Chapter 182

Chapter 154 The Mother of Victoria

The voice seemed to come from inside the No. 2 Mansion. It was quite far from this side, with at least two walls between us, so I couldn’t hear clearly, but I could faintly make out words like “Church” and “Council.” The woman shouting these words was a stranger; I had never heard her voice before, but she was really loud, drowning out even the sound of the rain outside.

My brows furrowed slightly.

What were they doing next door… or was it another trouble?

After listening for a while, I realized that it was mostly that unfamiliar woman talking incessantly, and I didn’t hear much of Victoria’s voice… Was she even next door?

I’ll go check once they stop making noise.

Holding a large basin of pies, I sat on the living room sofa and started eating voraciously… If I don’t finish them soon, they will spoil. Wasting food is not acceptable.

But even after I finished a whole basin of pies, the noise next door hadn’t stopped, and it seemed to be getting worse. I sat on the sofa patting my small belly for a while, then went upstairs to change into a new dress, combed my hair slightly, and held a black lace umbrella and walked out towards the neighboring house.

The heavy rain drenched my clothes in moments.

I quickly walked to the No. 2 Mansion and found that the large iron gate of the outer courtyard was open. A finely crafted and luxurious unicorn carriage was parked at the entrance, its carriage seemingly gilded. The strong white unicorn pawed restlessly on the ground, snorting loudly. Many soldiers stood on both sides of the carriage, holding long swords and wearing shiny armor, forming a neat formation that extended deep into the courtyard… They were the iron-armored guards.

Those annoying guys are here again…

I lowered my head and thought for a moment, then decided to go in and see.

It wasn’t that I wanted to get involved in these troubles, but at this moment, I needed to understand the situation in Kathaloma immediately, and I couldn’t wait any longer.

But just as I took a few steps forward, the guards blocked my path.

“Miss, this is Her Majesty’s estate, you cannot…”

“Miss Silvija!”

Before the guard could finish his sentence, I heard someone calling me from afar. Following the sound, I saw Reckt standing on the lawn of the courtyard, walking over with a look of surprise.

“No rudeness! She is a distinguished guest of Her Majesty.”

He scolded the iron-armored guards and then smiled at me and said, “Miss Silvija, Her Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time. Please come in quickly.”

With that, Reckt bowed deeply to me. He wasn’t holding an umbrella and was almost soaked through, but his actions showed great respect, which made the iron-armored guards at the door puzzled but dared not stop me again. They didn’t know who I was, and perhaps no one had given orders to keep anyone out, so they watched me enter with questioning looks.

But my brow furrowed even deeper.

“Pardon me, what’s going on inside?”

Of course, I didn’t believe the nonsense about Victoria waiting for me. It must be that our queen has encountered some trouble and wants to use my name to avoid it.

As Reckt led me toward the mansion, he turned back and whispered, “Her Majesty’s mother has arrived…”

…Victoria’s mother? Isn’t that Esterbel, the regent dowager… No, she shouldn’t be anymore.

But at this moment, her arrival can’t be good news.

“Have you found Abel?” I asked.

Reckt shook his head when he heard this.

“Not yet. Tainis is leading the search. I just returned from the northern part of the royal city, and there are some things that need to be reported to Her Majesty urgently. But now…” Reckt pondered for a moment, carefully observing my expression, then sighed softly, “Things have become complicated… Let’s go in first.”

…Fine.

We walked quickly towards the mansion, and at the entrance, we heard a woman’s furious shouts from inside: “Privately courting the Church,

The royal city is in utter chaos! As the queen, you shirk your responsibilities… Victoria, listen to me!”

Clang! Something crashed to the ground and shattered.

“By doing this, you’re abandoning the entire royal family! You’re abandoning the country! You’ll ruin everything! You’ll ruin me—!”

My brother Reckt and I stopped at the door, exchanging glances.

Inside, there was a brief silence before Victoria’s calm voice responded, “Now, the council has passed my decree. Mother, do you have anything else to say? If not, please leave.”

“…Passed? Hmph! Who said it was passed? The clergy? Victoria, this is the royal city! When has the royal city ever been under their control?”

“Mother, then according to you, who should be in charge of the royal city?”

“The royal city affects everyone’s interests! Ethenburg is ours! It should naturally be under our control!”

“You mean everyone, including the people?”

“…The people? Victoria, are you speaking on behalf of such an ignorant group? Don’t make me laugh! What are the people? They are just mindless fools! All they need to do is live happily. They don’t need to worry about anything. But what have we endured! What burdens do we carry! We created all of this for them! Now, why can’t we get something back?”

“Victoria, stop with your hypocrisy. You just want to seize military power, disband the Iron Guard, and suppress the Clive family. Stop using the people as an excuse!”

“Feel free to interpret it however you wish.”

“Am I wrong… Look at me! What kind of attitude is this? I am your mother! Your father neglected the family when he was young, and I raised you and your brother alone! So now that you’ve grown up, your wings have hardened, and you want to monopolize power?”

“……”

“Do you think we are not worthy of being your family… Victoria. In your heart, we are just blood-sucking leeches, right? Only you Victoria think yourself superior… Hmph, unworthy of being your family? Say that to my face if you dare!”

“…Speak up!”

Victoria remained silent.

I stood awkwardly at the door, unsure whether to enter or not. I glanced at Reckt beside me, noticing his dazed expression, with a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

I nudged him with my elbow.

Reckt suddenly snapped out of his reverie, gave me an apologetic smile, then stepped forward into the room, coughing lightly.

“Cough. Your Majesty, I apologize for disturbing you… Miss Silviga is here.”

I put away my umbrella by the door, shook off the rain from my shoulders, and followed him inside.

The interior of the second residence was similar to mine but more austere and simple. At first glance, I didn’t see anything particularly valuable. Directly opposite the entrance was the hall, where Victoria sat facing a woman with golden hair and eyes across a low, brown table. The woman had a voluptuous figure and was elegant, resembling Victoria with about six or seven parts similarity, though she seemed more graceful. Her phoenix-like eyes were captivating and added a touch of allure compared to Victoria. Despite her age, she was still quite beautiful—this was clearly her mother.

Between them lay a shattered glass vase. The flowers originally placed in it now scattered on the floor, red petals strewn across the carpet, creating a lonely scene, enhanced by the sound of rain outside.

Victoria’s face…

She looked up, about to speak, but her mother spoke first, “Miss Silviga. The youngest Papal Knight in history, daughter of the Grand Duke Santor Burgskalidje of Shanter… Victoria, is this your trump card?”