### Chapter 100: Crazy Dog
As night fell, within a luxurious mansion in the inner city of the Emerald City, Krimans was urgently summoned home by his butler.
“What’s going on? You said my people were captured by the Knight Order?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“How do you know this? Is the news reliable?”
Sigh, “The Knight Order sent someone to deliver the notice, asking us to ransom them. The messenger hasn’t left yet.”
“Do you know which Knight Order it is? Who captured them?”
“I… I’m useless, I don’t know. They just mentioned they were taken by the Royal Knight Order.”
“Useless!” Krimans cursed, making the butler shiver a bit.
But then he thought for a moment and came to a realization.
“Elia! You better watch out!”
The two people Krimans sent out were supposed to check on that little brat. Now that his subordinates were captured, it was obviously Elia’s doing.
He had just been forced to fulfill his betting contract a moment ago, losing a hefty sum. He was even in debt with some gold coins stuck somewhere, piling up on his tab. And now, he received the news that his men were captured—talk about a double whammy! He was about to explode!
After a while, he calmed down and commanded, “Go ransom them back, and after that, don’t worry about this matter. I’ll handle it.”
“Understood!”
The butler hurried off to handle the task.
Krimans thought for a while, changed into more formal attire, and set off.
His destination was the Royal Palace.
Of course, he wasn’t going to meet the infuriating Princess Elia, but rather the Grand Prince Isaac, to whom he was loyal.
Soon, guided by attendants, he entered Prince Isaac’s residence. Once Isaac dismissed everyone and only the two of them remained in the hall, Krimans slowly sat down on a small chair below.
He looked up at Isaac, who was seated higher, and said respectfully, “Your Highness, I have urgent matters to discuss with you.”
“Are they about you and Elia?”
“Your Highness sees through everything.”
“How much did you bet?”
“100,000 gold coins.”
“100,000?” Isaac sneered, “Ha! You say 100,000, but it’s at least 300,000, right?”
“Well… Your Highness’s insight is sharp. However, I’m facing some financial difficulties; I still owe 100,000 gold coins. Elia and I have never gotten along, so she won’t let me postpone payment. She wants to pressure me into selling my assets at a bargain!”
“So you want to sell to me?”
“Ah, no! I… yes, yes!”
Krimans was on the verge of tears.
He initially intended to borrow! But looking at Isaac’s icy demeanor, he felt instantly weak and had no choice but to go along with it.
Of course, Isaac was aware of Krimans’ intentions and slowly said, “Our royal family’s financial controls are quite strict; we can’t just lend you money. Don’t worry, this will just be collateral.”
As for whether he could redeem it after mortgaging it, that depended on his courage.
Isaac snickered inside.
Hearing this, Krimans’s expression relaxed quite a bit.
After all, what he was putting up was just a tiny fraction of his family’s vast assets. It didn’t impact the family’s operations at all—just the shame of selling them would amplify the discontent against him within the family.
He was already pretty fed up with those troublesome guys. One large portion of them was something he couldn’t mess with, let alone make their voices disappear.
It was precisely because of those annoying folks that he had to cling tightly to the Grand Prince’s leg.
“I thank Your Highness for your generosity,” he said.
“Is there anything else?”
“Yes, one more thing.” Krimans sat back down, “Is Your Highness aware that someone cleared the Hero’s Trial Tower yesterday?”
Isaac remained indifferent, his face showing no emotions, icy to the core: “I’ve heard about it; it was Elia’s person.”
“It was a little girl who looked about ten years old and is very protective of Elia. She even attacked my subordinates directly for her.”
“So?”
Isaac naturally knew about this kind of gossip that was practically trending among nobles. He even knew that Krimans had apologized face-first on the ground four whole times before being forgiven.
But that was Krimans’s problem; why should he care? As long as the person didn’t d*e, he wasn’t interested in meddling. He didn’t want to waste his precious time on such nonsense.
Noticing Isaac’s impatience, Krimans hurriedly added, “Your Highness, although that little brat wore a hood and her face is unclear, you can see her hair—it’s pure golden!”
Isaac was already aware of this. His influence was vast, with spies spread throughout the inner city. He received accurate news about the events at ceremonies in real-time.
As for the outer city? It was too large, full of commoners, and he wasn’t too keen on asking.
Thus, he fully understood the ins and outs of the situation, and now he wanted to hear what Krimans was planning to say next.
“Continue.”
“Perhaps that little brat has royal bl**d, and being able to clear the trials at such a young age is truly impressive.”
These were things he figured out calmly afterward. After all, he was a noble; basic education was essential. At the time, his emotions had clouded his judgment.
Of course, even if his mind was clear, he would still be at odds with Elia.
“I think allowing her to team up with Elia might not be beneficial for us.”
Isaac raised an eyebrow: “So what do you want to do?”
“How about we… take her out, early?” Krimans made a slicing gesture across his throat.
Isaac was taken aback for a moment, and then a wicked grin spread across his face: “Krimans… you…”
He shook his head.
This was just too ridiculous!
Suddenly, Isaac slammed the table heavily, shattering it into pieces: “You really are outrageous!!”
Hearing this, Krimans’s face changed drastically as he quickly fell to his knees: “I don’t dare!”
“Dare? I see you have plenty of guts! How many times have I told you, Elia is a princess, she is royal, she is my sister! And as for that little girl, she seems to be royal too, so what do you plan to do?!”
“Are you planning to assassinate royalty? You, some lowly so-called noble, daring to m*rder royals! Is that how much you look down on royalty? Look down on me? Look down on the Emperor?!”
“No! I wouldn’t dare! I have always respected the glorious royalty!”
“Respect? Is your attitude towards Elia respect?”
“But she is our…”
“As long as she remains a royal, not stripped of her title for a single day, she is still someone you nobles can only look up to! Understand?!”
“Understood… understood.”
Isaac waved his sleeve: “Get out!”
“Yes! I take my leave!”
Indeed, Isaac was an extreme bloodline theorist. He believed royalty is everything; nobles merely got to shine their shoes, while commoners were just ants.
He didn’t originally want to deal with Krimans, a mad dog who poisoned his own parents for status. He merely saw him as a dog that could bite and fight for his interests.
But sometimes, dogs need a couple of whacks, or they’ll just keep barking, and the barking only gets louder.
As for the antagonistic situation with Elia? To be honest, Isaac had absolute confidence.
That little girl had remarkable talent, but talent was all it was. There wasn’t enough time for her to convert that talent into strength just yet.
