"My Lord, what was that flashy escape?"
Lucy asked Grizel when they have successfully fled from the crowd.
Grizel, Lucy, and Leviathan are standing next to the wall still in the slums. Grizel could see the people of the Imperial shadow who stationed at the slums are searching for them.
The 3 of them covered by Grizel's illusion pretending to be regular bystanders, the magic circle, and the flashy way of escape earlier was all Grizel's illusion to trick them, she has not enough mana to use the ancient Magic circle for teleportation since the beginning.
"It's necessary"
"A necessary public scam?"
"..."
"Master?"
Lucy asked innocently but her words sound nothing but annoyance.
Sigh...
"Well, yeah. Though the one I was aiming for is His Highness the Imperial Crown Prince not far from the crowds"
"Huh? What is His Highness doing here?"
This time Leviathan was the one who asked Grizel, while Lucy also hoping for an answer.
"Inspection, as I told you before, this kidnapping issue is not a simple matter, Levi"
"But, My Lord. What is this matter have to do with the flashy escape?"
Lucy back to her first question, she couldn't comprehend the situation yet.
"You know that your former Master's true identity is one of the traitors against the Imperial family, right?"
Lucy nodded while Leviathan, or now, Levi is listening carefully.
"Neither one of the traitor's faction nor the Imperial family can move freely, both parties are still lacking on something"
Grizel continues to explain the situation.
"The traitors are still lacked power, while the Imperial family lack of information"
According to the novel, the Von Belial family was punished with public execution, along with that puny bullying committed by Grizel, the possibility of them being framed as the traitor and accused as the one behind the syndicate of the slave traders is high.
Lucy has listed all the traitor's names along with the evidence of their crimes for Grizel, it was helpful because the novel didn't reveal the true villains, she was shocked because their crimes are beyond saving, and fatal.
These traitors couldn't move hastily because all of them have a big name and are watched by many eyes. Unfortunately, they also have a huge influence on this empire, if their conspiracy against the Belial family succeeded and the empire take over the Belial territory, they could make a petition using their influence by suggesting one of their people as the new lord of the Belial land, with this they would have enough power to rival the Imperial family.
'What a petty scheme'
Grizel sneered inwardly just like Rex mocking the nobles, this empire is strong on the surface yet mess on the inside.
Grizel glanced towards her 2 subordinates and start to speak again.
"Then, what if there is a sudden appearance of the third party who considered as powerful and hold the information of the traitor's movement?"
"If I were the Prince, I'll bring them over my side at all cost"
Grizel smiled towards Levi who just stated his opinion.
'As expected of the Azure youngest General'
Grizel thought inwardly, In the novel, it's mentioned that Levi was saved by the crown Prince while he is in inspection, Levi is like an unpolished gem, and the one who shaped him into a talented General was Rex himself.
'Master, why do I feel like you just stealing other's precious thing again'
The mood-killer Athena joined the chat but ignored by Grizel.
"Looking at how we are hiding rather than showing ourselves, is it means My lord didn't wish to join hands with the Prince?"
Lucy gasped hearing Levi's smart question.
"Oh my, look at him, not like a certain someone who has been around me for 2 years, he grasped the situation quickly"
Lucy puffed her cheeks sulking like a toddler.
"But I'm not hiding because I don't want to join hands with the Prince, it's just not the time yet"
Grizel giggled at the confused Levi.
"Oh right, my name is Lagertha Grizel Von Belial, from now on you'll be in disguise as my personal butler in training, and this is Lucifer or Lucy, my personal maid who will be your guide to explain about our circumstances"
Grizel casually introduced herself and Lucy while Levi dropped his jaw hearing the name of Von Belial, he has a hunch that His Lord is a noble girl, but to be most noble among nobles is a shock to him.
"Alright, let's go home"
Grizel walks ahead of them, but Lucy who has the same sentiment as Levi when she first met Grizel grabbed his skinny shoulders.
"Listen to me, lil bro, my very first advice and lessons as your senior is you need to throw all of your common sense to serve our evil Lord, even I've thrown mine when we rob a to-, well that's not important now, this is the only way to prevent us from dying in heart attack"
Lucy said in a serious tone, more serious than when she confessed about her former master as one of the traitors of the empire.
"Rob? what?"
Levi was overwhelmed by the sudden burst of facts, he felt something very important was about to be revealed before brushed aside by Lucy.
"What nonsense are you spewing Lucy, Come on you two, let's go home"
Grizel shouted from a distance, she could hear all the stupid things Lucy said.
"But our lord is warmer than the morning sunlight"
Lucy whispered to Levi, making sure that Grizel couldn't hear them this time.
Lucy grabbed Levi's hand while smiling.
"Welcome to the family"
Levi smiles in response and nods, both of them happily running towards Grizel.
-â¢-
"How was it?"
Rex asked the leader of the Imperial shadow, Zero.
"I am ashamed to call my self a professional in gathering information"
Zero clenched his fist, he lost the little girl and her companions right in front of his eyes, to make it worst, he couldn't track them down, they were like ghosts, even not a single witness been found when he investigates their sudden appearance, no one sees where and when they come to the slums.
Rex sighed.
"It's alright, it was my false judgment to underestimate their power and not approach them immediately"
Zero apologized for the second time before leaving Rex's work chamber.
Rex recalled the mysterious girl's smirk before leaving him, he has a hunch that the girl could see through his disguise, meaning that she knew his real identity, but looking at her actions which casually leaking the information about the traitors' scheme, it safe to say that she wasn't one of them.
"The appearance of a powerful third party in this bottleneck confrontation between the traitors and the Empire will definitely change the direction of this silent war, a huge storm will befall upon this land"
Rex mumbled in low voice almost whispered, his heart is still beating wildly, and a new emotion like a bee sting in his heart when Zero said he couldn't find her.
'Do I need to find her for the sake of the empire or...'
To be continued...