425 Assassinate 1 (2/2)
”Okay”
As the silhouette of the maid left the door, Delouse’s blue eyes turned deep again.
Nine-Headed Dragon and Garland Sword…Looks like Veska that old fart was strategizing for Avic. One was in the light while another was in darkness, and all of this happened simultaneously while getting rid of all the suspicious characters, this was truly the work of an important person.
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Once Garen returned to the palace, he heard the news that the Aegis Ceremony would be held tonight.
He was slightly shocked that Avic would decide so quickly and was planning to investigate thoroughly already.
Although he had done checks for such a long time, Garen still felt that the First Concubine’s Obscuro pawns were still hiding inside the palace, and their numbers were not small. This made him uncertain.
He made a special trip to the front of the Eleventh Royal Daughter’s palace to inspect it, and kept making guesses. Avic had already sensed the First Concubine’s betrayal, but failed nonetheless, and this likely had something to do with the Eleventh Royal Daughter. Thus, he monitored the Eleventh Royal Daughter closely, not letting her out of his sight, and not allowing any outsiders to have any contact with her.
The Eleventh Palace was completely quiet, and the Eleventh Royal Daughter was focused on drawing practice and did not sense his oncoming presence.
This allowed Garen to relax slightly, and he decided to participate in the ceremonial activities this time.
Regardless whether Avic’s assassination succeeded or failed, he wanted to find as many benefits from this as possible. Of course, it would be best if it failed. The important thing, unlike the rubbish massacre previously, was that a proper professional killer was involved. Furthermore, he was also interested in the ancient Endor precious heirlooms.
Soon, after dinner, the sky darkened quickly.
Avic entered the underground palace as well, and went into the Blood Jade Palace that was below ground. He gathered Garen, Edin, Veska and the others, to participate in tonight’s secret ceremony.
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Inside the underground palace
The pitch-black floor was covered in black bricks as smooth as mirrors, and each piece was shaped in a large square, and could almost reflect a person’s shadow.
On top was a semi-circle shaped black ceiling, illuminated with dots of silver light. In the center, a large crystal chandelier hung downwards, and lit up the room with an unknown, faint red light.
Blood Jade Palace was roughly the same size as most palaces, except that the four walls of its interior were engraved with many gold human portraits, and all of these portraits protruded out of the walls, forming many embossments. The carvings were extremely lifelike, as if the four corners of the palace were filled with a circle of onlookers.
The ‘onlookers’ included palace officials, royal family members, children, and old people, but most of them were beautiful and flirtatious young women.
These women’s bodies were exposed, as some of them were only covered in light veils, while others were half naked, and others had exaggerated movements, and there were others that were shy and charming.
The gazes of all of the carvings were fixed at the center of Blood Jade Palace, where a blood pond was built.
Avic wore his cumbersome royal military uniform and his silver crown, and held the royal scepter in his hand, his gaze solemnly transfixed on First Concubine Delouse, who was half-kneeling in front of him.
Behind them in order stood Garen, Veska, and Edin, and some elite guards who were clad in full-bodied silver armor, holding white dual swords in their hands.
This ceremony was unusually simple, without a large aristocratic ceremony, and without notifying any foreign ministers. Meanwhile, the two Grand Dukes were also absent, and the representatives from the Elder Parliament had yet to arrive as well.
Avic had probably organized this ceremony hurriedly, and perhaps no one knew what he was thinking, or maybe First Concubine had already guessed it but currently, the conclusion was already decided, and she would have to start making her first move soon.
The faint red light shone on everyone, and cast a slightly mysterious atmosphere in the palace.
”The ceremony will begin now,” Avic said solemnly.
Clang… Clang… Clang…
Melodious clock noises echoed from the palace.
Chirp chirp chirp chirp…
Suddenly, white streams of air flowed into all four corners of the palace through the windows like white ribbons, flying towards Avic and the half-kneeling First Concubine.
The white air currents were apparently made out of countless tiny pieces of yellow and white paper. They made bird-like chirping noises as they flew circles around the First Concubine.
Avic raised his right hand, before the unassuming black ring on his finger suddenly released puffs of black smoke slowly. The black smoke gathered in a circle and rose upwards, dissolving in the air slowly, before the entire palace was quickly filled with a light flowery aroma.
First Concubine Delouse bowed her head and knelt on the ground, while the white and yellow pieces of paper floated downwards and fell onto the top of her head slowly, before quickly turning into delicate flower petals.
White and yellow flower petals fell from her head and body. Like rain drops, the flower petals fell on her body, and some of them slipped off, while others changed their shape slowly, turning into white and yellow butterflies.
These butterflies flew and danced around, and some of them perched on her shoulders, while others flew everywhere.
”In the name of my ancestors, from this day onwards, I bestow you, my concubine, the final right of asylum!” Avic placed his right hand that wore the ring towards Delouse’s forehead, and said in a loud and solemn voice.
Suddenly, a cloud of black smoke wafted out of his ring and flew towards Delouse as if it were alive.
Veska, Edin, and Garen nodded lightly in respect. They were the only three close ministers that Avic had gathered here.
At this moment, in the middle of Delouse’s golden undone curls, a lock of braided black hair suddenly underwent a strange transformation.
The braid became pitch-black, and its narrow end sharpened and hardened suddenly before the entire black braid slowly turned into the shape of a scorpion’s tail.
There was a snapping noise, before the sting of the scorpion’s tail jumped up suddenly, and lit up in a dark red, and almost black glowing sheen.
Meanwhile, Avic’s perpetually raised hand now hovered over Delouse’s head, and his gaze was still fixed there as if it had never moved at all.
The moment when the ceremony was finally about to end, was when Avic had lost his final ultimate asylum pass, at that time…
First Concubine lowered her head, not allowing the coldness in her eyes to flow out.
The ring on top of her head continued to release almost-sentient black smoke, that drilled into Delouse’s head continuously, unceasingly as if it was endless.