Chapter 70: 70

A few days after Michelle woke up, the little Emperor and David Elether called for a meeting of all officials, which forced Garrick Sloan to attend. No matter how arrogantly he acted toward the crown, he couldn’t afford to ignore a meeting which all the Dukes and even Archduke Grace attended. In the end, the Sloan family was still just a Viscounty with no historical lineage.

Standing in the meeting hall with all the other officials, the Archduke silently observed Garric, watching his expression. It was clear that Garric didn’t know what was about to happen, but he was clearly pale and uneasy. Probably because the people from the lower realm, led by the old man, didn’t return after they went to force Michael Grayson to return the Soul Seeking Pendants.

Soon, the little Emperor entered with David, the Prince Regent, and everyone went silent. The two were always serious, but at the moment, both seemed especially silent, one could say dangerously calm.

All the officials bowed in greeting while the little Emperor and David went to their seats. Without giving anyone a chance to speak, the little Emperor spoke up, his young, almost childish, but steady voice filling the hall: “We’ve received some worrying news, so we will take care of it here today!” He swept his gaze over the hall. “Viscount Sloan! Come forward!”

Garric Sloan was shocked when he was called out, and he meekly stepped forward. “Yes, Your Majesty? This subject is listening.”

The little Emperor frowned. “Where’s your father, the old Viscount?” he asked.

Garric was confused. “Your Majesty, he has retired and is resting at home.”

David clapped his hands, and a messenger came forward. “Go to old Viscount Sloan’s residence and call him to come here! His Majesty is calling for him.

The messenger nodded and quickly left the hall, mounting a horse to get to Malrik’s mansion as soon as possible.

Seeing that, Garric knew something was amiss, but it was already too late. The messenger had left, and his father would come soon. “Your Majesty, this subject does not understand what this is about,” he bowed his head down low, trying to get an explanation.

But Michelle’s plan was foolproof. David picked up a scroll and opened it. “Malrik Sloan, titled Viscount at the age of twenty-six for his bravery. In the land he was given, he immediately raised taxes above the allowed amount of three silver ingots a house per year, to a gold ingot a house per year, but to the crown, he kept giving one silver ingot per house a year and sometimes even less. A year later, he formed an illegal brothel. Over the years, the number of brothels rose to two hundred in the whole Viscounty and the trend even spread to other territories.”

David wasn’t done yet: “Two years ago, Malrik Sloan was sent on an expedition to the western part of the empire because of intense flooding. Every village he passed through reported disappearances of young women and children. They were found dead in the Viscounty. They all died recently, all at once in one of the many illegal brothels. A year ago, Malrik Sloan passed his title to his son Garric, so his dark deeds could remain hidden.” After finishing reading the scroll, David rolled it up and handed it to the little Emperor with a bow.

With such a huge accusation pinned on his father, Garric wanted to speak up, but he suddenly felt a cold stare on him. He turned to look and saw a beautiful young woman with blond hair and green eyes staring at him from the side, holding a scythe, with a sweet smile on her lips. He got so scared that he didn’t dare to move.

The little Emperor then spoke up. “Every single one of Malrik Sloan’s crimes is punishable by death; thus, he will be executed by hanging. His head shall then be severed from his body and hanged on the Imperial Palace walls for three days as a warning! His body will be thrown into a mass grave where dogs can feed on it!”

Hearing the verdict, Garric was shocked. “Your Majesty! Please wait! My father is innocent! Someone must have framed him!” he quickly tried to intervene, but the little Emperor already held his seal in his hand and was prepared to stamp the paper with the verdict written on it. It was clear that the verdict was predetermined, but that was normal when dealing with corrupt officials like Malrik Sloan.

“Wait! Your Majesty!” the Archduke’s voice stopped the little Emperor’s hand.

The little Emperor glanced at the Archduke. “What is it, Archduke Grace?” he asked with a frown.

The Archduke stepped forward so that everyone could hear him. “Your Majesty, please consider using the unifying law. If Malrik Sloan was corrupt like that, how can we know that his family won’t be the same?” He knelt down in front of the stairs leading to the little Emperor’s throne.

Instantly, whispers arose among the officials, and the little Emperor frowned. From the eyes of the officials, it looked as though he disliked the idea. “Why do you propose so, Archduke Grace?” he asked, his voice serious.

The Archduke slowly stood up. “Your Majesty, we have found proof of others from the Sloan family helping Malrik Sloan commit the crimes.” He reached into his sleeve and took out a scroll. A servant walked over to him, took the scroll from him, and brought it to the little Emperor and David.

They read it, and both frowned. Finally, after a long while, David spoke again. “Garric Sloan, named Viscount a year ago after inheriting his father’s title! He was present on the expedition to the west where the women and children disappeared. Also, he frequently visited the brothels his father owned; each day he was in a different one. In every brothel, the madam was respectful and gave him information about the brothel’s finances since his last visit.”

When his words fell, the little Emperor took up a pen and wrote something more into the verdict about Malrik’s execution. Then, he read it aloud: “Every single one of Malrik Sloan’s crimes is punishable by death; thus, he will be executed by hanging. His head shall then be severed from the body and hanged on the Imperial Palace walls for three days as a warning! His body will be thrown into a mass grave where dogs can feed on it! Additionally, this verdict shall be carried out under the unifying law, with all members of the Sloan family carrying the same punishment!”

Hearing the new verdict, Garric nearly fell down. It was a death sentence not only for his father, but for him as well, so no matter how much he feared the gaze of the blonde girl staring at him from the sidelines, he spoke up. “Your Majesty, my father, my family, and I are all innocent! Someone is framing us! Please investigate!” He fell to his knees and kowtowed.

The little Emperor stared at Garric for a while before glancing at the Archduke. “Archduke Grace, how did you acquire this information?” he asked calmly.

The Archduke just smiled a bit, something which only happened in the past when he discreetly threatened the Emperor Emeritus. “Does Your Majesty not believe your subject?” Though smiling, Archduke Grace spoke coldly, his voice reminding all the officials of his power. Even Garric didn’t dare say a thing to defend himself, although it concerned his life.

The little Emperor stared at the Archduke for a long while before picking up his seal and stamping the verdict with it. The moment he did so, Garric became a death-row prisoner, so guards standing nearby instantly grabbed him and held him down without the little Emperor needing to say a word. “Bring Maric Sloan and his whole family to me!” he ordered the guards. “Meeting dismissed!” he stated to the officials and stood up with David to leave.

Michelle, using her disguise mask to look the same as when she captured old man Sloan, moved her spirit energy through her veins to activate her Shadow Spirit Steps and left. Without the leaving officials noticing, she got into the Archduke’s carriage and took off her disguise mask. Wearing a green dress with golden flowers at the hems didn’t quite suit her, in her real appearance, since she had purple eyes and silver hair.

Soon, the Archduke entered the carriage and smiled slightly when he saw her. “So you were the reason he didn’t defend himself when the accusations first arose,” he chuckled. “Were you constantly glaring at him?”

Michelle leaned back against her seat and crossed her legs. “That too, but…” her scythe appeared beside her as she spoke. “This probably scared him the most…” she brushed her finger against the side of the blade.

Seeing the scythe, the Archduke raised a brow. He had seen scythes being used for mowing by people, but he had never seen one used as a weapon. But he knew that with enough skill, anything could be turned into a weapon. “Why a scythe?” he asked.

“I have the highest proficiency with it,” Michelle waved her hand, and the scythe disappeared again.

The Archduke didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard Michelle’s words. Having a scythe as a weapon of top proficiency was both amazing and useless. It was amazing because, since she was probably the only one who could use it, her opponents would never be able to guess her movements beforehand. But it was useless because a scythe wasn’t a weapon suitable for fighting.

But the Archduke had never seen Michelle fight, with or without the scythe, so he didn’t know that the scythe was the perfect weapon for her fighting style. Because the scythe was never the only weapon she used. She liked to attack her opponents from both sides at once, and the scythe allowed that with its long handle and inverted blade.

If she were in front of the opponent, she would use the long handle to put the inverted blade behind him and then press the blade of her other weapon against his front, trapping him between the blades. Then, she would be free to kill or threaten.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep