With the skill of seven Guard Knights, catching up to the two ahead was not difficult… but to remain hidden, they slowed down as much as possible to cross the brightly lit Grand Hall Plaza and Covered Bridge without drawing attention.
Meanwhile, Iyue and Waletidina, who had reached the entrance first like the wind, were stopped by the guards there.
“You are Lord Yi Yue… Why are you here?”
The Guard Knight armor draped over Iyue surprised and confused them greatly.
After all, they had only just heard that this renowned Hero had returned wearing a Ranger Corps uniform… In their understanding, Iyue should be on the side of Acting Head of Family Lai Wei An Se, the Patrol Commander of the Ranger Corps.
“Why are you stopping me? Am I not a Family Member?”
Iyue asked coldly.
“Th-this… Of course not… Aren’t you the one who knows the family’s rules best…”
The two guards looked at the armor on her, hesitating to speak.
“Enough. Show them the Imperial Edict.”
At Waletidina’s urging, Iyue took out the Queen’s Imperial Edict.
“This is Your Majesty’s edict. The Nereve Family is suspected of involvement in the grave crime of Treason. My companions and I have been ordered to investigate—no one may stop us.”
“This…”
“Please wait a moment. I will report this…”
“There is no time.”
The two guards who saw the Royal Court Emblem trembled in unison.
One turned to report to his superiors, while the other tried to keep the two outside.
But Iyue and Waletidina ignored their every move and walked straight into the Giant Tree.
“Please wait, you two…”
“If you obstruct us again, I will treat your actions—and the Nereve Family’s actions—as disobedience to an Imperial Edict. Can you bear that responsibility?”
After Iyue said this, the two guards finally abandoned their attempts to dissuade them in shame.
They had no choice but to lead the way… taking them to where the family’s upper levels were.
Along the way, the seven Knights also followed from that unguarded entrance.
Led by the guards, everyone boarded the elevator and arrived at an area in the upper-middle levels of the Giant Tree.
This area was built inside an indoor Garden, with green grass like a carpet and rare flowers and trees complementing one another.
Springs drawn from four directions flowed slowly through carved white stone channels, and the channels enclosed a small Grand Hall Plaza in the center of the Garden.
On that Grand Hall Plaza, butlers in black formal wear and Servants in plain white clothes attended behind several Elders draped in gorgeous robes of interwoven gold and green.
The Elders at the center were all over 1,000 years old… and from the Garden’s other entrances, more and more family members continuously descended from the elevator, converging toward the Grand Hall Plaza.
Iyue had been here before—as a Guard Knight.
This was the Council Chamber the family used when discussing and deciding important matters, and it was also the highest level of the Giant Tree that Iyue could freely reach as an outsider.
“Is everyone here? Then the meeting is about to formally begin—”
Amid the rising voices of discussion, an Elder and a High Steward beside him counted the family members present… and their gazes quickly locked onto these uninvited guests clad in Guard Knight armor.
“What is going on? Why are these people here?”
As he asked in a stern voice, everyone on the Grand Hall Plaza instantly stopped talking, and all eyes gathered on the Guard Knights.
“Truly ashamed… but they hold Her Majesty the Queen’s Imperial Edict…”
The two guards retreated in fear and trepidation. Without them blocking the view, Iyue immediately felt countless gazes falling on her.
“Iyue…?”
“That child of Iruna… What is Weiser doing? Why is this child here with Guard Knights?”
“A bloodline tainted by Humans… Sigh.”
From these people’s eyes, she could see all kinds of emotions—shock, fear, disgust, confusion… just as always.
‘The family still hasn’t changed at all… but I am no longer the me of the past.’
Iyue sighed with emotion. These needle-like gazes did not hinder her actions at all.
She gripped the hilt of the long Frostblade at her waist and walked forward against their stares.
“Everyone should know me. I will keep it brief: Captain of the Imperial Guard Valentina Moiera and I have come under Her Majesty the Queen’s Imperial Edict to investigate the Nereve Family… because the family is suspected of Treason.”
Iyue and Waletidina passed through the crowd and entered the Grand Hall Plaza, while she raised the sealed scroll high.
“Absurd…!”
“Hasn’t Weiser already been cleared of suspicion? What does the Royal Court mean by sending people now!”
“Please, everyone, bring out the Family Head.”
“Weiser is not here right now…”
“I said the Family Head.” Iyue still did not open the wax seal on the Imperial Edict. “This is Her Majesty the Queen’s Imperial Edict. Here, only Irevelian Nelf has the right to receive this edict. Bring her out.”
The Grand Hall Plaza instantly fell silent… then immediately fell into a slight commotion. The family members whispered among themselves—
“Silence.”
Two Elders stepped out from the crowd. One raised a hand to quiet their whispering, while the other turned and spoke a Greeting to Iyue:
“Iyue… It has been a long time.”
“You need not exchange pleasantries with me, Grandfather Kaleas. I come on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. This concerns the grave crime of Treason, so please have the Family Head brought out at once.”
This old man, whom Iyue called Kaleas, looked in appearance similar to a Human in their eighties or nineties… but in Iyue’s memory, his age should be close to 1,200 years old.
While he was an Elder of the Nereve Family, he was also a high minister of the Royal Court—when Iyue was still a Guard Knight, he was the highest administrative official of Fenglin City.
“Of course we know the seriousness of the matter…” The white-haired and white-bearded old man’s eyes remained sharp.
He first nodded to Iyue, then turned to Waletidina beside her. “Hasn’t the Knight Commander always known? Our Head of the Household… her health has always been poor. Before the war began, she was already unable to walk freely.”
“I understand. But this time is different—the crime of Treason is no small matter. Your Majesty must see her and receive a reasonable explanation from her.”
“A reasonable explanation… From what you say, Your Majesty wants you to take her away? But in Your Majesty’s eyes, hasn’t Weiser’s suspicion already been cleared? Otherwise, why would the Royal Court let her return?”
The old man named Kaleas thought for a while, then asked slowly.
“We found the background of the Ranger Corps member who cast the Curse. She was introduced into the Ranger Training Grounds back then by a Noble named Liesel Nerufu.”
“Liesel…?” An expression of surprise finally appeared on the old man’s face, but compared to surprise, confusion was greater.
“Lord Kaleas. Do you recall this name?”
“No… I have never heard this name. Please wait a moment, it will only take a moment. The Nereve Family absolutely has no intention of defying Your Majesty’s will.”
Kaleas waved over a female butler.
That butler looked somewhat familiar. Iyue recognized her as the butler named Lucia, whom she had run into that day when Yan Wei Fu brought her to infiltrate the upper levels of the Giant Tree.
“Go check immediately…”
Iyue would need to use Magic Power to enhance her perception to hear the words Kaleas deliberately lowered—but she did not do so.
Because all the Nereve Family Elders present had deep Magic Power, and if she showed any intent to cast magic, they would instantly notice.
And she did not yet intend to have a direct conflict with the family… at least not before seeing that woman.