Chapter 55: Shocking Revelations
A moment later,
Swoosh.
A pillar of light opened inside a quiet alley right beside a blacksmith shop in the outer ring of the capital of Thetor. Three figures stepped out from within the light, and as the last person crossed the threshold, the beam vanished.
"Ugh... couldn’t we have used any other way? That made me nauseous," Dion groaned, turning to Aria beside him as he fought to keep his stomach down.
"Well... it’s not like we could ride Gina, and taking a carriage would take forever," Aria replied casually.
"As far as I knew, teleportation wasn’t meant for living humans, only cargo. And why do you even have a target coordinate saved in this city?" Sheila asked, crossing her arms.
"It makes sense for a merchant like me. I have coordinates saved at every blacksmith shop in every major city. And you’re right, this is actually my first time sending live humans and it worked, haha!" Aria chuckled smoothly.
"Give me a break! What if something went wrong during the transfer? We could’ve ended up lost in space forever," Sheila protested, glaring at her.
"Don’t dwell on it. What matters is that we made it here in one piece," Aria dismissed with a wave of her hand.
"Sigh... whatever. And Gina, please try not to squirm so much," Dion whispered to the pack on his back.
"Kyuu," squeaked Gina, looking thoroughly overheated back there.
"And one more thing... what is with our outfits?" Sheila asked, inspecting her own body before looking over at Dion.
She was swathed from head to toe in a long hooded cloak covering her entire body, complete with a face mask. Dion and Aria were dressed identically in matching, pitch-black cloaks.
"So we don’t draw suspicion," Dion said offhandedly.
"This makes us look more suspicious! What are you even thinking?" Sheila snapped in frustration.
"Forget it, let’s head for the cathedral," Aria urged, starting forward.
"You two really don’t have a sane brain in your heads," Sheila grumbled.
They stepped out of the alley next to the blacksmith shop. Naturally, they drew plenty of stares, looking like members of a demon-worshipping cult or dark priests serving an evil deity. Walking at the very back, Sheila glanced to her left and noticed a crowd of locals watching her with puzzled looks.
Whenever she turned to her right or someone passed by, everyone invariably looked over with grave, bewildered expressions. Sheila took a quick step forward, slotting herself right between Dion and Aria.
"We’re becoming the center of attention," Sheila whispered under her breath.
"Shh... quiet, don’t talk," Aria hissed back.
"We’ll be there soon," Dion added.
"Kyuu!"
"Be quiet and stay inside!" Sheila and Aria snapped in unison, glaring at the bag tucked under Dion’s cloak.
"Kyuuu..." came Gina’s weak, muffled protest from inside Dion’s backpack beneath the black fabric.
After cutting through the crowded streets, they reached the city center, where the grand, imposing structure of the cathedral towered ahead. As they approached the cathedral grounds, Aria tugged on Dion’s sleeve.
"Look... there’s a carriage bearing Baron Arthera’s crest, and... huh... a carriage from Minatheras?" Aria whispered.
"Hmm... this looks interesting. But why would Minatheras be here, and why come to the cathedral instead of the royal palace?" Sheila pondered.
"Alright," Dion said.
Aria and Sheila turned to see Dion pulling out his surveillance sphere. He glanced at the two girls and tugged them into an alleyway, launching the sphere into the air above his hand before loosening his cloak so Gina could catch her breath.
"Phuaah!" Gina popped her head out of Dion’s backpack, looking visibly relieved as she gulped in the fresh air.
"Let’s watch from here first," Dion said, sending his sphere flying inside.
"Ugh... if I knew we’d do this, we wouldn’t have rushed here from the blacksmith," Aria said, pulling back her hood.
"Yeah... but since Minatheras is involved, it’s better to gauge the situation before we barge in. Checking first can’t hurt," Dion said, holding the control sphere to project its display.
"Hmm... fair point. Okay, let’s watch from here," Sheila agreed, pulling down her own hood.
The sphere zipped inside. The projection before Dion, Aria, and Sheila displayed the cathedral’s interior. The main hall appeared empty, devoid of people save for the altar and a giant statue of a winged goddess reaching her hands outward. The sphere darted through an adjoining corridor, passing a series of closed doors.
Reaching the far end of the hallway, the sphere spotted an open doorway to a room with its door slightly ajar. With a swift movement, the sphere slipped inside what appeared to be the head priest’s private office. Inside, Luna sat on a sofa flanked by Cleo and Mei. Across from them sat a middle-aged noble, a butler standing behind him, an envoy from the Minatheras royal family beside him, and the head priest sitting calmly between both parties.
Perched up on the ceiling frame, the sphere looked down. The middle-aged noble in formal attire appeared to be addressing Luna, who responded with a stubborn set to her jaw. Mei remained calm, though her hand rested firmly on the hilt of her sword, while Cleo sat with her arms crossed and eyes closed, a prominent vein throbbing on her forehead. As they watched the feed,
"Huh?!"
Dion and Sheila turned to look at Aria, who had just gasped. Even Gina poked her little head out of the backpack to look at her.
"What is it?" Dion asked.
"Shh... zoom in on the picture and focus on whoever’s speaking," Aria said, concentrating intently.
"Okay, okay."
Dion gestured with his fingers, and the display automatically zoomed in on the speaker’s face. Dion and Sheila watched as Aria read the lips of everyone speaking inside the room. After a few moments, Dion noticed Aria’s face turning pale.
"Hey... what’s wrong?" Dion asked with concern.
"Luna... that silly blond girl... is she the youngest daughter of the previous King of Minatheras, and the sole surviving member of the former royal family?" Aria asked, stunned.
"Hah... are you serious?" Sheila gasped in shock.
"It’s real. I read the lips of that Minatheras envoy," Aria replied.
"Wow... so Luna is actually a princess too? Talk about a shocking truth," Sheila remarked.
"Wait... this is bad... that envoy from Minatheras is Duke Marvin. He tracked Luna down to recruit her as the figurehead for a rebellion to overthrow King Theobald," Aria translated, watching the envoy speak on screen.
"Huh... are you serious? That’s really bad then," Sheila said, keeping her eyes on the screen.
"Pretty much... wait, he’s talking again, keep quiet for a second," Aria replied, staring intently at the display.
Aria continued reading the conversation. It turned out Duke Marvin and several nobles opposing King Theobald had grown fed up with a king who neglected his people and ignored their plight, especially after he recently raised taxes and prepared for war following the opening of a direct route to Lutherias, their long-standing cold war enemy.
To pull it off, Duke Marvin needed a legitimate heir of the former king, and Luna happened to be the late king’s lost youngest daughter. Naturally, Baron Arthera strongly objected, Mei remained silent, and Cleo voiced her fierce protests. Meanwhile, the head priest attempted to steer the discussion to keep things civilized.
"Ugh, now they’re all arguing. It’s hard to read lips when everyone talks over each other and the camera switches fast," Aria complained.
"So... do we go in?" Sheila asked Dion.
"Let’s wait. Going in now would be useless and only disrupt them," Dion answered.
"You’re right. Let’s wait a bit longer and keep monitoring, Dion," Aria agreed.
"Yeah... course," Dion replied.
They kept their eyes glued to the display, with Gina resting her chin on Dion’s shoulder. A moment later, Luna, Cleo, and Mei stood up from the sofa. Baron Arthera rose as well, followed slowly by the head priest. They all stared at Duke Marvin, who appeared to have just finished speaking. Dion, Aria, and Sheila watched as the faces of Luna, Cleo, and Mei turned deathly pale on screen.
"It looks like... something just happened," Sheila noted.
"Yeah... their expressions say Duke Marvin just dropped something massive," Aria added.
"Take another look, Aria," Sheila urged curiously.
"He’s talking about... a seal and a domain... after that, I can’t read it anymore," Aria said, still scrutinizing the screen.
Before they could process what they were seeing, clip-clop, the sound of multiple horses and carriages coming to a halt echoed through the street. Dion, Aria, and Sheila peeked out from the alley toward the cathedral. Their eyes widened as they saw Thetor royal soldiers squaring off against a squad of Minatheras knights right in front of the cathedral gates, accompanied by several Minatheras noble carriages, while local citizens scrambled away from the area.
"Kyuu..."
"Yeah... looks like things are about to get lively," Dion muttered under his breath, keeping his eyes locked on the grand cathedral doors in the heart of the city.