Chapter 342

Chapter 128 Light and Darkness – Twenty-Five

It was almost a massacre of blood and flesh.

More than twenty years ago, after the Northern people and the royal family signed the “Peace Treaty,” many families that had participated in the War of Roses were ordered not to possess any form of private armed forces. The largest city, Blue Orchid City, with its resident Rose family, did not even have a basic garrison. The entire family only had about a hundred people left as a peacekeeping force. The more than two thousand soldiers guarding the city were all sent by the lords loyal to the southern faction of the royal family.

After the Empress Dowager lost power and the royal family gradually declined, these people no longer served them wholeheartedly. On the first day Duke Lexes’ troops arrived at the city gates, someone secretly delivered a surrender letter to him, stating they would open the city gates and present the head of the Rose family’s patriarch at midnight.

There was no need to lose even a single soldier.

However, Duke Lexes knew what they were up to—if he followed their plan, by the time he entered the city at night, the Rose family’s wealth would already be gone.

Killing an entire family was something that could only be done with his own hands for peace of mind.

The siege lasted less than two days before the city fell. Duke Lexes and his son led two thousand light cavalry through the city, killing all the way to Rose Castle. They massacred everyone, including servants, stripped the bloody family crest from the bodies, and hung their heads outside the city walls to show the public—this was to make the people understand, and most importantly, to make the church understand, that these were rebels with unextinguished ambitions; they got what they deserved.

He thanked the foolish woman. She killed her husband, giving him ample reason.

Duke Lexes seized property barely enough to sustain the ironclad guards for another two months, but this temporarily stabilized those who began to harbor dissenting thoughts.

After sharpening weapons and gathering supplies, they waited with swords at hand.

At this point, the most important thing was how to proceed steadily and well. Duke Lexes had to ensure that everything went smoothly in the capital while capturing Blue Orchid City; otherwise, all of this would be meaningless—there was significant risk involved in this operation.

But Duke Lexes never feared risks.

His entire life was a gamble, risking his life, and finally achieving today’s success. He looked down on those who worried endlessly and sought “security.”

Most of them achieved nothing.

Not long after, Duke Lexes received news from the capital: the disaster ended, Boswell vanished completely. The assassins’ plans proceeded smoothly.

Everything was the will of heaven.

But before he could celebrate for long, a summons from the Church’s court was placed before him.

The letter contained only a few words, without specific reasons, but Duke Lexes knew very well that his involvement with the black-robed people had been exposed.

The church’s actions were too swift; he was ultimately slower than those charlatans. As such, whether or not the Empress Dowager’s crimes could be pinned on him became meaningless.

Since so, why not take one more gamble?

That night, Duke Lexes called his son and several trusted advisors and shared his bold plan. They talked through the night until dawn. Without wasting any more time, he divided his army into two groups. He led over ten thousand ironclad guards southward directly to the capital, which had lost its defenses, while the other group, led by several trusted advisors, circled around the high mountains in the north. They reached White Rock City unnoticed—a stronghold of the Reckmont family.

Duke Lexes knew that old Reckmont had become a pillar of Elizabeth’s new council, having nearly moved all the garrison troops stationed in White Smoke City. Clearly, the enemy had learned of his imminent attack.

Thus, there were not many troops left in White Rock City.

Old Reckmont probably thought that Duke Lexes wouldn’t do anything to White Rock City, otherwise, the entire family would face severe sanctions from the church.

Indeed.

But if…

What if White Rock City was involved with heretics?

The nature of the matter instantly changed.

Ever since realizing the identity of those black-robed people, Duke Lexes had spent time carefully studying the doctrines. One crucial principle was: Any nation or people blessed by the gods had the right and duty to participate in the suppression of heretics and apostates, and should be rewarded with wealth and honor based on their achievements.

Therefore, Duke Lexes planned to pin the blame on the Reckmont family.

He had long thought about how to do it.

Next, he led over ten thousand ironclad guards day and night, rushing to the capital as quickly as possible. During this process, Duke Lexes sent another message to Fulsk堡, ordering the more than ten thousand ironclad guards left there to provide reinforcements—but later.

They had to wait until after he was captured.

Yes, Duke Lexes had prepared himself to be caught. Approaching the capital, he ordered the ironclad guards to camp fifty miles outside the city and led a few assassins riding on horned beasts to enter the city first—he wanted to give Elizabeth a grand gift on her birthday.

Coincidentally, he caught the evening banquet.

That night, he brought disguised assassins and the commander of the ironclad guards—his other foolish nephew, used as a puppet to mislead Elizabeth and the royal family. They attended the banquet together, presenting gifts from the Rose family to the proud Queen.

But before that, he met the black-robed accomplices still in the city according to the prearranged location.

They discussed for a long time.

What happened next was as he expected.

Upon arriving at the palace, he immediately presented the gifts—even though Elizabeth appeared calm, Duke Lexes could tell that her heart was in turmoil. She would undoubtedly put him in jail regardless of the consequences.

She might even execute him directly…

But this was Duke Lexes’ bold gamble.

He bet that even if Elizabeth was furious, she wouldn’t ignore the safety of her million subjects, and wouldn’t let anger cloud her judgment—indeed, the logic of intelligent and rational people was easier to predict. What was difficult was some insignificant thugs who might draw their swords for a few silver coins.

Duke Lexes won his bet.

Although there were some minor hitches along the way—he hadn’t expected to see that little princess from Shantel Castle, Scargill’s daughter.

He didn’t expect her to be so close to Elizabeth, nor did he expect that seemingly frail little girl to be none other than Hilvija, the newly appointed Papal Knight of the Silver Flash.

This information came from the Empress Dowager in a letter.

And his two fools seemed to have had significant conflicts with her.

Damn it. That fool saw a frail little girl and reacted like a mouse seeing a cat, which made Duke Lexes feel extremely embarrassed.

Though embarrassed, it suited his purpose.

Duke Lexes, of course, didn’t tell that fool of a nephew why he was here. Otherwise, with his pig brain, Elizabeth would easily spot the flaw.

When his true intention was exposed, he pretended to be more terrified than he actually was.

He hadn’t expected the man to lose his mind out of fear.

When that fool suddenly attacked them, Duke Lex’s heart skipped a beat—He hadn’t anticipated this; he truly feared dying here in the palace without knowing why.

Fortunately, it didn’t happen.

When Old Reckmon ordered him to be taken away, Duke Lex couldn’t help but laugh.

Everything went as planned.

As for that fool’s life or death… He didn’t care. If one foolish pig died, there would always be another. He didn’t feel sorry; rather, he thought it better if he were dead.

If he died, Elizabeth would be even more convinced of what she saw.

Duke Lex deliberately revealed to the other side the ironclad guards stationed outside the city, all to continue misleading Elizabeth and Old Reckmon. He wanted them to believe he still had a backup plan, closely related to the ironclad guards outside the city and tonight’s events—they would continue focusing their attention on him and those guards outside the city.

But these were all baits.

His real ace was far away in White Rock City.

She couldn’t fathom it.

Elizabeth never imagined that he, usually so cautious, would take such a risk.

Duke Lex intended to exploit her misunderstanding.

By the time she learned about the news from White Rock City, it would be too late. And since he was inside the city, even in prison, he would have plenty of opportunities to interact with the garrison soldiers, and with the black-robed people’s accomplices.

As for that young papal knight…

She was only sixteen years old, too young to worry about. Even if she had great power, it wouldn’t matter. Duke Lex knew the rules regarding the papal knights; the young girl, no matter how close she was to Elizabeth, would not be able to do much in critical moments.

All he needed to do now was wait.

Wait until things settled down in White Rock City, and wait for Old Reckmon to come looking for him.

He didn’t have to wait long.

One night, under the cover of darkness, Old Reckmon came over, cloaked to hide his identity.

Initially, he was furious, shaking with anger, and shouted insults at him—Duke Lex paid no heed, just watching him with a smile.

He was the victor, and only the weak and the defeated would lose control.

Once he finished cursing and venting his frustration, Duke Lex calmly laid out his plans.

He told Old Reckmon that all his family members, confidants, managers within the city, and the留守 soldiers and their families had been captured by the ironclad guards, totaling three thousand people. He planned to use these people as human shields, pushing them toward the gates of the royal city.

“If you want to defend the city, then let the soldiers inside draw their bows, raise their swords, and kill their fellow soldiers, their families… and your own.”

“If you can do that, I will concede.”

Duke Lex remembered Old Reckmon’s frantic yet powerless face after he said that.

He spat at him, hysterically calling him a “madman” and a “beast,” pounding the wall until blood flowed, crying like a weakling before leaving in fury.

Duke Lex enjoyed such scenes.

Beforehand, he had already gathered information about Old Reckmon’s character, knowing he valued his family members more than his life and honor, and would never refuse him.

Sure enough, a few days later, Old Reckmon came back again. He looked much haggard, his complexion more yellow than Duke Lex’s prisoner status, with deep-set eyes—but his attitude toward him had clearly changed.

He was willing to talk.

Duke Lex had won once again.

Next, the two secretly finalized the plan to kill Elizabeth in the dim and cramped prison.

It wasn’t a difficult plan.

Elizabeth was powerful and smart, but she had a fatal flaw—she was too young.

Young meant shallow experience. Many things she hadn’t seen, experienced, or known, and knowledge from books alone was insufficient. Elizabeth didn’t understand warfare; she lacked good mentors in the past, and now she had one, but it was Old Reckmon.

So, once Old Reckmon began misleading her in areas where she was inexperienced, things would exceed the queen’s expectations.

This gap couldn’t be bridged by intelligence alone.

Sometimes, because one doesn’t know something, they aren’t prepared psychologically. Without sufficient psychological preparation, when faced with unexpected situations, one feels shocked to the core.

That moment was their opportunity.

Old Reckmon’s job was to hypnotize her continuously before the opportunity arose, telling her that there were less than twenty thousand troops outside the city, making it impossible to capture a city defended by nearly twenty thousand troops. Supplies, wages, morale, and military spirit would ultimately exhaust the ironclad guards. The city’s defenders didn’t need to risk going out to engage the enemy head-on, losing unnecessarily.

On Duke Lex’s end, they would also make sure the siege repeatedly failed, spreading rumors that reinforcements wouldn’t come and that the ironclad guards were falling apart. They would kill some people to keep up the act until the other side believed it.

Then, when the reinforcements arrived, they would join forces and push all the captives toward the royal city.

Of course, this alone wasn’t enough.

Elizabeth was a papal knight with unimaginable order powers; even if her mind was unstable, ordinary soldiers found it hard to harm her.

Therefore, Duke Lex introduced Old Reckmon to a few friends.

These were the accomplices of the black-robed people, detestable heretics.

Though detestable, they possessed unimaginable strength. Most importantly, they cared only about achieving their goals, even if it meant risking their lives.

Their goal coincided with Duke Lex’s—to let Elizabeth die. The previous disaster in the royal city hadn’t killed her, so this was their last chance.

When Duke Lex first arrived in the royal city, he talked pleasantly with them, except for one point they couldn’t agree on: these people not only wanted Elizabeth dead but also wanted to destroy Saint Zayeli Cathedral. In fact, that might be their ultimate goal—to plunge the royal city into chaos, even causing turmoil in the entire Ethenbel, and to shake the firm rule of the Holy Church.

These heretics seemed to have significant actions elsewhere, aiming to divert the Church’s attention.

At that time, Duke Lex didn’t directly agree because he didn’t know if things would develop smoothly.

Now, it was time to give those people a satisfactory response.

But Old Reckmon didn’t know their identities or goals, let alone that they were nothing more than non-humans. Duke Lex only told him that these people were high-priced assassins he hired, capable of truly harming Elizabeth.

Thus, those heretics transformed into Old Reckmon’s personal bodyguards. They followed him constantly, and Old Reckmon always stayed near Elizabeth.

Everything was ready.