here… uh…”
Roswiser intended to retort but couldn’t find a suitable word to describe Leon’s antics.
Fortunately, General Leon was well-versed in both strategy and eloquence; he smoothly picked up where she left off.
“… where we flirt with each other, I get it.”
“Go d*e!”
Since Morin didn’t know Leon’s human identity, the couple truly didn’t need to be so tense anymore.
After some laughs, Roswiser suddenly got serious again, adding another critical clue.
“Oh, right! Morin had several face-to-face conversations with Constantine, and from those dialogues, it seems we can infer that… there should be more than just Constantine cooperating with the human empire.”
