The mysterious shadow that was eavesdropping on Empress Carolina signaled one of his hidden companions to report the conversation to the Emperor.
Coincidentally, Emperor Valentin had just finished conversing with Kazimir and was already on his way to his quarters.
Upon receiving the report, a cunning glint flashed in the Emperor's crystal blue eyes. There was a subtle hint in his cold thin lips as he ordered, "Allow them to pass without raising suspicion. Have someone install a recording stone on Kazimir's bed-chamber without alarming anyone."
"I hear your orders, Your Majesty!" The hidden guard saluted and disappeared into the shadows.
As Emperor Valentin went to his bed chambers, he was thinking of what kind of words will Empress Carolina say to Kazimir to convince him.
A part of his mind was worried that Kazimir would soften his stance or even worse, be brainwashed by Empress Carolina. If this happened, then he may have to see Kazimir stand on the side of the traitors of the Empire.
However, a big part of him was hopeful that Kazimir would no longer be brainwashed by her mother and keep his conviction to stay put and see through the due process for the traitors of the Empire.
He was not worried that Kazimir would spill the beans and tell her mother that he already knew that they were traitors, for he trusted his intellect.
Whatever happens, Kazimir's guilt over the failure of his mission and the 'death' of Antoine would be heavier than the desire to save her mother from trouble.
The next days were crucial for Leon and the rest.
The troops going to the east and west territory stealthily sneaked into the critical areas where the accomplices were located.
The Crimson Blades were the ones who organized all the information regarding the members of the traitor faction, making the parties organized by all of the knight troops in the Capital and the rest of the territories prepared on who to arrest.
The grand arrest will be organized in one fell swoop. All of the people identified were observed and upon the signal given by those in the Capital, they would start the operations.
"Target on area 1, located."
"Target on area 2, located…"
One by one, the troops assigned to a territory reported their standing to General Farauld who was the one on top of the chain of command.
"If locating the targets continued, we will be able to finish this in three days before we can make a move." General Farauld told Emperor Valentin as the two watched a large bulletin board that records the information received from the messages sent through notification papers.
"Hmm… But I am actually getting nervous, the people we are apprehending may be someone with the curse power. Even if we have found the basic cure for the curses, engaging in a fight would be detrimental to our operations. I don't think no matter how we execute this matter stealthily, there's bound to be some casualties and things that may not go our way." Emperor Valentin replied clenching his fists tightly.
"Do not worry, the knights we deployed had been briefed thoroughly about the power of the cursed weapons and curse magic. It will surely be a different situation like the one that happened before." General Farauld was confident that they will pull through these operations.
If any fight ensued, the appearance of the life-saving cure potion will turn the tables around.
"We were lucky that the reinforcement that came from the Riverfort Hospital enabled the production of the cure potion faster and much more efficient. With this, we were able to produce doses that were enough for the entire troops assigned to the east and west." General Farauld also reported the status of the manufacturing of the cure potion.
"En... That's good to hear. How many days do we have to wait until the batch for the capital would be done?" Emperor Valentin asked.
They prioritized providing doses for the troops assigned to the Grandmasters and Governor Fidel because their vicinity would be far from the capital. Even with the employment of the expensive teleportation array, they would not be able to go back to the capital to seek the assistance of Kayden, whom most of the people know as Dr. Einz.
"The only variable that would affect us was the cultivation of enough herbal plants on the Silver Dew Forest and the Temple's nursery. It was also a great help that we were able to get volunteers from the Farauld Magic Institute Research Division. With this, we might be able to set up a third cultivation spot for our raw materials." General Farauld replied.
At first, Emperor Valentin and the rest of the Elders, including the High Priest were reluctant to involve the researchers in the institute in the fight against the curse magic. However, upon Eli's recommendation, they were able to set up a team that was composed of researchers who were interested in the field of medicine.
These researchers were the ones who came to Eli, begging for her to allow them to broaden the discoveries mentioned in the papers left by 'Dr. Kayden'. Eli emphasized that since Dr. Einz would eventually enter the institute as their future advisor, might as well let the three researchers be exposed to what he was doing in the meantime and use their talents in such a timely situation.
"The only thing that we needed to be prepared with was the possible retaliation of the masterminds…" Emperor Valentin felt relieved upon hearing the developments on the side of the cure potion. "We do not have an idea about how strong would the Vesala's siblings be… and if their bodies contain multiple spirit fragments from the mysterious entity that Eli encountered…"
Emperor Valentin did not need to continue his sentence. For they both know what it meant. Eli will not be able to handle that many spirit fragment that was so the angel rank. It is not that they do not believe in her power, but the threat was just so big and they have a clear grasp of their Empire's power.
In a large-scale battle, no man can stand to save everyone.
There are bound to be casualties, heavy and heartbreaking casualties. But the question on their minds was, were they ready to receive such a high possibility of damage?
"There's no use in thinking about that. It may not look like one, but our Empire was not at war with the traitors who were so evil that they chose to cling to sinister forces. It is a risk we have to take." General Farauld answered straightforwardly.
But his eyes reflected the helplessness and powerlessness against the enemy they were facing. Perhaps, he may also die in this battle. Perhaps even his son, his family… But compared to the future of the next generation, for his grandchildren, Little Han, Estelle, and the rest, their sacrifices would be worth it.
"Then upon receiving 100% of the locked-in reports, start our evacuation scheme. After the evacuation, we will commence our retaliation!" Emperor Valentin need not argue with his friend, he also knew that this situation was already a war.
But he wouldn't let the innocent be implicated in this matter, as such, they have long prepared for the evacuation of the common citizens and even the innocent aristocrats should not be implicated in this scheme. Their priority was the children, the elderly, and women, for the majority of the men may choose to stay and participate in the retaliation.
As they were about to wrap up their planning, they received a report from the bulletin that was not like the previous ones.
"Targets on area 27 were missing."
Emperor Valentin glinted and threw a look at General Farauld, who hastily checked who are the targets registered in area 27.
"Nikolai Kir Vesala and Arabella Liv Vesala, the eldest son and second daughter of Duke Maxim." General Farauld frowned deeply upon knowing the identities of the missing people.
This could only mean one thing, the two somehow managed to escape ahead of time!
Without waiting for Emperor Valentin's orders, General Farauld immediately pulled a notification paper and replied to the knights assigned to their area, "Investigate their whereabouts!"
A long silence ensued in the command center, they could not help but think that the two may have been sent to the mysterious Lord Raven to ask for reinforcement.
However, even after frantically checking the reports of the movement from the Duke's side, they were not able to detect any trace of suspicious movement to their side.
What could the absence of the two descendants of the Vesala mean?
Will their absence affect the operations of the retaliation?
Did Duke Maxim manage to snuff out information about their plans?
If so, then what about their plans and hard work? Will their efforts go down the drain?
Just as the two were about to get drowned by the barrage of doubts flooding their minds, a series of knocks following a certain pattern broke their trance.
"Father, Teacher, It's Leon."
