Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Struggle for Power and Influence
A plan that would completely overturn the Ilinor Kingdom and bring great turmoil was unfolding here.
"Next, let me confirm our actions with you all once again," said Lisa, who was sitting in the main seat, wearing a white dress and a black wide-brimmed hat.
She was nearly two meters tall, with extremely broad shoulders and a sturdy pelvis. Even sitting on the widest chair, she looked very crowded.
Her exaggeratedly voluptuous figure did not give people a sense of beauty, but rather a sense of horror. The firelight in the underground room reflected her pale skin, and the bright red lipstick on her lips made her look even more bizarre.
No one dared to disobey this Duchess.
It was not only because of the pressure from her appearance and status, but also because of the terrifying monster hidden in the shadows behind Lisa.
Lisa said slowly, "The envoy from the Empire will arrive in the city three days later, on Saturday."
"At that time, the city will hold a grand banquet to welcome and receive the envoy. All members of the royal family of Ilinor, even our old king, will attend the banquet and dare not neglect the envoy."
"The opportunity to gather the whole royal family like this may not come again in a hundred years. We, the Five Flowers Alliance, have been preparing for so many years for this moment. There is no better opportunity than this banquet to wipe out the entire royal family."
"I have communicated with the envoy, and the envoy has given us the support. In return, we will capture the eldest princess, our beloved Princess Yuffie, during the operation and send her to the envoy's room for his enjoyment."
"Therefore, our first objective is to slaughter all members of the Ilinor royal family, except for the eldest princess, and completely eliminate them from the city, leaving not a single one behind."
"Our second objective is to capture the eldest princess and not let Yuffie escape. This is as important as the first objective, because it involves whether we can continue to receive the support of the Empire's envoy in the future."
The three nobles below all nodded in agreement with Lisa's summary.
It was not difficult to see that the whole plan seemed to be secondary to "coup d'etat."
How to please and satisfy the "Empire's envoy" was also highly regarded by them.
Why?
The exclamations of the three nobles below provided the answer.
"The old king is foolish. He should have surrendered to the Empire earlier. Now, it has come to this disgraceful end."
"After we control the royal city, we will immediately apply to the envoy for political protection and request the Empire to build a military camp and permanently station troops in our Ilinor kingdom.
This way, even if there are other forces in the kingdom who want to resist us, they will have no choice but to surrender."
This Count's suggestion immediately received the agreement of the other two members present, who eagerly echoed:
"Hmph, otherwise, are we going to rely on the army of Ilinor to compete with the Empire? It's as laughable as throwing eggs at a stone."
"If our old were like the other neighboring kingdoms, accepted the Empire's garrison, was willing to exempt the Empire's merchants and goods from tariffs, and was willing to give preferential policies to the Empire's people, it would not have ended up like this."
"Yes, so after our Five Flowers Alliance takes over Ilinor, we must learn from our lessons, strive to please the Empire, deepen our exchanges with the Empire, and I have already established a relationship with a private academy in the Empire. I plan to send my son to study in the Empire later."
The second nobleman said last, looking smug, as if showing off his connections in the Empire.
And this did indeed attract envious looks from the other nobles.
"That's great! I heard that even the air in the Empire is fresher, the magic density is higher, and the moon is rounder. It's a pity that I don't have a child to send over."
"Speaking of which, Vedler, don't you have a daughter? How about it? Send Ariel with my son to the Empire. Your daughter is so beautiful.
If she marries an aristocrat in the Empire, who knows, your family might even get an Empire's 'resident permit'!"
It was the Count who had previously said he would send his son to study in the Empire, who now turned his gaze to the other Count at the edge of the round table.
Unlike the other three, Vedler had been silent and taciturn since the meeting began, as if he were just an observer.
Count Vedler saw that the topic had turned to him.
He smiled and shook his head.
"Everyone, why don't we discuss more about the operation plan three days later? Are you not worried that the royal family may have hidden forces? And what countermeasures have you prepared for this?"
Vedler's words seemed to have a magical power.
The few Counts of the Five Flowers Alliance who were just enthusiastically dreaming about the future suddenly made a 180-degree turn and were pulled back to the topic of the operation.
"Strength? It's just the Royal Knights, oh right, and Vedler, you told us before that the eldest princess has recruited an A-level mercenary group, called something like the Eagle Mercenaries?"
"But none of this matters. The monster behind Madam Lisa is our biggest trump card. With it, whether it's the Royal Knights or an A-level adventurer, they stand no chance against it, hahaha!"
The few Counts of the Five Flowers Alliance were very confident.
As the leader, Duchess Lisa was the same.
As if to demonstrate, Lisa hooked her finger towards the back, and the terrifying monster walked out of the shadows. It had a forest of white bones, and its hollow eye sockets flickered with dim ghostly flames. It held a large chopping knife, it...
It was a Death Knight.
A stage 3 undead.
"Is this your...only trump card?"
"Vedler! Watch your tone. I've felt something off about you since the beginning. What's wrong with you?"
Count Vedler did not answer.
He just sighed and shook his head.
"Sorry, I seem to have overestimated you all."
"Thank you for explaining the action plan to me today. Your intelligence has been very helpful. So, please continue to execute this plan."
The members of the Five Flowers Alliance who had just questioned Count Vedler looked confused under his words.
Then, they quickly nodded like puppets, as if they had forgotten the unpleasantness just now.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"Well, I have some urgent matters to attend to, so I'll leave first."
"Please keep working hard."
Vedler stood up from his seat, along with his two followers behind him. Although the meeting had not ended, and even the leader, Lisa, had not said they could leave, they left very calmly.
But no one found this strange.
It was as if everything was very natural.
After leaving the inside of the Five Flowers Alliance, Count Vedler's appearance began to blur, and dark green snake scales crawled up his skin. His deep brown vertical pupils, snake eyes, reflected a deep and mysterious glow in the moonlight.
It was not only Count Vedler.
His two followers behind him were also like this, but their transformation was even greater, and their bodies swelled, turning into snake people. This was a very obvious racial characteristic in the Demon Race.
Wisdom Demons.