Chapter 299 (2): Prince Douglas

Late into the night, Wayne played cards in the office at the library out of boredom.

So much for having the secretary do the work when there was work, and doing the secretary when there wasn’t. All his secretaries had work to do, leaving him with nothing to do but play cards in the office with Pale Nest.

It was dull. If only the dark elf were still here, they could at least play Fight the Landlord.

Speaking of the dark elf, it had been a while since Wayne last contacted Anastasia through his thoughts. He wondered how she was doing. Unlike Senna, Anastasia’s evolution was limited to her physical body, leaving her thoughts uncorrupted for now. She would maintain her autonomy for a considerable time... unless she couldn’t resist.

He debated whether to contact her. He had found the way to help his followers maintain their sense of self, which could effectively delay the development of their cravings for their faith. It would prevent Anastasia from falling from a pure dark elf into a thoroughly corrupted dark elf.

If he made contact, though, it might accelerate her corruption instead, damaging his reputation. It wouldn’t be worth it.

“I’ll wait two more days. If I still don’t hear anything about her, I’ll have her come to Londan.”

With his Pale Knight form and the Pale Nest amplifying his thoughts, Wayne could contact Anastasia at any time even though she was in the Frozen Land.

“Boss, there’s a situation here. You’d better take a look.”

He heard Mona’s voice in his mind. Pinpointing her location, Wayne leaped out of the window and blended into the darkness for quick travel as the Darkness Knight did.

***

Warehouse at the port in the Southern District.

A few blurry figures gathered and dispersed in the thick fog. With the help of the undead hound, the entire warehouse was heavily guarded by the mist and the spirits. Now that Wayne had reached Gold rank, his vengeful spirits had grown by leaps and bounds as well. With him providing an endless supply of mana, their combat power was formidable.

If this was the amount of power he had access to at Gold rank, what about once he reached Legendary rank? With such massive firepower, it really was a shame not to rebel!

Inside the warehouse, four figures were exchanging opinions: Mona, the strategist and commander of this operation, Ottilia and Regina, responsible for executing the task and leading the team, and former Nature Holy Maiden, Flora—or her lifelike body, now hosting one of the vengeful spirits who was piloting it today.

Before the four women, a group of black-robed figures lay haphazardly on the ground. The candles in the center had been extinguished. The red inverted pentagram stood out conspicuously.

The inverted pentagram symbolized impurity and was Hell’s basic magic circle. Combined with different demonic faiths, it could establish a connection with any demon in Hell, including the Seven Demon Lords!

“It’s the inverted pentagram for the Lord of Greed. These people...” Mona sensed Wayne’s arrival halfway through her sentence. She stepped back to stand behind him and started from the beginning: “Boss, these people are members of the Queen’s investigation team. Outside of investigating the Princess, they had another mission.”

“They were planning on attacking Saint Paul’s Cathedral!” said the vengeful spirit occupying Flora’s body. As she spoke, she sidled closer to Wayne with a grin, wasting Flora’s inherent elegance as the Holy Maiden and mature beauty.

Lady, if you’re going to speak, just do so. Why are you getting so close?

Wayne rolled his eyes. He remembered that this vengeful spirit was named Liesbet, a cheerful and lively girl who was involved in every argument in the girls’ dormitory. She was considered a bad influence by her colleagues and a troublemaker by her supervisor.

Liesbet glanced at Ottilia and pressed her body against Wayne’s arm deliberately. “Master, according to our investigation, the Queen assigned these people to use the magical materials that the Princess had stockpiled to summon the power of a demon lord, with Saint Paul’s Cathedral as the target.”

The Queen was using the Princess’s resources to attack the Church of Heavenly Father’s forces in Londan, thereby framing her... Something sounded off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Troubled, he patted Flora’s shoulder. “Honestly, you should keep your distance from me when you’re using this body. I’m not very fond of this face.”

“Huh?!”

Liesbet froze before deflating and stepping back with frustration.

Nearby, Ottilia facepalmed in her succubus form. Her subordinates had been spreading rumors after learning about her and Wayne’s relationship, and they wouldn’t stop. Liesbet didn’t actually want to get close to Wayne; she was just provoking Ottilia for fun.

She claimed that she was playing her wingwoman, motivating Ottilia to do better, but why would she do it with Flora’s body? Didn’t she know that Flora had been Ottilia’s master? Was she trying to provoke Ottilia, or Wayne?

After listening to the briefing, Wayne bent down to examine the black-robed mages. They were all mages who followed Hell, trained as suicide fighters by the royal family. Because the royal family needed the faith of Hell politically, it was hard to judge whether these people represented evil.

“The royal family’s internal war is too troublesome. I should’ve stayed out of it.”

Wayne groaned inwardly. He only wanted to deal with Juno’s trouble for her; he never imagined that the vengeful spirits would uncover something significant—something connected to the Queen.

Was she evil for that? But she was doing it to stabilize the regime. Still, could her goal be considered pure when she was making deals with demons from Hell? Was there anything good about demons?

Even the higher-ups of the Church of Nature’s headquarters would have the moral high ground over her in this case.

“Boss, the Queen wants the Princess to distance herself from the Church of Heavenly Father, or at least create a rift between them...” Mona explained.

That was what Wayne thought. From that perspective, the Queen had pulled her punches. The plan wasn’t only meant as a warning to the Princess, but also meant to win her back. Sophelia was undoubtedly a good mother. It left Wayne unsure of how to proceed.

If he ignored the attack plan, Saint Paul’s Cathedral would take the fall. Gunther and Atori were decent people who didn’t deserve such a fate. If he helped Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the Princess would be the one to suffer, and the Queen would become even more wary of the Church of Heavenly Father. She would only resort to harsher methods next time.

“Tie them up and send a letter to the Ministry of Magic.” After careful consideration, Wayne decided that he had to do something. “Mona, tell Gunther and explain the situation. He’ll understand.”

As for whether Gunther would contact the Papal State, it was out of Wayne’s hands.

It was easy to see that afterwards, the Queen would assume that the letter was sent by a secret agent whom the Church of Heavenly Father had planted in Londan. Her fear would make her even more wary of the church.

Tension would escalate, but there was no other solution. He decided to visit Auston tomorrow and once more persuade him to claim the Queen completely. As long as Auston sacrificed himself for the greater good by bedding her, he could definitely charm the Queen. Then Londan would have peace for a while.

At least the headline wouldn’t be about the overambitious Princess summoning demons to attack the cathedral, leading to the Archbishop dying in valiant resistance.

Mona nodded. She wasn’t satisfied with Wayne’s compromise; he had made concessions to the royal family, which led to losses on his side. In her view, since the royal family was so deeply entangled with demons, a king who embodied true justice and light should take over instead. She happened to know such a person. It would be a waste not to make him king.

Since Wayne had made his decision, though, Mona would obey him unconditionally.

***

Meanwhile, in a villa in the royal family’s private territory on the outskirts of Londan, away from the mist, Queen Sophelia stood by the window in a white nightgown, her elegant, long hair running down her shoulders. She gazed at the bright moon outside.

A figure entered, striding boldly up to the Queen and brazenly wrapping his arms around her. The man with black hair and black eyes appeared to be in his thirties, with handsome features and striking looks. He held himself like old aristocrats in Londan.

Sophelia shook her head slightly. “Baron Kilmer, this is rather inappropriate of you.”

“What about for Douglas?” Kilmer asked with a smile, lifting Sophelia’s hand to kiss the back of it.

There was no shortage of men with the name Douglas in Windsor, but a Douglas who stood beside the Queen? There could only be one possibility: Prince Consort Douglas.

The Queen’s husband, Douglas, had died young, sparking much speculation. The most outrageous one was that the marriage had failed, and the Queen had conspired with an old lover to murder him.

Yes, Auston would agree that it was an outrageous theory.

Clearly, Douglas had not died but had continued to live in Windsor under a different identity. The couple had a loving relationship. Douglas was a devoted lover, and the Queen was pure and virtuous...

Well, Douglas was indeed devoted, but the Queen’s purity could be questioned. Her ex-boyfriend was a notorious playboy who had mastered quite a few tricks before marriage. Since one’s first love was far from a real relationship, though, Douglas pretended that nothing had happened, and the couple had remained close to this day.

Sophelia pulled her hand back with a smile. Facing her husband’s affection, she pulled a long face and snapped, “You’ve crossed a line, Baron Kilmer.”

“It’s on you for wearing something so immodest and giving me improper thoughts, Your Majesty.”

They flirted, exchanging bedroom eyes.

If Wayne saw, he would immediately abandon the idea of Auston getting between the two. Not only because true love trumped all, but also because the couple obviously had an excellent relationship.

Auston was ancient history. The Queen wouldn’t spare him a glance, and in her heart... there was no space for him.

“Baron Kilmer, do you have something important to discuss with me?”

“Indeed,” Douglas said slowly. “I’ve solved the personnel shortage at the Ministry of Magic. Two legendary mages from Franc are willing to join Windsor. Make the arrangements for Alan to be replaced.”

“Other than that, I’ve also found a powerful ally to keep the Church of Heavenly Father’s aggression in check.”

“What is it?” Sophelia asked in surprise.

“The Church of Darkness!”