Beside the throne sat an old man dressed in royal robes. His aura was restrained, yet every single person inside the room unconsciously avoided meeting his eyes for too long.

The former king of the Lionheart Kingdom.

Although he had only recently stepped down from the throne, no one within the kingdom dared ignore his presence. In many ways, his influence remained just as terrifying as before.

On both sides of the meeting hall sat the kingdom’s highest-ranking officials, nobles, generals, and powerful supernaturals.

Mage Lian could naturally be seen seated toward the far left side of the chamber. The old mage’s face looked unusually pale today.

In truth, it was the same for everyone else within the meeting room because every single person present understood the same thing.

The Lionheart Kingdom had stepped into dangerous waters. Very dangerous waters.

Directly at the center of the hall, standing beneath countless gazes, were three trembling figures.

The Ninth Prince.

The Tenth Prince.

And Count Hallen.

If Michael were present here, he would instantly recognize two of the three.

Especially the Ninth Prince.

Arianne’s former fiancé. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

And the Tenth Prince.

The root cause behind everything from the very beginning.

Compared to the two princes, Count Hallen looked significantly worse. Sweat continuously dripped down the man’s face while his pale lips trembled slightly.

The meeting hall remained silent for several long moments.

No one spoke.

No one even dared breathe too loudly.

Everyone present had already received detailed reports regarding what happened at the flying port.

The sheer absurdity of it all still felt unreal even now.

Princess Priscilla slowly tapped one finger against the armrest of her chair.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The quiet sound echoed heavily throughout the hall.

Finally, she spoke.

"Do the three of you understand what you’ve done?"

Her voice sounded calm.

Yet the moment those words fell, the atmosphere inside the meeting hall immediately became even heavier.

The Ninth Prince’s face turned pale.

Count Hallen nearly collapsed completely.

Even the Tenth Prince, who had at least remained calmer than the other two until now, unconsciously lowered his head further.

Princess Priscilla’s cold gaze slowly swept across all three of them.

"You’ve doomed this kingdom."

The moment those words left her mouth, the Ninth Prince immediately raised his head in panic.

"T-That cannot be true, right?"

His voice carried both disbelief and fear.

Although his body trembled slightly, he still hurriedly continued speaking.

"Even if Mic Nor is strong, he would not dare openly oppose the Black Serpent Empire, right? Surely things have not reached that level yet..."

BOOM!

Before he could even finish speaking, a terrifying wave of pressure suddenly exploded outward from Princess Priscilla.

The Ninth Prince’s expression changed drastically.

The next moment, his body was blown violently across the hall.

BANG!

He smashed directly into one of the massive stone walls before crashing heavily onto the floor.

Blood immediately spilled from the corner of his mouth.

The entire meeting hall instantly fell silent.

No one dared speak.

No one even dared move.

The Ninth Prince himself looked completely stunned.

Meanwhile, Princess Priscilla slowly lowered her hand.

Her face no longer carried exhaustion now.

Only fury.

Cold fury.

"You still do not understand."

Her voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"Even now, you still do not understand."

The Ninth Prince’s pupils trembled violently.

Meanwhile, the Tenth Prince swallowed hard before carefully speaking.

"A-Aunt..."

BOOM!

Another terrifying pressure erupted instantly.

This time, the Tenth Prince suffered the exact same fate.

His body flew violently across the meeting hall before slamming harshly against the opposite wall.

CRACK!

Several cracks immediately spread across the stone behind him.

The Tenth Prince coughed blood before collapsing onto the floor in terror.

Silence descended once more.

Absolute silence.

Even Mage Lian remained quiet.

No one present dared interfere.

Everyone could feel it clearly.

Princess Priscilla was truly furious.

The former king silently watched everything without stopping her.

One could call him the rightful ruler of the kingdom, but even he understood the peoy who were primarily responsible for the kingdom’s strong status.

Princess Priscilla’s cold eyes locked directly onto the two princes.

Especially the Tenth Prince.

Disappointment could clearly be seen within her gaze now.

Deep disappointment.

"You idiots..."

Her voice sounded low and heavy.

"Even if he chooses not to go against the empire itself..."

She slowly pointed toward the two princes.

"Are you the empire?"

Neither prince dared answer.

Cold sweat continuously dripped down their faces.

Princess Priscilla’s voice suddenly rose sharply.

"IF HE DOESN’T GO AFTER THE EMPIRE, THEN WHY CAN’T HE COME AFTER YOU?!"

Her final words practically exploded throughout the entire meeting hall.

The room fell deathly silent afterward.

The Ninth Prince’s face turned ghostly pale.

The Tenth Prince’s body visibly shook even harder.

Because for the very first time...

They truly realized something.

Michael never actually needed to oppose the Black Serpent Empire directly if he lacked the ability to do so.

He only needed to kill them.

And after what happened at the flying port...

No one present here truly believed he lacked that ability anymore.

Princess Priscilla slowly exhaled afterward.

Then her gaze slowly shifted toward Count Hallen.

The count immediately crawled forward in panic.

"Y-Your Highness!"

His voice trembled violently.

"I-I never intended for things to become this severe!"

Princess Priscilla stared at him coldly.

"You intended to gain favor with the empire."

Count Hallen’s body froze instantly.

"You intended to sacrifice Sir Mic in order to secure your own standing."

Her voice became increasingly colder.

"And now look at the result."

Count Hallen’s lips trembled uncontrollably.

He wanted to speak.

Wanted to defend himself.

But no words came out.

Even he understood by now that this matter had already spiraled far beyond anyone’s control.

The former king finally spoke calmly from beside the throne.

"The problem now is no longer the empire."

Several expressions immediately changed.

The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"The problem is whether Mic Nor still considers himself part of this kingdom at all. From what I can tell, it is possible he never considered himself part of us from the very beginning."

Those words instantly caused many hearts inside the hall to sink heavily.

The former king continued calmly.

"Given that we have truly angered him, the only thing we can do now is make sure we, or at least many of us, are still alive by the end of all this."

His gaze slowly swept across everyone present.

"So everyone, time is no longer on our side."

The old king’s voice became quieter afterward.

"What do you think we should do?"