All of Heidi’s schemes were built on one major premise: Eze’s departure from the team had not yet become public knowledge, and she had plenty of time to play her games with him.
So what happened?
That foolish woman had actually dealt the deadliest blow right under her nose, without her knowing.
At this moment, Heidi couldn’t even summon her anger; her mind was a complete blur.
Watching her collapse straight down, not knowing what had happened, Lia hurried over and gently kicked her a few times.
“Hey, what’s going on? What happened?”
“…When?”
“What?”
Heidi sprang up from the ground like a fish out of water, eyes red and wild, grabbing the much taller Lia’s collar and almost roaring:
“I said! You! When did you write the letter to the Holy Capital!!?”
Lia, still unaware of what she’d done, looked completely confused.
“Five days ago, the day you left the camp.”
Saying this, she even shrugged lightly, thinking Heidi was making a fuss over nothing.
And Heidi?
She felt the world spin, almost collapsing again.
Five days!? Even walking slowly to the Holy Capital takes only four days! With a fast horse delivering the letter, it only takes two days!
With the number of spies the major nobles and powers have planted in the Holy Capital, the speed of information flow—doesn’t this mean that all the human elites already know this news by now!?
Give it another week, and even the waitresses at the restaurants would probably be talking about it!
Heidi let go of Lia and turned away, biting her nails as she frantically tried to think.
This is bad.
Very, very bad…
No matter how she thought about it, this was a huge problem!
At this moment, the Grand Dukes coveting her throne had 100% already started making their moves.
Some of their poaching teams might have already arrived in Taffia.
Where could she still leisurely sip her wine here, waiting for Eze to come apologize? What if he got intercepted by someone else on the way!?
She had to speed things up.
She looked at Lia.
Suppressing the urge to tear this fool limb from limb, Heidi forced a kind smile and asked:
“So, what are you going to do next?”
“Do? What else? Of course, I’m going to visit Taffia’s Lord to ask for reinforcements and supplies. What’s wrong? Didn’t you negotiate before?”
She hadn’t, because lowering herself to beg a Viscount was truly humiliating.
But now, the situation had changed.
“Let’s go. I’ll come with you.”
That letter Lia sent was no different from the starting gun of a race.
Now that they were in the sprint phase, there was no time for pride. She needed to calm this idiot down quickly, then send her packing so she could do her own thing.
The two heroes went downstairs.
Dozens of knights, including two Knight Commanders, were lined up on the street waiting.
Their shining armor and weapons glittered dazzlingly under the sun, definitely eye-catching.
But they also blocked the road, drawing complaints from merchants and commoners around.
Lia scanned the group and frowned:
“Why is someone missing? Where’s Constantine Wilkes!?”
One Knight Commander answered calmly:
“A robbery just happened on this street. Constantine went after the culprit.”
Such a grandiose excuse would make Heidi scoff, but Lia found it believable.
She nodded:
“Alright then, let’s head to the Lord’s manor. All ranks, march!”
As usual, Eze woke up very early. After a quick wash-up, he immediately dove into his study.
After a while, he came out holding a stack of papers and changed into his going-out clothes.
Villian, who had just woken up yawning, looked at him in puzzlement:
“You’re going out?”
“Yeah, I’m going to see Sheen. I need to ask about the follow-up from last night, and give him these.”
He held up the papers.
These were from Sheen a few days ago, confiscated from the Adventurer’s Guild—records of monster hunt contracts over the past few years.
Eze had actually read them long ago but kept them without handing them over to pressure the Adventurer’s Guild—to force them into attacking him, so he could catch them in the act.
But now, things had changed. Eze had decided on a different approach.
Using Adventurer Guildmaster Roderick as a foothold, he planned to teach Heidi a lesson.
“How’s Anna? Still asleep?”
The magical doll maid nodded.
“Yes, Master. Miss Anna is still sound asleep—she must be exhausted and still shocked from yesterday.”
A child so young being so tired was truly…
Eze shook his head helplessly.
“Let her rest. I’m going first.”
“Wait, if you’re meeting Sheen, I’ll go with you. Speaking as a fake noble might make things easier. Let me get ready.”
With that, she rushed into the bedroom, closing the door behind her amid the clinking sounds of dressing and primping.
Soon after, she poked her head out and smiled:
“If you want to see, now’s your chance. I don’t mind.”
“What am I supposed to see? Just hurry up and change already!”
“Boring~”
Villian pouted and withdrew back inside, the clinking resumed.
Quickly, she changed into her usual purple dress and came over to Eze’s side.
“I’m ready, darling. Shall we go?”
Eze scratched his head and nodded.
Linking arms as before, the two stepped out and onto the street.
Near noon, the streets were quite busy.
Patrolling guards nodded greetings at them, and servants from wealthy houses returned with purchases, preparing lunch.
The atmosphere was peaceful.
Suddenly, Eze stopped walking.
He’d heard a slightly sharp birdcall.
Villian looked confused:
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
Eze denied it but scanned the surroundings, his gaze stopping at a restaurant by the roadside.
“This time isn’t very good. How about we eat lunch first? Otherwise, it looks like we’re just mooching a meal.”
“Hmm… okay!”
Surprised by the request, Villian still agreed quickly.
They entered the restaurant, sat down, and ordered.
Midway through the meal, Eze suddenly grimaced in pain.
“Damn, stomach hurts—”
“Really? Are you okay? Did you eat something bad last night? Or is it from your injury—”
Eze waved his hand:
“No, no, nothing serious. Just need to use the restroom.”
“Alright.”
Eze covered his stomach and went into the restroom. The moment the door closed behind him, he jumped out the open high window, landing in the alley below.
There, a hooded figure, face obscured, was already leaning against the wall waiting for him.
Seeing Eze arrive, he bowed his head slightly in greeting:
“Long time no see, boss. Glad your injury’s healed.”
Eze sighed helplessly.
“I’m fine… but you, Constantine, what are you doing here?”