The Ring's behaviour was really strange. Gabriel knew that whatever it was that was in this garden, the ring wanted him to find it as it was important.
Instead of walking straight to the Nobles in the garden, he started strolling around the garden, trying to see if he could find something strange.
In the Museum of Elements, he was able to find what he was looking for, all because the ring became more impatient the closer he got to the thing he was after. Whenever he went farther from the item, his ring's shaking weakened.
Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened. Then as Gabriel circled the entire Garden, his ring didn't stop vibrating. It didn't intensify either. It was as if no matter where he was in the garden, it was the same for the Ring of Necromancy.
"What is happening? It can't pinpoint the whereabouts of that item?" Gabriel frowned, stopping in his tracks.
Without the help of this ring, even he was sure that it was hard to find anything. He didn't even know what he was looking for after all.
"It looks like I can only rely on myself now." As he walked around the garden, he kept his eyes on the surroundings, looking out for any strange item.
Unfortunately, other than the beautiful flowers, he couldn't find anything at all. There was literally nothing in this garden that could even be classified as a Numen, let alone a relic of the forgotten past.
"This is really strange. The ring can't be wrong. There should definitely be something here, but I can't find it. What is it?"
At this point, Gabriel was sure that there was nothing in the garden.
" Could it be something that is on the Nobles? But if that's the case, why is my ring not giving me any stronger indication when I get closer to them?"
Even after spending so much time, he still didn't understand the ring in its entirety. He could only rely on his guesses.
"It would've been so good if you could sleep," Gabriel sighed, glancing at his right hand for a brief moment. "If you can't help me pinpoint the location, then we might really lose that thing today. Don't blame me after that."
He was sure that the things which could make the ring react so strongly weren't something that could be ignored by it. It was clear that the ring wanted those things. It was already clear to him when the Holy Grimoire agreed to give him stronger spells just so he could get the item it was after.
"Master, he has arrived." While Gabriel was still lost in thoughts, trying to negotiate with the ring so it could help him more, he heard Callum's voice.
Gabriel couldn't help but look at the entrance of the Garden where he noticed a middle aged man, walking with some Royal Knights. The man was dressed in the Royal Attire of Arecia. It was quite evident that he was the current Emperor of Arecia!
What surprised him more was that the Emperor didn't come here alone from the Royal Family. Other than his guards, he brought his Eldest son and the two Two Princesses, Azia and Shia Alecton.
'This guy brought his kids to a hostile environment? Just what is he planning?' Generally, he assumed that the Emperor was trying to kill him here to get rid of him, but he brought his son and his daughters?
'Even he can't be stupid enough to not know that I'll fight back if I'm attacked in this meeting, putting his family at risk. Then why?'
Gabriel placed the thought of the Treasure that the ring wanted at the back of his head for now and focused on the task at hand. After he became the Emperor, this garden was going to belong to him anyway. At that time, he could take all the time in the world to find the secrets of this garden.
The Emperor was respectfully greeted by all the Nobles, especially the Nobles that were absolutely loyal to him.
"Your Majesty, you really didn't have to waste your time. We all know that the little brat is lying. We could've dealt with it ourselves."
"Hahaha, yeah. That greedy brat thinks he can get the Empire just because he wants? That little idiot forgot that this isn't the property of Arecia Clan! You're our Emperor now!"
"Yes. No matter what story he makes, we all know that the Arecia Clan betrayed the Empire. I don't know how he got the sword back, but it's clear that everything else that he said was a lie!"
"Since he dared to lie to us, we would definitely make him pay!"
Most of the Nobles had already started revealing their loyalties before a single thing was even said by the Emperor or Gabriel. There were only a few Nobles who were silent. However, because their number was so low, they could only look at Gabriel in the distance with pity.
"Of course I know that he is lying. Who could know better than me?" Emperor Alecton sighed deeply. "If the Arecia Clan hadn't betrayed the Empire, why would I go against them? The previous Emperor was my brother-in-law after all. All I wanted was their happiness."
"Unfortunately, they betrayed the Empire and all our trust in them. To save this Empire from their hands, our family had no choice but to kill them, even though it meant destroying my sister's new family."
"If possible, I wanted to avoid that... For this Empire's wellbeing, I had to sacrifice my sister's love... I still feel heartbroken... If possible, I would've loved to die so she could be happy..."
Even though quite a few Nobles knew the truth, the Emperor still kept up his act of being a pitiful brother who had no choice but to sacrifice everything he held dear to protect the Empire.
The Nobles flocked even more strongly around him, after seeing his act. As for the ones who don't know the truth, most of them also believed his words.
Watching her father look so down, even her daughters were taken aback. They didn't know the truth, but they absolutely believed the version of their father's story.
Even the timid Azia couldn't help but take a subtle glance at Gabriel. 'I'm sure father isn't lying. It must be him who is lying. I can't believe I almost believed his words and felt bad for our family's actions.'
Seeing the convincing act, even Gabriel was slightly amused.
'What a great act... This man sure is smart at such things. Too bad, in front of absolute strength, everything falls. Today, I will make him understand what the meaning of true sacrifice means.'
