Chapter 681 — The One Who Knew

After a moment's thought, Gao Yang added: "Also, regarding that 'Shadow Fortress'—there may be one more person who can help us find answers."

"Who?"

Pi Yun didn't react for a moment and asked instinctively, but beside him Amber's eyes flickered—she had instantly thought of the answer: "That Ophelia?"

"If Sary Landrov's intelligence was correct, the Shadow Fortress should be another Renegade base, and Ophelia Norton was responsible for more than one Renegade fortress back in the day," Gao Yang nodded. "Among the projects that ancient Renegade was in charge of... could one of them have been Amber?"

...

On the first floor of Silverhold, in the largest banquet hall, the lights blazed brilliantly, and elegant court music drifted through the air.

The great nobles who qualified to enter the "inner court" for the evening banquet moved through the magnificent castle hall. They wore their finest formal attire, carried their most impeccable smiles, and navigated this banquet—destined to be written into the annals of history—with their richest experience in social affairs. Yet compared to the castle banquets of bygone days, the nobles present today seemed far more restrained and tense—

The founding of the new Empire had changed everything in this nation. The aristocratic system, unchanged for centuries, was about to be turned upside down with the signing ceremony after the banquet concluded. Although those who could come here tonight were all "active progressives" among the old nobility—supporters of reform and the new policies, already accepting of the new order—this was, after all, an era they had never before encountered. Facing an entirely new social landscape and an unpredictable future, these "newly minted imperial nobles" could not help but carry themselves as if treading on thin ice.

They smiled in the banquet hall while every muscle in their bodies stayed taut. They invited partners to dance with graceful steps, yet every step felt as though it landed on a tightrope or a blade's edge. They conversed with effortless ease, when in truth every word had been rehearsed ten times over in their minds, and every sentence they heard made them scan every face in the hall.

The three Grand Consuls conversing at the far end of the hall were the focus of many a noble's gaze. The nobles passed by the "Triumvirate" as casually as they could manage, hoping to catch some useful intelligence, but it was no easy task—if truly important matters were being discussed, the Grand Consuls would naturally raise a soundproofing barrier, and to approach too rudely would plainly earn their displeasure, something no noble with refined social experience could afford.

And so another portion of the nobles fixed their attention on the "little princess." Her Highness seemed thoroughly averse to the stifling atmosphere of the inner hall and spent most of her time out and about. Those with well-informed connections had learned that the princess was a naive and lively girl, and many accordingly sought to ingratiate themselves with Rebecca—yet facts proved this to be considerably harder even than courting favor with the Triumvirate.

A beautiful lady in a pale violet court gown had just returned to the inner banquet hall. With a look of defeat, she poured out her grievances to an acquaintance: "Her Highness asked me whether I knew how to fold a grasshopper from a leaf, then asked whether I knew how to solve the mana interference equation—I could not answer a single question. It was mortifying beyond words."

A gentleman in a dark crimson dress coat gave the lady a sympathetic look. "Countess Lentini, did you not try opening the conversation with your expertise in ladies' rapier technique? Her Highness is said to be fond of martial arts."

"Oh, do not bring that up!" The countess reacted with unusual vehemence. "Of course I tried—and then Her Highness simply pulled a sword from the guard beside her and tossed it to me, telling me to show her a move—in my evening gown!"

"Ah, that would be a disaster," the gentleman in crimson shrugged. "But you are at least luckier than Count Barlin."

"Count Barlin?"

Count Barlin, standing nearby, went pale, as though still shaken. "I had heard Her Highness was skilled in fireball spells, so I thought to broach the subject—she was delighted, and then produced a fireball the size of a door panel... My reaction was most undignified."

The two capital nobles at once found common ground and began to sigh and lament together, but their lamentations were soon cut short by a voice close to a wail: "You are all luckier than I!"

Lentini and Barlin turned at the same time and saw a young nobleman with short blond hair and refined features standing there clutching a stack of papers, his face utterly broken, looking as dejected as could be.

"Mr. Finley, what on earth..."

"Who told me the princess loved mathematics? My friendship with him is over!" The young nobleman waved the papers in his hand. "I said I was good at mathematics, and Her Highness handed me a stack of examination papers! Can anyone tell me what on earth is written on these?!"

……

Elegant court music drifted through the hall, its joyous strains glossing over the surface gaiety. Virodai Moen stood quietly in an inconspicuous corner, her gaze sweeping over the crowd that threaded, danced, conversed, and laughed through the hall, like an expressionless spectator watching a play she had long since memorized.

But when the conversations about those who had been routed before Princess Rebecca reached her, the corners of this expressionless spectator's mouth still curved upward somewhat.

"This must be the most mentally taxing banquet of their lives," Virodai said with a smile, turning to Gao Yang and Amber as they approached, and gave a slight nod of greeting to Pi Yun walking behind them. "They have met the most unpredictable member of the imperial family."

"Nobles are always in the habit of expending far too much energy on useless pursuits—that is why they live so wearily," Gao Lan said. "Of course, Rebecca's education is also a problem."

Virodai smiled faintly. "I rather like that child's temperament... somewhat like I was in those days."

"...I cannot imagine that at all."

"Time has changed a great many things—you should know that well," Virodai said. "So then, instead of making an appearance at the banquet, the Emperor of the Empire comes to seek out a former princess in an awkward position. Is there something you wish to discuss?"

Gao Yang came straight to the point: "Do you know of the Shadow Fortress?"

"...I know of it. It was a project I personally abandoned."