Three days later.
Royal Palace.
A middle-aged man was sitting on his throne. There was no one in the room aside from him. He had just finished the meeting in the throne room but chose to stay behind for a bit as if waiting for someone.
Suddenly, a figure appeared next to him as if he was a ghost that had just manifested. He brought a small piece of paper and presented it to him.
"Your Majesty. We've received an urgent report. That man has made his move."
"!!!"
Yes, he was the king of the Muivell Kingdom, Oliver Ve Lenfenth. He was surprised because the person in his subordinate's mouth was none other than the brother he fought in the throne war. He was the Third Prince, Elvien Ve Lenfenth.
His expression turned grim because he had been trying to suppress the Third Prince this whole time. Hearing the other party making his move could give him a reason to go after him and reduce his strength even further.
So, Oliver immediately became serious, trying to figure out what was going on. He grabbed the paper and read the message.
"He has massacred the entire family of Count Leinberd?" Oliver frowned. There were a lot of nobles, especially lesser nobles, in the kingdom. Even he had a hard time remembering an insignificant noble with no big achievement. "If I'm not wrong, he is the ruler of Valvas…"
"Yes, Your Majesty. According to our information, the count is extremely close to Marquis Walford. Our people are checking the mansion right now, but from the description of the massacre, it seems that there is a big reason behind it. And it is closely related to Marquis Walford."
"Hmm? Marquis Walford, the Spirit Bearer…"
"Yes. The Inquisitor Organization has some information and suspicion about the marquis as well. It seems that they are related to the Supreme Devil Organization."
"…" The king fell silent when he mentioned the Supreme Devil Organization. He looked like he wanted to condone that action, but he tried his best to calm down to think about their next move.
"Why are they fighting?" The king muttered the question with no answer. "There's no way he is killing an entire noble family for the Supreme Devil Organization. No matter if he is planning to justify his name or what, he's not someone who will do something like that.
"If that's the case, there might be something bigger that we know nothing about." The king thought for a moment. "Who's free in the capital?"
"Who…" The guy paused. He was confused at first but soon understood the people who the king was talking about. He immediately answered, "Sword, Lightning, and Fleeting are free in the capital right now."
"Order Sword and Lightning to head to Marquis Walford immediately. You have to save Marquis Walford to the best of your ability. As for whether he is related to the Supreme Devil Organization or not, it can be investigated at a later date. I want them to save him and get all the information, including why he is targeted by my brother."
"Understood. I shall pass your decree to Sword Arbiter and Lightning Arbiter right away. This might be presumptuous for me to say, but won't Sword Arbiter be enough to handle this matter? Besides, there is an inquisitor that is currently investigating the matter. She is Anna Stargaze, so I think Fleeting Arbiter is more suited to this job."
"Do you question my judgment?"
"No. I don't dare." The guy immediately lowered his head.
"You are the Darkness Arbiter, so I know you have seen their strength. But that man is far more dangerous than you think." The king clicked his tongue, annoyed.
Since the king had given the decree, the Darkness Arbiter immediately disappeared from the throne room to give his order to the two Arbiters.
When the silence returned to the throne room, the king couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows.
"I don't think this is such a coincidence. Anna Stargaze, the daughter of the Fleeting Arbiter, Kevin Stargaze. There are also Elvien and the Supreme Devil Organization. They have been hiding from my eyes the whole time, but it's clear that they are scheming something.
"For them to get exposed like this… I'm afraid whatever we're going to find from Marquis Walford will shock the kingdom. I know my brother's ambition so well. Even when I'm sitting on this throne, he is still pointing his sword at me, preparing to retake the throne for himself.
"As for Anna Stargaze's involvement…" The King fell silent. On the one hand, he had never gotten involved in Anna's matter after giving specific instructions to the leader of the inquisitor organization. He had told him to push Anna to the corner, but the leader had never succeeded in his attempt.
As a result, he still hadn't got his hand on Anna.
"It seems that the Marquis Stargaze is planning something. But we don't have any evidence right now. Although I can remove him from his position, he will use it as a reason to strike me back for abusing my power. I have to find evidence first and frame the marquis.
"I have to weaken him enough until I get my hand on Anna Stargaze. As long as she belongs to the royal family, the royal family will prosper."
The king pinched the bridge of his nose. Despite his concern about the marquis and Anna, he didn't mention anything about Noel. It was clear that he had put the matter regarding the Ardagan Family and Noel behind. And with the news about Noel's death, he thought he could focus on other things first.
Still, there was one thing that confused him. "Now that the marquis is in this situation, what is he planning to do next? He should have seen that his family's end is coming…"
As the head of the Stargaze Family and one of the Arbiters, Kevin Stargaze should know that the moment he lost against the king, he would lose everything, including his daughter. And with his personality, he would surely fight back.
So, Oliver was worried about that strike since he hadn't found anything related to the marquis. And he wanted to see whether it was a coincidence that this big matter started when his daughter got involved in it. It might be his chance to take down the marquis.
