According to the rumors Lita had heard, the so-called Glen were nothing but a bunch of petty thieves who couldn’t show their faces, skulking in the shadows and causing trouble, currently busy stirring up chaos in every corner of the kingdom.
Although she didn’t know what their mischief had to do with searching for the Iron Barrel Zombie—oh, no, with searching for Lord Glen—but as long as they were happy, that was fine.
But it seemed a bit inappropriate to simply dismiss them all as petty thieves skulking in the shadows. She knew best how strong Xingxian was. If they could push Xingxian to that extent and leave Princess Lilia severely wounded and near death, then they certainly didn’t look like a rabble.
No, even if they were a rabble, if they could accomplish something like this, their strength couldn’t be underestimated!
But no matter what she thought, it was all Lita’s own speculation. She needed to go and confirm things with someone. And that someone was undoubtedly Xingxian.
Even though Lita knew that Xingxian might not like her, there were plenty of people who didn’t like her. If she could spend her whole life happily just by interacting only with people she liked, then this world would be far too gentle.
After another day of lessons ended, Lita headed straight for Lilia’s room.
Although Lilia herself owned a property, it certainly wasn’t as safe as inside the Royal Palace. On the day Lita was assassinated, Lilia had already been brought back to the Royal Palace, but she still hadn’t woken up.
Some maids noticed it was Lita who had come to visit and immediately tensed up.
Cecilia and Lilia had been unusually tense with each other lately, even sending their personal knights to fight. This was common knowledge, so Lita wasn’t surprised that they were on guard against her. Still, these maids couldn’t really stop Lita, and even if Lita had some ill intentions towards Lilia, it would be difficult to realize them.
Right at the entrance to Lilia’s room, Lita saw the maids who hurriedly reported her arrival and Xingxian sitting by the bedside.
Xingxian had been guarding Lilia’s side lately, fulfilling her duties as her personal knight, so Lita was certain to see Xingxian whenever she came here.
Xingxian stepped out of the room. Lita noticed that although she still had some bandages wrapped around her, her posture had regained its usual uprightness. The great bow was set against the wall within arm’s reach. If Lita or anyone else with ill intent made a move, Xingxian would be able to react in time.
Xingxian gave a slight nod, her etiquette perfectly impeccable, but with an unmistakable air of distance.
“Lady Lita. May I ask why you’ve come to visit Her Highness Lilia so late at night? For what purpose?”
“Lady Xingxian, I haven’t come to visit the Third Princess, but rather to visit you.”
Xingxian calmly refused Lita’s invitation.
“Unfortunately, I need to stay by Her Highness Lilia’s side and have no time to accept your invitation.”
Lita was momentarily taken aback, not understanding why Xingxian had refused so bluntly, but after noticing Lilia in the room, she suddenly realized. She really was worried that this was a feint to draw her away.
“No need to accept an invitation. I just have some things I want to ask. It’s fine to talk here.” Lita got straight to the point. This way, the other could keep an eye on Lilia, and it was also the other’s territory, so Lita couldn’t do anything bad.
Fortunately, this time Xingxian didn’t refuse outright.
“Alright, go ahead.”
“I want to know what you’ve been doing. You’ve been investigating Glen, right?”
Xingxian was silent for a moment, just as the evening bell rang, its long echo reverberating under the dome. Amidst the somewhat noisy bell, Lita felt her heartbeat quicken. Though it was just an ordinary timekeeping bell, it made Lita, waiting for the other’s answer, extremely anxious.
Once the bell’s sound faded, Xingxian finally spoke slowly.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because everyone else is talking about it.”
“Others?”
“Taverns, streets and alleys, even the First Princess.” Although Amelia hadn’t actually said anything, Lita figured the other wouldn’t bother to verify such a trivial matter, so she simply included her to pad the story.
Xingxian pondered again for a long while, then let out a sound of affirmation from her throat.
“Yes.”
Lita waited a moment, and then Xingxian began to speak slowly, as if she had no intention of hiding anything from Lita.
“Her Highness Lilia believes that if she can purge these forces causing chaos in the kingdom, she can prove her ability and determination to the King and the people. The Royal Selection is approaching, and each prince and princess needs to show concrete achievements. Her Highness Rosalia manages the military, Her Highness Amelia courts the courtiers, and Her Highness Lilia chose this path.”
To discuss the princesses like this while standing in the corridor—if it weren’t for both of them being personal knights, this alone could get them charged with disrespect.
“So you’ve been actively investigating?”
“Yes, but I cannot disclose the specifics.”
That made sense. This information was hard-won by the two of them; they couldn’t just hand it over just because Lilia was still unconscious and her fate unknown.
“So how did you get attacked and injured?” Lita asked again.
This was something Xingxian couldn’t possibly conceal. At least the King and a few ministers knew the details. It was only because Cecilia had a special status and no sources of intelligence that she still had to rely on fragments to piece things together. What Lita was doing now was simply filling in the missing information in a direct, albeit somewhat clumsy, way.
A flash of chagrin passed through Xingxian’s eyes, but she still answered Lita’s question.
“At that time, the princess and I were setting up camp to rest. Two people suddenly appeared at night and attacked us. Their strength was considerable. I could only do my utmost to break out with the princess. If our position hadn’t been close to the Royal Capital, it would have been even worse…”
As Lita listened to Xingxian’s account, even though she knew the other might be omitting some details, she understood one thing. These members of Glen were definitely not the rabble Momoka had described. Even in a two-on-one fight, to injure Xingxian, who hadn’t held back, to this extent, each of them was probably at the level of a Crest Knight.
Xingxian finished speaking, and obvious fatigue showed on her face.
“Is there anything else you want to ask?”
“Just one more.” Lita replied.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“Once you and the Fourth Princess know this, you won’t be able to stay indifferent. As long as you investigate further, you can die in place of Her Highness Lilia.” Xingxian left that sentence behind, then supported herself against the wall and turned back into the room.
Although that statement was an extremely rude joke, what Xingxian had said earlier didn’t sound like something she had made up just to fool Lita.
Even though Lita didn’t particularly like dealing with people she didn’t like, she had to admit that dealing with Xingxian was more pleasant than she had imagined.
When she returned to Cecilia’s side, it was already late, but Cecilia was still waiting for her.
Seeing Lita enter, Cecilia took out the list she had copied yesterday. Judging by the handwriting, she had reorganized it again today while Lita was away.
“What did Xingxian say?”
“Hmm, they really are investigating Glen, and they’ve made considerable progress. Two people attacked her, both very strong.” Lita went to the table and reported the earlier conversation to Cecilia. Then her gaze fell on the familiar and unfamiliar names.
“Lady Cecilia, is this list the people I’m supposed to investigate?”
“Yes.” Cecilia raised her fingertip and pointed at the paper.
“The Royal City is like a web. Everyone is a node on that web, seemingly unrelated, but in reality connected by threads. As long as you can grasp the key points, finding suspicious people isn’t that difficult.”
Lita understood this concept. It was like a big data search engine—once you found the keywords, the range would be greatly narrowed.
However, to find the keywords, you had to filter out countless useless bits of information. In doing so, there was a high chance of throwing important intelligence into the trash, so it wasn’t easy.
“Alright, let’s go one by one. First is this one, the Finance Minister’s butler, Huokewude. Three months ago, he suddenly purchased a property, but its location was extremely remote.”
“Next is this Oumai. He is a military commander with not many soldiers under him. Half a year ago, he received a mission to suppress bandits and left the Royal Capital for that, but the records were vague. Everyone only knows that he won a great victory.”
“And this one, Xien. He is Pierre’s right-hand man. There have been multiple eyewitness accounts of him suddenly visiting brothels. And the purpose of brothels isn’t just for pleasure. We already knew that back in Solus City.”
Cecilia lifted her eyelashes, her golden eyes bright and deep.
“These people actually have different masters. Some support Amelia, some have connections with Rosalia in the military, and some theoretically have no power but have opportunities to learn about the King’s decisions. But in secret, their movements have all had subtle intersections with the deceased Cardinal Sharibel. If we investigate this way, we can find more people.”
Cecilia had already spelled it out so clearly. If Lita still didn’t understand, she would really be no better than a thick log.
If her own assassination and the attack on Lilia weren’t some princess’s conspiracy, but rather Glen’s plan, then these people were either already infiltrated or bribed by Glen, or they might have been Glen’s supporters all along.
“Of course, this is just suspicion. You need to be cautious and not alert the enemy.”
Originally, this matter of Glen had nothing to do with Lita, but considering that the ones present when the Mysterious Piper died were coincidentally Cecilia and Lilia, then these two attacks on herself and Lilia became perfectly understandable. Revenge, of course. However, retaliating against Crest Knights was a bit extreme. But they were indeed capable of it.
Put that aside for now. She would start bit by bit tomorrow.
And then, Huokewude, whom Lita had chosen as her first target, died.