episode_0039

49.

In front of the royal palace, in front of the gazes of the royal family, including the queen sitting on the throne, and all nobles, including those in charge of their duties in the royal castle, Anise stood with her head raised proudly with a solemn expression.

Many of the people in Daejeon were not hiding their expressions of disapproval of Anis’ attitude.

And as if representing them, a woman from among the nobles lined up stepped forward.

It was Vanessa, the Duke of Raidrin, who was privately related as aunt and niece to Anis, the father of the nation’s eldest sister and husband to the current queen.

She had her green hair twisted and braided down to her shoulders and flowing over it as if to emphasize her bulging breasts, and she was wearing a provocative dress that boldly revealed her body as if she was showing off her sexy sensuality without hiding it.

The age difference with Anis was less than double, but Vanessa, who still boasted wrinkle-free skin like the queen who was the same age as her on the throne, seemed like Anis’ older sister, boasting a mature charm.

“Princess Anis, no, Sir Anis, Commander of the Royal Guard Knights, who has been entrusted with the great responsibility of subduing the Demon King on behalf of the royal family according to the will of Her Majesty the Majesty the Queen, I have accepted your request to borrow the power of a warrior to subdue the Demon King. It hasn’t been long since the royal family accepted it, so why did they suddenly and secretly return and urgently gather us, hiding it from even Her Majesty the Queen? Are you really going to report on the failure of subjugating the Demon King? Then why are you holding your head so stiffly in front of Her Majesty the Queen?”

“Duke Raidrin, what you say is half true. It is true that he returned because it was deemed impossible to subdue the Demon King at the moment. However, it was not a problem for the person who went on the subjugation, but a problem in the rear, in the royal castle.”

“A problem in the capital? There was no problem here in the royal castle, so what excuse are you trying to make? If you’re going to say nonsense to avoid taking responsibility for failure, it’s better to stop.”

“It’s an excuse….”

Anise stretched her tongue and slowly looked around at everyone in Daejeon, including Vanessa, with cold eyes.

Those who caught her gaze either felt a chill running down their spines or took a step back, feeling cold sweat.

In a different world of swords and magic, the power of someone as powerful as Anis was not just an atmosphere, but a means of influencing others as practically as touching oneself.

Vanessa shouted angrily at that obvious threat.

“Dare! What on earth is this doing? No matter how much you are a princess, I know that something like this is acceptable! What are the guards doing? Get this guy out right now!”

In principle, it was an act of violence that would not have been strange, even if he beheaded her rather than just dragging her out of the battle, but the target, Anis, was the queen’s first daughter and a solid successor to the next queen.

Vanessa, who was enraged, could not even tell Anis to be punished by beheading her or putting her in prison, but could only tell her to drag her out, and the guards who were there to protect her were just hesitating, not knowing what to do against her, the leader.

Anise, who was looking at the people in excitement and confusion as if she was alone in Daejeon, which suddenly became noisy due to a shocking incident, slowly opened her mouth and began to speak.

“As someone who has borrowed the power of a hero, the passage of power between the hero and the hero is always connected, and I can feel the warrior’s condition to some extent. After combining the information I received from the area and what I felt during the subjugation of the Demon King, I decided that the subjugation could not continue as is due to the situation in the royal castle where the safety of the warriors could not be guaranteed, so I quickly returned.”

The door to the main hall opened roughly, as if waiting for Anis to finish speaking.

“Huh? Huh?!”

“What, what on earth is happening…”

“Crazy, this can’t be right….”

The soldiers who entered through the wide open gates of the Great Hall lined up behind Anis, and even knights and wizards came in and stood behind her as if they were pressuring the nobles of the Great Hall.

“You’re crazy, Anis! Are you planning to start a rebellion?”

“That’s not true, Duke Raidlin.”

Anise’s voice was calm, unlike Vanessa’s, but there was also a strange heat mixed in, something like a subtle burning anger.

“I am simply saying that there are people within the castle who are in cahoots with the Demon King’s army, blindfolding His Majesty, betraying humanity, and threatening the safety of the warriors, so I am just trying to stabilize the rear by eradicating such people before subjugating the Demon King. , there is no other meaning. Even if you try to subdue the demon lord with the help of the hero, how can you go forward if the hero’s safety is not guaranteed?”

“Only with such a hastily made excuse,”

“It’s true that it was made hastily. There is also something that can be evidence.”

Anise, who interrupted Vanessa, moved at a speed that no one could clearly see, as if standing still until now was a lie, and grabbed the neck of one of the noble women in the main hall.

“Wow, wow….”

And without even listening to the woman who was out of breath and trying to say something, he strangled her and broke her neck with just his grip.

The woman’s head was tilted at an angle that would be impossible for a living person, and her body was limp.

The sound of a corpse falling to the ground from Anise’s grasp echoed throughout the now quiet Daejeon.

“See all. This fake figure that the Demon King’s army has infiltrated into this place, deep into the royal castle.”

Everyone fell silent, probably from surprise at Anis’s handling of one person so boldly, and only the sound of Anise’s words echoed in the quiet Daejeon.

And although they hesitated, they followed Anise’s words and the eyes of those who saw the body of the woman who had fallen in front of her soon became colored with surprise.

“Nonsense, nonsense…”

“Is this really, real?”

What had been a woman’s corpse gradually changed in appearance, turning into something other than a human corpse, with no face and a smooth white surface.

“These are things called doppelgangers. They act as spies for the Demon King’s army, disguising themselves by killing their targets and taking their appearances. Some people may already know about them, while others may not. What’s important is that people have already infiltrated this place by disguising themselves as one of the nobles, and there may be more like this among the people left here, or there may be a number of people who were taken in by these things and passed over to the Demon King’s army.”

Even Vanessa could not say anything and was looking blankly at the body of her doppelganger, while Anis continued speaking.

“So, I need to verify everyone here. Rest assured, there is no need for everyone to be so anxious. As soon as the Demon King’s army’s spies and traitors are hunted down, everything will go back to how it was before. Nothing will happen to those who are innocent.”

And Anis turned her eyes towards the queen, who had been sitting silently on the throne with Vaneth as her spokesperson.

“Your Majesty, would you please give me permission?”

Looking at the queen’s appearance, with her long blue hair and decorated in complex and ornate shapes, it seemed as if she had mixed half of her two daughters, Anis and Liana, to give her a more mature and rich atmosphere.

The Queen, who, like Vanessa, looked more like Anis and Liana’s older sister than their mother, looked at Anis and the soldiers behind her and eventually nodded.

“Do as you wish.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

As soon as the Queen’s permission was granted, the soldiers brought by Anis without hesitation pointed their spears at the nobles, threatened them, and began to neutralize them one by one by handcuffing them with magic seals.

“I give this order with the authority of the commander of the Knights of the Guard. You guys are no exception. Do not resist, but obey obediently.”

The Knights of the Guard were the only group in this place that was armed and could properly resist the soldiers brought by Anis with weapons, but they eventually gave up resistance after listening to Anis’ words.

Even if the Knights of the Guard had received permission from the Queen, there was no reason to arbitrarily refuse Anise’s orders.

As the people gathered in the main hall were being taken out one by one, Vanessa, who was standing right next to the throne, asked the queen in a whisper.

“Sister, what are you thinking? You know that Anise’s words are unreasonable. This is actually a rebellion…!”

“I know, but what can I do? Look at them, aren’t they soldiers on the front line? I don’t know how Anis boiled them and treated them like limbs, but by the time we brought them here, we had already lost. Even if I resisted, I would have just shed more blood.”

“Ugh…!”

Vanessa bit her lip and made an exasperated noise, but as the queen said, there was nothing she could do now.

In the first place, the fact that the soldiers led by Anis entered the castle was a problem in itself, and the positions that could prevent or prepare for such an incident in advance were the commander of the castle garrison, the commander of the knights of the royal guard, and the chief of the royal maids, and Anis, the commander of the knights of the royal guard, appointed the maid, Rachel. This was the result of quickly arresting her and suppressing the resistance of the guard commander by using her authority as the queen’s successor, the First Princess.

Based on common sense, it would be difficult to predict that Anis, who was the undisputed successor to the throne, would do something close to a rebellion like this, so it was difficult to blame the garrison commander who ultimately failed to stop Anis.

“Duke Raidrin, you should go too. There are no exceptions.”

Vanessa strongly protested and screamed at the words spoken by Anis, who had already approached the throne.

“What?! Me, I’m your aunt! Your father’s sister! Are you going to treat me like those common nobles?!”

“They said there are no exceptions, even for my aunt.”

Anis changed her tone to a more respectful tone, as if she would accept it if the relationship between a private aunt and nephew was brought up, but the content of her words did not change at all.

In the end, Vanessa was dragged out of Daejeon in mana-sealed handcuffs, unable to hide her humiliated expression as she received Anise’s cold gaze.

In Daejeon, where everyone had left and only the queen and Anis remained, the queen sitting on the throne looked at Anis quietly and then opened her mouth.

“People have commented that I am not too greedy to only be born with Liana, but as a mother, I know that. Anise, you have a personality that is as greedy as your second child, Liana. Actually, that’s why I’ve been so worried for a long time. It seemed like you would just throw away everything, like the throne and power, and fly away if you had the chance.”

Anise just listened to her mother, the queen, without answering, perhaps in affirmation or because she felt no need to refute.

“I was wondering why you suddenly had such a change of heart that you, who had no interest in the throne or power, were doing something like this, but now that I’m looking at you, I understand. Anise, you didn’t just become greedy.”

The queen asked, looking at Anise with a slightly sad and sad look in her eyes.

“What on earth did we do to you that you’re so angry about? What did I do to you without my knowledge that you look at this mother with such hatred?”

Anise tried to hide her feelings, but in the end, she couldn’t fool her mother, the Queen.

Anise opened her mouth with difficulty, suppressing the complex emotions surging inside her.

“Mother…. Mother, you haven’t done anything wrong yet. Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“Let’s go, Your Majesty. I will meet you personally.”

The queen asked a question, but Anise spoke to the queen as if she had no intention of answering further. In the end, the queen had no choice but to follow Anis and leave Daejeon without receiving an answer.