Will had just left the study, intending to call a servant to clean up the corpse, when he discovered that the corpse’s head had been cut off!
Outside Marquis Will’s manor, a girl dressed in a long white dress slowly appeared out of thin air, hovering in the sky, holding a human head in her hand.
A gatekeeper saw her, opened the main gate without a word, and walked away with her as if nothing had happened.
“Thief, do you think this time that old bastard Will will end up like all the others before him, played into a dog by Mother?” the girl in the white dress said softly to the gatekeeper.
A sneer appeared on the gatekeeper’s face. “Hmph, no matter how shrewd that old thing is, he’s offended someone he shouldn’t have. He won’t last long.”
The girl in the white dress let out a lilting laugh, her laughter echoing through the night like silver bells, crisp yet tinged with a hint of chill.
Ever since her mother received an important royal mission, the royal family had sent a top assassin—Thief—to her side to await her orders.
This Thief didn’t steal money, but identities!
As long as she killed someone, she could assume their appearance. This ability made her outstanding at completing all kinds of assassination tasks, like a sword hanging over the necks of the nobles of the Isor Empire!
The girl in the white dress was also a top assassin. She could turn invisible. Though she lost her vision while invisible, she could approach her target by relying on the terrain and sounds relayed to her by Thief, who would infiltrate the enemy. Ever since the two met, they were simply two of a kind!
With two top assassins working together seamlessly, no one could ever figure out their methods.
After returning to his territory, Inan immediately expanded the scale of Violet Watch. He had just received a generous reward from Nancy and directly increased the Violet Watch legion to five hundred men!
Nancy had even gifted him a hundred magical warhorses. With such rich rewards, there were bound to be brave men eager for action.
Although Inan didn’t know if this was a “meal before execution,”
he knew he had to swallow it!
Even if Nancy asked him to slap Will twice right now, he’d have no choice but to obediently comply!
Looking at the high-spirited Violet Watch drilling on the training grounds, Inan felt a tumult of emotions in his heart.
He could feel the surrounding nobles beginning to distance themselves from him…
Nancy, that wicked woman, after arriving in the Northern Territory, was afraid of being isolated, so she simply called him to her doorstep and tied a leash around his neck.
Now, Inan could only obediently stretch out his neck and let her tie it tighter, just so she wouldn’t throw him away.
All the other nobles were watching, waiting to see how Will would deal with this fence-sitter Inan and thus cement his status as the uncrowned king of the region!
All Inan could do now was expand his army at full speed and do what any leader under the spotlight ought to do.
When he returned to his study, he saw a severed human head placed on his desk!
He recognized the head—it belonged to the very servant who had flogged him in Will’s study that night!
There was a line scrawled in blood on the desk: This vengeance, I’ve taken for you!
Seeing the head on the desk, Inan’s pupils contracted sharply, a cold chill surging straight from his feet to the top of his head.
Should he return the favor? Inan didn’t have the guts. He could only instruct his servants to bury it somewhere discreet.
That wicked woman was truly too much, even greeting him with such a show of force!
“Lord, Miss Aurora is requesting an audience,” came the guard’s report from outside the door.
“Let her in…” Inan regained his composure…
As soon as Aurora entered, she dove straight into Inan’s arms. “Wuwuwu… Brother Inan, where have you been? Are you going to abandon Aurora too?”
Inan gently embraced Aurora, stroking her hair. “Sweetheart, how could I ever bear to leave you? Be good.”
[Aurora Obedience: 63% – Reliance]
Right now, Inan could only hope this little darling would come through for him and quickly unlock the second reward…
Letting Eileen Snow go had been Inan’s desperate move. He could only shift his focus to Aurora and quickly increase her obedience!
As long as Aurora remained, Eileen Snow could not escape!
Aurora, sniffling in Inan’s arms, looked up at him with tearful eyes. “Brother Inan, I’m so scared. Everything here is so unfamiliar. I only have you left.”
“Don’t be afraid. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you. You must trust Brother Inan, okay?” Inan speared a piece of cake and held it to Aurora’s lips.
Aurora opened her small mouth and took a gentle bite, a sweet smile blooming on her face.
The little darling’s tear-streaked face looked especially pitiful at that moment. “Mm, I trust Brother Inan. Brother Inan is the best!”
Looking at Aurora’s pure and innocent appearance, Inan couldn’t help wanting to devour her whole! But the time wasn’t right yet…
“Good girl, tell Brother Inan how your etiquette lessons have been going lately?”
Aurora blinked her big watery eyes, and, still nestled in Inan’s arms, chattered excitedly for a long while. Suddenly sensing something off, she sprang out of his embrace and ran off…
“Brother Inan, you’re bad!” She only left behind these words, then scampered away in quick, small steps.
Watching Aurora’s shy, retreating back, Inan couldn’t help but take a deep breath, gulped down a mouthful of red wine, and then ordered someone to summon Luo Ling to the castle to help him handle some matters…
At three in the morning, Luo Ling still had urgent duties and had to return to the barracks. Inan, dressed in his nightgown, came alone to the study.
Recently, Silver Lake’s silverfish and Storm Domain’s slaves hadn’t been selling at all!
None of the surrounding nobles would take them. Inan was left selling to himself…
Looking at the reports handed up by his servants, he tore them all to shreds on the spot!
The coordinated boycott by the neighboring nobles wouldn’t show its effects right away, but in the long run, it would absolutely drive Inan into an economic crisis.
If he dared seek help from Nancy now, she would surely look down on him. After rewarding him so generously, would she let him be crushed by Will’s finger snap?
And now Will was actively suppressing him, not even giving him a chance to explain…
Were these two wretches treating him like a piece on their chessboard?
“Nancy wants me to be the one out in front, and Will wants to put me in my place. All the surrounding nobles are isolating me? Then I’ll fight!!!” Inan smashed his wine glass, eyes burning with fury, heart steeled with resolve.
He was ready to randomly pick a nearby territory and declare war. Anyone who dared not buy his goods, he’d capture and beat them, one by one!
As for that old bastard Will, if he dared step onto the field in person, Nancy the wicked woman would surely join in too!
Now it would come down to whose underlings were tougher!
As Nancy’s number one follower, as long as Inan could scare them enough, people would start picking sides. If Inan lost, everyone would throw themselves at Will’s feet and swear loyalty to the marquis!
But if he let them boil him like a frog in warm water, he’d be finished. Rather than wait, Inan decided to provoke the neighboring nobles the very next day, searching for a reason to start a war!