The most surprising thing was the fact that the Astaze faction became silent.
They were known before to be those who would aggressively grab the chance to put Antoine in a better position every chance they got.
Whenever there is a chance to get ahead of the Vesala function, they would be the first ones to move.
However now, it was as if the Astazes have gotten what they wanted and no longer want to brandish their might.
This gave different reactions from the lesser nobles who could not join any factions. Some were relieved, and others saw it as an opportunity to create their own power and push their own agenda.
It is just too bad!
The regulations imposed by the Anti-Curse Committee not only hindered the hidden agenda of the people coming from outside the empire, but also those who were from the Empire!
Now that everything is settled, they are now seeing a good opportunity to resume what they want to achieve.
They looked at the two princes with different thoughts in their minds.
As of the moment, it seems that the third prince was still the best choice among the three. But looking at the level of trust and confidence Emperor Valentin had given to the two, they were thinking twice.
After all, the assignment to deal with the foreign delegates of other territories is a very crucial role for a future Emperor.
For the two princes to be assigned to handle this matter while the Third Prince remained assigned to tasks that involved military and war, might send a subtle message about the Emperor's preference for his successor.
Unbeknownst to them, choosing the heir is not the Emperor's top priority. His priority has always been protecting his people.
For what will he leave his successor when there is no more land to rule and be responsible for?
While it is his choice not to involve too many people in the matter of the Pope, the danger is wide-scale and real.
Therefore, while he thinks that these noblemen had their own agenda they wanted to push. He schemed to show in public that he still prefers the first two sons he had as a successor so as to confuse them and not allow another political battle to start while there is a lingering danger of another war.
Emperor Valentin looked at the appeased and confused noblemen with concealed satisfaction in his heart.
Eli's advice before seemed to be right. Confusing the nobles at this moment proved to help ease a little of the Emperor's burden and focus on the planning to protect the Empire by confronting the root of evil.
Nonetheless, he trusted his two sons to do what they could to hold their ground while he and Leon focused more on the curse users and the Pope's faction.
As for the women of the Imperial Family, they are now quite busy because of their recent involvement in the tournament.
Eli encouraging them to participate in honing the next generation in their own way became the new hobby of the women in the palace.
And with them and Eli starting a trend, the noble ladies also started to take interest in learning beyond etiquette and arts but in other sciences too.
By now Emperor Valentin prepared everything he could to divert the attention of the majority of the people.
Now, they only need to see what would be the Pope's next move. Only then he could mobilize his core team in dealing with the root of all evil.
It is not that he never planned to involve the other officials. He only wanted to get as much advantage as possible without the enemy catching a clue of their preparations.
–
After all the meetings and discussions made by Eli that day, she finally managed to get a short break.
Instead of going home, she opted to drop by a cafe to take some quiet time for herself.
The emotions that she had yesterday and last night had yet to settle down in her mind, and while Leon helped her a lot to make herself calm, she really had no time to confront them herself.
As she was on a carriage to see if there were any quiet cafes around, Eli passed by the block where the Nouvelle Patisserie was located.
Only then did she remember that she somehow managed to get an honorary membership here because of her comical encounter with Anderson and the owner of the Cafe.
By helping him invent desserts made with matcha, Mr. Nouvelle was so impressed that he awarded her with a membership on the spot.
"Might as well…" Eli decided to drop by the cafe as she told the carriage to stop.
Greeted by the familiar store owner, she was enthusiastically escorted to a quiet table on the balcony.
While the overall theme of this membership-only cafe was classic and lowkey, the spot on their balconies was incredibly relaxing and cozy, with the right amount of potted greens around.
She can both enjoy the open city scenery while also enjoying privacy both from the inside of the cafe and out because the railings and plants around her perfectly covered her enough so that people outside could not see her.
Eli sat on the chair, the wind blowing on her face while the light of the late afternoon sun glowed all around her.
Waiting for her order might be a little boring because she does not have any smartphone around to fiddle with, so Eli thought that it was a good idea to read.
Lowering the curtain on the balcony for her privacy, she took her space pouch and browsed for any material to read.
While she was going through her things, she noticed the 'book' given by the old leprechaun in the Imperial Archives.
'Now that I think about it, I never tried to open it again…' She realized
'Maybe I can open it now…" Remembering that last time, she was unable to read any of its contents because for some reason she could not figure out, she did not meet the requirements.
Now she hoped that she was able to read it as she was sure that her visit to the elven village might be another requisite.
No, it could have been the fact that she was able to see the Guardian Asa once again, and she managed to know more about the story of the 'Asanis' that is why she might be able to read the book this time!
Before she attempted to open the book, she took some materials to disguise it just in case and she never took it out until her food was served.
Only then did she secretly set up another privacy barrier and finally took the book out.
The familiar opening of the first pages of the book greeted her eyes. Seeing it once again made her feel both eager and reluctant at the same time.
While she wanted to know what information the mysterious leprechaun wrote for her, she was also afraid that it would say yet another pleasant truth about the matters she was having a hard time dealing with.
But she flipped to the next page, nevertheless, and just like she expected the pages were no longer left blank for her.
But to her surprise.
It was not the content she had expected, instead, the next pages were names of people she did not know.
Eli frowned, yet she tried to look at it one more time.
"These are the names of the poor souls that met their doom in the place now called the blood valley…"
What was written on the pages were more than a hundred names, men, women, and children all accounted for.
She read through the names and noticed that at the end of the roster, the Leprechaun made a note that the number of people in the registry was the same as the number of bodies left in the massacred village.
'So they all died?' Eli asked herself.
If they all died, how then did Elise, the asani survive?
Also, the time when the massacre happened was during the time when Emperor Valentin was not yet even crowned as the successor to the throne.
He has yet to marry anyone and also Leon and the rest were not yet born.
If she remembered, Elise was biologically about four years younger than Kayden and Leon. So even if there would be a surviving child in the village, it will not grow old enough to match Eli and Leon's ages.
The timeline does not add up!
'Could it be that there are unaccounted Asanis in the first place?' She thought to herself.
Deeply confused, she flipped through the next pages hoping that she would find the answers from the leprechaun's notes.
"While all are accounted for, there was something they did not manage to record.
However, even if they manage to get a hold of this information at that time, they would no longer understand it in the first place.
Because found in the traces of the village were mysterious relics that do not belong to this time and world, just like the knowledge you have, Eli…" The Leprechaun wrote it in a way that the book talks to Eli and Eli alone.
"Materials that contain the knowledge of the modern world and several sets of preserved materials from a man and a woman of Asani blood…"
