novelraw Chapter 193: Benevolence and Weakness
Chapter 193: Benevolence and Weakness
On the pitch-black Serpent's Head Street, Elizabeth gently supported Fisher into her golden carriage. Old Jack, Karma, and the others still remained in the tavern and had not come out.
This time they truly had to properly thank Old Jack. If it weren't for him bravely coming out with a double-barreled shotgun despite his advanced age to block the attacking human-bugs, Fisher and Jasmine really might not have been able to hold out until Elizabeth's guards arrived.
Actually, if it were only discussing combat, Jasmine was of course more than capable enough. But exactly as mentioned before, as long as the conscious Fisher wasn't by her side watching her, her heart became incredibly panicked, entirely as if she hadn't undergone training before, only cutely hugging her head and crouching in defense.
Elizabeth glanced at Jasmine at the door of the carriage, and then silently cleared the path into the carriage. This made Jasmine somewhat surprised, scaring her into hurriedly whispering her thanks,
"Thank, thank you, Your Highness."
She hadn't expected Elizabeth to actually let her on the carriage. Although her movements couldn't be considered friendly, Jasmine, who had witnessed her high-end combat against Renee, deeply knew Elizabeth was already restraining herself greatly.
Hearing Jasmine's thanks, Elizabeth didn't respond, and sat down beside Fisher without any other movements. This made Jasmine, who originally wanted to sit beside Fisher, have no choice but to silently sit opposite him.
Elizabeth poured a cup of water for Fisher, and then signaled for the carriage to start moving. Elizabeth originally wanted to say something, but upon seeing Fisher's expression in deep thought, she knew he was still pondering where exactly the treasure vault's location was.
She turned her head to look at Jasmine before her, and suddenly spoke,
"Isabel and Milika both miss you very much. Although I also don't know how you infiltrated Saint-Nazareth University, exactly as I said before, Saint-Nazareth University has too many oversights in its security..."Elizabeth cupped her face, quietly observing the visage of the Whale-kin girl before her. That peaceful, unfluctuating gaze made Jasmine a bit shivering with fear, but upon mentioning Isabel and Milika, she still pursed her lips, and with quite some effort finally squeezed out a soft sentence,
"I... I only came ashore to look for my aunt who left the ocean a long time ago. I absolutely have no malice towards humans. Rather, I like humans very much."
When speaking of liking humans, she quietly stole a glance at Fisher. But afraid Elizabeth would find out, she quickly withdrew her gaze.
"Is that so..."
Elizabeth's gaze had already shifted to the front of the carriage. Her fair, slender hands rested on the table in the carriage. The fingernails on those fingers were neatly trimmed. Looking closely, there were also calluses on her palms from wielding a sword year-round.
Fisher completely entered a state of thought. He meticulously extracted the information buried within the riddle. A place name suddenly appeared in his mind. This name made his eyes light up slightly; it seemed he had already obtained the answer to the riddle.
"I..."
"Thud!"
Just as Fisher was about to speak, the entire carriage suddenly came to a halt. While the carriage shook slightly, Elizabeth's expression darkened a bit, and the soldiers outside simultaneously shouted deeply,
"Who goes there! Daring to block the path of the Princess's carriage?"
"A thousand apologies for disturbing Her Highness, Princess Elizabeth. We are from the Royal Direct Subordination Department of the Occult Bureau. I am Secretary-General Tommy, this is my work credential..."
Inside the carriage, Fisher and Elizabeth exchanged a glance. Elizabeth spoke first. She whispered to Fisher,
"Don't speak, I'll go out and take a look."
Fisher's expression was also somewhat solemn. He gently lifted the carriage curtain a little, revealing the deep moonlight outside. This way, the conversation outside could also be heard more clearly.
The Occult Bureau was actually composed of two specific departments: the General Affairs Bureau, which managed other general matters, and the Royal Direct Subordination Department, which was responsible for governing the Royal Family and nobles.
The laws of Naris granted the Godlin family extraordinary power, but this didn't mean they could do as they pleased within the Kingdom's borders. Once they committed a crime, it would be handled by the Royal Direct Subordination Department of the Occult Bureau. Problems similar to Lensis's, if investigated deeply, would be transferred to this department.
At this very moment, their seeking out Elizabeth made her very puzzled as well, which was why she carefully told Fisher to stay in the carriage.
Elizabeth smoothed her dress, and then stepped down from the carriage. She then saw a group of clerical staff wearing black suits standing in the middle of the road.
The middle-aged man leading them smiled slightly, chuckling softly towards Elizabeth,
"Apologies, Your Highness the Princess. The two leaders of the Occult Bureau are both away on official business, you are aware of this matter. However, the purpose of our coming today also has nothing to do with Your Highness the Princess..."
Speaking towards the end, he pointed casually at the carriage before them, saying,
"May I trouble you to ask, is Mr. Fisher Benavides in this carriage? Our Occult Bureau received a report with real names, accusing Mr. Fisher Benavides, who recently resigned from Saint-Nazareth University, of being a suspect involved in the attack on the Schwari delegation. Could we please ask Mr. Fisher to come with us to undergo investigation?"
"Of course, we know Mr. Fisher is highly likely innocent. We also know of his relationship with Your Highness. We guarantee that we will not use interrogation methods outside procedure, in order to defend the justice of law enforcement."
Looking at the submissive man in black before her, Elizabeth approached him with a half-smile. Once the distance was close enough, the man very tactfully waved his hand at the other subordinates behind him, signaling them to step back, not allowing them to hear the conversation between him and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth looked at the manager of the Occult Bureau with his head lowered before her. Before she could speak, the man before her had already smiled quite helplessly and said,
"Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for me. This is an order issued by His Majesty the King..."
Elizabeth looked at him, her expression also becoming slightly stunned, clearly feeling a bit unbelievable.
"Do you know what you're saying? You belong to my elder brother, does he know about this matter?"
That man in black smiled bitterly, still not daring to raise his head to look at Elizabeth, only his voice remained low,
"It was precisely Prince Dexter who sent me here."
Hearing this, Elizabeth finally understood what the situation was. Originally, tonight's operation to capture Lensis and liquidate the Healing House could already be considered a perfect success. But even before the operation, Elizabeth had warned Dexter that this matter would dissatisfy the currently living Godlin IX.
Because anyone could see that standing behind Lensis's actions must be this old King who was with one foot in the grave. As a result, this fellow had agreed so well, only to actually go back on his word after bringing Lensis back to the Golden Palace now!
"Tonight His Majesty the King summoned Prince Dexter. After coming out, Prince Dexter dispatched me to temporarily detain Mr. Fisher here. At the same time, he also entrusted me to pass this letter to you..."
Elizabeth accepted the letter. Dexter's handwriting was clear inside. It read,
"Elizabeth, Royal Father has already summoned me, and apologized to us regarding the previous matters."
"He deeply knows his days are already numbered. Hinting for Lensis to find a method to extend his life for him was also an act of momentary folly. Thinking back on it, he is extremely regretful. He has already promised me that from today onwards, he and Lensis will never step a single foot outside the Golden Palace again, nor will they interfere in any affairs anymore. Moreover, he also holds the [Blood Oath] sworn by Black. Black has already sworn to leave the borders of Naris within seven days."
"As children of Royal Father, Black and he had both taken care of us during our childhood. Since both Royal Father and Black have already made concessions, continuing the investigation will easily evolve into a vicious incident that attracts the public's gaze, causing a terrible impact on the reputation of the Golden Palace. In terms of emotion and reason, this matter should end here. I will let Fisher rest well in the Occult Bureau for a few days, and will release him after the time arrives."
"Also, you must not act headstrong, otherwise Fisher will be punished as a true criminal of Naris, causing an irreversible impact on his long-standing reputation. This is something neither you nor he would be willing to see."
"Dexter."
Elizabeth closed her eyes, knowing in her heart that this benevolent elder brother still became soft-hearted at the very last moment.
Whether it was towards his younger brother or his father, he was unwilling to let them down even at this time. From this sense, he was indeed a very good son and elder brother.
At the same time, the [Blood Oath] of Black mentioned earlier was actually a type of oath magic that bound life and death within it. Once the swearer violated the oath the magic upheld, this magic would instantly extract all of a person's life force to kill them. This meant to say, Black would truly leave Naris within seven days and never return.
"I know. Wait a moment, I will have a few words with him."
"Please go ahead."
Holding the letter, Elizabeth walked slowly back towards the direction of her carriage and opened the carriage door. Inside, Fisher was gently lifting the carriage curtain. His expression was also extremely severe; he had clearly already heard the conversation outside.
He sighed gently and said to Elizabeth,
"Once Black leaves, he will inevitably give up his shares in the Development Company within Naris's borders. The reason your elder brother would agree to him is not surprising; he wants all those shares given to the Royal Family. This way, the monopoly problem of the Development Company will be alleviated by a lot to a large extent. Your brother also desires achievements, this is quite a big temptation for him who is about to become Queen."
Elizabeth quietly looked at Fisher and Jasmine inside the carriage. Fisher also looked straight at her. To speak the truth, whatever decision Elizabeth made right now, Fisher would not feel surprised.
With this matter reaching this point, Black had clearly laid his cards on the table with Dexter. He took responsibility for all the crimes. In order to atone, he offered everything he had outward, and would never return to his homeland Naris.
With interests plus Godlin IX pleading for mercy, it wasn't surprising that Dexter would agree after considering it.
According to this direction, neither Godlin IX, Dexter, nor Elizabeth would absolutely lose anything. On the contrary, they could all still obtain what they wanted.
Black got the Son of the Sea and left safely, Godlin IX preserved his last bit of reputation, and Dexter could also assume power securely...
Ultimately, what value did a demi-human they had never met exactly hold for these people?
But clearly, Fisher would absolutely not agree. This point Elizabeth also deeply knew.
After being silent for quite a while, Elizabeth looked at Fisher before her and suddenly asked,
"Do you know where the location of Black's treasure vault is?"
"I know."
In this extremely short period of time, Fisher had already unraveled the clue buried by Katerina, and learned the specific location of Black's treasure vault.
Hearing Fisher's answer, Elizabeth sighed. She turned slightly inside the carriage, not looking at Fisher and Jasmine beside him, only speaking,
"Alright, use my carriage to leave here and go to his treasure vault to look for clues. I will return to the Golden Palace and buy time for you with Dexter, but no matter what, I'm afraid I can only stall for one day's time for you. Once you fail, you will be published by Dexter, I..."
"One day's time is enough. I will return with evidence."
Elizabeth's words came to an abrupt end. Then, nodding almost imperceptibly, she was about to get off the carriage. Even as she got off, she said,
"My horse's temperament is very docile. She recognizes your scent. When using the carriage, let her sniff your scent first, she'll listen to you."
She was just about to step down from the carriage when her hand behind her was suddenly grabbed by Fisher. That hot, large hand tightly wrapped around her slender, cold, soft hands, making her action of stepping down freeze slightly.
She turned her head to look behind her, only to see Fisher looking straight at her,
"Thank you, Elizabeth."
She opened her mouth. A bizarre impulse wanted to make her speak and say something, as if some place in her heart had been touched.
But when she saw Jasmine sitting behind him, her mouth gently closed again, not saying the words that originally should have come out. Therefore, no one knew what she originally intended to say either.
She simply said a single sentence,
"Make sure to guarantee your own safety."
"En."
She got off the carriage entirely alone. Meeting the confused gaze of that Occult Bureau manager, she remained completely still. Instead, she suddenly said to the Imperial Guards beside her,
"All Imperial Guards, stand by!"
"Yes!"
That man in black had an ominous premonition. He pointed at the carriage before him and shouted loudly,
"Your Highness! Do you know what you're doing!"
Before his words were finished, the door of the carriage before him suddenly opened. A gentleman in tattered clothes walked out. It was precisely the Fisher Benavides he wanted to arrest.
He gently reached out his hand and touched the fine horse before the carriage. That fine horse turned its head to look at Fisher, then raised its hooves high and let out a loud neigh.
"Damn it! He's trying to escape! Quick, grab him!"
But the movements were already too slow. Those two fine horses dragged the carriage over like a flash of lightning, rushing out of the street, crashing straight through the Occult Bureau members blocking the middle of the road. There were even people behind shooting at that carriage, but the knights wearing heavy armor beside them silently stood in front of them, stopping them from insulting the Princess's carriage.
"Your Highness! How can you be so foolish? In the event that he escapes, he will now be a criminal of Saint-Nazareth!"
The man in black clutched his painful abdomen that had been hit, limping to Elizabeth's front. Looking at her serene gaze, his momentum slowly depleted again.
She didn't say anything, only waving her hand to let the Imperial Guards disband and return to their own military camp. She then slowly walked towards the direction of the Golden Palace all alone, quickly disappearing into the veil of night.