Chapter 183

Chapter 183

Hiakin winced slightly before replying in a consolatory tone. “Now, now... No need to put it like that. No one here seeks to persecute the Black clan.”

“It’s already hard enough having to watch our brother’s death made a mockery of and being denied his eternal rest because his corpse is parading around as that wretched Vertium puppet...” The White Master sealed his lips swiftly and tightly. Jeremy continued in a more grave and solemn tone than he had been using already. “And to think my poor, precious older sister could have met the same fate in that twisted land. You cannot imagine how much both she and I have suffered as of late.”

The air surrounding him seemed to become heavy. His other siblings also imitated his sobering expression.

“Our clan members are already agitated by the constant bickering you Fipellions have instigated throughout the gathering, yet I attempted to hold back out of fear that we might tarnish our clan’s name even further by engaging with them.”

Despite the fact that his siblings had indeed toyed with the three White clan members every night for the past several nights in order to blow off steam, their brother had spoken the truth.

“But now... we’re being accused of poisoning tea?”

Hiakin sensed that the situation was becoming more and more unfavorable for him with every passing second. And to make matters worse, the current situation could potentially escalate into an official feud between the two clans. The accusations his young clan member had spewed definitely hadn’t helped in that regard.

The incident had gained far too much traction to simply get swept under the rug as a minor tiff between the youngsters.

“Those were merely empty words blurted out by one of my more foolish clan members. Please rest assured that this young man will not go unpunished for his misconduct.”

The White Master seemed to realize that any further delay could prove detrimental in no time at all. For one thing, there were simply too many prying eyes and ears surrounding them. In fact, just one more slip of the tongue could very well result in the aged leader finding himself in a hole far deeper than even he could anticipate.

Knowing this, Jeremy chuckled inwardly. “We are well past the point of simple misconduct, White Master.”

Unfortunately for Hiakin, Jeremy Agrece had no intention of dropping the matter. After all the times he was forced to set aside his pride and bow his head, this was his chance to finally reclaim what he had lost. He continued to stare solemnly at the elder leader as he had moments ago, while the white and blue-haired man hardened his expression.

“Do you truly intend t—?”

“Aaaah!”

A sudden shriek sounded from the garden entrance. The scream was hardly a few meters from where the two leaders were speaking and instantly resulted in an icy silence falling over those who had been murmuring on the sidelines.

Jeremy turned toward the scream as well. The garden entrance was under a canopy of vine leaves, yet the arch beneath it suddenly appeared to be veiled under an ominous shadow.

Creak.

Before long, a shrill noise akin to the sound of two corroded metal surfaces scraping against one another resounded from the green shade.

“All of you, get back!”

The Black Master instinctively raised his hand to prevent his siblings from lunging toward the mysterious presence, then took a step back himself. It wasn’t that the Agreces were in need of his protection; it was simply Jeremy’s extensively trained muscles and natural instincts that were telling him that whatever lurked in the stillness in front of them was a potential threat.

Creeeak.

At last, the mysterious figure finally revealed itself from beneath the leaves. It was a woman with dark-blue hair who appeared to be wearing the same attire as the castle attendants. The immediate oddity in her appearance was that she seemed to have rolled about in the fresh mud left behind by the storm from the previous night.

“What’s going on in there?! Who was it that screamed just now?!” Hiakin demanded answers from the newcomer while keeping his guard up to brace for the worst.

She, however, offered no reply and merely glanced at all the faces within the garden staring at her shudderingly expressionless face in stunned silence. They could all sense that there was something off about her. One look at her attire made it clear that she was not employed at the castle. Just then, something slipped out from under her dirty sleeve and glinted as the sunlight reflected off of it.

“White Master!”

Right at that moment, a desperate cry rang out from behind her.

“There’s someone blee—!”

The Fipellion who was just returning from taking Duran to the infirmary frantically tried to scurry around the woman to get to where his clan master stood, but her glass-like, crystal eyes turned sideways to study him.

Shnk!

In a flash, those in the garden bore witness to an atrocity that took several seconds for them to collectively realize what it signified.

“Eugh...” The man’s eyes widened as he let out a short groan while the stone-faced woman hovered over him. After a slight twist of her black sleeve, a blood-soaked blade burst through the man’s chest.

Splatter.

As she withdrew her arm from his torso, blood almost immediately gushed forth to sprinkle the grass at their feet. Both Jeremy and Hiakin shuddered involuntarily at the sight. They along with the other guests at the tea party would never in a thousand years have imagined they would ever witness such a grotesque act of violence within the walls of Yggdrasil.

Creak...

Crrrk.

Just as the man’s body collapsed to the ground to convulse in his final death throes, a group of individuals stepped through the viny canopy behind him while making the same peculiar metallic noises.

The screams that followed shortly after the arrival of this unknown group reverberated with piercing volume throughout the garden.

* * *

“All that rain last night must be why it looks so dreary out today.”

Roxana glanced toward the speaker as she walked down one of the castle corridors to see Badrisha and Luzark Castro come into view. Per usual, the Red Heir stood behind his mother as though he was serving as her personal guard. He still took it upon himself to greet the Agrece with a slight nod.

“I heard it should clear up by later this afternoon though.”

The young woman returned his nod with a small curtsy for good measure, but she almost immediately raised her head in order to look back in the direction she had originally been going in. A mere moment before their exchange, Cassis had walked by in the distance. Thus, she had been attempting to reach him. However, she instead found herself staring after the memory of his figure.

“It appears you didn’t get much sleep last night, Miss Agrece.” The clan leader’s maternal habits prompted her to subconsciously inspect the blond’s face, then go as far as to voice her findings. “By any chance, could it have anything to do with the hearing?”

Roxana lowered her gaze slightly before responding. “It seems my troubled heart and restless night have manifested in my facial features.”

However, instead of offering her sympathy or condolences, Badrisha simply smirked. “Hmm... I didn’t take you to be so feeble.”

The words grated against the Agrece’s eardrums a bit too sharply. She raised her scarlet eyes to stare into the face of the older woman standing across from her.

“How do you expect to carry your clan on your back if you remain affected by such things?”

Alas, the Red Master had unmasked her true intentions. Upon realizing she had been found out, Roxana’s gaze changed slightly. Badrisha had seen through her façade and caught on that the lovely Agrece was not only hardly as bothered as she appeared to be, but that she was the true power wielder within the Black clan. Nevertheless, she smiled thinly as she listened to the Red Master’s assessment.

“I trust your admirable insight has also led you to realize that neither my brother nor I have ever deceived you.”

Badrisha narrowed her purple eyes as she continued to study the blond. The sister has always been far more polite than her younger brother, but... they are indeed equally cunning.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some pressing business to attend to.”

Roxana bowed her head slightly once again, then stepped away from the conversation first. The Red Master made no attempt to call her back.

* * *

“Miss Agrece.”

After a short while, Luzark called out to Roxana from behind. His mother chose to continue toward her next destination, so he decided to follow the Agrece in hopes of having a few words with her in private. As he opened his mouth to speak, his face held a rather serious expression.

“I’d like to express my gratitude for your advice last time.”

For a moment, she was confused as to what he was referring to. Then after a moment, she recalled having suggested that he attend the negotiation meeting between the Red and Black Masters. It was hardly a casual suggestion, nor was it any sort of practical advice. The Red Heir simply seemed to her to be a fairly reasonable individual. She supposed it was because he was his mother’s son.

“Don’t mention it. I’m glad to have been of help.”

She then spotted a blue-haired woman walking behind him in the distance.

“Miss Fipellion,” Roxana called out to her. She knew exactly where Pandora was rushing off to.

“Miss Agrece.” Pandora turned to look their way from afar.

“Are you on your way to the garden?” Roxana asked.

Panic riddled the Fipellion woman’s face upon hearing the fairly innocent question. “I see word has reached you as well.”

As it happened, the Agrece had also been on her way to the garden after hearing news of the clash between their clan members.

The onyx-eyed woman had learned of the incident that had unfolded in the garden while she was searching for her younger cousin since he had gone missing shortly after lunch that day. Just the night before, Hiakin had warned both of them to be particularly mindful of their behavior for the remainder of the gathering.

He had repeatedly emphasized the need to be careful to his nephew in particular, before instructing Pandora to keep an eye on her troublesome cousin with more discretion. For better or worse, and to her immense relief, Orka had at least not been to blame for the current predicament at the garden tea party.

She had also heard that one of their more foolish cousins had accused a member of the Black clan of an assassination attempt via poison. The cousin in question was already on their leader’s radar due to his habit of picking fights with the Agreces.

“Yes, I was heading that way myself,” Roxana said. “I’ll accompany you.”

“Wait…” Luzark looked confused. “What’s going on in the garden?”