He smiled as he cast his gaze toward Sanfesa, then said, "It warms my heart to see that you're keeping such a close eye on the affairs of our Boll Dukedom. Indeed, there are some sinister individuals sparking unrest in our Boll Dukedom under the guise of the Universal Church. However, they've already been completely eradicated. I didn't think that such a minor incident would attract so much attention from you."

Through this statement, he was implying to all of the dukedom rulers present that Sanfesa's accusations merely stemmed from her selfish desire to take over the Boll Dukedom, and that this City of Freedom that was seeking to abolish the nobility system didn't actually exist. Prior to setting off for Finklan, Erwin and Lia had already determined that the best strategy was to deny all of these accusations, and Erwin was prepared to follow through on this strategy to the very end.

A hint of amusement flashed through Prince Xar's eyes upon hearing this. Never did he think that such a handsome and talented young man could also be so shameless when he wanted to be. At the same time, this only made Prince Xar even warier of him. It was clear to the prince that Erwin was far from just a pretty face.

Meanwhile, the emperor and Prime Minister Henry were both quite impressed by Erwin's composure. The two of them were well aware of what had happened in the Boll Dukedom recently, and they were very concerned that Erwin would willingly admit to these accusations and declare to everyone that he was indeed starting a revolution to topple the nobility. If he were to do that, he would immediately become the foremost public enemy to everyone present, and once that happened, even the emperor and the prime minister would've been powerless to save him.

As for why the two of them wanted to help Erwin, each of them had their own reasons. To Prime Minister Henry, Erwin was a potential ally that he was determined to recruit to his side, whereas for the emperor, his reasons were more complex and nuanced.

In essence, he could also see that the current power hierarchy was rotten at its core, and he was eager to see a revolution to overthrow the current system. However, as the emperor, he naturally couldn't instigate this revolution himself, so he had to count on someone else to do it for him.

Aike didn't really understand all of the intricacies involved in all of this, but he was quite pleased to hear that Erwin was going to marry the heir to the Boll Dukedom, and a spark of hope had been reignited in his heart. At the same time, he was looking down on Erwin and lamenting Lana's misguided devotion toward him. In his eyes, Erwin was nothing more than an unfaithful charlatan who was playing with Lana's feelings for him.

"Seeing as it's just a minor uprising that has already been quelled, then there should be no need to investigate further into the matter, right?" the emperor said with a smile as he inspected everyone's reactions.

Everyone had been rather alarmed upon seeing the contents of the declaration of freedom, but seeing as the emperor had already dismissed the matter entirely, no one dared to raise any objections.

The emperor then turned to Erwin as he said, "I have no problems with Duke Eru sending his future son-in-law to attend this imperial conference in his stead, but after you go back, please tell your future father-in-law that if he's too inept to even manage his own territory, then there's no need for him to send representatives of the Boll Dukedom to Finklan anymore."

This was a warning that seemed to have only been directed toward Erwin, but it applied to all of the other dukedom rulers as well.

Essentially, what he was implying was that if any of the dukedom rulers present couldn't look after their own territory, then he wasn't opposed to the idea of deploying the empire's regular army to take care of matters for them.

Erwin nodded in response with a rather awkward expression. It was quite surprising to him that such a young man was able to intimidate all of the dukedom rulers present so thoroughly with just a single statement. It seemed that despite his young age, his authority was certainly not to be questioned.

Seeing as the emperor had already made his stance clear on the matter, Sanfesa could only sheepishly put away the declaration of freedom.

At this point, Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry were naturally already aware of how the emperor felt about all of this. It was clearly a blatant lie that the emperor had no idea about the unrest that had arisen in the Boll Dukedom. In that case, why was he pretending to be oblivious to everything?

In essence, the emperor was doing this in order to maintain balance in the empire. Seeing as Erwin was putting on a very docile display during this imperial conference, displaying no intention to oppose the nobility, then Prime Minister Henry was definitely going to try and recruit Erwin into his faction. If that were to happen, then there would be no need for the emperor to destroy the City of Freedom. Instead, it would serve him far better to preserve Erwin so that he could oppose Sanfesa in the northwest. In doing so, the emperor was implicitly allowing Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry to get involved in the power struggle taking place in the western part of the empire, but neither of them could send their troops to the west. As the emperor, he could turn a blind eye to regional power struggles, but he definitely couldn't allow the inception of a power struggle of such magnitude that it could tear the entire empire into two.

This came as no surprise to Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry.

The battle between the City of Freedom and the Delair Dukedom was most likely going to be very spectacular, considering the fact that each side had support from an extremely powerful figure in the imperial court.

After that, the conference consisted of the emperor addressing the battles that had taken place between the dukedoms in the east, most of which were related to the conflict between Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry's factions. However, thankfully, none of these battles were beyond mediation, so the situation was still under control, and that was what the emperor liked to see the most.

The objective of the imperial conference was for the emperor to see if the dukedom rulers were still obedient to him, and judging from how things were at the moment, everyone seemed to be very obedient. No one harbored any excessive ambitions to seize the throne for themselves, and no one dared to ignore the young emperor's instructions.

This was exactly what the emperor wanted to see, but in reality, what the emperor had been looking forward to seeing the most was Erwin's performance. In fact, he was a little disappointed that Erwin hadn't risen up in a fit of righteous rage to denounce all of the dukedom rulers present.

Of course, this also gave him a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of Erwin as a person.

Near the conclusion of the conference, the emperor suddenly smiled as he said, "Before you all go, I have a present to give to everyone."

Many of the dukedom rulers were quite intrigued to hear that the emperor was going to bestow something upon them.

"Not long ago, I was presented with a priceless treasure by someone. I don't want to keep this treasure to myself, so I want to share it with everyone here," the young emperor said as he swept his gave over everyone.

Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and neither of them knew what the young emperor was up to.

"Everyone, please come with me," the emperor said with a smile.

Thus, everyone followed the emperor to an adjacent hall in the imperial palace.

There was a large copper box at the center of the hall, the surfaces of which were marked with intricate engravings of dragons, lions, and all manners of other ferocious beasts. It was clear from the craftsmanship that this was the work of an imperial artisan.

This was indeed quite a beautiful artifact, but it was certainly no priceless treasure. After all, it was only an oversized copper box.

However, upon approaching the box, everyone discovered that they could hear the sound of metal chains sliding around within it.

It appeared that the copper box was only the vessel that contained the true gift that the emperor wanted to present to everyone.

Everyone was wondering what the present was going to be, but no one dared to ask any questions. They were all waiting for the emperor to unveil what was inside the box.

Listening carefully to the sounds ringing out within the box, Erwin had already realized that there was a living creature inside.

Given what these nobles of the Fulway Empire are into, I'm assuming this thing contains a magic beast from the Terarody Mountain Ranges, Erwin thought to himself, and with that in mind, he was rather disinterested.

The sounds made by the metal chains inside are quite faint, so it seems like whatever the magic beast inside is, it's quite a gentle and docile creature. Are there any docile magic beasts that are considered to be precious or exotic? Erwin wondered to himself.

"I won't keep you waiting any longer. It's time I showed you the priceless treasure that I've received," the emperor said with a smile.

He drew the rapier that was strapped to his waist as he spoke, then plunged the tip of the sword into a hole at the base of the copper box, upon which the box instantly opened in all directions.

Everyone immediately let loose gasps of surprise at the sight of the creature inside the box.

As it turned out, the box didn't contain any magic beast. Instead, it was a woman who had been bound by several silver chains.

There were shackles that resembled bangles locked around the woman's wrists and ankles, and these shackles were connected to the four surrounding golden pillars by silver chains, rendering the woman unable to move. The walls of the copper box had fallen away to reveal four panes of glass, and within the glass cage was a water prison. The water reached all the way up to the woman's neck, and half of her red hair was already submerged in the water.

The thin robe that the woman was wearing was already completely soaked, and her exceptional figure was a very welcome sight for all of the men standing around the glass box. Her soaking hair gave her an even more delicate and distressed appearance that evoked both a sense of sympathy and a hint of lust within the beholder's heart.

"A priceless treasure, indeed," Sanfesa murmured to herself with a hint of envy and displeasure in her eyes.

For some reason, both of the women she had encountered today were more beautiful than her, and that made her feel quite indignant.

All of a sudden, Erwin's expression completely stiffened at the sight of the unconscious woman, while all of the color was drained from his lips, and it was as if he had been nailed to the spot by a bolt of lightning.

The woman that he had been constantly thinking of was right before his eyes, and his heart was thumping violently.

Duke Tuhar was able to detect the sudden change in Erwin's demeanor, and he asked in a concerned voice, "Are you alright, Mr. Erwin?"

At this moment, Erwin was standing with his mouth gaped open, and his lips were trembling uncontrollably. Tears had welled up in his eyes, while his face was as pale as a sheet, and he seemed to have lost all sense of composure.

He thought back to everything that had happened between him and the woman in the cage back on the southern continent. Looking at her delicate and supple lips, he recalled the sorrow and determination in her eyes as she gazed upon him right before he set off on his journey to the north. All of these memories were flashing through his mind, and the woman featured in every single one of those memories was right before his eyes.

If two people were destined to meet, then they would be reunited no matter what.

However, the astonishment and elation in Erwin's eyes quickly turned into vicious fury, and his rage was only compounded at the sight of the lust and greed in the eyes of everyone around him.

"What the fuck do you think you're looking at?!" Erwin roared in a thunderous voice, and all of the dukedom rulers around him instantly recoiled reflexively in fear.

Immediately thereafter, he unleashed a violent Magic Explosion directly toward the glass cage, completely uncaring of whether the resulting explosion would harm the emperor, who was standing right next to the cage.

This was something that no one had anticipated, and it was as if he had suddenly gone insane.

Thankfully, Gower rushed out right in the nick of time from the group of guards before eradicating the Magic Explosion with a single punch.

Violent magic power erupted in all directions from Gower's fist, and upon withdrawing his fist to inspect the back of his hand, Gower discovered that it was riddled with tiny gashes, which was a testament to the young man's formidable power.

"Protect His Majesty!" Sanfesa was the first one to react to the abrupt turn of events, and she immediately began yelling loudly while pointing frantically at Erwin. "Apprehend this traitor of the empire right away! He's trying to assassinate His Majesty!"

However, Erwin's attention was focused entirely on the red-haired woman in the water prison, and he paid no heed to anything else.

Normally, he was always so relaxed and carefree, but the most raw and genuine version of himself always emerged in his most desperate moments.

In this current situation, he couldn't care less about the City of Freedom, the nobles around him, his own lofty ambitions, and even the emperor, the prince, and the prime minister. He was willing to give up everything for the woman in the cage.

Lana had traveled all the way here from the southern continent, and only the heavens knew just how much hardship she had to endure to find him. The only way that he could reciprocate her was to save her at all costs, even if it meant giving up his own life.

Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry were extremely surprised to see Erwin's sudden and complete loss of composure. This was a situation that they could've never anticipated, and Prince Xar was naturally very happy to see this. If this incident were to result in the death of Erwin, then the entire northwestern part of the empire would fall into his grasp, and that would be nothing short of ideal. However, at the same time, he was also feeling a little disappointed. He was looking forward to seeing what Erwin was capable of on the battlefield, but it seemed that he was going to fall here as a result of a rush of blood to the head.

As for Prime Minister Henry, he was at a complete loss for what to do. He wanted to save Erwin, but he simply didn't know how. He could only curse the young man for his foolishness and pray that he would survive this ordeal by some miracle.

The emperor was so frightened by Erwin's Magic Explosion that he had fallen onto his backside, but he quickly recovered from his shock. Not only was he not infuriated by this turn of events, he was ecstatic. Throughout this entire conference, Erwin had presented himself to be no different from the sly old foxes around him, yet he was finally displaying the brash and reckless nature befitting of a hot-blooded young man like him.

Aike was also watching the unfolding scene with a myriad of emotions surging through his heart. He was naturally also desperate to save the woman in the cage, even though he had no idea how she had ended up in the emperor's hands. As he witnessed Erwin erupt into a thunderous rage like a madman, his initial reaction was elation as he knew that Erwin had all but sealed his own fate. However, what followed that brief moment of elation was a crushing sense of shame and inferiority. He knew that he would never have been able to muster up a fraction of the courage that Erwin was displaying here.

In the face of the oncoming guards, Erwin unleashed a barrage of instant-release spells to force them all back, then used his space split technique to arrive before the water prison in the blink of an eye.

Aglea was able to witness the space split technique as clear as day, and a hint of surprise flashed through her gray eyes.

A miniature light shield was conjured up on the palm of his hand, which he slammed onto the glass pane before him. The attack was capable of tearing through space and time, and it immediately shattered the glass. As a result, all of the water in the water prison came gushing out of the glass cage, and much of it was drawn into the resulting space-time rift. What came as quite a surprise to Erwin was that this was an extremely ordinary glass cage, and the silver shackles locked around Lana's wrists and ankles didn't appear to be remarkable in any way, either. With that in mind, he couldn't help but wonder how this pitiful setup had managed to trap her. However, he then quickly caught a whiff of the water gushing out of the shattered pane of glass, upon which he immediately realized that this was the key.

This is crane eucalyptus oil! Erwin exclaimed to himself. This was not something that he had learned from all of the magic potion lessons that he had taken from Onean. Instead, it was a piece of "knowledge" that he had attained from his time spent in all of the red-light districts of Sarus. Not all of the women in those red-light districts had willingly become hostesses and prostitutes, many of them had been forced into the industry. Even the most aggressive and unyielding women would immediately become completely powerless and docile upon entering a bath with just one or two drops of crane eucalyptus oil in the bathwater. Erwin had heard from some of the procurers that even women who were adept in martial arts or magic were susceptible to this substance as well.

No wonder she can't resist at all, this substance can sap away the energy within a human body,  Erwin thought to himself. This is an entire vat of crane eucalyptus oil! Are they trying to kill her?

The more he thought about it, the more furious he became, and he looked as if he wanted nothing more than to set this entire imperial palace on fire. He abruptly turned around before casting a vicious glare toward the young emperor. Never did he think that the emperor of a mighty empire would resort to something so despicable and underhanded.

The emperor's complexion paled slightly at the sight of Erwin's vicious glare, but he had no intention of bearing Erwin's wrath. Thus, he pointed at the person standing atop the clock tower with an innocent expression, trying to tell Erwin that he had no part in this.

A faint smile appeared on Aglea's face as she leaped down from the top of the clock tower, appearing in front of Erwin in the blink of an eye.