章 314: Fishing a Big Fish (1)
Guys, not sure I can post tomorrow. A bit busy. If I can't, I'll post tomorrow's chapter together with Wednesday's chapter...
...
"Dammit, dammit dammit!!!"
*Crash!*
In the empress's room, several vases were thrown to the ground in succession.
Not content with that, the empress grabbed everything she could find and threw it to the ground furiously.
Jewels, expensive tableware, sets of tea, clothes, and more.
Even the expensive mirror the empress had imported from the Daemon Empire was broken in her fit of rage.
"E-Empress your majesty, calm down." Hope hurriedly tried to stop Lilia, but Lilia replied with a crazed look.
"Shut up!"
*Slap!*
The strength of the slap threw Hope to the ground.
However, that slap seemed to have calmed the empress's emotions.
Putting a hand on her forehead, she walked towards her bed and sat down mechanically.
"Sorry, Hope… It's just that… I'm not in the best of the moods now."
An expression of rage appeared on Hope's face briefly, but it was quickly hidden by her usual respectful expression. She then stood up and bowed apologetically to Lilia.
"It's my fault, your majesty. I should not have tried to stop you."
"… No, it's my fault. You don't need to justify me."
At that moment, the door of the room was opened by another woman dressed just like Hope.
It was Lotus, Lilia's second personal servant.
"Your majesty, I'm back." She said.
"What happened?" Lilia asked in an obvious bad mood.
Understanding the mood of her master, Lotus quickly gave her a recount of the situation.
"His majesty the emperor ordered the death of most of the guards and servants that heard the conversation in the hall, the only ones he did not kill were the ones he was confident could keep what happened there a secret. He also asked me to tell you to be more careful about your words from now onwards. If the nobles of the empire learn from your mouth that your actions stopped the academy from responding to the daemon's attack in time, it can lead even to a rebellion. The empire doesn't need something like that now."
"Hehe, rebellion, huh." Lilia sneered. She then grabbed a bottle of wine nearby and downed it whole. "... That useless man. His son is death and everything he cares about is his empire!"
"Your majesty…" Lotus put on a troubled expression. But before she could say anything, a loud slam startled her.
*Bam!*
The empress hit a table nearby, and her eighth-layer cultivation crushed it into smithereens.
"Dammit…!"
After that, she started to cry.
"My son… My baby son… Lotus, Hope, my son is dead…
He is dead…"
Lotus and Hope looked at each other with scared looks. It was obvious the empress was in an unstable mood. In the current situation, they could die if they say the wrong words.
"Your majesty…" Lotus tried to speak again, but she stopped when she saw Lilia's eyes full of killing intent.
"I have to kill him," Lilia whispered. "I have to kill that bastard! Everything is his fault! It's his fault my son is dead! I'LL KILL HIM!"
Instantly, powerful mana erupted from Lilia's body. She stood up, grabbing a knife nearby, and walking towards the door.
Hope and Lotus paled. It seemed the empress was determined to kill Prince Claus tonight
"Your majesty, stop!" Hope shouted in panic and hugged the empress's arm. "Please, don't commit a mistake!"
"Hope, let go of me."
"Your majesty, please reconsider!"
"Let go or I'll kill you!"
"You can't kill the prince!"
"WHY!!!???"
"T-Think about it, your majesty! You failed even when you sent three beyond-twelfth-layer practitioners, what can you do alone? Y-You will only give the prince an excuse to get rid of you! By then, avenging prince Bryan will be impossible!"
These words seemed to wake the empress up. After shivering briefly, the knife on her hand fell on the ground.
Then, she hugged Hope's body and started to cry.
"My son… My son…"
She cried like a little girl.
"What should I do, Hope? What can I do!? Should I do nothing after my child was killed? Tell me… Tell me!"
Hope sighed. A complicated expression appeared on her face while she patted the empress's back. But almost instantly, her expression changed to one of determination.
Hope recalled her prince's instructions and thought carefully about her next words.
"For now, it's better if you calm down, your majesty," Hope said. "You need to return to normal before deciding what to do. Mm, what about this? I know a nice place in the city. It's very secretive and high class, and few people know of it. I know the boss there, so I'm sure she will let us inside without asking for your majesty's identity. I'm sure your majesty will be able to calm down and clear your thoughts there."
"… You mean to leave the palace?"
"Yes, your majesty. Anyway, nobody in this palace cares for your majesty. The emperor, prince Alan, princess Dina, prince Claus. Even princess Lena went to sleep with prince Claus instead of consoling your majesty. Let's go, nobody will know anything."
The empress hesitated slightly. She did not agree immediately, and instead, continued drinking wine while staring emptily to the distance.
But under Hope's insistence, her expression slowly turned cold.
"You are right, nobody in this place cares about me. Let's go, Hope."
Hope smiled in relief. "Good." She then looked at Lotus. "Lotus, please keep an eye in the room. If someone asks for the empress, tell them that she is not feeling alright."
"… Hope, are you sure about this?" Lotus asked with a tone of obvious worry. "The empress can't leave the palace without guards."
Hope, however, smiled confidently. "Don't worry, nothing will happen. That place is in the noble district, so the security is good. Besides, the empress and I will go in a disguise. Nobody will suspect it's us."
Lotus was not sure. She looked at the empress and asked again.
"… Your majesty?���
However, the empress ignored her question completely.
"… Sigh." Lotus closed her eyes worriedly. "Okay, but be careful, Hope. If something happens to her majesty, you and I will lose our heads."
"Don't worry."
Hope moved quickly. After she gained the approval of both the empress and Lotus, she quickly helped the empress to dress up and dressed herself up too.
Less than half an hour later, they were sneaking out of the palace following the route Claus had planned.
In normal circumstances, the empress would have realized that it was strange that nobody stopped them from leaving. But in the current situation, she was not in the mood to think about that.
In fact, as the empress, Lilia should not leave the palace without guards. Many people were waiting for an opportunity like this to kidnap or even kill her.
But Lilia ignored that. She even ignored the possibility of everything being a trap.
The current Lilia wanted only to vent her emotions and forget herself in the alcohol.
Besides, even now, she trusted Hope blindly.
After they left the palace, Hope took the empress to a small establishment hidden in the noble district. When they arrived, Hope knocked on the door twice.
"Who is it?" A woman opened the door and asked. Hope smiled and grabbed the empress's hand. "Sister Marana, it's me."
Marana stared at Hope and the empress for a few seconds before nodding. She had already received instructions from her boss, so she knew what to do.
After Marana opened the door, Hope and Lilia went inside.
The insides of the establishment were very cozy. Dim lights illuminated it, and soft music was being played by several bards. The chairs and tableware were of high quality, and the colors of the walls and ground were warm and calming.
Just after entering the place, the empress realized why Hope recommended it.
"Miss Hope, nice to have you here," Marana bowed with a smile. "Do you need anything?"
Hope looked at the empress to ask for her plans. The empress closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Just… Get me the strongest drink you have here. Don't worry about money."
Marana raised an eyebrow but did not ask anything else. She led the pair to the counter and served them two drinks.
The next instant, though, Lilia grabbed the two cups and downed them in one go.
"… More, please…"
"… Madam, are you sure it is alright?" Marana asked in concern. Lilia, though, just waved her hand irritably.
"Just serve me more drinks! Don't worry about money…"
Marana sighed and nodded.
During one hour, the empress and Hope stayed in the counter, downing drink after drink. The empress was a powerful eighth-layer practitioner, so her resistance to alcohol was pretty good, but even that was not enough in front of her crazy way of drinking.
After she drank her thirtieth cup, she was already tipsy.
Hope stared at the empress with a concerned look.
"Please stop drinking, your majesty. I will get you something to eat."
"Go... Go away and don't bother me. I still want to continue..."
Lilia said without paying Hope too much attention.
Seeing that, Hope hesitated slightly and left the counter.
But no much after Hope left, someone else sat down beside Lilia.
It was a handsome young man with red hair and red eyes. The young man asked for a cup of wine from Marana and looked at Lilia with a smile.
"Madam, you look in a bad mood."
"… Go away. I want to be alone…"
The young man was startled before smiling.
"… Alone, huh. According to my experience, talking to someone is good in your situation. My name is Clark. If you want, I don't mind listening to you for a while."
"Heh... What is there to listen? My life is sh*t."
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eom.com/aidnovels
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