Chapter 481: Princess's Revenge
In the suburban villa that belonged to the royal family and where Yang Qiu had stayed temporarily, Princess Harriet was about to have afternoon tea when she took the hot towel from the court lady, wiped her hands slowly, and asked the housekeeper who had just returned from King's Harbor, seemingly casually, "What did Mr. Macaulay say?"
"Mr. Macaulay asked me to convey his gratitude to you." The maid and housekeeper replied respectfully.
Princess Harriet smiled knowingly: "I have always been grateful for Mr. Macaulay's care. It's just a courtesy. Mr. Macaulay is too polite."
The master and servant exchanged a few words of greeting tacitly, and the maid and housekeeper "sensibly" withdrew so as not to disturb the mistress's rare rest time.
The palace maid set out the tea set and snacks, and placed the books that the princess had been reading recently within easy reach, then quietly retreated to the door to wait for instructions.
The princess sat comfortably on a recliner near the floor-to-ceiling window, her elbows resting on the table, spreading a heavy book in front of her, and slowly flipping through the pages while sipping tea.
Princess Harriet, who seemed to have immersed herself in the contents of the book, was naturally not as calm as she appeared to be at the moment.
The worse the master's mood, the more respectful the personal maid will behave, because the slightest impoliteness may result in the master's anger.
The maid-housekeeper who responded with great respect...had already conveyed to her mistress exactly how the illusionist Waver had reacted to the "message" she had delivered.
This made the princess very happy.
She hadn't been this happy in years.
Although she didn't actually know what was going on, it was obvious... her idea was correct.
The question that Webb Macaulay asked a few hours ago was actually irrational.
Given the princess's years of indifference during her marriage to the Rhine royal family, the court wizard was not that concerned about the king's private life.
Although high-level spellcasters, whose lifespans are easily hundreds of years old, are usually polite to everyone, they don't actually care about ordinary people as much as they appear - even those as noble as royal families are nothing more than mortals in the eyes of spellcasters.
Weber mentioned it deliberately, and in a strange manner... Obviously, this issue was not just about the king's "private life".
Princess Harriet, who was vaguely ostracized by the royal family, was not qualified to know the secrets that only the core members of the royal family could know. But just looking at the abnormal reaction of the church after the fall of Lars City, and even sending a cardinal to put pressure on the Rhine royal family, the princess would not believe that there were no major problems in the Tachia Territory.
Although the princess, with her experience, knowledge and imagination, could not guess that the great nobles of Tachia Territory had turned into immortal monsters, and it was difficult to understand whether the Odysseus family, who chose to attack the third prince at this time, was related to this matter -
But it is obvious that with the Undead Army sweeping across most of the country, which is extremely unfavorable to the Rhine Royal Family, the Gold Coin Church is putting pressure on the Rhine Royal Family at this time, and it is almost as if they have written on their face that they "do not oppose the black magician Yang's usurpation of the Rhine Kingdom."
The church's actions would anger all members of the royal family, which, of course, would definitely not include the princess.
She didn't care at all whether Yang's undead army would suddenly attack the gates of the royal city one day, or rather, this was exactly what she was vaguely expecting - her son, little Andre, had been arranged to be on Yang's side early on, and no matter whether Yang wanted to use little Andre as a puppet king or just as a tool for the peaceful transfer of state power, little Andre would definitely get more than what his vicious and ruthless father gave him.
The court wizard sent to launch a surprise attack on the enemy returned empty-handed. After learning that the king and Webb Macaulay had only met once and parted unhappily, Princess Harriet seized the opportunity to visit the king. She seemed to be worried about the royal family... but in fact, she just went to find out the situation and to hold the royal family back in the best way she could think of at the time.
She knew very well that even if the throne changed hands, the court wizards would do their best to protect the royal family, especially... the king.
This made Princess Harriet very unwilling, but she could do nothing about it... She had no strong family to rely on, and her not-so-glorious and even somewhat embarrassing position as a second wife also made it impossible for her to get involved in real power. Everything she had was just a seemingly glamorous false bubble that could be blown away by the wind.
Until Webb Macaulay asked the question: "Who is your Majesty intimately associated with?"
The use of the specific adjective "whom" proves that the court magician was referring to a specific person with whom His Majesty had "too close contacts" in private.
And judging from the unconscious frown on Weber's face when he asked the question, he had a strong rejection and displeasure with the "answer" he wanted to get - this is usually the behavior of people when they ask for bad news that they already know.
The first time the princess responded with the name of the famous opera artist, "The Red Queen", she wanted to verify whether the answer Weber wanted was "woman" - this was the king's most criticized fault.
Webb Macaulay's first reaction proved that it had nothing to do with women.
So... the princess randomly listed a family that had fallen on hard times, and specifically mentioned the keyword "letters" - the king never left the palace except to meet with his lover in secret, and if it was said that the king had too close of a relationship with someone, letters were the most likely means of communication.
The princess's deliberately wrong answer made Weber Macaulay's brows relax, but... he did not deny the "letter".
Considering the unusual situation of Lord Tachia, the princess thought about it again and again after returning to the villa, and it was not difficult to come to the conclusion that "if the king frequently exchanges letters with someone he shouldn't be, he will lose the protection of the court wizard."
This conclusion really made the princess extremely happy - after so many years, she finally waited for this opportunity that would allow her to take revenge!
The only difficulty is that the princess can only guess that the "correct answer" that Weber Macaulay is most reluctant to hear is related to the Lord of Tachia, but she has no way of knowing who it is.
If she rashly gave the wrong answer, she would miss the opportunity for revenge.
With insufficient intelligence and no external force to draw on to help her plan, the princess could only make up a lie that "she accidentally saw His Majesty burning papers that looked like lover's letters in an empty side hall."
That's right...the news that she asked the maid and housekeeper to deliver it to Macaulay Mansion was false.
She couldn't go in person, but asked the maid and housekeeper who didn't know it was just a lie to do it. This was because... the subtle mental fluctuations of ordinary people when they lied would be sensed by the powerful mental power of high-level spellcasters.
The words conveyed by the maid and housekeeper, who was unaware of the situation but loyal to her, were quite ambiguous, but at the same time very destructive - as long as Webb Macaulay himself was inclined towards the "correct answer" and had already identified the target, then these simple few words could have unexpected results.
At this point, Princess Harriet herself still didn't know how serious the matter was that she was involved in, but there was no doubt...she was sure that it would bring bad luck to the king.
The princess was indeed right in her estimation. Her precise and brutal finishing blow... cut off the old king's last chance of survival.
After the illusionist Weber sent away the people sent by the princess, he was no longer in the mood to run around for Kolov. He walked around in circles in his study for a long time in anger.
The Rhine royal family is a large family, with thousands of members in its branches and offshoots. In addition to the family that is qualified to live in the royal palace, there are also many members living in mansions in the inner city, villas in the suburbs, estates in the countryside of the royal capital, and all the royal assets.
The spellcaster signs a service contract with the royal family, obeys the king, and also has the responsibility to protect all members of the royal family.
Yang's promise was not just to arrange for the family to live in the palace, but also to include side branches...cut off privileges, recover and confiscate assets of unknown origin, and publicly try and hang those who are too notorious to appease people's hearts. There was no need to really carry out the extermination of nine clans.
This method of resettlement was also acceptable to the court wizards. With the wealth accumulated by the royal family over the years, even if the ill-gotten gains were removed, it would still be possible for these people with the surname Rhine to live a life of luxury.
But if the old king himself really has something to do with the cult...it won’t be that simple.
Not to mention whether Yang, who has proved with his actions that he will kill all the cultists, can continue to be "tolerant and generous", the Gold Coin Church will never miss this opportunity to weld the SHI basin that Tachia has ruined onto someone else's head...
Even with Waver's temperament, he couldn't help but get angry - will this mess ever end? ! Will these bastard royals ever give him some peace of mind! !
After being locked in the study and throwing a tantrum for a while, when Weber went out again, at least there was no sign of anything strange on his face.
Next... this hard-working illusionist went straight to the headquarters of the court mages to find the other two colleagues who were on duty this year and did not go on a "business trip" with him.
When the two court mages who stayed behind heard the news brought by Weber, their expressions became more interesting than the other.
The two court mages, who had just been on duty at the palace for more than four months, also locked themselves in their rooms and raged for a long time. When it got dark, they went out quietly together with Weber.
Under the cover of night, three court mages in the royal capital secretly invited a dozen adult family heads and to the court mage headquarters, which had a magic circle barrier to conceal detection.
After hearing the bad news brought by the court wizard, those Rhine people, who either had real power (such as the crown prince) or just empty status (such as the prince), were all stunned.
More than half of the country has been "occupied", and the confused old king is still worried about whether his third son will be bullied. However, other Rhine people may not be so far-sighted... In fact, some branch family heads have already prepared themselves for the loss of royal power, and one prince is already preparing to send his sons to study in the Norsk Federation.
These royal family members will never be willing to lose the royal aura, but the same thing still applies... When the undead army is about to attack, no matter how unwilling they are, they will not be able to defend this city...
When the country was facing the crisis of national destruction, it was saved by the desperate fighting of tens of thousands of militiamen and the dispatch of troops by the church.
But now, this damned undead regime is very good at winning people's hearts. Not only has it not carried out massacres or purges, it has also managed the occupied areas in an orderly manner. It is unlikely that civilians in most of the country will bring their own dry food to the capital to die for the royal family, and the Odysseus family has clearly refused to cooperate... What can be done?
I never expected that the royal family’s current embarrassing situation of counting the days could get any worse.
Based on what these royal family members know about the Gold Coin Church, they would never doubt that the Gold Coin Church would be able to refrain from taking action when given the chance to shift the blame.
Especially the Crown Prince. As a person at the core of power, he knows too well how shocking the inside story is that the Gold Coin Church is worried about getting rid of the blame...
"Uncle, what do you think?" The eldest prince, sweating profusely, looked at the prince with a pale face.
The prince's face was as white as paper.
His Royal Highness wiped the sweat off his forehead. At this moment, he no longer cared about the intentions of his nephew, the Crown Prince. He spoke tremblingly, "Everyone, you have to help the Rhine family... If, if - then the Rhine family will be completely finished."
The three court mages were silent for a while, shaking their heads and sighing.
If the king himself is a believer of the Whisperers and has been blessed with the undead curse of Guy Latoti... then once he loses control in the palace, the cardinal in the city will notice it and will joyfully and righteously put the blame on him.
Even if the king has only accepted a small amount of the Undead Curse God's favor and is not at risk of losing control for the time being, and there is no "flaw" to be seen at ordinary times, but if for some reason (such as mental loss of control, body damage, etc.) the Undead aura fused with his soul leaks out slightly, it will still be noticed ...
The only way is to make the king disappear silently from the material plane together with his body and soul.
Among Weber's two colleagues who stayed behind on duty, there happened to be a space mage...
Before deciding to take action, Weber personally went to a suburban villa to meet Princess Harriet and asked her to consider the royal family and not leak a single word of what she had said during the day.
Princess Harriet, who really didn't know the inside story of the matter, was bewildered for a moment and agreed nervously - she was worried that her lies would be exposed, and at the same time she was confused as to why Weber chose to conceal the matter for the king even though he was furious. This reaction just proved her innocence.
Weber left with a solemn look.
The next day, Princess Harriet woke up early in the morning and heard the surprising... sad news that the old king had died of a sudden illness in the city.
“Oh my god——!”
Princess Harriet, still in her nightgown, covered her face with her hands, bent down deeply, and trembled all over.
"Princess, please accept my condolences." The court lady said comfortingly with red eyes.
The princess did not respond. She bent over and covered her face, then slowly knelt on the ground.
She had to hold back the laughter that threatened to burst out, and she couldn't let anyone see her face twisted in excitement.
The princess tried desperately to suppress her emotions in order to hold back the urge to laugh wildly, and tears of joy fell to the ground through her fingers.
Her deceased husband, her ruined first half of life, the heavy pressure and deep hatred she had carried for more than twenty years, but she had to hide everything and had to please and obey that hateful man... She could finally shed tears for it.
