บท 16: The Fog Thickens
The eunuchs' chests were marked with the firm imprint of Konrad's fists. Blood dripped from the corners of their lips, and their unconscious but still breathing bodies remained encased within the walls.
Now the only active presence of the assailants were the palace women that still foolishly giggled on the ground. Konrad entered the system and checked his exp count which had gone from 3515 all the way to 124015. As a second step Grand Knight of extraordinary beauty, Freya had brought 80000 exp while the three virgin priestesses had added a total of 40500.
Konrad exchanged 9000 exp for a programmable high-grade True Spatial Pouch with ten thousand square meters of space and set it up into a five stories tall twenty-first-century style white luxury mansion occupying a thousand square meters, a garden, and a massive swimming pool.
He then created a basement set up in jail cells and exited the system with an exp count of 115015.
Konrad tossed the spatial pouch into the air, causing it to fly over the defeated assailants, swallow them within, and group them in the jail cells.
Meanwhile, Daphne's personal attendants were staring slack-jawed while wondering where the lady found such a fierce creature.
"Is he lady Iliana's secret lover?"
"It must be so!"
"Only such a handsome and outstanding man is worthy of the lady."
They concluded out loud, causing Konrad to feel even more self-satisfied and Iliana to lose her composure.
"Come on, don't be shy. Keep praising me. It is only right for the outstanding to be praised. Go, go, go…"
He inwardly thought while adopting the stance of an expert.
"Who is whose secret lover? That scoundrel has nothing to do with me!"
Iliana roared while aiming her quivering finger at Konrad's complacent face.
"Hum, hum. How could you say that? We've already done so many deeds together that calling you my wife wouldn't be exaggerated."
Those shameless words took Daphne's attendants aback.
"The deed has already been done? Then doesn't that mean…?"
"I didn't think lady Iliana would be so brazen."
"I'm afraid Count Wolfgang is not going to take this kindly."
"What can he do? In any case without his son, lady Iliana will have to soon carry on the bloodline. Might as well start now."
Iliana was assaulted by phantasmal blows, staggered, and almost fell onto the ground.
Konrad silently recorded the merits of those attendants to make sure he could properly thank them in the future.
But now it was time to return to seriousness.
Iliana stepped toward the attendants to ask about Daphne's condition and was relieved to know that the assassins had not managed to get to her.
"Now do you still think that the Holy Consort is not the one behind this?"
Asked Iliana while leading the way toward Daphne's chambers. The news of her father's recent deeds had shocked her to the core of her soul, and although her relationship with that elder half-brother of hers was no good, she still felt sorry for him who in the end only wanted to defend his mother's dignity.
Her father had gone too far.
"On the contrary, I'm now convinced this has nothing to do with the Holy Consort."
"Huh?"
They had just reached the doorstep when Konrad said those words that caused Iliana to blankly stare at him.
"Your father's move might have looked rash, but in fact its sharpness is terrifying. He not only disposed of the main pawn the Holy Consort had prepared within his house, and thus removed a concealed threat, but also drastically increased your status and value within the consort's eyes."
Although not adept of political machinations, Iliana was a sharp woman and quickly understood what he meant.
"Before I was the illegitimate daughter of Wolfgang Kracht. Although that status is not negligible, it wields no true significance or implication. Now I am the heir to the Kracht name. If anything was to happen to me…"
"Yes, it would be an offense again the entire Uradel house of Kracht and its allies. Thus, if the Holy Consort is really a woman of wisdom and vision, I have no doubt this has nothing to do with her."
Konrad concluded in her stead.
"But…the people dispatched are all closely related to her."
"That is the confusing part. It can only mean two things. There is someone in the Holy Consort's entourage with a high enough position to make decisions in her name, who either tried to escalate the contradictions between Else's and Count Wolfgang or was genuinely angered and only wished to blindly strike back at him."
"We can get more information by interrogating Freya and the rest, but there is one thing that makes no sense. Those court ladies earlier were certain of the Holy Consort's fury. Has if they had personally witnessed it…"
"That is impossible. Most do not know this, but aside the emperor and her closest relatives, no one has ever seen the Holy Consort's face. And since she broke through the Holy Knight Rank decades ago, she has been cultivating in seclusion. All her orders are sent through proxies."
Iliana replied to his confusion.
"What? That being the case, how do you know she's the empire's number one beauty?"
"Because man or woman, every single person that's been in her presence says the one same thing. "A transcendent beauty that holds no rival under the blue sky!""
"…"
The system was right. He had never been in the presence of the Holy Consort. The woman who had ordered the previous body's owner canned to death must have been her proxy.
Faidra and Aliki had been swindled, and for some reason, Konrad was starting to think that there was more to this story than mere lust.
...
Meanwhile, within the Holy Consort's palace, a blue-haired woman was walking in circles. If Konrad were here, he would have recognized her as the one that had his predecessor canned to death.
"Why have they not returned yet? They should have completed their tasks by now. Or did something happen to them? But how could that be?"
But as she pondered the reasons for the delay, golden light flashed within the room, and the riveting silhouette of a masked woman appeared in front of her.
Seeing that woman, the blue-haired lady immediately fell on her knees.
"Greetings your grace!"
The holy consort's glance fell on the kneeling woman and caused her to be overtaken by dread.
"Again? What is this, the second time?"
Droplets of sweat trickled on the lady's forehead while her entire body shook.
"Your grace has given me full authority to handle matters of political nature while your grace focuses on breaking through the next step. So, I…"
"So you had Wolfgang Kracht's only bloodline, the girl whose value has just skyrocketed, assassinated?"
The holy consort's tranquil tone only caused more dread within the blue-haired lady's unsteady heart.
"I know this may look rash, but if Wolfgang Kracht dares destroy his son for the sake of opposing your grace, then it is very likely that he wouldn't mind abandoning his daughter should the need arise. That being the case, why not push him into making the first move? He is not aware of the depth of our forces and thinks his faction can contend with us when we have more than enough resources to crush him."
"Fool. Wolfgang's threat doesn't stem from himself but from house Kvass at his back. They have always been looking for an opportunity to push him into all-out war with me. And you've almost given them that opportunity. I can only imagine how Thorwald Kvass would have mocked me…should you have been successful."
House Kvass was one of the three princely houses of the Holy Flame Empire. But unlike the other two, they were a junior house of the Von Jurgen, the imperial family!
And their head, Sovereign Prince Thorwald Kvass was not only a saint but also the Holy Empress' father!
"Your grace I…"
"Do you know why you're still breathing?"
"Because your grace is…"
"Because I remember your family's sacrifice to save my life. I remember your father's warm blood on my face. That is why I forgave you before. That is why I also forgive you now. But there will be no third time."
Though she spoke calmly, her voice carried an irresistible force that commanded obedience and reverence.
"Your grace I…understand."
After the last debacle, she had only barely escaped with her life and was eager to make some contribution to redeem herself. Who would have thought that in haste, she would only worsen her situation?
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