BXBX NOVEL Chapter 365 - WORK THEM TO THE BONE
"That sounds like a good idea, Your Majesty. Our "Crown Prince" is good at administrative work," Kyle Sprouse said while looking at her as if he just found a new servant. "Your Royal Highness, should I send half of His Majesty's workload to your office?"
She let out a sigh.
[These men aren't taking me seriously.]
But it wasn't like she could blame her Papa Boss and Kyle Sprouse for taking her words lightly. After all, she announced her plan as if she was just telling them she'd go to a picnic.
"The royal family of the Hazelden Kingdom has been smuggling weapons to the countries and kingdoms that waged war on the Moonasterion Empire," she said in a serious and calm voice befitting her current disguise as the Crown Prince. "You know what's more interesting? We found out that the weapons the Hazelden Kingdom is so proud of were actually made from the stolen Hisa Jewels."
Her Papa Boss and the count looked shocked by her revelation.
"Proof?" her Papa Boss asked seriously. "Hazelden Kingdom is a small kingdom, but they have enough military power to rival us."
Kyle nodded in agreement with her father. "Moreover, the Hazelden Kingdom is one of our allied nations. If we attack them without enough proof, our empire would be put in a bad light."
"That's why I'm going to the Hazelden Kingdom," she said. "Papa Boss, Count Sprouse, I believe Sir Glenn discovered the Hazelden Kingdom's secret."
The two men looked surprised by her remark.
"Dion told me Sir Glenn sent a report saying he wouldn't return to the empire, but we all find it suspicious, right?" she shared her hypothesis with them. "What if Sir Glenn discovered the kingdom's secret, thus he's being forced to stay there? I bet the kingdom is using Princess Brigitte to tie him down."
"That makes sense," her father said. "But as I said, we need irrevocable proof."
"My team will take care of that, Papa Boss," she said. "I'm already working on it."
"Then will you be going to the Hazelden Kingdom on an official visit, or will you be sneaking in?"
"I will be officially visiting the kingdom under the guise of discussing the deal you made with Princess Brigitte in the past, Papa Boss," she said, then she snickered. "But my "children" will sneak in for a surprise attack."
"It seems like you already have everything planned."
"You can say that, Papa Boss," she said. "And I heard the Fletcher Twins will arrive at the Hazelden Kingdom, too. May I borrow them?"
"I'll tell Geoffrey to send the word to the twins," her father said. "Who will you bring with you aside from your "children?""
"I'm thinking about bringing Lady Sera and Countess Jade Wisteria with me," she said. "I'll use them to meet up with Princess Brigitte. I heard the king of the Hazelden Kingdom is a misogynistic pig, so I bet he'd lower his guard if I only bring women to meet up with his daughter."
"Have you already talked to the Wisterias about it?"
"Yes, Papa Boss," she said. "They still have to pay the price of stealing from our family. Especially after we find out that the goods they stole have been used to create weapons that are sold to the enemy nations."
"Alright, I'll leave it to you then," her father said, then he turned to the count. "You heard my daughter, Kyle. Come up with a plausible excuse for the Crown Prince's sudden visit, then send the word to the Hazelden Kingdom."
Kyle Sprouse bowed to the emperor. "As you wish, Your Majesty."
After saying that, the count excused himself and left her father's office quietly.
Now, only her and her Papa Boss were left in the room.
"Papa Boss, I have something to say regarding this matter," she said seriously. Now that Kyle Sprouse was not there anymore, she could now talk freely. "Do you remember when the Holy Land was attacked a few years ago? The home of the former saint was attacked by the rebels from the enemy nations, and the refugees from the previous war under the saint's wing were killed by the suicide group that the rebels brought with them."
"How could I forget?" her father asked bitterly. "We were heavily criticized for what happened."
They were criticized because the empire was the one in charge of the Holy Land's protection. But the royal knights stationed there were easily defeated by the rebels. If it wasn't for the Holy Knights, the damage they received would have been worse.
"I believe the weapons used by the rebels during that attack were supplied by the Hazelden Kingdom," she said. "I came up with that conclusion after I went to the library to read the report regarding that incident. It turns out that the rebels we arrested were non-Mana users, but they were able to take down the royal knights easily."
"I know what you're talking about," her father said while nodding. "But unfortunately, we didn't retrieve the weapons the rebels used for that attack. Thus, we didn't have the chance to investigate where the weapons came from."
"I believe those weapons could still be retrieved," she said. "If we retrieve them, they would serve as pieces of evidence against the Hazelden Kingdom."
"Can you find those weapons?"
"No, not me," Neoma said, then she smiled brightly. "But I trust my "children.""
Her Papa Boss let out a soft laugh. "It seems like you plan to work them to the bone, huh?"
***
"ARE YOU bored?" Neoma asked when she saw Xion rolling on the bed like a child. "Was life in prison bored the hell out of you?"
Xion, who stopped rolling on the bed, immediately got up and faced her. His face lit up when he saw her, but he also looked confused. "Your Royal Highness, I know this room is in your palace, but is it safe to walk around without your disguise?"
Yep, right now, she was dressed as Neoma Ramsay.
That meant her hair and eye color were changed into plain brown, and she was also dressed as a commoner. She even wore a hooded robe to complete her disguise.
"It's fine," Neoma assured the assassin. "Jeno and Lady Avery worked together to create a mist spell that would conceal my presence. Plus, I'm dressed like this because we're going out of the palace, and I need you to go with me."
"Does it mean I have your complete trust now?" the assassin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Your Royal Highness also released me from prison."
"You already took the Oath, so I'm not that worried about being betrayed by you," she said with a shrug. "Moreover, you're an easy kill, so I don't see you as a threat."
Xion didn't seem to mind, as he just laughed at her sass. "Where shall I escort Your Royal Highness?"
"I'll introduce you to someone you'll need to work closely with from now on," Neoma said seriously. "He's someone I see as my older brother, so you better behave around him, Xion."
***
"PRINCESS NEOMA, your penchant for good-looking people is getting worse day by day."
Neoma pouted at Jasper Hawthorne's scolding voice. "Oppa, we haven't seen each other for quite a while and yet, you're already nagging at me?"
Yep, she sneaked out of the palace with Lewis and Xion to go to Jasper Hawthorne's information guild called Sinkhole.
[Jasper oppa's office here is safe, so we're free to talk like this.]
"I'm just worried about you, Princess Neoma," Jasper oppa said while giving Xion a side-eye. "I know that you're fond of good-looking people, but I didn't expect you to bring a Redgrave on your side. Is it because of his face?"
Jasper Hawthorne didn't recognize Xion since before Lord Redgrave died, no one could remember Xion's face.
But when Xion introduced himself to her oppa as 'Xion Redgrave,' Jasper Hawthorne immediately recognized him as one of the assassins from the infamous Redgrave clan. And now that the curse of the Redgraves was gone, she bet her oppa wouldn't forget Xion after that meeting.
[Jasper oppa doesn't seem to like Xion, though.]
Xion smirked while giving Jasper Hawthorne a side-eye of his own. "Princess Neoma, if you need information, you should have just told me. We didn't have to come to a small-fry information guild like this one."
"At least my guild is decent," Jasper Hawthorne said while smiling "brightly" at Xion. "Xion Redgrave, you of all people should know how filthy your family's assassin guild is. Would you really like to bring our Princess Neoma in that kind of place?"
Xion visibly twitched, obviously offended by Jasper Hawthorne's taunting.
She let out a sigh, then she turned to Lewis with the intention of asking her "son" to meditate between Xion and her oppa.
But she immediately noticed that Lewis was enjoying the fight between the two.
"Let them fight," Lewis whispered to her as if he knew what she wanted him to do, but he wasn't in the mood to follow her. "It's fun."
She let out another sigh.
[Lewis can sometimes act like a sadist.]
"Xion, Jasper oppa, I need both of your help," Neoma declared sternly, making Xion and Jasper Hawthorne turn to her at the same time. "So please get your shit together before I lose mine, okay?"
***
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