When Lei Zhen was dragged out of the room in an embarrassed manner, Gerald and George glanced at each other in a dazed manner.
"What's happening to the chancellor?" Gerald asked curiously.
George shrugged his shoulders.
"It's better to pretend we saw nothing. For someone to drag the chancellor out in such a manner clearly meant she's no ordinary person either."
"You are indeed wise, Minister George. I'll go pick out some elites and complete my task." Gerald said, dismissing himself.
Meanwhile, the whole royal palace was turned into an uproar when they saw the famous chancellor being dragged by a woman.
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah, it was the chancellor. How come he's being dragged by his collar?"
"Who knows, but let's not bother with it. Who knows what their relationship is since the chancellor didn't even ask for help?"
Thus, the maids and patrolling guards turned a blind eye to the situation, much to the displeasure of Lei Zhen.
He wanted to scream for help, but every time he moved a bit, Griselda would strangle his collar tighter.
"Don't you dare go overboard, Griselda! Otherwise, I'm going to have to make a move." Lei Zhen warned, hoping that she would stop her rash action.
"Shut up and listen to my order. If you do so, then I'll give you 100 gold coins." Griselda snorted coldly.
"If you refuse, then-"
Before Griselda could continue her next word, Lei Zhen stopped struggling and detached himself from her.
"What are we waiting for?" Lei Zhen said and fixed his collar.
"What's the order? Let's get this show on the road." He then said, not an ounce of shamelessness could be seen in his eyes.
100 gold coins, if converted to real-life currency. That was around half a million dollars or possibly more depending on the current exchange rate.
Who would say no to such tempting offers?
Griselda twitched her mouth slightly when she saw his attitude change 180 degrees, almost as if it was a natural motion.
'I was wrong about you having integrity.' She thought, feeling deceived by his previous nonchalant behavior towards her wealth.
Despite feeling deceived, Griselda kept to herself and would not renege on her words. She wouldn't allow him an opportunity to call her a fake celebrity that goes back on her words.
Sometime later, Lei Zhen followed Griselda to another luxurious room where Princess Kate was conversing with another person.
The person was clad in white robes and had a cross-like necklace around his neck, clearly telling others that he was a priest as if that wasn't obvious enough.
"Chancellor, you've finally arrived," Kate smiled brightly at the arrival of Lei Zhen, calling him by his rank.
"Yes, Princess Kate. Sorry about my late arrival. I had some tasks left to do and couldn't come until now." Lei Zhen nodded his head and gave his well-prepared excuse.
Of course, both Kate and Griselda knew about the lie but didn't expose him.
As for the priest, he remained ignorant and didn't pay it to mind, thinking that Lei Zhen was really occupied by his work.
"This person here must be the priest from the City of Olympus, right?" Lei Zhen said, looking at Kate instead of the priest.
"That's right, he's Priest Tauren and wanted to meet with you regarding the Ferold's Ring incident." Kate introduced him.
Meanwhile, Priest Tauren kept a smile on his face and nodded his head slightly.
"I have heard rumors of the chancellor keeping his face hidden, but never expected it to be true." Priest Tauren jokingly said.
"Well, my face isn't exactly handsome so covering it with a mask is nice."
"Haha, facial appearances are just worldly desires and shouldn't be kept in mind. The Chancellor shouldn't be bothered about this point and kept the mask on."
"I agree, but I just prefer to have my mask on until I'm acquainted and comfortable with the people."
Sparks seemed to be flying between the two of them as each and every word coming out of their mouth seemed to be an invisible jab.
"The Chancellor indeed has his own way of conversation." Priest Tauren stood up and chuckled softly.
"Priest Tauren from the City of Olympus isn't bad either." Lei Zhen remained still and replied.
"Ahem, I think we should move on with the dealing of the Ferold's Ring, right?" Kate faked a cough and suggested.
At the same time, she batted an eyelid, making a side glance at Griselda.
"Right, that's the whole point of this meeting from the beginning. We shouldn't delay any longer." Griselda got the hint and hurriedly supported Kate's suggestion.
The cooperation between them subtly defused the situation, preventing the atmosphere from becoming awkward.
Sometime later, Priest Tauren and Lei Zhen went to sit in their respective seats.
"Since Princess Kate and Lady Griselda had spoken, I shall not stall any longer. I was assigned to come here to investigate the matter of the Ferold's Ring and the prophecy being fulfilled made by the goddess 4 years ago." Priest Tauren's face turned solemn and said.
"Prophecy?"
Lei Zhen raised an eyebrow, clearly having heard about this for the first time.
"Mhm, the goddess' prophecy stated that only the qualified person shall receive the blessing of the Ferold's Ring and become the savior of Yors Castle." Kate intervened and explained the matter to Lei Zhen.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom 'Qualified person? Do you mean a forced person instead?' Lei Zhen twitched his brows. Being qualified for something and being forced to do something were two different matters.
It was blatantly clear that he was forced to bring the Ferold's Ring over and suffered the backlash of having it equipped.
"Yes, Princess Kate is correct so my job here today is to purify the Ferold's Ring, allowing the user to no longer suffer the backlash effect." Priest Tauren suddenly said and stood up, bowing to Lei Zhen slightly.
"Apologies for my previous tone of speech, but I was ordered to test the character of the future holder of the Ferold's Ring. If I had offended you, then I wish to apologize for my behavior."