"That's it, His Royal Highness the Prince has left the underground and set off along the surface route previously pointed out by Captain Urs, the future Grand Magister." In the guest room on the second floor of the Warm House Drunkard Tavern, a communication came from Abel from the other side of the crystal ball in Bellinglis's hand, "The expansion of Palomite City is at a critical stage, so Stonefist and I stayed behind to assist Miss Raven, Mr. Zeken, and Mayor Moredi, and the crystal ball remained in my hands. ”

"Well, I see, Mr. Abel." Belling Liss sat at the head of the bed in the guest bedroom, her little feet dangling between the edge of the bed and the ground, holding the crystal ball on her side to reply to the mechanical mage.

She nodded slightly, then looked away.

Outside the tavern window, a few streets away, the bell tower spire of the Basilica of San Antonios is bathed in the glow of the rising sun, but under this hazy light, the sacred temple hides the clash of power and intrigue at the same time.

……

"Alice Stun, what did you just say?" Sirudelt frowned, and a look of surprise and displeasure suddenly appeared on his face, "You have questioned the intentions of His Majesty and the Duke of Ducatlet, and now you have slandered Sir Kevin's accidental murder out of thin air, which is the result of the murder of one of my cardinals?" ”

"Huh! This is really nonsense, a big joke, an unwarranted insult! Madam de jure heir of the Northlands, I advise you to assert your identity and stop speaking out of your own delusions! ”

He stood on the stage and snorted angrily, and as soon as his words fell, his face was also indignant, as if it was really just Alice who had wronged him for no reason.

The courtiers of the Northland court in the church were all stunned at this time. Alice hadn't told anyone other than Scambed about her direct questioning of Sirudelt beforehand, so the court officials who attended the meeting had no idea that the church meeting would develop into the current situation.

At first, they thought that Alice's goal was simply to dismiss the claim of the Cardinal Priestess to take back the title on His Majesty's behalf!

The air in the hall suddenly became tense.

The court officials held their breath and turned their eyes to Sirudelt on the podium of the church's chief priest, and Alice, who stood in front of them with a blue-robed back.

Alice turned her back to the court officials of the Northern Lands, including the chief steward of Scambed, and the two eyes that had turned into ice blue at some point were embedded in the sockets under her eyebrows, staring straight at Sirudelt on the stage in front of her, and the leather boots under the robes suddenly took a fifth step forward—

"Click."

The heel of her boot gently tapped the church floor through the long carpet, but the sound quality of the sound reached the ears of Sirudelt on the stage, and the nerves of the red-clothed priestess suddenly tensed, as if they were facing a great enemy.

Because for just a moment, he immediately felt the change—

Changes in temperature.

The temperature plummeted......

"Not good!" Sirudelt suddenly let out a terrible scream, and the attention in her eyes finally realized that Alice's pupils were not quite right, and part of the long carpet under her feet had expanded into a thin layer of crystal ice with the step she had just taken.

Although he didn't know what specific achievements Kevin Stun's sister had in the political arena, he always understood that the "Frost Princess" of the Imperial Royal Mage Academy was not easy to mess with!

But why did she suddenly decide to take violent measures?!

Was it just because I was suspected of being involved in a plot to murder her brother?

…… No, no, it's not that simple.

Sirudelt took a cold breath, and his brain, which had been in the political arena for a long time, suddenly realized that the key to the problem was mostly political factors.

The reason why Alice suddenly revealed her murderous intentions to herself was of course her personal anger, but in addition, the current situation in the Northland County was not in fact a complete dead end, because there was still a glimmer of hope in this apparent dead end that pointed to the exit of the breakthrough, and the entry point to that exit was a set of tacit rules of competition among the nobles of the Empire -

In addition to the blood and sea of hatred, the net will never be broken!

It has long been an open secret that there are various secret battles between the noble lords of the empire, and as long as the means are legal, or the conspiracy is successful without being exposed, the nobles of one empire can certainly seek the title and territory of another nobleman according to the law.

Frommael Ducarlet could take advantage of the Imperial Regent's convenience to seize the Northlands through legal means or undisclosed conspiracy, but if Kevin Stun did die as a result of the conspiracy, and the evidence of his involvement in the conspiracy spread to public opinion, then his insistence on going his own way would inevitably break the default rule among the noble lords, and thus offend the public outrage.

The lords of the empire all have the intention of self-preservation, and they will not willingly sit back and watch one of them grow alone, so after that kind of public opinion spreads, most of them will definitely choose to side with the Stun family to prevent the Duke Ducatlet's faction from continuing to grow.

Alice may not be able to convince the lords of the empire that the Lord Regent murdered the Earl of the Northlands, but she can kill the envoy sent by the Lord Regent in His Majesty's name, and then claim that the envoy and the Lord Regent were involved in the conspiracy to murder the Earl of the Northland, and have confessed to the law before they die!

The mouth of a dead man cannot open his mouth to testify......

Thinking through this, a drop of cold sweat suddenly slipped from the corner of his eyes on Sirudelt's forehead, and of course he knew better than anyone else that the envoy sent by the current regent of the Golden Que Ying Empire in the name of His Majesty this time was himself!

Alice could kill him, and then take advantage of his death to follow the steps above......

This is not an unplanned move with no room for manoeuvre.

But—

"Alice Stun, are you serious? Are you crazy?! Sirudelt's eyebrows furrowed, and the two Holm people's sea-blue eyes stared at her every move, and the hands under the church's red robe were unconsciously clenched into fists, secretly thinking that she wouldn't dare—

Yes - she didn't dare!

Because even if this is a theoretically feasible extreme plan, as that envoy, he is not an ordinary person, but one of the several cardinal priests of the Cardinal Council of the Sogo Church!

How dare she kill a red-clothed priest in full view of the Basilica of San Antonios?!

She...... Is there really any reason not to dare?

Sirudelt stood on the stage and shouted at Alice, but after the words fell, she froze in shock, and for a moment she could no longer read any underlying intentions from the latter's cold and ruthless face, so she couldn't tell at once whether she wanted to threaten herself with her life, or if she really wanted to kill.

His eyes trembled in his eyes, and he really couldn't tell the difference......

Alice continued to stare at him like this, her gloomy cheeks were as cold as ice, and she kept her eyes on him without revealing the slightest emotion, ignoring his astonishment, as if she hadn't heard his rebuke just now, and the leather boots under the blue flame robe quickly took the sixth step forward with frosty soles.

"Click" - another sound.

"Priest Macallon, are you going to turn a blind eye?! Your lord's sister is going to kill someone in the church! ”()

.。 m.