Bang!
Gaius’s body fell to the ground.
He still had vital signs, but he was already dead.
Because the Aarondeen Royal Family never intended to let him live.
At this moment, he realized he was no different from Kieran and the others.
He too was just a pawn that could be discarded at any time.
But why?
Why did it have to be Olivier who killed him?
He had watched her and her brother, Prince Leogard, grow up.
When the king was preoccupied with politics, it was he, as one of the Seven Riders, who took care of the two young royals.
They had spent over a decade together, and he possessed absolute loyalty to the royal family.
He had once believed that one day, he would give his life to protect these two children he had raised.
Perhaps on a battlefield, or perhaps during an assassination attempt.
But he never dreamed, not even in his worst nightmares, that the one who would finally take his life with the butcher’s knife would be Olivier, the one he cared for and cherished the most.
‘This is my final gift to you, Uncle Gaius. Just die peacefully. You wouldn’t want to see the future kingdom.’
Seeing Gaius’s wretched and pitiful state, a flicker of something—perhaps loss—passed through Olivier’s eyes.
But it was quickly drowned out by a surge of more bewitching madness.
“Now, is the Empire satisfied?”
She turned gracefully, clapping her hands, her tone as light and cheerful as if she had just finished a game.
A monster.
Hiberton felt a chill run down his spine.
He couldn’t fathom how a being that could still be called “human” could be as heartless as Olivier.
What was even more terrifying was that he felt everything happening now was within her plan from the start.
She never intended for Gaius to live from the very beginning!
Bang!
“Oh my, it seems Miss Winnidith is still not satisfied. Do you want Gaius’s life, then?”
A golden bolt of lightning shot straight at Olivier, but it stopped dead, unable to advance a single inch further, just three centimeters from her eye.
“That won’t do. I traded Gaius’s life with Gareth for Aaron’s life.”
“Oh! Come to think of it, did I save him once? No, no, counting the healing potion I gave him, I should have saved him twice.”
“Hehe, I’m kinder than I thought~”
Seeing her Wind Trace fail, anger surged in Winnidith’s eyes.
Without another word, she began the incantation for a spell.
“With the dawn as the sheath…”
“Enough, Miss, that’s enough.”
“Wendy, calm down.”
Aaron and Isabella, having regained some strength, both grabbed her at the same time.
Aaron did hate Gaius and the Alendine Kingdom.
But now, seeing his former battlefield opponent lying on the ground like a discarded rag, waiting for death, his heart was filled with nothing but infinite sorrow.
Moreover, he could sense that Olivier’s strength had already reached the Eighth Rank, and she could control the Alendine Guard Army at will.
If she wanted to leave, stopping her would come at a cost.
Although their response had been rushed, in terms of the outcome, the Empire hadn’t suffered a loss.
It was best to end it here.
Isabella, on the other hand, said nothing.
She just quietly traced something with her finger on Winnidith’s hand as she held it.
Being dissuaded by both of them, Winnidith still felt indignant, but she also knew they couldn’t kill Olivier right now.
“Sooner or later, I will kill you with my own hands.”
She was still young.
Her talent and Spiritual Power gave her limitless potential.
No one doubted the possibility of her words, including Olivier.
“I’ll be waiting.”
She nodded.
And it wouldn’t be too long.
Olivier turned her gaze to Isabella, who had now let go of Winnidith’s hand, and gave a charming smile.
“Now, can we negotiate peace? Your Highness, Princess Isabella?”
“Don’t forget, we are still allies, after all.”
Isabella’s face darkened further.
Even without turning her head, she could feel the gazes of those around her, filled with shock and suspicion.
“I don’t believe someone who can expressionlessly take the life of a subject and senior would keep their promises,” Isabella said coldly.
“Eh~ I’m not happy with you saying that.”
Olivier pouted her lips, her cute appearance belying the exceptionally cruel words she spoke next.
“It was clearly Gaius’s own incompetence. Not only did he fail to capture Trenton, but he also died in battle at the palace. He even got me captured by the Empire, forcing me to cooperate with them to survive.”
“Isn’t this all just a matter of circumstances?”
No one was surprised by the depths of her moral depravity anymore.
Isabella believed that if Olivier could return safely to her country, she would definitely spin this tale as the Empire invading the Alendine palace, Gaius of the Seven Riders dying in battle, and Olivier being forced to form an alliance with them under humiliation.
She was absolutely capable of it!
“Besides, a peace negotiation is only beneficial for you, isn’t it?”
Olivier pointed at the Elven Army outside the palace.
“You have to deal with Elaril next, right? Aren’t those Elven troops troublesome? After all, no matter how strong you are, your numbers are limited.”
“But allying with me is different. Although I can’t wrest control from Elaril, I can render them ineffective, turning them into mere spectators of this disaster.”
“Aren’t you curious how I can do that? I’ll tell you. This princess is in a particularly good mood today, so I’ll be merciful and share.”
Olivier’s mood was indeed good.
In Isabella’s eyes, her current behavior even seemed somewhat manic.
“Because the method Elaril uses to control these elves… he learned it from us, from Alendine.”
Olivier slowly exhaled, noticing the obvious doubt on the faces of Isabella and the others, and kindly reminded them.
“Otherwise, how could the Dark Elves, who disappeared for a full seven hundred years, possibly have higher control over the Sacred Tree than the Light Elves, who have been studying it all along?”
Leah’s expression changed drastically.
She suddenly remembered that day when Vilda had actively treated Olivier.
So, they were already discussing the details of this disaster back then?
“No, no, no. It was planned even earlier than that, Elf Princess.”
Olivier seemed to see through her thoughts, shaking her head with a smile.
“Think further back. As far back as you can.”
“Stretch your thoughts back to the Great War of a Millennium Ago.”
“Even in that great war, the ancestors of Alendine reached an agreement with the Dark Elves—Alendine would no longer protect that doomed Empire, and the Three-Race Alliance would not set foot on Alendine’s territory.”
“Both sides adhered to this cooperation quite happily. Therefore, even five hundred years later, when that pitifully weak Dark Elf came to the kingdom seeking help from the then king, my ancestors generously offered assistance and reached a new agreement.”
“What was it?!”
Leah asked anxiously, even though she already had an answer in her heart.
But Olivier chose the response that would anger her the most.
She placed a finger against her red lips and winked mysteriously.
“That’s a secret, Elf Princess.”
“You!”
Leah wished she could grab her spear right now and stab four or five holes into her.
“But your current actions are undoubtedly breaking your agreement with them.”
Isabella seized the key point.
If Olivier truly intended to honor her pact with the Dark Elves, she shouldn’t have wasted so much breath talking to them from the start.
“That’s because what she plans to do is far too terrifying. It might even threaten the safety of the entire continent.”
Olivier sighed, a note of regret in her voice.
“For the sake of the world at large, we of Alendine have no choice but to bear the infamy and betray our ally.”
“How about allying with me, for the sake of all humanity? Don’t worry, I know there’s irreparable hatred between our two nations. So, let this alliance be limited to the Natural Forest. Just for self-preservation, alright?”
Olivier clasped her hands together, shaking them up and down in an exaggerated, theatrical plea, like a comedic actor.
The Empire’s envoys had been completely robbed of their ability to think by her words.
They didn’t know what Dark Elves were, didn’t know why the conversation suddenly turned to a war of annihilation, and didn’t understand why the whole world would fall into crisis without cooperation.
But they knew that at a time like this, they just needed to trust those who bore the name of heroes.
“That does sound like a very reasonable and tempting proposal.”
Isabella lifted her head, a smile finally appearing on her cold, beautiful face.
“Right, right? So, shall we cooperate plea—”
“But I refuse.”
“Wendy! Are you ready?”
“Been ready for ages!!!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Countless stone pillars erupted from the ground, instantly enclosing the entire Silver Moon Palace in an airtight cage.