First, the sound of shattering glass drew everyone’s attention. Next, the sudden appearance of strange plants held their gazes. Then, someone exploding on the spot into a splatter of blood and flesh stretched their nerves to the breaking point. Finally, the bizarre insect and its screech delivered the ultimate shock.
Consequently, screams erupted one after another from the massive garden below, echoing like a chaotic symphony.
Quite a few people fainted on the spot; those who managed to scream were already considered brave.
Fortunately, since it was nighttime and five stories high, the visual impact wasn't as overwhelming. They likely hadn't lost their minds, though how deeply traumatized they were remained to be seen.
Those upstairs had no time to worry about the crowd below. The public appearance of such a hideous creature had startled even the high-ranking officials and powerful figures present.
However, the giant insect moved with astounding speed. With a single flap of its wings, it was already tens of meters away, leaving the room far behind. Only then did it look back, glaring viciously with countless compound eyes brimming with malice, directed straight at Lynch and Princess Sophia.
“You ruined our plans! I’ll remember you! Just wait for our revenge, I—”
Before it could finish, a bolt of thunder crashed through the clear sky.
Blinding electricity erupted from within the insect's body, transforming into a ball of lightning. Its curse cut off instantly, and before it could react, it was reduced to a lump of charred ash, falling straight to the ground.
Moral of the story: don't talk trash while escaping. Don't they know that showing off gets you struck by lightning? Lynch sighed, casting a friendly, appreciative smile toward the Archbishop of the Lord of the Sky beside him.
Only then did he let out a long breath. He gave the “Princess Sophia” beside him a strange smile and subtly pointed at the familiar bracelet on her wrist. The “Princess” glared back at him, shifting her sleeve to cover the spatial relic while discreetly revealing the edge of her folding fan as a threat.
Indeed, this was not Princess Sophia at all, but Miss Diana disguised using Karina's Exquisite Makeup. It was the only way Lynch could think of to break this dead end.
From the moment he realized the enemy's goal might be targeting the young prince to incite a war—and Pope Serina corrected his line of thought—Lynch had been pondering what he would do if he were in their shoes.
Naturally, he would send someone of immense importance to carry out the attack. Combined with the drastic change in King Carlos VII's temperament, war would become unavoidable.
As for who was important enough, he had initially considered Duke Vane, but quickly dismissed the idea. The old duke was an outsider after all; an attack involving him wouldn't carry the weight of royal-on-royal aggression, making it an insufficient pretext for war.
Thus, the perfect candidate was Princess Sophia. It could ignite a war between the two nations and plot civil unrest within Lande at the same time—killing two birds with one stone, a tactic Lynch himself favored.
So Lynch had already anticipated that the enemy might use Princess Sophia as their pawn. He didn't know how they planned to frame her, but since they had the ability to drastically alter Carlos VII's disposition, there was no reason they couldn't do something similar to influence Princess Sophia.
And just as he had thought, this was an open trap—once set in motion, it was nearly impossible to solve. The only way to break it was to expose the imposter on the spot with the most convincing evidence. If they missed the moment, no explanation would ever be believed, and the situation would end in utter defeat.
Therefore, before leading everyone into the trap, Lynch had broken away from Serina and whispered to Mrs. Nightingale for a brief moment. He quickly briefed her and asked her to notify Miss Diana to get ready, while Natalie, accompanied by President Olei, headed straight for the Duke's mansion to check on the real Princess Sophia.
It was this pre-planned scheme that allowed Lynch to turn the tables at the critical moment. At the time, his biggest fear had been that Diana wouldn't make it in time; even a slight delay would have ruined everything. Fortunately, Mrs. Nightingale stood by him without hesitation, and Diana had mastered Karina's Exquisite Makeup. Combined with the aristocratic outfit she was already wearing, changing her appearance fit seamlessly. Not even Lande's own people could tell the difference, genuinely believing she was Her Highness.
Only now did the tense atmosphere relax. The onlookers, especially the foreign representatives, began murmuring among themselves.
To think a monster had disguised itself as Her Highness Princess Sophia to lower the guards' defenses and assassinate the prince of Friedman—how utterly despicable! Thank goodness the royal family enjoyed divine protection, allowing the church officials to arrive just in time to thwart the conspiracy.
Soon, these gossip enthusiasts had set the tone for the entire event. As they departed, the story would inevitably spread across the globe, unifying international opinion. Even if King Carlos VII wished to declare war, he could no longer use this incident as a pretext—otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to convince his own people in Friedman. Thus, the crisis of war was temporarily defused, lurking in the shadows to await its next chance to erupt.
By now, the “fake princess” was surrounded by a crowd, chatting and laughing gracefully with the clergy and foreign delegates. Lynch estimated that anyone else would have blown their cover, but thanks to Miss Diana's poise, she managed to deceive everyone smoothly. Even young Prince Louis XVI couldn't tell, cowering in Diana's embrace with a fearful expression. The sight made Lynch burn with jealousy; though his status kept him from walking over, he beat up the opportunistic brat in his mind repeatedly.
Just as he was debating whether to use an uppercut or a straight jab, someone patted his shoulder. He turned around to see Archbishop Trinlais looking at him with a meaningful expression. “Congratulations.”
“Huh?”
“You don't understand? Think about it—if you hadn't noticed the anomaly and insisted on bringing us here, how far would things have escalated?” Though Trinlais didn't know the truth about the swap, his sharp instincts honed from years in high office allowed him to grasp the full scale of the crisis. “You prevented a full-scale war and stopped civil unrest in Lande—and you did it right in front of the entire world. No one can deny your merit. Barring any surprises, you'll likely receive a summons from the royal capital before long, calling you to Norin to audience Emperor Rudolph II. When that time comes, your title of Knight will probably be taken away.”
“Huh?”
“It will be replaced with a formal title of Baron,” Trinlais said with a beam, clearly in high spirits. “When that happens, you'll be Lande's only newly created noble in a century.”
There's a perk like this? Lynch opened his mouth, thoroughly bewildered.
“Because if Rudolph doesn't grant you a noble title, the Friedman royal family will be forced to,” said a voice—not Trinlais speaking this time, but Pope Serina.
She was currently walking back to Lynch alongside several other church leaders, accompanied by servants carrying the insect's corpse covered under a white cloth.
The insect was clearly a mysterious heteromorph, giving the twelve churches ample justification to step in as involved parties. Judging by their expressions, however, they all realized what role they had almost been manipulated into playing. It seemed the Shadow Alliance was about to gain a few more enemies.
Driven by curiosity, Lynch temporarily set aside the topic of nobility and lifted a corner of the white cloth. All he saw was a scorched mass of black charcoal, far worse off than a high-voltage shock victim.
“What is this thing?”
The archbishops shook their heads; none of them had ever seen such a strange, giant insect.
Only the Black bishop from the Church of War spoke up with some uncertainty: “Back when I was on the Old Continent, I think I heard of this kind of insect. They live underground and are few in number, but their technology isn't behind ours at all. I believe they're called... Mi-Go?”
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