Chapter 318 - Unbelievable Luck (Part 1)

"Your Highness, shall we continue investigating the First Concubine's past?"

"Hmm. We already know that she collaborated with the Left Minister, who still abandoned her in the end when he chose to collaborate with King Odhran and the Dark Magic Lord. We also know that she's not the biological daughter of the former King of Ishelon. Princess Elenia and King Jarod have the same mother, but they have different fathers. It is possible that the Princess of Venetia at the time was already pregnant with Princess Elenia when she was sent to Ishelon to marry King Jarod's father, who was already the King of Ishelon during that time. The father of Princess Elenia must be someone from Venetia or any of the neighboring kingdoms."

"Who could it be? We received an unconfirmed report yesterday that it's Marquis Edmond Quivel of Prazia. He came from a merchant family without a noble title. But, King Odhran bestowed him a title of Marquis."

"Marquis Edmond Quivel is the Dark Magic Lord. When did he acquire the title? Did they already know each other before he was introduced as the Dark Magic Lord?"

Vaughn wondered about the exact time when Marquis Edmond and King Odhran had known each other. They might have known each other before Master Monsat introduced the Dark Magic Lord to King Odhran. It was well-known that the Dark Magic Lord would always wear a black mask when going out. At the time of the meeting, the Dark Magic Lord could be wearing his mask, and King Odhran did not recognize him.

"Your Highness, are you saying that King Odhran and Marquis Edmond Quivel had known each other before?"

"Hmm. I also heard that King Odhran became closer to the Dark Magic Lord than Master Monsat. I think when Master Monsat wasn't there, the Dark Magic Lord showed his face to King Odhran and recognized him. They were already close from the beginning. Who knows if they already talked about deceiving Master Monsat? The Dark Magic Lord only wanted to inherit everything from Master Monsat who did not have a wife and child."

"This Dark Magic Lord is truly evil. Is it possible that he was the one who caused the death of his own master?"

"It's possible. After he obtained everything that he wanted to know from his master, he decided that it was about time to get rid of Master Monsat. He could just be keeping his master alive because there were things that he still wanted to know. He tried to be a loyal disciple to earn his master's trust. Investigate if the First Prince is the Dark Magic Lord's grandson and find out if the First Prince is in Venetia right now."

Redivo was quite surprised at Vaughn's order, but he also knew that there was a huge possibility that the Dark Magic Lord and Roland had blood relations.

"Yes, Your Highness."

* * * * *

Wolstan told the coachman to go to a certain shop first when he realized that Zenia might attract unnecessary attention with her face exposed like that. She already threw all of her face veils when she was certain that the Left Minister would no longer bother them. 

After buying Zenia a veil, Wolstan took her to the outskirts of the Capital where a fishing village was located. It was a haven for busy nobles and businessmen who wanted to try their hands on catching fish using a rod but did not want to travel far from the capital. The nearest fishing area was at least a hundred miles from the capital, and it would usually take a day to get there – not practical for someone who should always be within the capital.

Zenia's eyes widened when she saw the full view of the place. The lake that contained the different species of fish was obviously man-made, but the surroundings were filled with natural beauty. Zenia liked it very much. She stopped looking and wondered why Vaughn did not take her there even once.

Wolstan somehow read what Zenia was thinking. Vaughn did not know that such a place existed in Tissuria because there was nothing much going on in that place. If an area can be considered peaceful, Vaughn would not see it. 

He cleared his throat and said, "Vaughn does not know that there's this kind of place here. Nothing goes wrong in this place that's why he never checked this before."

"This is amazing, grandpa. Can we really go fishing in that lake?"

"Of course! What's the use of calling this place a fishing village if we are not allowed to catch some fish? They might as well close this down if they don't let us go fishing."

Zenia looked at her dress and said, "You should've told me that we are going to catch some fish. I should've dressed as a man so I can move more freely."

"It's fine, it's fine. We can cast our lines far from the water. This fishing village is renting their modern fishing rods to their guests. Unlike the other fishing rods out there, each fishing rod here has a powerful reel that allows you to control the line, which you can retract or release. They also provide the baits that can lure the fish to our hooks."

"We don't need to go near the water to get a nice spot? What are we waiting for? Let's get ourselves our fishing rods!"

Zenia trod all the way to the information area to ask where she could rent the fishing rods. Wolstan followed behind. But, they were surprised by the long queue. Zenia did not expect that so many people had gathered there.

'Is this fishing village really this famous?'

It was a good thing that she wore something plain and simple because she did not want to stand out. She was glad that there were other women there too. However, she was the only woman in line who wanted to rent out a fishing rod.

Most women were looking at her. Although many of them were wearing a veil to cover their faces, they were certain that Zenia was a new guest of the fishing village. Wolstan, on the other hand, was quite familiar to them.

Zenia felt something weird about the way the women looked at her. She was already wearing a veil, but their stares were so intense that she could practically felt the penetrating looks piercing through her body. 

"Grandpa, why are they looking at me? Did I do something weird just now?" Zenia whispered to Wolstan.

"No, it's because they know you are new here."

Zenia was not convinced that it was just like that. Those gazes were similar at how predators would look at their prey. Those women were clearly targeting her for no reason at all. She was certain that she had never met any of them before.

'Come to think of it, these women gathered here but not speaking with each other. Am I thinking too much?'

She looked at Wolstan who seemed to have wandered off somewhere. She did not notice that her grandpa already left her all alone. She looked around and did not find even his shadow. 

The women kept staring at Zenia, but none of them dared to approach her. 

"Young Master, we found out where Leader Azer was being kept. The Crown Prince locked him in the dungeon of his own palace. What should we do next?" Whispered the man to the figure who was sitting near the man-made lake.

Zenia was startled when she heard the name Azer, which was a rare name in Maecaea. In Zenia's estimate, the source of the voice was at least fifty meters away from her. It was a good thing that she had a sharp hearing.

She no longer bothered with the ladies and tried to look as natural as she could when she listened to the conversation without leaving her spot.

"If Leader Azer is in Vaughn's dungeon, there's nothing we can do. The Palace of the Crown Prince is not just any place that we can enter as we please. It has very tight security."

"Do you think they will torture him to confess everything he knows?"

Zenia forgot all about Azer and did not even bother visiting him in the dungeon as soon as they returned to Tissuria. Hearing the conversation between the two men made her realize that they still had Azer to question later. They could get the information directly from Azer himself. 

"I'm not certain. If they suspect that Azer is hiding something, they should've done something to him the moment they learned everything that they wanted to know from him."

"Do you think they are preparing already?"

"Preparing for what? None of them had any idea that we are planning to attack Tissuria. They are vigilant, but they are still clueless. It is but natural for soldiers to keep training hard to keep their bodies in good fighting condition."

"What about those stones that we mined in the Principality of Ismund? May I ask what are they for?"

"The Dark Magic Lord told me to keep the stones safe somewhere else. We are going to transport them to Venetia." 

"What shall we do if the Crown Prince and his men discovered this?"

"What can they do? They don't even know what the stones are for even I don't know what they can be used for…"

The one that the other man called as the Young Master stopped speaking when he felt a presence. Zenia's heart was pounding hard against her rib cage as she tried to remain calm. She was restraining herself from rushing toward the duo to demand an explanation.

The Young Master stood up and looked around to see if someone was listening to their conversation. They were talking softly just now and no one would hear them unless that person was hiding somewhere near.

"Young Master?"

The man did not utter another word and dashed toward Zenia's direction.