49: Chapter 49 My Lord, Your Debts Become My Political Assets

The sentence was like a drop of ice water falling into a boiling cauldron of oil, instantly detonating an invisible panic in the deathly silent parlor.

Princess Ella Radiance's lips trembled, but she could not make a sound.

Levi's gaze, calm to the point of cruelty, was like a scalpel, precisely dissecting all of her royal dignity and exposing the bloody political reality beneath.

It was not that she did not understand the weight of those words.

This was not a simple assassination; it was a scandal capable of overturning the power structure of the Radiant Empire.

A princess of the Radiant Empire, leading her delegation to inspect a frontier lord, only for the princess's attendant to assassinate said lord in her presence—regardless of whether Levi lived or died, once this news got out, the blow to the royal reputation would be devastating.

Failure to supervise?

That was the lightest charge.

Secretly instigating?

Colluding with foreign enemies?

Plotting to overthrow?

Countless poison-soaked hats would fly from every corner of the Imperial Capital to be slammed onto her head, and onto the head of her father, who supported her and represented the reformist forces of the empire.

Levi shifted his gaze from her pale face to the door. His voice was not loud, but carried an unquestionable tone of command: "Brunhilde."

"Present, my Lord."

A tall, robust figure stepped out from the guards who had rushed in.

She wore leather armor designed for mobility, and beneath her neat, short silver hair were eyes sharper than the north wind.

It was none other than Brunhilde, the former Valkyrie whom Levi had promoted from the gladiatorial slaves and who now oversaw the entire security system of the Blackstone Territory.

"In the name of investigating the assassin's accomplices, seal all entrances and exits to the castle immediately. No one is to enter or leave," Levi's instructions were clear and cold. "Isolate all members of the Princess's delegation on the spot for interrogation. Confiscate their weapons and communication magic stones. Until I give permission, they are forbidden from making any form of contact with the outside world."

"Understood!" Brunhilde did not hesitate, nor did she even glance at the princess. She simply bowed to accept the order, then turned and issued a series of specific commands to the guards in her loud, imposing voice.

The guards moved immediately, their heavy footsteps and the clanking of armor echoing through the corridor.

They began to disperse the servants outside the parlor and headed in different directions toward the guest quarters where the delegation was staying.

"How dare you!" Sir Julius finally recovered from his shock and indignation. He let out a roar, his sword pointing at Levi once more. "They are envoys of the empire! You have no authority to detain them!"

Levi couldn't even be bothered to look at him, simply watching Ella calmly. "Your Highness, is your knight questioning my resolve to protect the safety of the Imperial delegation? Or does he believe that rooting out potential accomplices among your entourage is an affront to the royal family?"

Ella's body swayed.

She knew Levi was right.

From the moment the assassin appeared, she and her delegation had shifted from investigators to "suspects."

The Blackstone Territory was using the guise of protection to carry out house arrest—it was reasonable, logical, and one could even say politically correct.

She could find no reason to refute him.

"Julius, stand down." Her voice was dry and weak.

Julius turned back, looking at the princess in disbelief, but after seeing the desperate yet resolute look in her eyes, the loyal knight finally gritted his teeth and unwillingly withdrew his sword.

He was like a lion trapped in a cage, radiating an aura of agitation and helplessness, yet he could only stand guard by the princess's side in vain.

Soon, the parlor was cleared, leaving only Levi, Ella, Julius, and Evelyn, who stood by Levi's side like a shadow.

The assassin's corpse on the floor had been covered with a white cloth by two guards and moved to the corner to await further processing.

The castle's heavy gates slowly closed from the outside with a dull boom, completely isolating the interior from the exterior.

The light in the parlor seemed to dim.

The air was thick with a heavy scent of blood and death.

Levi walked to a nearby liquor cabinet, took out an unopened bottle of Elven fruit wine and two clean crystal glasses, as if nothing had just happened.

He poured the wine elegantly and pushed one glass onto the table in front of Ella, the amber liquid rippling slightly in the glass.

"Your Highness, have a drink to calm your nerves," he said softly. He picked up the other glass himself but did not drink, instead toying with it in his hand. "Now, we can discuss how to resolve this 'more serious problem'."

Ella stared at him fixedly. In her beautiful emerald eyes, anger and humiliation intertwined like a raging fire. "What do you want? Levi Byron! Threatening me with this? Threatening the Radiant Imperial family? Do you think a framed assassination attempt will let you do whatever you want!"

She would rather believe this was a bitter scheme directed by Levi himself than accept the fact that there was a traitor in her own team.

"Framed?" Levi chuckled upon hearing this, a trace of pity in his laughter. "Your Highness, do you think I need to? My people, in order to save me, almost exposed themselves under your knight's blade. And do you really think killing me would benefit you, or the royal family, in any way? If I die, the Blackstone Territory's bonds will instantly become worthless scraps of paper, and the entire Northern nobility will pour their wrath upon you. Alive, I am the most valuable asset to you."

His words were like a basin of ice water, dousing the last flame of wishful thinking in Ella's heart.

Yes, it didn't make logical sense. If Levi died, Ella's situation would only get worse.

"Therefore, I am willing to give you, and the royal family, a graceful way out." Levi set down the glass, folded his hands, and leaned forward slightly, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's. "I can declare to the outside world that the assassin was a thief who infiltrated the castle and had nothing to do with your delegation. I will dispose of the body properly. You and your entourage will remain the most honored guests of the Blackstone Territory. This matter will never be known by a fourth person."

Ella's breath hitched, and she asked subconsciously, "And your conditions?"

"Very simple." The corners of Levi's mouth curved into a look of absolute victory. "In exchange, I need you to submit a formal inspection report to His Majesty the Emperor in the name of an Imperial Princess."

He paused, and said clearly, word by word: "The content of the report must praise the 'Blackstone Territory Model' for its outstanding contribution and profound significance to the development of the empire's frontier regions. At the same time, you must formally invite me, Levi Byron, in your personal capacity, to the Imperial Capital, Golden Lion City, to share my... 'advanced experience' in managing territory with His Majesty the Emperor and the ministers at the Imperial Council."

"In your dreams!" Ella, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristled. She slammed her hand on the table, causing the crystal glass to vibrate and hum. "This is... this is shameless political extortion!"

Make her endorse this man who had kidnapped her reputation and threatened the royal family with debt?

And personally invite him to the Imperial Capital, pushing him to the center of the empire's political stage?

This was more humiliating than killing her!

"Extortion? No, Your Highness, I prefer to call it 'crisis management'." Levi's expression did not change in the slightest; he was as calm as a block of eternal ice.

He began to analyze it point by point, each sentence like a small knife cutting through Ella's final line of defense.

"Think about it, what would happen if this incident were exposed according to the truth? Firstly, you, Princess Ella Radiance, would be saddled with the charges of failing to supervise and poor judgment in people, and your status as the heir apparent in your father's eyes would be severely shaken. Secondly, your political rivals would seize this opportunity to make a big issue of it. They would say that since even someone by your side wanted to assassinate a reformist lord, it proves that your reformist ideology is fundamentally wrong and unpopular. Your political future would come to an end with this incident."

He watched Ella's face grow paler and paler, his voice becoming deeper.

"But if you accept my conditions, the situation is completely different. You will have recommended an 'innovative talent' to His Majesty, demonstrating your broad-mindedness in hiring without bias. Bringing the successful case of the Blackstone Territory back to the Imperial Capital will become the most powerful political achievement for your push for reform. A political crisis that could have destroyed you will instead become the perfect stepping stone for you to ascend to a higher stage of power."

"All you have to pay is just a report and an invitation letter."

Levi leaned back in his chair, watching her at his leisure, and said no more.

He had laid all his cards on the table; the choice was now in the hands of Her Highness the Princess.

The parlor fell into a long silence.

Ella was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling.

Her mind was a mess. Reason told her that every word Levi said was correct; this was her only and best way to break the deadlock.

But emotionally, the immense humiliation of being played in the palm of someone's hand made her want to grind her teeth to dust.

Julius watched the princess struggling in pain, his heart aching like it was being stabbed by a knife.

He stepped forward and requested in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness, my Lord, would you permit me... to examine the assassin's corpse? He was my subordinate, and I have a responsibility to find out his background."

Ella, as if grabbing a lifeline, nodded immediately. "Granted."

Levi shrugged indifferently and signaled to Evelyn.

Having received permission, Julius immediately strode to the corner, and under the gaze of the two guards, he crouched down and lifted the white cloth.

The assassin Moriarty's corpse had already begun to stiffen, his face blue-black—a sign of typical acute poisoning.

Julius endured his nausea and rage and began to examine it carefully.

He checked Moriarty's teeth, confirming the location of the poison sac; he checked his fingers, finding no calluses from long-term weapon use; he checked his clothing, finding nothing unusual.

This was like a... death soldier bought on a whim.

Julius frowned; he did not believe things were so simple.

He turned the corpse over and began to check the back.

When his fingers touched the corpse's cold nape, he suddenly felt something strange under the skin.

His heart stirred. He took a small bottle of transparent potion from his bosom—this was a special alchemical reagent used by the Order of Knights to treat wounds and reveal subcutaneous bruising.

He carefully poured a little of the potion onto Moriarty's nape and gently spread it.

A miraculous scene occurred.

As the body temperature dropped and the potion permeated, a strange crest slowly emerged on the skin that had previously been smooth.

It was not the royal griffin, nor was it the mark of any mercenary group or assassin organization he was familiar with.

It was a pattern composed of crossed battle axes and shields, the lines rigid and filled with an aura of iron, blood, and slaughter.

Julius's pupils contracted suddenly, and his breathing stopped for a moment.

This crest... he could never mistake it!

This was the private family seal of the "Iron-Blooded Duke" Otto von Strauss, the most conservative and xenophobic figure in the empire!

This kind of private seal was only used on the most confidential letters and on the most core death soldiers, tattooed with a special potion and only visible after the body temperature dropped!

A terrifying thought struck his brain like lightning.

"Your Highness!" Julius stood up abruptly, his voice trembling slightly with excitement and horror. "You must come and see!"

Ella and Levi both cast their gazes over.

When Ella walked to the side of the corpse and saw the familiar crest clearly, the blood drained from her face instantly, and she became paler than the corpse on the floor.

"It is... it is Uncle Otto..." she murmured to herself, her body swaying.

Levi also walked over. He looked at the crest—so that was it. He instantly connected all the clues.

Julius recounted his findings in a deep voice, his words echoing in the empty parlor: "Your Highness, Lord Levi, I understand now. The target of the assassination was never Lord Levi himself from the beginning. Or rather, Lord Levi's life or death was not important!"

His gaze swept over the two of them, his tone incredibly grave: "The Iron-Blooded Duke's goal was to frame the royal family by creating this chaos! If Lord Levi died, he would incite the Northern nobility, accusing the royal family of killing the donkey after it had served its purpose and suppressing local forces. If Lord Levi did not die, he could likewise claim that this was a bitter scheme directed by the royal family to forcibly annex the Blackstone Territory! Regardless of the outcome, an unbridgeable rift would be created between the royal family and the Northern local nobility, and any reforms His Majesty the Emperor wished to implement would be completely stalled as a result!"

Levi's "Blackstone Territory Model" had touched the foundations of those deeply entrenched old nobles.

They feared that this efficient model, which did not rely on the traditional aristocratic system, would be promoted by the empire, so they had to destroy it before it could ferment, and disgrace the royal family that promoted it all.

And Ella was the perfect chess piece in their plan.

You could hear a pin drop in the parlor.

Ella's body stopped trembling; in her eyes, all the humiliation, anger, and confusion faded away at this moment, replaced by a tempered, cold, and hard glimmer.

She finally understood.

This was no longer a game between her and Levi, but a life-and-death war between the reformist faction she represented and the conservative faction represented by the Iron-Blooded Duke.

Levi, or rather the Blackstone Territory, was just the first battlefield of this war.

She slowly straightened up, turned her head, and looked deeply at Levi.

At this moment, she no longer viewed him as a despicable extortionist, but as an... indispensable ally deeply trapped in the same storm.

She walked back to the table without a word, picked up the quill, and on a brand-new piece of parchment, with an unprecedentedly firm stroke, quickly wrote an invitation letter.

After finishing, she took a ring she carried with her, engraved with the royal seal, from her neck and pressed her own seal firmly onto the sealing wax.

She pushed that invitation letter, still bearing the warmth of her touch, in front of Levi.

"Baron Levi."

Ella Radiance's voice was calm and powerful, without a trace of wavering.

"I, as the first heir to the Radiant Empire, formally invite you to travel to the Imperial Capital together. This is not the end, but the beginning of our common war."

Levi picked up the invitation letter, looked at the clear griffin seal on it, and finally, a true smile appeared on his face.

He knew that from this moment on, he was no longer a frontier lord fighting alone; behind him stood a future Empress of the empire.

The sky outside the window had darkened unknowingly, and the silhouette of the castle appeared even more imposing in the twilight.

In the distant forge workshop area, the sky-high flames illuminated half the night sky in a sea of red, and one could faintly hear the dull, rhythmic sounds of the dwarves hammering iron, as if forging an invisible edge for the upcoming journey.