At the moment when everyone was still stunned speechless by the Prime Minister’s actions, General Sera had already led the soldiers to drag back every single noble who had just desperately tried to escape.
“No… Don’t kill me!”
“I swear loyalty! I swear!”
The nobles were thrown back into the pool of blood, their spirits utterly shattered as they knelt on the ground, crying and begging for mercy, surrounded by the stench of blood and scattered flesh.
However, the Witch Queen only gazed at them coldly, saying nothing.
That icy stare was more terrifying than any torture.
On the throne, Wendy gave Laxana a look.
Miss Klein understood instantly, a malicious curve appearing at the corner of her lips as she waved her slender hand.
Dozens of Loyalty Collars, crackling with ominous electricity, spun through the air above each noble’s head.
“Put it on, or die.”
Wendy softly delivered the final ultimatum.
In an instant, the instinct to survive crushed all else.
The nobles scrambled to place the collars around their necks.
But just as an elderly Marquis finished fastening the collar, a thought flashed reflexively through her mind—
Contact the other families as soon as I return, find a way to break this damned Magic…
Before the thought was finished—
“UWAHHHH!!!”
A terrible scream ripped through the air!
That old Marquis erupted with blinding lightning, her entire body convulsing violently in place.
Her skin blackened at a speed visible to the naked eye, and thick smoke poured from her mouth and nose.
In less than two seconds, she became a smoking lump of charred flesh and collapsed with a crash.
The stench of burned flesh spread.
Silence.
“It seems someone’s loyalty to Her Majesty isn’t so firm, hmm~”
His Highness the Prince sneered, breaking the stillness.
The rest of the nobles, witnessing this horror, were instantly scared out of their wits, not daring to entertain a single stray thought.
Wendy was very satisfied with this effect.
He then began issuing orderly commands, sending these thoroughly terrified ‘cattle’ back to their posts to continue serving the kingdom.
He quickly arranged for Sera and Laxana to lead soldiers to search the Veid Family’s manor.
“Follow the list the Queen provided last night and check each location along the way.”
Wendy instructed.
“But don’t harm those nobles—just confiscate their property and give them a stern warning. After all, Valoran still needs them to keep working.”
General Sera accepted the order and left.
Laxana, however, crossed her arms with a pout of dissatisfaction.
“So you’re kicking me out as soon as you’re done with me, huh? I wanted to stay and watch this old fox’s downfall!”
Wendy looked helpless, leaning over to quietly comfort her.
“With the remaining nobles, who knows if someone is hiding powerful Magic or dangerous tools? General Sera isn’t skilled in Magic, so delicate work like this must be handled by the renowned high-level Archmage of the Royal Capital herself, to prevent any mishaps.”
These words precisely targeted Miss Klein’s weakness.
She merely snorted, her face still reluctant, but her feet faithfully followed Sera’s group.
After soothing the ‘rival lady’, Wendy finally let out a secret sigh of relief.
This siege, forcing the Royal Capital’s surrender, had been full of twists, but in the end, it was a narrow victory and the overall situation was secured.
It was just a shame about the Guardian of the Ten Rings.
In his previous life, in the game ‘Witch’s Conquest,’ there was once an Epic Continuous Quest released by a descendant of the exiled Veid Family, with the final reward being this semi-divine artifact.
It could grant ten deadly attack immunities per day—truly a life-saving treasure.
He had planned to seize it from the Veid Family’s Inventory through the search, but who could have guessed that the Duchess would be so cautious, wearing it herself—only to be crushed into powder along with her and the rings by Astreia’s fury.
All he could do was sigh—it was fate.
This thought flashed by, and Wendy refocused on the hall, turning his gaze toward the real hidden threat.
At this moment, only Wendy, Astreia, Queen Yekaterina, and the ever-calm Cardinal remained in the hall.
Wendy narrowed his eyes, slowly circling Allison Visseran like a fox stalking its prey.
Queen Yekaterina sat in her sister’s arms, green eyes full of curiosity.
She wanted to see how this advisor, so trusted by her sister, would handle the Prime Minister who even she found troublesome.
Just as Wendy’s aura peaked and he was about to thunder forth with a question—
Allison Visseran suddenly spoke, smiling with narrowed eyes.
“Prince Wendy, are you wondering why I remain so calm even though I clearly know the Crown Princess has fallen into darkness as a Witch?”
One sentence struck the bullseye.
At these words, the young Queen Yekaterina immediately widened her eyes, staring at her sister in shock and doubt.
Yet the Witch Queen, holding beauties in both arms, only smiled playfully, saying nothing.
Only Wendy felt all his carefully prepared rhetoric vanish into thin air, as if his punch had landed on cotton, leaving him frustrated and choked.
This old fox!
After a brief pause, His Highness the Prince shifted his approach.
“In that case, Prime Minister, let me ask you this. In the past, when Astreia suffered discrimination and unfair treatment in the Royal Capital, why did you turn a blind eye? Later, why did you force her out of the capital and send her to the desolate Sunset Fortress, granting her military power? Was this all calculated by you from the start?”
Allison Visseran adjusted her monocle, smiling as she nodded.
Wendy’s eyes sharpened as he pressed further:
“You also ignored the Veid Family’s control of the capital and their embezzlement of Northern Army supplies, letting them grow unchecked. Was it to intensify conflict, so that the Northern Army and the Veid Family would fight each other to exhaustion, allowing you to lead the neutral and civil factions to profit and seize power?”
Allison Visseran maintained her serene composure, once again nodding with a faint smile.
At that moment, Wendy noticed that the Loyalty Collar on her neck had not reacted at all.
In other words, everything the Prime Minister said was true, and in the collar’s judgment, none of these schemes counted as ‘malicious acts harmful to the kingdom.’
Wendy’s brow twisted deeply.
He completely failed to understand this woman’s thinking.
“So, Prime Minister, what exactly are your intentions? What is your political stance? If these matters aren’t clarified today, I’m afraid… I can’t allow you to leave this hall unscathed.”
As soon as he spoke, Astreia cooperatively raised her hand.
BOOM—!
The two heavy oak doors of the hall instantly slammed shut, sealing tightly.
Seeing this, Allison Visseran finally opened the fox-like eyes she had kept narrowed.
“Prince Wendy, you overthink.”
The Prime Minister’s voice, previously gentle, suddenly became powerful.
“My heart and actions are clear as a mirror. All I do is for justice!”
She stepped forward, staring Wendy down.
“The reason I allowed the Crown Princess to be isolated at first was because the people did not accept her. Later, I manipulated the Veid Family and the Northern Army because both the Crown Princess, holding military power, and the Veid Family, controlling the treasury, were the greatest sources of instability in this nation!”
“As the Prime Minister of the Valoran Kingdom, my sole responsibility is to make this country better and to ensure the people living on this land are happy!”
“All is for the kingdom—nothing for personal gain. Beyond that, I have no other purpose!”
This impassioned, almost devout declaration left Wendy stunned.
It was completely different from the scheming, sanctimonious Church villains he’d known—she was a martyr, a political monster willing to abandon power, wealth, family, even herself, and plot everything for the ‘nation.’
He could not find a single word to refute her.
But this was not Wendy’s main concern.
“So, Prime Minister…”
His Highness the Prince took a deep breath and asked the most crucial question.
“What is your view on Astreia becoming a Witch? Are you not going to report to the Church and send the Temple Knight Order to ‘purify’ her?”
At this, the sternness on Allison Visseran’s face instantly dissolved.
She even let out a small ‘hehe’ laugh.
“I remember that a few days ago, didn’t the Church and the Magic Association already send people to Sunset Fortress to test?”
“Since the Crown Princess passed the inspection, there shouldn’t be any issue.”
“But…”
The Cardinal’s smile turned enigmatic, as if Wendy were a child ignorant of the world.
“It seems that as a prince of a chivalric kingdom, Your Highness knows nothing of the origins of ‘witches’~”
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