Chapter 587: The Enigmatic Woman

The sky gradually darkened.

As the full moon hung high in the sky, the deep night, when everyone was asleep, quietly arrived.

Although the Imperial Capital would be lively tonight, and officials and knights were constantly rushing out of the Imperial Palace, seemingly alarmed by some major event, Harvis’s place was quiet, even desolate.

“After all, those guys outside wouldn’t allow anyone to visit me, a prince suspected of treason.”

Harvis stood by the window, looking at the knights guarding outside his bedchamber, a self-deprecating expression on his face.

Looking closely, although Harvis’s complexion was normal, as if he hadn’t been mistreated, he was wearing a pair of handcuffs.

The handcuffs were fastened to his wrists, but unlike ordinary handcuffs, they weren’t connected by a chain, allowing Harvis’s hands to move freely.

But on the handcuffs, mysterious magic runes flickered from time to time.

Clearly, these were magic handcuffs.

Harvis was restrained by these magic handcuffs, sighing as he felt his magic power suppressed.

“With my current state, there’s no way I can escape from here, right?”

Even if he could escape from here, he couldn’t escape the heavily guarded Imperial Palace with its barriers.

Therefore, Harvis’s freedom was no longer something he possessed.

“How ironic.”

For the most influential prince of the Empire, the ideal heir to the throne in everyone’s eyes, to be reduced to this state was truly ironic.

However…

“Such self-pity isn’t like you, Your Highness.”

A voice suddenly came from behind Harvis, making him tremble. He abruptly turned around and looked.

In the next second, Harvis saw the cloaked figure who had appeared silently.

“You…?”

Harvis’s eyes widened, his face full of shock.

“What?” Shien smirked playfully, “Don’t recognize me anymore?”

Hearing this, Harvis fell silent.

After a while, Harvis relaxed and let out a wry chuckle.

“You finally came, Earl Buztout.” Harvis, whether seeing hope or feeling ashamed, smiled wryly and said, “I’m sorry for letting you see me in such a pathetic state.”

Harvis’s tone was filled with helplessness and an unprecedented sense of relief.

Shien shrugged.

“I also didn’t expect to see you in this situation after coming here as agreed.” Shien glanced at the magic handcuffs on Harvis’s wrists and said casually, “It seems that you, like that Knight Commander of the Bigusler family, haven’t had an easy time recently.”

“If eating and drinking well counts as having an easy time, then I suppose I’m doing quite well.” Harvis said helplessly, “I have to admit, I messed up this time. I underestimated that venomous Consort.”

It should be said that Harvis had been careless.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

He thought he could use the opportunity of attending the selection of the Kingdom’s Treasure’s husband to go to the Kingdom for help, but he didn’t expect that his departure played right into Mara’s hands.

“If I hadn’t left, Mara wouldn’t have been able to spread rumors about me and Lord Rockto so blatantly, filling the Imperial Capital with talk of our treason.”

Harvis was truly helpless.

If he had been in the Imperial Capital at that time, with his caution and resourcefulness, he would have definitely noticed the actions of Mara’s faction and wouldn’t have allowed these rumors to spread, letting them use this opportunity to report him to His Majesty and gradually weaken his prestige and power.

Of course…

“If you hadn’t left the Empire, hadn’t gone out to seek help, then in your situation, it would have been equally difficult to deal with that so-called Imperial Consort who bewitched your father, ousted your mother, and now holds immense power, right?”

Shien pointed out Harvis’s predicament.

“Indeed.” Harvis nodded in agreement, murmuring, “If I hadn’t left the Empire, I would have been eliminated by that venomous Consort Mara sooner or later.”

From this perspective, the current situation wasn’t entirely bad.

After all, it was better to gamble than to die a slow death, seeking an opportunity to break the deadlock.

Thinking of this, Harvis felt a little better.

Especially with Shien’s arrival, Harvis saw hope of escaping his current predicament.

Thinking of this, Harvis spoke straightforwardly.

“You’ve already met with Lord Rockto, haven’t you, Earl Buztout?”

According to their previous agreement, after arriving in the Imperial Capital, Shien should have looked for Rockto first.

“Then you should have a rough understanding of the current situation from Lord Rockto, right?”

Harvis regained his usual calmness and composure.

“That’s right.” Shien didn’t beat around the bush, “I know about your current situation, and I also know that although Diere encountered some setbacks, her life isn’t in danger.”

Because of this, Shien came to Harvis first.

Otherwise, he would have already started searching for Diere throughout the Imperial Capital.

Harvis naturally knew how much Shien valued Diere.

Therefore, Harvis said,

“If you want to resolve Diere Elvenbein’s predicament first, you have to start with the Raifurut family…”

Harvis was about to say this.

However, Harvis didn’t know…

“The Raifurut family is gone.”

Shien interrupted him.

“Huh?”

Harvis was stunned.

“I said, the Raifurut family is gone.” Shien looked directly at Harvis and said with a smirk, “What? Is there a problem?”

Harvis was speechless.

Was there a problem?

Of course not.

He had already dealt with the Raifurut family, so what problem could there be?

However, Harvis still couldn’t help but ask,

“Really gone?”

It was no wonder Harvis was so surprised.

The Raifurut family wasn’t a small force.

Although they were an assassin family despised by others in the Imperial Capital’s noble circles, the Raifuruts had been rooted in the Empire for a long time and held a considerable position. Moreover, they had married princesses of the Imperial Family several times in history, so they could also be considered descendants of Heroes.

Such a large family, a deeply rooted noble family, was really gone?

Harvis didn’t doubt Shien’s ability to do this, but he still couldn’t believe it.

But facts were facts.

“Anyway, I razed their gloomy mansion to the ground.” Shien said nonchalantly, “Of course, there might still be some survivors, that’s inevitable.”

Hearing Shien’s casual description of the Raifurut family’s destruction, Harvis felt extremely complicated emotions.

There was no helping it.

Back in the Kingdom, in order to gain Shien’s support, he had personally promised to help Shien deal with the Raifurut family.

As a result, he failed to annihilate Wolram and was even reported by the Raifurut family, ending up in this predicament, while the Raifurut family was single-handedly annihilated by Shien, leaving him with nothing to do.

This made it difficult for Harvis to continue.

Because he knew that if he couldn’t demonstrate his value, he might end up parting ways with Shien.

Cooperation meant that both sides had to be useful.

If he couldn’t be of any use at all, and Shien had to solve everything himself, then what qualifications did he have to cooperate with him, asking him to help overthrow Mara and usurp the throne?

Even if Shien’s goal was to deal with Mara, even if he would clash with Mara for Diere Elvenbein’s sake, and he could simply reap the benefits, if that happened, having taken such a big advantage, could he still hold his head high in front of this foreign noble favored by the Dragon Demon and the Evil God?

He would probably be seen as an ungrateful person and blacklisted, right?

If that happened, the loss would be huge.

Harvis didn’t think Shien’s favor was so easy to gain, nor did he think that after becoming Emperor, he could act arrogantly in front of this person.

To be honest, a mere Emperor was nothing in front of this person protected by the Dragon Demon and the strongest Evil God.

If he offended him by taking advantage of him for the throne, then even if he became Emperor, his life wouldn’t be easy, right?

Thinking of this, Harvis’s mind raced, and he finally made a decision.

“Earl Buztout,” Harvis looked directly at Shien, “Since you’ve already dealt with the Raifurut family, will you continue to target Mara’s faction next?”

To this question, Shien gave an affirmative answer.

“I will deal with Mara.” Shien said indifferently, “She is my enemy, not my friend. If possible, I really want to sneak into her bedchamber and eliminate her right now.”

That would solve everything.

But things wouldn’t be that simple.

“Mara’s whereabouts have always been a mystery. Sometimes she suddenly appears in the Imperial Palace, and sometimes she leaves the Imperial Capital, even the Empire, without anyone knowing, going to other places to cause trouble.”

Harvis shook his head, telling Shien that this wasn’t realistic.

“Over the years, some incidents that occurred in various human nations have had her shadow behind them, whether it’s the incident in the Royal Capital ten years ago or the recent Cosmos incident. Mara is often enigmatic, appearing and disappearing. By the time people notice her existence, she has already caused a lot of trouble and created many incidents as the mastermind behind the scenes.”

This showed how troublesome this woman was.

“Her origins are a mystery, her identity is a mystery, even her motives are a mystery. She’s a venomous woman made of mysteries.”

Harvis’s tone was filled with both hatred and apprehension when he mentioned Mara.

“After dealing with her for so many years, I still can’t figure her out. I only know that that venomous Consort seems to hate Heroes, even everything related to Heroes.”

Harvis’s words made Shien frown.

“Hates Heroes… ?”

What was the reason for that?

It seemed that this enigmatic woman had many secrets.