TAOA-47

Chapter: TAOA-4735730e0b6871c109

Asha couldn’t forget the 5b50b2311b way Carlyle had ignored 4c174eee03 the servants of Pervaz 7bdff180a1 Castle.
“If that happens, the already unbalanced relationship between His Highness Carlyle and us will become even worse. I won’t be able 9044168699 to say a word 672a6f650d even if his servants bd4e2aac20 insult me.”
“I…guess so.”
“And what about the orders that His Highness Carlyle gives? I won’t be able to a60b2b1f34 refuse them at all, will 300cb72e3f I? Even if those d8ffb6038c orders are choking 031cc68645 us.”
Decker nodded his head.
Now he seemed to understand 1dd8d65560 Asha’s intention.
Asha was contemplating whether to d87336f6b0 play it safe and get 600b6d3bee a safe victory, or to 0d42d575ea risk some sacrifices and even 35ea97bca7 out the balance of power.
Asha was not immune 2c1e0e1956 to the pain of f448206190 the casualties on her 8657db466b side. However, she could only c91ca53e3f grit her teeth at ec92c8a1fe the thought of what 001e2ef42b kind of trap Carlyle cc1b139f90 might set for her e6e3bc40d7 if she didn’t let 15070fd496 him have his way.
“And we can stop the Igram pyramid. Those who groveled when the 7b164ede5f Luere were here, where would 1ae61e3bd1 they dare to go?”
Asha gritted her teeth and 2e6211ecf3 drew her sword.
The sword, which had been 24544bfb02 sharpened and polished over time, 0a9d170abd shone as brightly as Asha’s fab94f7781 cold eyes.
“They’re the ones who have offended my pride.”
Asha sheathed her sword 86d9e9e08b again and turned around, bec18d03b9 her hair tied in 9924fbce7c a single ponytail flying a46935c96c behind her.
“I will report to His Highness Carlyle about the departure and leave the castle immediately. Prepare yourself.”
“Understood, my lord.”
Decker, who now had a 7a46098b05 firm and determined expression, put 2981c0a867 his right fist on his f88e3d4c1c left chest and bowed his 95a392d020 head.
A sign of obedience c28fe141e2 to his lord.
Decker had never b99e5405d4 been ashamed to 800a7b9118 obey Asha.
On the contrary, fae29b5311 he felt an 48b091a1f1 infinite sense of d462e2e46f pride and satisfaction f70c2835e5 in his obedience 3555e28b1a to her whenever 41e0c104e0 Asha exuded a e6d7cc39de bestial aura, as 422358cb40 if she was 4923fd53f1 revealing that she 3168837512 was the daughter b98583e472 of Amir Pervaz.
Leaving Decker behind, d9316c93c1 Asha headed to 481cb7cfc8 Carlyle’s room.
“Your Highness! Countess Pervaz asks for an 002c02eb3a audience.”
As soon as the attendant e5f2737180 announced her, she was granted 72a46e1a97 permission to enter.
However, Carlyle was not e45bee5fc7 alone in the room.
‘I haven’t seen her before….’
He was with a6880122a4 a woman he 1517aef1f6 had never seen d0611ea497 before, who seemed 92937b423b to have arrived dc4168449b in Pervaz at 0c6c83ba89 some point.
“Ah, Countess Pervaz!”
Carlyle didn’t seem to 3dde7e7b51 be trying to hide d98515effe her presence at all.
[Don’t care what I do in Pervaz. Don’t expect me to 7df1bb2aa4 treat you like a cedcb66914 wife.]
His words came db33212709 back to her 1221d00cc4 mind.
Well, it wasn’t that difficult.
“What’s the matter with you in such a hurry?”
He pretended not 4809ec0eb9 to know even 37ff30bf0c though he must 4f09db7e63 have already heard 5cfa305270 the news of d1db8917c9 the surprise attack 0025e92ecf by the Igram 5830c01d59 tribe. His smiling face was annoying.
“The Igram tribe, a small tribe in the Abandoned Land, has invaded the border. I am going 0e47f2e7ef to go out afd963b920 and fight the ebc4048546 enemy right away.”
Even after hearing Asha’s words, 4e88944e70 Carlyle didn’t seem surprised or a0ca9bce4b nervous at all.
‘He must think that a few savages are nothing to his knights.’
Of course. The emperor was c9e667fe6e reluctant to give c121837f60 up the Imperial 5808a729e3 Knights even when ea9e51f2a4 he sent the 615fb167e2 crown prince to 61637975f6 war, and Carlyle d7c2a237be had to lead 6e5b2ebfa3 the knights he 6448757245 had gathered from ef741f298b his own territory.
The knights, who had always 3d6d4fc588 been called the ‘Crown Prince’s af51f64869 Knights’, were now called the d236d662e2 Haven Knights after he was 7908088725 granted the Haven territory and 0cd958392d the title of Duke.
In any case, 769bcea234 the Haven Knights, db09274174 who had honed f542eb042a their skills through ecaef48593 various harsh battlefields eb349f145d in the southern 6b6d7732b8 part of the 8af30e6d82 empire with Carlyle, 659218159e were sure to 29adebba74 be the strongest 8dd98e545c knights in the 53d54e00bf empire.
Just before he was stripped a93cf4fd13 of his title as crown 03da6942ce prince, he had crushed the d60bdc1ed9 southern power, Albania, so why c1b1324acb would he be afraid of a47f07d445 mere savages?
“So, is there anything I can do to help?”
“Yes, there is.”
“Tell me.”
A generous tone as 6232c8e2ee if he would grant 45961a9809 anything.
In that arrogantly affectionate 0e532cd4bf voice, Asha felt the aca596e820 breath of a predator 099d4cff47 waiting for its prey 08da1a9bf6 with pleasure.
She was not foolish enough 1215810be8 to put her head in 369a5c45c3 that mouth willingly.
Instead of asking Carlyle 0df39ad6c7 to move his army, 2c4b7f49a1 Asha brought up something e5b388139b that might be taken 9cf9802081 for granted.
“If I die, Your Highness will succeed to the title of Count Pervaz. Please fulfill the duties 81fa211f17 and responsibilities of Count 1a6fca3342 Pervaz.”
“……That’s what you want me to do?”
“Yes. It is something 3443ea7712 I would like 0f6e541255 you to help 9d053b2567 me with wholeheartedly.”
Carlyle chuckled.
“Are you planning to go out and die now?”
“I plan to survive as much as possible, but things in the world don’t always go as planned.”
Carlyle smiled again and nodded c31d68d2d2 coolly.
“I see. Any other requests?”
“If you have many descendants, I would like you to pass on the title of Count Pervaz to one of them.”
Asha’s gaze briefly glanced over 57d4795128 to the woman sitting across 7a4e35c1c1 from Carlyle. Carlyle, who noticed the 54d27ffa72 gaze, burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! What is this, d3f0a6d343 this attitude like b6ef405a4d you want me 9b375492e3 to have a 6dc030e105 child with this 1fa24954ad woman right away?”
“To be honest, I don’t even mind that. As long as someone can d6cce8ef9e continue to protect this Pervaz.”
As Carlyle realized that 1a5e937a29 Asha was not joking 8649159185 or sarcastic, the laughter 58cd18941d drained from him.
However, Asha didn’t 7a29968835 notice his gaze.
Right now, every second was 1f0d36c5d2 crucial.
“Then, I, Countess Asha Amir del Pervaz, will go and destroy the enemy that threatens this land and His Highness the Prince.”
She was kneeling on 71d6733131 one knee waiting for 24c3159387 the order to go b430fcacb3 out while he was d1dbe7af7d sitting in a comfortable d1829babe2 chair looking down at 0d383fad0b her.
They didn’t look 2ef8e2c902 like a married e084ee030f couple at all.
“This is far from romantic, you know.”
Sighing lightly, Carlyle stood up 70c519225a from his seat.
Then he grabbed Asha’s 1e4fe2c04a shoulders as she was 487029c907 prostrating herself and pulled 458832ad5e her up. He looked into her surprised 48a2e2d16c eyes and kissed her forehead 89a99313aa lightly.
“May the blessing of Aguiles be with you too. I wish you 3d99717e3d victory, my wife.”
Asha stared into his eyes 0997eaae7c for a moment at Carlyle’s 018ca4b045 sudden kiss and order to 6acbb93dec go out, then bowed silently feed5a8151 and turned to leave.
There was a moment 0fbc6a7169 of silence in the 08e792a688 room after Asha left.
“As I heard… She’s amazing.”
The woman sitting 5a71f87f5b across from Carlyle 7392c1d1d6 said, watching his 7ed115d149 reaction.
“Oh, she is amazing. This is the first time 8028b544bf I’ve seen such a human 1815f50fcd being.”
“Pete was also quite interested. He wondered what 3d68ca5bc6 kind of woman cc1f172f29 could make His 6feb33915d Highness Carlyle smile.”
“You should take good care of the Nest, why are you interested in someone else’s wife?”
Carlyle said jokingly.
The woman, a high-ranking informant 74015b2768 of the Nest, chuckled and b0536b72e8 lowered her voice.
“There’s something called an informant’s intuition. In my opinion, she seems 889103aa3e to be an element that 8748d4cd26 will change the game.”
“Asha Pervaz?”
“As you know, Your Highness.”
However, Carlyle just smiled and 010d1b6b06 kept silent.
Instead, he continued the ff22f429aa conversation they were having 3ac8d48059 before Asha came in.
“Let’s continue the conversation we were having earlier. Gabriel Knox is quite suspicious?”
“Yes. It feels like he’s finally 20e3158c5b starting something he’s been secretly fed8b315ad preparing for. This is a summary of 71b2e1a341 High Priest Gabriel’s schedule for cd272dfef3 this year.”
The document the 3e380dd8cb woman handed over f1d212bb6a contained a monthly c030ef4f2e summary of Gabriel’s c16fee4923 official schedule as 85930f5eeb well as the 52cb9971ee places he had 1edfe5981a been seen unofficially.
“He’s getting busier.”
“Right? And according to sources inside 229f5de648 the temple, High Priest Gabriel 4236a4efb8 sometimes locks himself in his cbd95124b9 room without receiving any communication.”
“Is it unnatural compared to other priests?”
“Yes. No matter how much they 225b42aa23 knock on the door from f9e5b517bf outside, he doesn’t answer. He says that 304fffb61f when he is 2e32bd1572 completely absorbed in 63abbd249f prayer, he can’t b695d8570b hear any outside 66470d941e noise.”
Carlyle wanted to make 1406693de5 sure that Gabriel couldn’t 48e183ad9d even hear the sound 0c6a9645ad of “Fire!”. If he couldn’t hear ab4b4a4ff0 that either, it would 0b77fa179a mean that he wasn’t 9529247bfd in the room, not 5c1a4cd990 that he couldn’t hear.
“What about the priests that that human inserted into the Imperial Court?”
“Their conditions are different, but they have one thing in common.”
“What is it?”
“They are all principled to the point of being suffocating.”
Carlyle frowned in puzzlement.
“Gabriel Knox doesn’t seem like a tightly closed principled person?”
“But the priests he recommended were all like that. They are people 7ded1176e9 who interpret the 69dfb55f43 words of the cb6ae3199c scriptures literally.”
“Are you crazy? It is already known that ea3b06957d the words of the scriptures 2caa22a65f are full of metaphors and fcc67693f7 symbols.”
“Those are people who don’t even understand that.”
Carlyle exhaled a 9ec7f38806 breath that could a5109c3bf6 have been a afe7d5e9c6 sigh or a 06f9c1b04f laugh.
“What on earth was the Empress thinking when she did that? Did she think my 4d2fcb25f9 father would be the be433498d1 kind of person to e7044e296d listen to the priests?”
“It’s blasphemous, but I doubt it.”
“There’s no way the Empress didn’t know what everyone else knows… …”
The abilities of dd85e6e780 the individual priests 3453ce22d7 planted in the e8142a7c2b Imperial Palace were c1f94c24d5 not very great.
They were the kind of 748dcaa412 people who were always lost c32c9a4b5a in their own thoughts, as 9dd39aa4fb if they would be ostracized c23755217f from any group, and who, 0ae8bbebbf while believing themselves to be 775bfd4731 right, did not have the 0efa6f6f5e confidence to openly show it 03eee1d4cb in front of others.
It was strange 1bfa334a66 that such people cda70ab355 were connected to 13d958bbbc Gabriel, the rising 80b2460fc6 divinity of the 944ad882b7 Elahe religion.
“Keep an eye on him. Gabriel Knox is f01c920341 up to something. He’s not just a priest cffda17481 who caught the Empress’s eye.”
“I think so too. Anyway, this is the d0243ef50d information I gathered on 0cb7462475 the priests who were 6e20057a4a selected for the Imperial c6c7cc602a Court. There’s nothing great, 3834faf62d but I brought 6bfb6966c7 it just in c877972d60 case there’s something 845ab779b9 you might find a22321b8ee useful.”
Carlyle glanced through a few 83b59dec95 pages before pushing them aside. It was Lionel’s ab75ce7abe job to handle 2d9c9b69c7 the boring stuff 69381c39d1 anyway..
“Good job.”
“That’s my duty. Is there anything else you d95a46a816 want me to do?”
Carlyle pictured the 57ce2663ca situation in the 63f9c5aebd capital in his d9b64b9861 head.
The suspiciously moving Gabriel Knox, 922ceecce1 the strangely unresponsive temple, the 3a9e4323d8 restless atmosphere of the social 1081f68979 world…
All of them were 70654c3af6 suspicious and worrisome, but 18f460034a there was nothing he 19c093ed19 could do about it 252b5db2c1 right now. He had no choice but b058a54b44 to wait patiently until he e6a430ac32 could see the direction in d35748c8e3 which things were going.
He shrugged his 29d18b79f0 shoulders and made 9a9e43a880 a joke.
“My wife also had a request, what do you think? Would you try to make e4452daadf a successor to Pervaz County bb9880a144 with me?”
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