Seraphina listened carefully until the end. She understood perfectly: this was intimidation.
Intimidation against those who worked for her…
Very well. Since they chose to intimidate, she would reward!
“For the fallen, the highest possible compensation. In addition to your clan’s own provisions, the royal treasury will provide an additional sum.”
“For the wounded, spare no expense in treatment. I will personally subsidize ninety percent of the cost.”
“And that captain… promote him as he deserves, arrange proper positions for his family. You know what to do.”
In the eyes of the Giantwing chieftain, Seraphina was no longer small. Her image had become towering, so tall that the chieftain could barely see the top.
“Furthermore… the rewards I previously promised your clan will be increased again, paid from my own purse!”
Right now, Seraphina’s only thought was to fight the Fangs of Terror to the bitter end. The Demon King’s Castle was never short of gold and jewels!
Heavy rewards bring brave men; this truth had never changed.
The Giantwing chieftain was both shocked and overjoyed. Money solved everything.
After the orders were passed down, Seraphina also promised to dispatch troops once more to secure the border trade routes and prevent another tragedy.
“Go back and comfort your people. Give the dead a grand burial, treat the wounded with utmost care. The lost cargo and seeds—I will replace them through other channels as quickly as possible.”
Then Seraphina revealed news straight from Blackstone Outpost that made the chieftain’s eyes light up again.
“At Blackstone Outpost… another new discovery has been made… So the future orders placed with your clan will only increase, never decrease!”
The corner of her mouth curved into an icy arc. “As for the Fangs of Terror… murder demands life for life. Since they dared to raise their hand, they must be prepared to be hunted down and slaughtered! Return and ready your troops. Prepare for war.”
“Yes, Your Highness!” The Giantwing chieftain heavily kowtowed. She was beginning to genuinely like Seraphina’s way of doing things—straightforward, no convoluted schemes, no words she couldn’t understand.
It was like receiving a quest: just follow the list, complete the tasks, and collect the reward!
Finally, carrying newly ignited fighting spirit, she strode out of the study.
That was what she said… but in truth, Seraphina did not want to start a real war…
…
The candle flame flickered on the desk, casting a hazy glow over the last document concerning the new policies.
Seraphina set down her quill. Every report that passed through the hands of the upper nobility spoke of “smooth reclamation,” “excellent cooperation,” and “several new patches of black soil discovered.”
How many of them were actually true?
Combined with the increasingly frequent attacks lately, the more she read these words, the falser they felt…
“What are you thinking about?”
Lina asked, seeing Seraphina frozen in place for a long time.
Since Ailinuo was still young, Seraphina had not let her stay up. Tonight only the two of them remained in the study.
“I’m wondering… are any of these real?”
Seraphina pushed the documents away, leaned back against the prepared cushion, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Real or not? You mean the things written here?”
Even though Lina couldn’t read demonic script, she could guess the contents. Seraphina was almost certainly referring to those pompous, flowery phrases.
“Mmm… In principle, no one is allowed to deceive you.”
“In principle…”
…
Yes. Tonight, Movira had not returned.
For the first time.
And several hours earlier, at the blurred border between the human and demon realms, atop a lonely mountain peak.
Far from the clamor of either side, only the howling wind swept across the rocks.
Movira, who had not returned to the Demon King’s Castle, appeared silently atop a towering, grotesque boulder.
Her black robes flapped in the mountain gale. She had come to this godforsaken place for one reason only: to meet an “old friend.”
“Saint Eustacia.” Movira’s voice was calm. In front of outsiders, she had to maintain this solemn side.
“The dusk here is clearly more suitable for conversation than anywhere else.”
As her words fell, the twilight glow flowing through the air was gathered by an invisible hand. Gentle light shone upon Movira’s face.
The radiance slowly dispersed, revealing a golden-haired girl clad in white-gold armor.
As the current pivot of every human empire, the Holy See’s Saintess, she should never have slipped away from the cathedral to this remote place.
Her face bore no expression; her eyes were like twin frozen stars, silently scrutinizing Movira.
“Movira.” The Saintess spoke, her voice clear and cold as it mingled with the wind. “What… are you planning?”
“Planning?” Movira tilted her head slightly, gaze sweeping over the human world behind the other woman.
Saint Eustacia immediately shifted to block her line of sight, a trace of… irritation flashing in her eyes.
“Fine. I have no interest in conquering the lands behind you… at least not within the next hundred years. Though who knows? Perhaps… I might retaliate!”
This time Movira’s gaze locked directly onto the Saintess. “I suggest you do not attempt, in the coming days, to do things that no upright person would do.”
Saint Eustacia remained silent. The mountain wind lifted a few strands of golden hair from her forehead, yet she stood motionless like an ice sculpture, as if Movira had never spoken.
Neither confirmation nor denial.
“Silent treatment?” Movira was long accustomed to her reaction and expected nothing more.
She stepped forward until her toes reached the very edge of the cliff, gazing at the dark expanse of the Demon Realm in the distance, then suddenly spoke a sentence that made the Saintess’s blood run cold.
“Speaking of which, the dusk behind you seems far more interesting. Flower fields under morning light, bustling midday markets… it almost makes me want to go take a look.”
“Movira!”
“Heh… finally couldn’t hold it in?” She turned, dark eyes reflecting the Saintess’s icy figure.
“But I don’t really feel like listening to you. You’re… too boring. Not at all like my…” She trailed off.
Movira’s laughter quickly vanished into the empty mountain peak. “Remember this: I have bargaining chips, and so do you. Neither of us wants to see both sides lose everything.”
“So put away those foolish ideas of yours!”
With that, her figure began to fade, like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind, gradually melting into the deepening twilight.
Saint Eustacia stood motionless atop the peak until Movira’s presence had completely vanished. Only then did she slowly turn and depart.
“A time of many troubles…” she murmured softly, the gravity in her eyes immeasurably heavy.
Turning into a streak of pure sacred light, she tore through the dusk and disappeared.
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