ARC FIVE:CH-5.3

Ivar was going through the background of the fifteen kingdoms in detail. He was sipping tea in a green courtyard. His eyes were curving up thinking about the things that he was going to do next. With a smile on his face he said to Nulis.

"Its good that most of the love interests have already met that white lotus. This will make things much more easier."

The system was curious. He could barely squeak out his question in a very low voice.

"Ivar....what do you mean by that?"

Ivar did not reply to his question. Instead he highlighted some lines of the data and showed them to Nulis.

"This time, I will use all your cheats to the fullest. Nulis."

The system was still confused. He read the data but he couldn't really figure out what his host was thinking. Amidst this confusion he saw his partner stand up.

"Host where are we going?" He asked.

With a menacing smile, "Of course. To set our plans in motion." The first pawn he was going to use was currently waiting for his audience in the main hall. He saw the head servant walking towards him, her steps fast. She greeted him then whispered.

"Empress Ming is waiting for you at the main hall. She wishes to have a conversation with our master Sheng. It's probably regarding the cancellation of the engagement."

Ivar gave her a nod before walking with her. When he arrived at the hall. There she was. The woman who was going to be his first chess piece. The empress, Xiao Ming's birth mother was dressed in golden robes. Her hair was tied up into a bun, decorated with ornaments. He was not Sheng Yan so he didn't bother greeting her.

"What brought the empress here?"

Empress Ming was taken aback. She frowned at the sudden question thrown at her without any courteous greeting. Sheng Yan was never this rude to her despite the distant relationship they had as in-laws. But now even the eyes of this young Ger was leaking an intimidating aura that made her calm facade flinch. She cleared her throat before speaking. "Take a seat, Young master Sheng. We are going to have a long chat between us."

Ivar did as she said. He then gave the head servant a look. The later withdrew from the room, bowing her head lightly. When she was gone the empress changed her atitude.

"I heard you and Xiao Ming cancelled the engagement between you."

Ivar didn't even bothered to answer her with courtesy. "Yes. Since your son cheated by sleeping with another Ger despite having a fiance. It was natural to call it off when a man puts a green hat on his head."

Empress Ming frowned. Xiao Ming was her son. The son she birthed who would help her covet the throne. Although they did not have a loving mother-son relationship they belonged to the same blood. Her son was going to be the means to seize the dragon throne from the Yans. She picked up the tea cup from the table and drank the tea to cover up the ugly expression wrinkling on her face.

Ivar watched her actions, snorting at her. "Why are you hiding it when it has been so obvious? You are relieved that the engagement has been finally called off."

His sudden words made her hands tremble, the fingers holding the tea cup dropped the cup. It fell onto the surface of the hard table with a Pang, spilling the tea inside.

"Now now, please do not shake so much when your soul is a tough one. After all, you were secretly planning the murder of our family with your son weren't you?" With curving eyes he added fuel to the fire to ignite a satisfactory reaction from the empress. "Just like how you killed your own husband." "And my grandmother?"

Thump!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

She could feel her heartbeat fasten as if it was about to burst out of her chest. Her pupils fluctuated widely as she looked at Sheng Yan. Through trembling lips she denied his words. "I don't know what you mean by those words. Please do not speak of such things so lightly or else it might stir trouble for innocent people."

Ivar let out a loud laugh. He noticed the beads of sweat forming on her fair forehead, her lips were shaking and so her shoulders. With just a few words her composure was broken to this extend. In the book the empress was described as a smart, scheming powerful lady but...the one shaking in fear because of Ivar's few words.....in front of him right now...was the very same person. When he went through the background of the kingdom he noticed some awry details of the late king's death. Given that now he had Sheng Yan's memory it wasn't hard to discover this hidden ploy of the empress.

"Pffttt...Of course the story would be different if the person in question is truely guilty." His eyes were radiating with a beastly stare. As he said these words he got up from his seat. Walking over to the shaking empress he sat down next to her.

"Nulis now!"

The system heard his partner speak to him. He did as his host wanted him to. Withdrawing a cheat object from the system he transferred it to Ivar.

Ivar gazed at the miniature egg in his hand. Without warning he shoved it into the empress's mouth.

"Cough...cough...." She gagged, struggling to shake off Sheng Yan's grip on her mouth. But the strength the fragile, slender ger had was not something she could fight aganist. Her face became blue black as she was forced to swallow it.

Gulp! She saw Sheng Yan stare at her with sinister eyes as she was forced to swallow whatever that thing was.

The corner of his lips curled up. He whispered to her in a low voice. "Your son will kill you with his own hands. His betrayal will cause your death. Also, forget what I said just now."

The egg inside her body sprouted as if his words were a spell. The empress's eyes went blank, as If devoid of emotions. She stayed like a doll for a moment.

Snap!

Ivar flicked his finger breaking off the contact. The expression on his face turned back to normal.

"Gasp." Empress Ming was startled when she saw Sheng Yan sitting close to her. She stared at him with confusion. Then she heard him say.

"Empress Ming. It seems as if you are not feeling well today. Are you perhaps sick? If so you should leave and rest."

The empress noticed that she was indeed feeling nauseous and her body was indeed sweating profoundly, the body heat flaring up a bit. She even felt her vision blur for a split second.

"Ah...I guess you are right."

Ivar looked at him. His eyes faking concern. "I will summon your escort to take you back."

He saw the empress leaving.

The first egg of destruction has been planted. Now it was just going to take a matter of time for his plans to take action.

"Partner, why did you choose the empress?" Nulis finally asked the thing that was bugging him.

Ivar chuckled. He then replied. "Back then I thought I would enjoy killing the characters of that bitch's world with my own two hands. But later on I realised that it would be too lenient on them. I mean, why bother wasting my energy when I can practically use her own cannon fodders to kill the main characters."

One by one...he was going to stage the death of the love interests... One by one....each of them.....

"The empress is Xiao Ming's mother. It would be fun if that bastard dies by the hands of the woman who gave birth to him, who gave him her full support and yet she ends up killing him with her own hands over a hallucination that was forced upon her, a false memory that will twist their relationship." This was going to be the best way stage that prince's death.

The empress was the perfect subject to destroy Xiao Ming.

Zingggg!

Ivar felt his soul tremble again. This familiar warmth draping his soul made his miss that person even more. His soul was vibrating as if his man was telling him that he was coming for him.

A warm smile bloomed on his cold face. His cheeks flushed a bit thinking about his lover.

This time he was going to wait for him and not be angry like in the previous world.

Judging by the expression he was making Nulis knew that he was thinking of Guang wang Lei.

The head servant was once again shocked to see their master making such a gentle, enchanting face. She has been serving him ever since he was young. She saw him grow up to be what he was now. But she have never, never seen him smile so beautifully before, as if he was a silver flower blooming underneath the waning moon light.

"Master is in a good mood." She whispered feeling happy for him.

That night a certain woman woke up. She was sweating heavily, all the hair on her body was standing upright as if she had been scared the shit out of something.

"Huff...huff....it was just a dream. Calm down....huff.." She wiped off her sweat with her sleeves, panting hard to calm herself down. That nightmare....it felt so real for her that she was visibly shaken up by it. With great difficulty she laid down in her bed again, closing her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

The next day Ivar woke up early. He bathe then dressed himself in clean clothes. After having breakfast with his family members he left for somewhere on his family carriage. His parents gave him enough space to act on his own accord.

Ivar was heading towards the academy. He was going to set his other plans in motion. When he arrived there he saw one of the annoying scenes unfold right before him. A bit far away from him there was a crowd gathered at a certain place. Even from here he could hear the voices of the people whisper among themselves.

"Is our angel being bullied again?"

"I never expected that Lord Mao would be one of those disgusting people who would try to feign innocence when the evident is as clear as day."

"Oh god, was Lord Mao trying to ge Yue Ling on his bed? Tsk. Tsk. Who knew the kind Lord Mao would turn out to be this kind of disgusting person."

Ivar watched the scene before him, his eyes narrowing disgustingly at the upgraded, male version of Fiona.

Just look at him! Look at the way his body language was swaying as if he had been wronged somehow! It was infuriating to think of how his ambiguous actions knew no bounds. The Lord Mao who was the centre of the crowd's hatred was being glared to death by the love interests standing by Yue Ling's side, their eyes were already planning the murder of an innocent cannon fodder.

It was about time he stepped in.

"What's going on? Why is everyone gathered up here?" Even the head of the academy was here by now. Along with the teachers.

Ivar smirked. The time has come. He walked over as he heard the students accuse Lord Mao of sexually harassing Yue Ling. The love interests and that white lotus didn't even need to speak as the crowd was doing their job.

"Head master please punish Lord Mao. He was sexually harassing Poor Yue Ling in broad day light."

"That's right. We saw it with our own eyes. Lord Mao was troubling Yue Ling, as he forced poor Yue Ling to apologise to him even after he tried to violate him. Please issue a severe punishment on Lord Mao."

The crowd was agreeing with whatever the others were saying.

Lord Mao, who was innocent tried to explain things to them but he was shouted at by the angry crowd. Even the head master was giving him a death glare.

"Mao Du! Is it true that you were harassing Yue Ling in broad daylight? You know that it's against the rules of the academy right?" The head master yelled at him.

"But head master I really wasn't..."

He wasn't even given a chance to explain his side of the story.

"Shame on you!" The head master yelled at him. He then turned to Yue Ling asking him.

"Yue Ling don't be afraid. Tell us everything so we can punish him."

Yue Ling steered his eyes down, looking at his own feet. He then trembled a bit as if he was afraid of someone. A huge arm slightly hugged him from behind. Then he heard Xiao Ming and the others whisper to him. "Its okay. Do not be afraid. We are here with you."

Yue Ling felt a warm feeling coursing through his body. Everyone cared about him so much.

"Head master. Why are you dragging this matter? Isn't it clear that he is afraid of Lord Mao."

"Right. Look at how shaken up he is. He is so traumatised that he can't even speak up."

"Did anyone see exactly when the assault happened?"