”Castell, are you going to help us or not?”

“Help you with what? Help you people that have already failed? You saw His Majesty’s ability to retaliate, didn’t you?! What are you still dissatisfied with?!”

Castell slammed his cup down in front of him, causing the wine inside to spill out, which left a dark red stain on the table. Alice looked at Castell. She clenched her teeth and replied, “That was our mistake. We didn’t get it perfect. I never expected my own Valkyries to foil my plan. I’ll inform the Valkyries this time so that won’t happen again. Castell, are you no longer loyal to Her Majesty?”

“Who’s the one who’s no longer loyal, Alice?! Shouldn’t you be asking yourself that question?!”

Castell quickly stood up and furiously looked at Alice. He thumped his chest as he shouted. He had never lost his self-composure before, but the strange loneliness he felt and the alcohol made him completely lose control. He lost his usual calm composure and roared the way a wounded animal would, “Me! I’m the one who’s most loyal to the Empress! Her Majesty ordered me to stay behind so I stayed behind! Her Majesty asked you to protect His Majesty, but instead, you sneaked back here! Everything you’re doing right now is betraying Her Majesty! Everything you’re doing is traitorous!”

“Do you not know what I’m doing this this for?! I’m doing this for Her Majesty!! I’m doing this for her blood sweat and tears! I’m doing this for my Empress! My Empress needs me! She’s not sober! She

needs me to wake her from her stupor! This empire needs a suitable successor!”

“So why can’t you acknowledge His Majesty?! His Majesty defeated Castor, the church, the desert and even foiled your plans! Why can’t he become the successor of this empire?! Alice, you’re ignorant! You’ve lost it now! Your goal is to kill His Majesty now! It’s no longer about helping Her Majesty’s empire! His Majesty is already capable of leading this empire; why do you refuse to acknowledge that?! I believe that you wouldn’t acknowledge it even if it was someone else other than His Majesty! You’re in a morbid state now!”

Castell slammed the table hard, causing his cup to tip over and all the wine inside to spill out. The wine quickly spilt all over the table surface and dyed the entire tablecloth red.

“I’m in a morbid state?! How am I morbid when I’m doing this for Her Majesty?! Has the Prince defeated anyone?! He’s scared of even Nier! This Prince has no battle accomplishments! What right does he have to take the empire Her Majesty spilt her blood to establish?”

“He has the right because Her Majesty’s blood runs in his body! Yes, Her Majesty spilt her blood to establish this empire, but she also exchanged her blood for His Majesty! He can succeed this empire!! I believe that His Majesty can get all of the va.s.sal states to submit to him! Wouldn’t Her Majesty’s empire be protected then?! Our original goal was to let His Majesty succeed the throne if he had the competence and

and eliminate him if he didn’t have what it took; however, your goal has become completely distorted now!”

“I don’t believe it! I don’t acknowledge him! How can this Prince that hasn’t even fought a war have what it takes to lead this empire?! The army of this empire is invincible, thanks to Her Majesty! What capabilities does this Prince possess to get the army that wors.h.i.+ps Her Majesty to submit to him? If he can’t, then it’ll be a mutiny!”

Alice thundered back at the top of her lungs. She may be small in stature, nevertheless, her murderous intent and fury wasn’t inferior to Castell’s right now. Castell did have his head down to look at her while standing in front of her, but he didn’t dare to take another step forward when she was so furious. She could shatter the wall of this room with a single punch.

She furiously extended her hand out and demanded, “Hurry and give me those weapons! I just need those weapons! As long as I have those weapons, I’ll be able to prove that everything I’m doing is right!”

“Dream on!!!”

Castell smacked Alice’s hand away and yelled at her. That seemed to be Castell’s trigger, one that couldn’t be touched, but Alice touched it. That was the response of an enraged animal. He grabbed Alice’s hair, bent down to her ear and roared, “Because of that batch of stuff of yours, I couldn’t return with Her Majesty. It was because of you! Because of you, I nearly lost Her Majesty’s trust! It was because of you!

of you! It was because of you! You’re being stupid! Are you not satisfied with having ruined me to this point?! I can’t let you be stupid again! You’re revolting now! There’s no way I’m siding with you!”

“Are you really not going to give them to me?!”

Alice didn’t care about her hair. She narrowed her eyes and coldly glared at Castell as though she was stalking her prey. The cold atmosphere contained the cold of the snowstorm outside. It was, without question, an exposed blade in the air. Castell was grabbing the blade, yes, the sharpest part.

“No. Way!”

Castell clenched his teeth and responded with two words.

He wasn’t clenching his teeth due to nervousness or anger, but pain.

Alice pushed Castell away and he grabbed his abdomen as he staggered back a few steps before falling back on the table on his back. His blood and the wine mixed together. His blood and the wine lingered in the air making the atmosphere smell particularly bad. Alice coldly glared at him after stabbing him in his gut. He put one foot on his face and coldly said, “Traitors don’t need to live. Castell, out of consideration for our friends.h.i.+p, I’ll give you time to reflect on your life. I’ll take my leave now, since you don’t have what I want here. I’ll kill His Majesty to prove to you that I’m right, even without your weapons. Oh, sorry, I forgot that you might not get to see it.”

Alice booted his head, and then turned around to leave the room. Castell tightly grabbed the dagger

grabbed the dagger in his abdomen.

The dagger is the Valkyries’ weapon. The dagger has a hooked tip so if you forcefully pull it out once it’s stabbed into your flesh, you’ll rip out your organs or flesh.

It was not to be pulled out.

Consequently, Castell didn’t pull it out. Since Alice said that, it meant that the dagger isn’t poisoned, so he could still make. He could make it as long as he hadn’t bled out all of his blood. He could make it. He could make it.

He just had to shout and he would make it.

Nevertheless, he had no time to treat himself.

‘That maniac is heading South. That maniac is going to do what she said for sure. I couldn’t stop her. The maniac is going to kill Her Majesty’s only son. The maniac really will kill him. There’s no one by His Majesty’s side that can defeat that maniac. Nier is pregnant while Lucia can’t fight. His two mothers should be off hunting while the Prince was surrounded by Valkyries.’

‘The Prince will die.’

‘I must save His Majesty. Her Majesty’s empire has nothing to do with me. Only Her Majesty and I are connected. I am Her Majesty’s personal attendant. I don’t care what Her Majesty should do. I only care about what she wants to do. So I must go and protect what Her Majesty wants to protect now.’

Castell pressed down on the table covered in blood and wine to get up. He looked toward the South with a gaze of determination and immense loyalty like Alice’s, and headed out…