Either out of sincerity or perfunctory, there was a round of applause in the Hall of Glory.

And the old marshal did not show any happy expression on his face, as if he was ignoring those people.

After Marshal Rudolph stepped down, everyone turned their attention to Katarina, and they were all curious about what the eldest princess thought of Marshal Rudolph's speech just now, and whether His Excellency Marshal, who had returned to Germany to the surprise of everyone, really reached an agreement with the current authorities in the empire.

But before Caterina could take a step, a court attendant hurried in and whispered something in Swain's ear.

The nobles all noticed that when Swain listened to the report of the court attendants, his eyebrows were slightly raised, although it was not very obvious, but on Swain's face, which had never changed his expression, this small change was very prominent.

Caterina also seemed to notice what was going on around her, and she turned her face to look at Swain with a little confusion.

Swain whispered a few words to Princess Celestia, and then Caterina frowned, seeming a little worried.

The guests all craned their necks, trying to get closer to figure out what was going on, while trying to maintain their demeanor and not wanting to be seen as disrespectful.

Even Marshal Rudolph couldn't help but shake his eyebrows and looked at Swan and Caterina suspiciously.

However, it was clear that Swain had no intention of explaining it himself, and he simply asked the court attendants to deal with the nobles in the Hall of Glory, and then walked out of the hall with Caterina himself.

"Yolo, they're gone?" asked Caterina as soon as she walked out of the Hall of Glory.

"The defenses of the inner city are weaker tonight than ever. Swain was not in a hurry, and said very calmly, "Especially since Beria's residence in the past, it is not surprising that someone will sneak in. ”

Caterina nodded, though she was still a little worried about Yolo.

Sven glanced at Katerina and continued, "I've put the Thirteen Lessons on strict alert, and now the people outside can't enter the Tiamat Palace, and the people inside can't leave. ”

"And what about those people in the Hall of Glory?" asked Caterina, "they'll find out about it soon." ”

"It doesn't matter. Swain's face was still as cold as that, "If it spreads to the Hall of Glory, then it means that the situation is completely beyond our control, in that case, even if we let them go, it won't help, if we can control the situation, then we don't need to worry about them." ”

"In that case, leave this side to Metternich, who is better suited to do this. Caterina agreed with Swain, "You said that the people in Tiamat Palace couldn't leave, so where do you think the people who took Yolo and them were?"

Sven frowned slightly, and thought carefully for a moment.

"I'll go back to the inner city first, let Artemis protect you, try to be careful, this time the incident is likely to be done by Thressi, that guy not only infiltrated the Ministry of the Interior, but he may also have eroded other institutions of the empire, don't trust the people around you too much." ”

Caterina nodded, she stared at Swain, her eyes showing a hint of concern.

"What about you, are you in a state to handle the situation?"

Swain walked towards the inner city, leaving only Caterina with her back.

"Don't worry about me, if I can't stop the other person, then no one can. So, no matter what, I have to face it, and that's my promise to you. ”

——————————————————

Sophia usually goes to bed early, but today's banquet has left her with no way to continue her usual routine. In the second half of the feast, she, Gladys, and Elaine returned to the inner city and took their two friends to visit the most exciting places in the imperial capital.

Both Elaine and Gretis were dazzled by the splendor of the Tiamat Palace, which had been devastated by several wars, but the inner part of the Tiamat Palace was well preserved, at least retaining the royal dignity.

"Ahh ”

"Then you can stay here tonight, Elaine. Sophia smiled and tolerated Elaine's coquettishness, "As long as your family agrees, I can talk to my brother." ”

"Really!" Hearing Sophia's words, Elaine pounced on her like a husky dog with a bone, "That's great! I told my family before I came that I might not be going back tonight, so I'm not going to worry about that!"

It turned out to be premeditated. Sophia smiled bitterly in her heart, rubbed Elaine's head, and helped her comb her hair.

"Then I'll go to Chief Metternich and ask him to arrange a room for you. With that, Sophia turned to look at Gratis, "Gratis, would you like to stay here? I can send someone to your house to talk to Professor Ranke." ”

"This ......" Gladys hesitated, her gaze staring at the beautiful works of art on the walls, as if very moved, but she could not say it because of her reserve.

The empathetic Sophia chuckled, patted Gladys's sword on the shoulder, and said, "Then I'll find someone to send a note to your home, and I'll have the Metternich governor sign it, so that your family can feel at ease." ”

Gretis was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Well, then, I'll go to Chief Metternich first, and you'll wait here for a moment. Sophia sent Gretis and Elaine to her room, and then went to Franz.

Sophia's room was naturally near Caterina's residence, and was guarded by a lot of guards, although since coming to Tiamat Palace, Swain had been too busy with affairs and had no time to spend with her sister at night, but Sophia never said anything, and it seemed that there was no change from before.

As the sister of Count Jericho, who now reigns in power at the Palace of Tiamat, there was hardly anyone in the court who did not know Sophia, and the court attendants knew very well that this young lady was by no means something they could afford to provoke, of course, because Sophia had always been quiet, and they loved this young lady very much, which was quite in stark contrast to the extreme reverence for her brother.

Wherever Sophia walked, the guards greeted her very eagerly, and Sophia responded politely one by one.

It wasn't until she entered the unguarded corridor that Sophia finally breathed a sigh of relief, she didn't really like life in the court, everything here was too formal, and even the smile inevitably seemed a little hypocritical because of politeness. However, she had to do it because she didn't want to be seen as a burden to her brother.

After taking a few steps, she felt that something was not right, the corridor was too quiet, and although it was a long way from the eldest princess's bedroom, it should not be completely unguarded.

She looked around as she reached into her skirt and reached for the pistol strapped to her thigh.

The pistol Swain had given her had never been used again except for a single shot at Manfred.

"Sophia......

The voice came from behind, and Sophia immediately subconsciously turned around, and at the same time pulled out her gun and aimed it behind her.

However, it was her father, Ernest No. Jericht, who was being gunned.

"Father......" Sophia was stunned for a moment, and the hand holding the gun couldn't help but tremble.

There was sadness in Ernest's eyes, and Sophia's actions were like a poisoned dagger that pierced his heart, cutting it in two.

"I'm sorry, Sophia, I'm sorry, my daughter. ”

Sophia looked at Ernest, her eyes became confused, she didn't understand why her father apologized to herself, or rather, why did she apologize at this time.

"I shouldn't have asked Wood to send you to Fort Midnight. Ernest sighed, "It's all my fault that you have become the unfree you are now, and I owe you nothing, I can't argue with that." ”

"Until then, you owe more to your brother. Sophia tightened her hands, and her sparkling eyes became firmer, "You owe him so much, but you never thought of apologizing to him, you just want to use your sword to cover up your crimes." So, I don't accept your apology, that's a shame. ”

"You don't understand, Sophia. Ernest sighed, "You don't understand, Sophia, Sven No. Jericho, is dangerous. ”

"You're not qualified to say that, Elder Brother!" Sophia slapped Ernest away, "Aren't you the one who is dangerous? A few months ago, when we first came to the Imperial Capital, you and Elder Brother wanted to kill him when we first met, what qualifications do you have to claim to be a father, and what qualifications do you have to accuse Elder Brother!"

"I never said I was Swain Noe Jericht's father!" Ernest's eyes turned stern, "He's not my son!"

Sophia's expression was a little angry, and her finger was pressed against the trigger.

"Coward, you're just a coward who shirks his responsibilities, compared to you, my brother ......"

"Don't call that guy that anymore!" Ernest seemed to be really angry, he snatched the gun from Sophia's hand, and yelled, "He's not your brother, he has nothing to do with you!"

"Do you think it's good to say that!" Sophia didn't have any fear, and retorted in the face of Ernest's anger, "Although my brother and I don't like it, the blood from you still binds me and my brother together, and this is a fact that you can't change no matter how much you deny it!"

"If that's really true. Ernest's eyes looked very terrible, "Let me tell you the truth, Swain Noe Jericho was not born to me, his mother, although my father forced me to marry Bertha, but I never touched her, she could not have given birth to my son, understand, Swain Noe Jericho, who is he, this point I and you don't know, this person was born as a conspiracy, from my father's conspiracy!"

Sophia was stunned, she looked at Ernest in disbelief, and her face instantly turned pale.

"This ...... No way, you're lying!"

"I don't know who else can prove it, my father Winston is dead, and Baron Deniz, who has served the Jerichot family for forty years, was forced to die by Swain a few days ago, yes, I'm afraid no one can prove my word now, but you can go back to Midnight Castle and check to see if what I said is true. ”

Sophia took several steps back, leaning limply against the wall.

"It doesn't really matter if it's true or not. ”

Sven's voice came from the other end of the hallway, drawing both Ernest and Sophia's attention.

"I don't like to be related to you, and you don't deserve to call yourself a Jericho, I expelled you from the family as the head of the Jericho family, and now, you have nothing to do with me, Sophia, or Victoria. ”

Swain walked step by step, his steps limping, as if he had seen Ernest again, and reminded him of the injuries his father had inflicted on him.

"And now, in addition to taking your honor, I want to take your life. Wrap it all up, you don't deserve to be near me. ”