While Anna and Harry were bonding, many things were happening inside the royal palace as always.
The Royal Palace was considered by the commoners in the kingdom as one of the calmest and most serene places in Mystry. And it certainly had its reasons for being called that — at least the gardens looked beautiful and the palace was a beauty on its own.
But truly deep inside?
This was one of the most chaotic places in the entire continent, filled with schemes, power struggles, hatred, love, royal drama, stupid bullshit, and much more...
The Royalty of the Lust kingdom lived here, in this seemingly peaceful place, with tested rules and a hierarchy of power controlling them.
It was a simple power structure with the king, Lust Vincias The Third, at the very top.
After the King, the person with the most authority was The Queen, The King's Main Wife.
Queen Emilia Lust Vincias.
She had her own private army, and she was a 5th Stage Gifted too.
And with her strong Offensive oriented 'great' ability, she was called a monster on the battlefield.
after the Queen, the next tier of Authority was in the hands of The King's thirteen Concubines and Ministers, they were even a bit higher in the ranks than the princes and princesses.
After the prince tier, there is a bunch of subordinate ranks like The Grand Knight, Head Maid, or simple maids and knights... until it reached mere slaves and prisoners.
Royal Palace. In the bed-chambers of one of the King's thirteen Concubines.
A woman sat on her bed, her face hidden by the shadows that lingered in the night, her eyes shifting colors every few seconds, at times, they were black, at times blue, and at others a shining crimson.
Suddenly, it stopped on a bright golden color and focused on the empty air on the side of the room, for a second, nothing happened. But then, a man draped in black robes calmly walked out, his face hidden by a grey mask.
Only his ferocious crimson eyes were visible inside his dark hood.
He appeared completely out of nowhere.
Yet, The concubine didn't seem startled at all and seemed rather used to this.
This fact alone could have got her killed a thousand times.
No matter what, having an unknown man visiting the Royal Concubine's bed-chamber was more than just treason — it was basically the same as crowning the kind with a green hat.
Her eyes locked onto the man, and she asked in a cold tone, "Did you kill the Blasphemous Child?"
Bowing his head in endless shame and indignation, the man replied: "I had seen him dead at first, Mistress. but after dying," pausing, "seemingly dying by consuming your Ice poison, the guy woke up after two to three hours with seemingly no injuries or lethargy..."
His voice lingered in the room, the concubine bit her nails in frustration and pondered.
Hesitating for a second, the woman said, her tone somewhat anxious: "I am afraid the Blasphemous child has already come to know of his abilities, now even he will be hard to deal with..."
Her heart skipped a beat thinking of the repercussions.
She was afraid, afraid of the consequences.
If that Blasphemous child ever became as good as he could be…not to mention her ambitions, even her life will be at risk.
But then thinking about it, She had no reason to fear
The guy probably didn't even know who poisoned him.
Her assassin would never leave a clue behind.
But killing him won't be that easy anymore, but if she got another good chance, she could do it again.
It was easy, with this guy as her helper.
Her violet eyes shined for a moment and she said: "Just keep an eye on him for now and don't be obvious, If he ever tries to catch you, just suicide immediately, if possible, don't even leave your body behind."
The Assasin nodded, but hesitantly asked a question, "But Mistress, he is a mere weak mortal at the moment…so can't I just kill him using my gift? Or even physically?"
Her crimson eyes shined and she looked at the assassin, he froze in fear.
"This Kingdom is not some cheap place like the other noble houses and schools," she said, her voice cold to the point even the floor started to have a thin layer of ice coating it, "This place, this kingdom, it's special, how and why do you think they stand at the top?"
The hooded Assassin was silent, he could see she was angry.
He had questioned her decisions after all.
"They rule it because they have the power," A small blade made of Ice touched his forehead, "The three great abilities passed down in the lust family are strong, strong beyond compare. No other Gifts from the billions of abilities found in the continent could come close to their power,"
The blade floated in the air, emitting a deeply freezing aura.
"And do you think your filthy gift can hide from the eyes of one of the three great gifted of the kingdom, leave Lilly, she is too young, but what about the Queen, do you think she can't lead back to me? What about the king?"
The blade drew blood but didn't go deep. His whole body sweated from face to legs, his heart thrummed with long-forgotten fear.
He had forgotten how strong the kingdom was, how strong the King and Queen were.
"I will leave this once as a slip of the tongue, never repeat it and go do what I ordered."
The assassin nodded with a gulp before vanishing, like the air he came in and like the air he left.
He knew just how intelligent the lady was, he didn't have to give his opinions, only information was required.
That was how he was taught, but the birth of a new monster in the ring just startled him too much.
But he didn't have to worry or think.
In scheming, even imperial ministers will have to bow to his mistress, she was that great of a being in the art of deception and schemes.
He had no reason to speak, he was just her blade.
But even he wondered at times, how can someone so capable be so… patient.