Chapter 298: Cooperation

Gabriella lifted her head and looked at the several airships hovering above the upper levels of the palace.

It was as if they were showing off, openly displaying the strength Monastar possessed today.

The Heavenly Oracle Envoys had not hidden their power either.

After all, they were already experts of Emperor rank.

No matter how they concealed themselves, they could rush over at any time.

In other words, if the people of Monastar wanted to make a move now, they would have done so long ago.

Their present attitude was entirely one of wanting to negotiate, though Gabriella still did not understand what Letitia wanted besides the formalities.

The reason she had asked that strange question before could only be that she already knew something.

Creis and Olivia wore serious expressions.

Isabella, on the other hand, looked rather pleased, as if everything were already in her grasp.

“Wife, is your body still all right?”

“You can’t possibly be looking forward to a fight, can you?!”

“How could I?”

Isabella covered her mouth and laughed.

“I was only wondering whether I should eat all these fellows.”

Gabriella froze.

“Isabella…”

Celestial God Creis had already been stained by Shadow, but she had never said she would join the Evil God’s camp completely, all right?

Fortunately, Creis’s reaction seemed to be well within Isabella’s expectations.

She only lowered her head, as if pretending she had not heard.

Olivia nodded.

“It’s all right, Lady Isabella. Miss Simona has prepared a contingency as well, and there is no chance we would be defeated by the Heavenly Oracle Envoys.”

“What if they use [Relics]?” Creis suddenly joined the conversation.

She looked toward the towering palace drawing nearer and nearer, and unease stirred in her heart at those weapons that could wound her.

“Don’t worry, Mother-in-law. With me here, those Relics won’t dare touch you.”

Isabella showed a composed smile.

Hearing that, Creis lowered her head a little sheepishly.

She did not ask the reason, as if she had long since known it in her heart and simply did not want to admit it.

Seeing that, the others said nothing more.

The carriage finally stopped on the street before the palace.

There were no soldiers on watch.

In their place, several wind-riding magical devices flew up to their side.

Dozens of minutes earlier, Gabriella had already had the entire Royal Guard—that is, her subordinates—change out of their maid uniforms into ordinary white Church robes.

If a group of maids followed close behind Gabriella year in and year out, other people who saw it would think she had some peculiar hobby.

Thus Gabriella’s party looked like a few white pilgrims walking across pale-blue and milky-white flagstones, like several white droplets out of place in the ocean.

Soon Letitia stepped out through the arched doorway of the palace.

She wore a gorgeous white gown.

The hem was very long, like a wedding dress and like a formal gown as well.

A golden crown sat on her head, and her pink hair was especially dazzling.

The people following behind her hid their faces in hoods and concealed their entire bodies in thick dark-red cloaks.

From their figures alone, they were several girls, and they gave off the aura of the strong.

Letitia, however, did not seem inclined to let them show themselves here.

“Lady Divine Maiden.”

The first thing Letitia did upon seeing Gabriella was not to greet her.

She dropped to one knee, and the nine Heavenly Oracle Envoys behind her followed suit.

Just like that, the Queen of Monastar knelt on the ground and declared herself a subject.

But how to put it…

It was like a weasel paying New Year respects to a chicken.

The greetings had been delivered, yet whether they got eaten was still Letitia’s decision.

At least in their eyes, perhaps the Heavenly Oracle Envoys were the weasels in that story.

Otherwise they would not have needed to put their strength on display with such fanfare.

Everyone entered the palace and was met by a hall.

After they climbed the steps onto the platform, the structure turned out to be an ordinary one, like an office building, much the same as most of the architecture Gabriella had seen in the Holy King Capital, only with far less of a divine aura.

“How spectacular. This is the first time I’ve seen a place like this. Last time it was still the temple,” Hero Reina said, looking up at the ceiling.

“The temple… is that the tall building standing in the center of the Holy King Capital?”

As Letitia asked the question, the palace gates behind them shut tight.

Apart from the Heavenly Oracle Envoys, every guard left the palace as well.

Simona nodded.

“That’s right. That’s the place. It seems your impression of it is quite deep. On behalf of the people of the Holy Kingdom, I thank you.”

Letitia smiled faintly and did not answer.

She walked at the very front, and no one could clearly see what expression she wore.

Roselyn did not follow her.

She only obeyed the order to protect Gabriella and walked behind her together with Hertitz.

At Letitia’s side there were only six Heavenly Oracle Envoys with hidden faces.

As the group went deeper, more and more Heavenly Oracle Envoys fell in at the rear of the procession.

At the end of the path was a room of several hundred square meters.

It looked like a place Letitia had set aside specially for meetings and official work.

There were no windows.

Everything was sealed off by thick, old-fashioned slabs of massive armor and undisguised magic circles, cutting off all perception and any power that might pierce through.

It was as if they had gone in an instant from a mythical city into a shelter built to weather disaster.

Those heavy metal plates seemed like protective measures designed to keep out certain beasts beyond all common sense.

The Heavenly Oracle Envoys filed one after another into this tightly sealed office.

They still showed no intention of throwing back their red cloaks.

From their auras, though, one could tell that they were rather surprised to see Gabriella, and that their feelings were quite complicated.

Gabriella did not feel honored.

These people seemed to think she had already been gravely wounded in the Demon King War, or else captured by the Celestial God.

“I ordered these armor plates remodeled a few days ago. It’s a bit sloppy. I’m sorry, Lady Olivia. In the end I still couldn’t become the meticulous decision-maker you spoke of.”

“It doesn’t matter. The affairs of the Heavenly Domain are all in the past.”

“Thank you for your forgiveness, Lady Olivia.”

Letitia walked to the largest desk and gestured for everyone to take a seat.

They sat quietly along both sides of the long table, listening carefully to what views this King of Monastar, and the leader of the Heavenly Oracle Envoys, would put forward.

The Heavenly Oracle Envoys stood at the edges of the room, like guardians and witnesses of the meeting.

Gabriella counted silently.

There were seventeen in all.

Excluding the Heavenly Oracle Envoys at the mansion, as well as Elsa and Liya, then adding Miss Tileimo, who had been polluted and locked away, and Queen Letitia before them, the numbers did add up.

Twenty-seven.

That was also the full number of Heavenly Oracle Envoys.

So far, none of them had shown the slightest intent to make a move.

Creis’s mood was very steady as well.

She watched Letitia, as if considering what weapon she wore, or what power she possessed that could be treated as a threat.

Everyone was wary of this queen, of whether at the critical moment, at a necessary juncture like this, she would tear off the mask and strike at Gabriella’s party.

The atmosphere could not be called a drawn bow, but it was cold enough.

Just as the air grew steadily colder and every gaze shifted onto Letitia, she suddenly raised her voice.

Her eyes swept across everyone seated, and she went straight to the point, stating her intent without any detour.

“Lady Divine Maiden, Your Majesty the Holy Queen, Lady Chief Heavenly Oracle Envoy, let us cooperate.”

Letitia’s expression was grave.

Those sharp eyes were written over with a resolve never seen before.

The entire room fell silent as crows.

She was serious.