novelraw Chapter 335: Elizabeth's Rage (Two-in-One)
Chapter 335: Elizabeth's Rage (Two-in-One)
At this moment, inside a room on the second floor of the hotel, four blond gentlemen were slowly taking their seats. They each took off their heavy trench coats stained with a bit of wind and snow, and hung them on the coat rack, revealing their robust muscles slightly concealed under their white shirts. They put the weapons and relics placed behind them all into their trench coats to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
Next to the coat rack, a black briefcase was inconspicuous, but one of the gentlemen stood near that briefcase all along, intentionally or unintentionally using his body to shield its existence from view.
The leader was a blond, cold-faced man of about thirty with slicked-back hair. He sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking at the hot tea freshly served to him by the maids, per the previously mentioned Turan family supervisor. The steam wafting up from it was hazy; only through the vague veil of weapons could one catch a glimpse of a faint golden light occasionally flashing within the man's eyes.
If Fisher had been present, he would have instantly recognized that this was a magic used for remote communication. The several gentlemen in the room fell silent, only throwing occasional glances at the man sitting on the sofa who seemed to be talking to himself,
"Your Majesty, we have arrived at the hotel chartered by the Turan family. Yes, we have made things clear with their supervisor. We have prepared for the worst."
At this moment, deep within the Golden Palace of Saint-Nazareth, ten thousand miles away from the Northlands, a beautiful lady dressed in white daily clothes was sitting behind her usual desk. Her expression was cold as she slowly pushed aside a few thick stacks of books and reports on the desk. Then, she propped up her cheek with one hand, her gaze locked entirely onto the illusory scene that had formed before her.
Using the Overseas Occult Bureau's precious long-distance communication magic, Naris's Queen Elizabeth was able to clearly see the entire process of her dispatched agents negotiating with the Turan family from ten thousand miles away. Watching the quiet room in the projection, she ordered,
"Corleone, to me, keep the magic fully active the entire time. Let me see the process of your negotiation. After confirming Fisher's whereabouts, regardless of whether the Turan family agrees or not, make a move to bring him back to Naris to me... But you all must be careful. Fisher is not someone you can take down with brute force. Properly utilize the relic I gave you."
Inside the grand hall as if made entirely of gold, aside from a few maids and guards keeping silent in the corners, there was no one else. Thus, her casual yet majestic voice continuously echoed in this emptiness, making the several maids lower their heads a bit more upon hearing it.
"Yes, Your Majesty... The Turan family people are here."Just as the man whom Elizabeth called 'Corleone' responded, he suddenly heard a few footsteps coming from the corridor outside. After relaying this message to Elizabeth, the sound within the magic instantly grew quiet. But Corleone knew that Her Majesty Elizabeth was absolutely still monitoring the situation on their end.
It was no wonder. During this time, whenever there was any news regarding that suspect Fisher Benavides, Her Majesty Elizabeth would pay great attention to it, let alone explicitly retrieving such an important relic directly from Naris's treasury and handing it over to them...
So, Corleone hurriedly roused his spirit a myriad times, looking up at the door. His several colleagues also looked towards the door one after another. The next moment, the room door opened, revealing Valentiina outside, being slowly pushed into the room by Heidelin. She first evaluated the several people in the room before placing her hands in front of her lower abdomen.
Corleone stood up and immediately greeted Valentiina in not-so-fluent Northern tongue,
"Respected Miss Turan, we are members of the Special Task Force from the Naris Golden Palace, Corleone. We are dedicated to tracking down Naris's bounty target, namely the princess kidnapper Fisher Benavides. It's a pleasure to meet you here."
He gently took off his glove and reached his hand out to Valentiina. But Valentiina merely cast a faint glance at the other party, having no intention of entertaining him at all. She just lightly said,
"My supervisor has already informed me of your purpose in coming here. I had also heard of Mr. Fisher Benavides's actions in Naris early on. Therefore, upon learning of Mr. Fisher's identity, we immediately conducted a check on him... Regrettably, we did not see Naris's missing Princess Isabelle. I'm afraid there will be no progress in your work."
"As for Fisher himself, the family values him and requires him to help us carry out a secret task. This matter is of paramount importance to the Turan family, considered an agreement we have reached with him. Before the task is completed, we temporarily cannot hand Mr. Fisher over. I am truly sorry."
Corleone's outstretched hand was not met. As for the other person completely ignoring him, he wasn't angered at all. The Turan family had entrenched itself in the Northlands for so long; naturally, they didn't need to show a good face to an overseas Naris that was completely unrelated to them. He was here shouldering a mission; naturally, he didn't care much about this small matter...
Unembarrassed, he withdrew his extended hand, then sat back on the sofa. The golden light in his eyes flickered slightly, and the illusory voice of Elizabeth rang in his ears,
"She isn't lying. Fisher is indeed helping them accomplish some important matters, and Isabelle is indeed not by his side... Heh, he must have entrusted Isabelle to the care of someone trustworthy... Back then, there were members of the Overseas Occult Bureau on the Patroshen Islands. They were all killed by people from Mya, but Mya only managed to get that piece of True Ice. Moreover, a piece of the Northern Six Clan sigils has disappeared..."
"I understand Fisher. If he wanted to go from the Patroshen Islands to the Northlands silently, he has ten thousand ways to do it. But he specifically chose the most foolish one, not only alerting the Overseas Occult Bureau but even stealing a ship with such fanfare... You were all blinded by him. At that time, there were other people on the Patroshen Islands: the Phoenix Knights of the Sardin Woman's Country, Pirate Alagiana, the Pioneering Company."
Far away in the Golden Palace, Elizabeth's hollow pupils raised slightly. She tapped her cheek with a finger, evidently already knowing the answer. But also because of the answer drawn, her voice became slightly cold,
"Fisher entrusted Isabelle to Alagiana, a tomboy from the Sardin Woman's Country. Fisher being able to arrive at the Patroshen Islands must have to do with her as well. Fisher cares just as much about Isabelle's safety; entrusting her to Alagiana shows their relationship is not shallow. Ignore Isabelle for now; she is safe there. I will deal with that damn Woman's Country person later... The matter Fisher handles for the Turan family is related to the six clan sigils. Probe the importance of this matter to the Turan family."
Corleone's facial expression didn't change at all; he merely sat back down on the sofa, looking at Valentiina while adopting a slight smile on his face,
"Miss Turan misunderstands our intentions. We are members of the Special Task Force, which means our job isn't purely to escort the suspect back to Naris, but also to investigate Mr. Fisher Benavides's involvement in this matter... Surely Miss Turan knows that before leaving Naris, he was an lifelong senior member of the Naris Magic Association, and also the sole direct student of Grand Mage Helson. To our Queen, his status is also self-evident."
"The Royal Academy, Saint-Nazareth University, the Golden Palace, the Magic Association, the masses of Naris, including ourselves, none want him to be a suspect in kidnapping the princess. We expect to wash his sins clean more than anyone else, letting him regain his rightful reputation early, return to his hometown, and live a normal life. He is a Naris person, after all; everything he is connects to Naris. Is he just going to drift in foreign lands for the rest of his life, keeping his name hidden, and forgetting the past like this?"
"Miss Turan must understand that him continuously evading Naris's investigation in this manner is no help to washing away his grievances. Even if we wish to provide him with help, it must be under the premise of his active cooperation... So, I would like to ask Miss Turan: is the matter he is helping the Turan family with truly that important? In this sense, the Golden Palace has already made a promise, willing to assist Mr. Fisher Benavides to the utmost of our abilities in accomplishing what the Turan family seeks, as long as he follows us back for investigation and evidence collection."
Having spent such a long time with Fisher, Valentiina naturally knew in her heart that this scholar who liked to research demi-human species didn't seem like someone who would kidnap a princess in any way. Furthermore, during her very first encounter with him on the island in the Southern Ocean, she seemed to have heard from the pirates' mouths that there was another person traveling with him...
If that person was Naris's missing Princess Isabelle, then this incident very likely involved misunderstandings and hidden complications. Valentiina, who hadn't communicated with Fisher in advance, suddenly hesitated in her heart. Fisher was crucial to her search for the Frostwood Sycamore Tree. The three sigils currently in her hands were tightly related to him. But if it truly was as this Naris man in front of her said, this might really be Fisher's only chance to return to Naris normally; could she presumptuously make decisions for him?
Valentiina was a superior who would consider others; otherwise, the few subordinates she hired wouldn't normally be so casual and unrestrained. There were still two sigils left, but both sigils had clearly defined locations. Even if Fisher left and returned to Naris, she should still...
Valentiina was quite young after all. Having just come of age, how could she know what kind of profound danger lurked behind this smiling Naris man who seemingly considered everything for Fisher? And Heidelin behind her had entirely no decision-making power over this matter, having to just close her eyes and listen through the whole process. But undeniably, everyone present could feel Valentiina Turan's hesitation.
Compared to the Frostwood Sycamore Tree close at hand, she still hesitated because of the future of Fisher Benavides, the gentleman with whom she got along harmoniously.
"I..."
Looking at the young girl in front of her who showed some hesitation due to Fisher's grievance, Elizabeth far away in the Golden Palace keenly felt something. Looking at the image before her, her golden eyes narrowed dangerously. The atmosphere within the entire Golden Palace instantaneously became perilous, as if the air even carried a tinge of bloody scent. The maids held their breath successively, because those who often accompanied the monarch deeply understood that this Naris Queen already showed signs of erupting into fury.
Just as Valentiina was about to speak, a gentleman leaning against the wall outside the room silently exhaled. Following that, the room door was suddenly opened. Everyone turned their heads to look at the entrance, only to see a cold-faced, black-haired gentleman standing impressively at the doorway. If this wasn't Fisher Benavides, the person they were currently pursuing, who was it?
"Fisher?"
The one who spoke with some surprise was Valentiina, but in Corleone's eyes, Elizabeth's hollow eyes also lit up slightly. Perhaps having not seen that person she longed for day and night for too long, this sudden reunion now, even separated by ten thousand miles, made her heart heat up slightly. Elizabeth somewhat uncontrollably reached forward, as if wanting to stroke Fisher's face within the illusory projection, but she inevitably grasped thin air.
The moment Fisher walked into the room, his eyes immediately locked onto Corleone sitting on the sofa. He lingered on the other party's eyes for a second, then arrived beside Valentiina, suddenly excessively placing his hand on Valentiina's shoulder. This action made Valentiina glare at him with her face flushing a bit. However, answering her was only the utterly serious Fisher. This caused Valentiina, who had intended to speak, to suddenly not know what exactly he wanted to do, and in this moment, she actually didn't open her mouth to stop him.
"What if I said I am very happy staying in the Northlands now, and don't want to return to Saint-Nazareth at all?"
Observably, in the next moment, after Fisher gave Valentiina a slight smile, he showed no intention of letting go of Valentiina's shoulder, merely turning to look at Corleone... or rather, his eyes.
"Crash!"
The next moment, an extremely harsh sound suddenly entered Corleone's ear, making him grit his teeth and instantly cock his head a bit.
Because in the Golden Palace ten thousand miles away, that Elizabeth forcefully swiped all the books and reports on the desk in front of her onto the ground in a flash. There was no lack of expensive ceramic-made ornaments and tea cups on the desk, yet in this moment, under Elizabeth's great rage, they were all overturned onto the ground by her and shattered.
The ear-piercing sound of shattering ceramics, accompanied by Elizabeth's furious voice, constantly transmitted over, like a continuous explosion beside Corleone's ears, making him squint his eyes in discomfort,
"Fisher! How dare you! Who is that woman?! I will kill her! Kill her for me!"
Within the Golden Palace, Elizabeth forcefully threw the books on her desk far away, scaring the maids serving in the room enough for them to kneel tremblingly, knocking their heads on the ground, deeply afraid of angering the Queen who was in a state of extreme fury.
In Elizabeth's golden pupils, Fisher's fingers resting on that beautiful young girl's person were so glaring. That, coupled with the girl's slightly flush face and seemingly playfully reproachful gaze, struck intensely into Elizabeth's chest like stabbing a knife. Watching that illusory projection, it was as if gurgling blood was continuously pouring out from her chest.
"A cripple... A cripple sitting in a wheelchair and you still fancy her! Why?! Kill her for me!"
A golden sword abruptly appeared in Elizabeth's hands. She fiercely slashed a sword at the illusory magical projection, violently cleaving the thick wooden desk in front of her into two halves. The raging golden flames continuously spread along the floor, scaring the maids on both sides into screaming in terror, nearly blowing out the eardrums of Corleone, who was far away in the Northlands.
"Your Majesty, please calm down..."
Corleone had truly no other alternative and could only speak to admonish in this manner. Though Valentiina could not understand Naris, it was clear the other party was still holding a conversation with someone unseen by those present. This evidently indicated that all the words the other party had said earlier were a calculated trap, making her instantly sever the notion of believing the other party could clear Fisher's name.
Her expression turned a bit cold. Turning her head, she instructed Heidelin behind her,
"It seems this guest from Naris's physical condition is not too good. I request Naris dispatch someone who is in good health and clear-headed to come negotiate with us... But what needs to be reminded to you all is that the Turan family's stance will not change. Fisher Benavides is my person, and I will not hand him over to you. Apprehending him is hindering the Turan family. I hope you carefully consider the price of confronting the Turan family before making a decision... Heidelin, see the guests out."
"Yes. Gentlemen, please head back."
Heidelin, wearing a black robe before him, cheerfully arrived before Corleone, making an extending gesture toward the doorway. With a splitting headache, Corleone looked at Heidelin in front of him, then glanced at his other colleagues who were reaching their hands into the pockets of their trench coats. Finally, he looked at Fisher standing in the room, then hesitated for a moment and shook his head slightly towards his colleagues.
The actions of the other Naris people instantly froze. Corleone also took the opportunity to stand up, then cast a deep glance at Fisher, who had placed his hand on Valentiina's shoulder, and said somewhat unwillingly,
"So it is. Then please also remember your choice today, Miss Turan. We are leaving."
The several Naris people, carrying their belongings, left the room one by one. Only Fisher remained rooted in place, unclear as to what he was thinking about.
"Mr. Fisher, is it soft?"
"Mhm, what do you mean soft or not?"
Snapping back to reality, Fisher instinctively looked up, only to see Heidelin in front of him looking at him with a cheerful smile. This made him confusedly open his mouth to ask this. But the next second, he realized something and turned to look at Valentiina beside him, whose shoulder was still grasped by him. Veins bulged on her forehead, and she suddenly raised her hand and punched Fisher once. Though that tender fist hitting Fisher didn't hurt or itch; it really had no power at all.
"Still not letting go!?"
"Aiya..."
Fisher took a punch, yet retreated several paces backwards as if hit by a cannonball. He immediately rubbed the spot Valentiina just hit, laughing as he explained to Heidelin,
"I am truly sorry; the situation just now was special, and I was forced to take this worst-case measure. The blame can only lie with Eldest Miss Valentiina being deceived by them, otherwise, I wouldn't have wanted to come out at all either."
"Hehe, if I had known early on, I would have handed you over and let you roll back to Naris. But I still haven't figured it out. Why exactly did you suddenly touch my shoulder, you guy? I thought this beast was suddenly in heat and going to do some misdeeds."
Valentiina smiled dangerously. The words spilling from her mouth were naturally not pleasant either. Clearly, she had been angered quite a bit by Fisher's excessive actions just now. But Fisher didn't walk away with zero gains; at the very least, he suddenly discovered his boss also had a sharp-tongued attribute.
The matter he did just now truly lacked propriety, so Fisher sincerely revealed an apologetic expression. Then he turned to look outside and explained to her,
"Behind that person is someone who understands me very well and is extremely intelligent. The few you saw are merely her marionettes... She observes things very meticulously. To prevent her from seeing more deadly information from you, I was forced to resort to this worst-case measure. It was my lack of forethought."
Heidelin crossed her arms, her face filled with distrust. No matter how one looked at it, this guy was taking advantage of the situation. Though Valentiina had some disbelief on her face, seeing Fisher's utterly serious expression, she was forced to choose to believe it. It was just that the bit of annoyance in the bottom of her heart showed absolutely no signs of dissipating. She rubbed the ring on her hand and changed the subject, asking,
"Thus, who is that person hiding behind him? The language that person spoke just now was Naris. I couldn't quite understand what he shouted..."
"Ah, nothing, no need to mind it..."
Fisher smiled. He looked towards the direction the group of Naris agents left out the door. In his heart, he knew that lady in the Golden Palace had definitely erupted into anger again. But he merely replied to Valentiina somewhat perfunctorily,
"Just an old acquaintance with whom I am particularly familiar."
And the several Naris agents who had exited the hotel did not stay here for long. The leader, Corleone, merely threw a backward glance at the hotel behind them, then headed towards the end of Mya's street without looking back. As he walked, he listened to the sounds coming from the other end of the magic.
Within the Golden Palace ten thousand miles away, Elizabeth was panting slightly, sitting on a step inside her room. Like a tiger whose residual anger still remained, she dangerously eyed the mess defining her designated workspace. The golden flames were directly controlled by her, and thus didn't incinerate any items. The floor was just scattered with quite a few books and ceramic fragments. Even that hefty wooden desk had been cleanly split in two by her single sword stroke.
The maids inside the room hurriedly lowered their heads to clean up things for her without uttering a single word. This allowed Elizabeth's inner heart, scorched by the flames of fury, to slowly calm down.
She knew in her heart that Fisher was deliberately enraging her. His purpose was precisely to break that wet-behind-the-ears Eldest Miss of the Turan family free from the trap designed by Corleone...
"Your Majesty, what should we do next?"
Elizabeth abruptly looked up. Her hollow pupils once again saw the scene far away in Mya. Corleone's cautious voice echoed again. Obviously, earlier Corleone was originally about to succeed, but the result was that it failed because Elizabeth's furious eruption revealed obvious flaws. However, as a subordinate, how could he dare to state Her Majesty's mistake? Even until now, he still had to cautiously inquire about Elizabeth's opinion, letting her guide the next actions.
Elizabeth looked at the vast whiteness of the Northlands in front of her. Then, her lips coldly curved up a bit. She was still enraged, but she had lost rationality. She merely opened her mouth and spoke to Corleone,
"Go, find out what the Turan family came down to Mya to do. That little girl is too young; she couldn't possibly be the person in charge from the Turan family. She and Fisher should currently be in a cooperative relationship. This therefore means the Turan family's asylum has a certain limit. He still has to step outside and perform tasks for them... I formally authorize you all to use the relic 'Cursed Prison'. Bring Fisher back to Saint-Nazareth. If that Turan family's girl dares to stand in your path, kill without pardon."
Corleone's footsteps paused slightly. He finally heaved a sigh of relief, turning to look at the black briefcase carried by a companion behind him. As if a great burden had been lifted, he replied,
"Yes, Your Majesty."