Chapter 83: The Crown's Purge. (8)

Chapter 83: The Crown's Purge. (8)

There was a roaring. The deafening rumbling of an unstoppable inferno. Gabriel felt the fire in his chest. It entered him through Alice’s lips through her every soft breath, and it was returned to her with each of his own.

He was burning up from the inside, and for a brief moment, that sensation was all that registered in his mind, his other thoughts discarded as soon as they struck him. He had burned before. The sensation of heat on his skin, his nerves dying and burning away to reveal fresh ones, the cycle of pain continuing without end. The pain in his lungs as scorching smoke forced its way down his throat. Yes, he knew burning well.

But this fire was... Pleasant. The flames that ate him from the inside out were comfortable, warm. It was almost to the point that he wanted to let himself remain in this state of thoughtlessness and just sink into the heat.

But in the end, flames remained flames.

He felt them rise within his chest. They tore at his flesh and ate away at his bones, each flicker burnt away more and more of his mind, his reason. Left unchecked, he would lose all control. He’d lost control once before already, when they first reached the Barong territory. He would not allow it to happen a second time.

So he held back before the fire swallowed all that he was. The taste of blood lingered on his lips, a pair of almost euphoric crimson pupils looking down at him for a moment. There was blood on her lips, but with how they had bitten each other it was impossible to tell whether it was his or hers.

She got off of him, a look was enough for the two of them to convey what had to be done, and in what order they would do it. Alice straightened her dress as if nothing had happened, and she would have almost done it somewhat convincingly if it wasn’t for the way she licked the remaining blood off of her lips before she broke the silence.

"Please forgive us for that short outburst of passion. We’ve been waiting for this moment for quite a while so our emotions got the best of us."

She didn’t even clear her throat, nor did she blush, she showed a complete lack of shame as she addressed the nobles around them. Having just bore witness to such a scene, the nobles were naturally rather stunned, both because of the sudden display of wild passion and because of what this implied that Alice thought about the Emperor’s offer.

To quietly reject him in private would be one thing, but to do it in public like this... One didn’t have to be the Emperor to feel insulted in a situation like this. But naturally, Alice was prepared for this, turning her gaze towards the Emperor before the rest of the nobles could, giving him a respectful bow.

"With that being said, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Your Highness, for being willing to help me push my companion into a corner so that he was left with no choice but to act. Were it not for your gracious aid, I fear that I may have suffered the fate of growing old and alone."

What was the easiest way to not insult the Emperor by rejecting his offers this publicly? Simple, make it seem as if he was in on it all along. After all, how could he be shamed and insulted by his own scheme going as planned? Naturally, Alice wasn’t so naive that she thought everyone, least of all the emperor, would go along with her words just like that. But she was just the first stab.

"Ah, that does explain it. I did wonder why this child of mine was agreeing to your offer of marriage when she already had someone she had given her heart to. It would appear that I must extend you a bow of gratitude, Your Highness. I may yet still see her bear me some grandchildren thanks to your effort."

Edward De Vritara, the Duke of Vritara, wore a calm and affable smile as he bowed to the Emperor, showing the casual nature that only a friend could. Edward was someone who thought about what was best for the duchy before everything else.

Between tying Alice and Gabriel together into the duchy and sending both of them off to other places, it was clear which one was best for the duchy. So he played along as she had asked. But he wasn’t the only one, Alice had prepared another separate knife to bring down the Emperor.

"Ah, young love is always so heartwarming to see. Hold your head high, Art, the act of helping two hearts tie themselves together is a beautiful thing. Does it not also serve as a good lesson to your sons that they may lose something they thought they had in their grasp if they hesitate for even a second?"

Before anyone else had the chance to eek in a word, another voice came from the balcony that was exclusive to the Imperial Family. Leaning against the railing was an aged woman, her wrinkles apparent despite what seemed to be her best efforts to reduce them.

She had rather short hair that was as black as the night, more than a few errant grey strands mixed in with the rest. The hair may not be the same, but she definitely had the translucent amber eyes of the Imperial Family, an almost piercing gaze nailing down the nobles in the hall.

She was clad in a long, flowing crimson dress adorned with silver and golden threads that danced about each other as they formed images. As she stood there, Emperor Arthas could only smile softly, his eyes angling into a content smile.

"Your Esteemed Highness, it fills my heart with great joy to see that you care so much for your own citizens that you would help Alice prepare a stage like this. I would say that I can only give you my undying gratitude, but my associate is rushing here right now after completing a mission I had given her. With her, she will bring dire news that I must share with you posthaste."

Alice hadn’t been wrong in her guess. The mark he left on Teresa with his Karas magic showed that she was moving. It had hopped about violently a few times as she used various gates to move through the empire, arriving in the capital now. Judging by the speed with which the mark was moving, she had commandeered a horse and was heading here at full speed. Strangely fast even.

"She seems to be rushing quite a bit so I believe she understands just how dire the situation is, so please forgive her if she barges into your palace. But once you hear what she is bringing, I believe you’ll understand that its for the best."

Truthfully, if he wanted to, Gabriel could bring Teresa here right now. He could use the mark he left on her to envelop her in darkness and teleport her straight here. But why would he show the nobles here that he was capable of such a thing?

"You speak of it as dire, may I ask exactly how dire?"

Naturally, with Gabriel ramping it up so much for everyone to see, Arthas had to take it seriously. It could just be an act, but if Gabriel was fibbing here then it would just give Arthas an excuse to punish him. And with Alice having gone through the trouble of bringing the Empress Dowager here, Arthas did not believe that they would try to test him now. And indeed, Gabriel had prepared something that the emperor could wholeheartedly could sink his teeth into.

"Extremely dire, your Esteemed Highness. She will come here bearing evidence that Duke Sorin’s third son is involved in not just illegal slave trading, but also colluding with the Kasarias Kingdom in an attempt to undermine the stability of the empire. When she arrives, you will see that they have had a hand in assassinating more than a handful of our brave generals and courageous nobles who have stood up against the Kasarias Kingdom."

Gabriel drove in the nail, he threw down a glove that could not be ignored. Slaves weren’t illegal in the Earhart Empire, but you couldn’t just turn anyone into a slave, only a proper court of law could deem someone a slave. Taking someone off the street and forcing them into slavery was illegal, and selling slaves, even legal ones, to foreign nations was naturally also extremely illegal.

The illegal slave trade was bad enough, but if someone from the ducal family really was discovered to be colluding with a foreign nation then it would escalate to a whole new level. The entire family would have to be investigated and uprooted until every last piece of information was found. There wouldn’t be a moment of peace as the various families did what they could to either hide or plant evidence. It would be a great big mess as the crown purged the traitors.

As expected, the expression of the nobles, especially Emperor Arthas and Duke Sorin, fell dramatically.

"Open the gates! Allow the messenger free passage!"

Arthas’ orders echoed throughout the hall and even beyond, the knights quickly springing into action. Gabriel and Alice turned to look at the doors that were being opened one by one, no one noticing Abigail, who was as pale as a sheet of paper, blood dripping out from between her fingers due to how hard she was clenching her fist.

Her breath came out in ragged gasps, each one a struggle. Things were flying out of her control, everything was collapsing. The collusion with the Kasarias Kingdom, it was something that wasn’t supposed to come to light for another 15 years. She and Caine had changed some things here and there, but this was a major change, a massive alteration to the established timeline that the balance was so fond of.

How would this affect the loop and its stability? And for that matter, how did Azuras learn about it, even she had to dig into the Sorin family for a good ten years in the previous loop to uncover the truth. Sure, she had the help of Azuras at that point, but he clearly hadn’t regained his memories of the previous loop yet, she knew what he was like when his memories finally came back and he realized how much he had been forced to suffer.

Gabriel did not see, nor know, Abigail’s thoughts and worries, the fear she felt as she worried that everything she knew and fought for might collapse around her now. But even if he did, would he even care? He put down the chess pieces, he made the chaos, so just leave his lovely lady alone so that she can grow happily.

An untold number of eyes were looking at the open doors, Gabriel feeling the mark get closer and closer. She came straight for them, the knights along the path probably guiding her in the right direction. And thus, before too long, she reached the hall where the banquet was taking place.

But her state was rather different from what Gabriel expected. She was panicked, almost desperate. Her clothes were ragged and blood was splattered across both skin and cloth, one couldn’t tell if it belonged to her or someone else. And in her hands she was carrying a young girl who couldn’t be older than seven, her body so pale that it was almost white.

"My Lady! Please, you have to save them!"

Thus, she charged up to Gabriel and Alice. Thus, she begged, her eyes murky and almost unfocused, as if she was looking at something that wasn’t there.