90% trash, 9% average, 1% slightly interesting, Alexandros Ateo thought to himself after having inspected the gathering of nobles and proxies inside the Rockwell Kingdom’s Throne Room.

In his opinion, no one in this hall was of any importance or worth other than a handful of individuals who could just barely enter in discernment.

The young boy in the front row, the only child in the entire room, had caught his Alexandros’ attention momentarily.

Such a young Sea Establishment Practitioner was unheard of, even in the Empire, and Alexandros had briefly thought he had discovered a treasure. However, upon closer examination, the Imperial Envoy realized that the boy must have opened his Soul Sea through some kind of accidental means rather than because of superb Innate Talent.

Immediately losing most of his interest, and now feeling somewhat let down, Alexandros no longer had the will to care about this trivial meeting of weaklings and simply bid them continue while he sat there and rested.

.....

With the Imperial Envoy’s ’consent’, the meeting finally began with the King and Queens taking their seats and Marquess Celestina Balfour stepping forward, wearing her usual silver and crimson armour, and began narrating the events of the past 2 months.

Many in the Throne Room already had some knowledge of the disaster which had occurred in the South-West Province, and about half of them had even sent aid or supplies at Marquess Balfour’s request, but these nobles still wanted to hear a first-hand account of what had transpired.

Celestina was excellent orator and teacher, so she was able to weave together a fluid and captivating accounting of the crisis which had befallen the kingdom.

Everyone present was now completely focused on the red-headed General, soaking in all the details they had so-fair been missing.

Almost everyone, at least.

The Imperial Envoy now had his elbow on the armrest of the throne, his head resting on his propped-up hand, looking uttering disinterested in this whole affair.

None of this concerned Alexandros, so he didn’t care what was being said. His only mission here was to monitor the situation and ensure that no one was aware of what his master, Lord Jeremiah, had done.

Of course, seeing how Alexandros also didn’t know what his master had been up to, he had some slight difficulties executing this command. However, the Imperial Envoy figured that as long as no one from this backwater kingdom mentioned the Empire’s involvement, everything was alright.

The other member of the audience who wasn’t paying much attention to Celestina’s narrative was Lucas.

There were two reasons for this, the first being that he was the one who had crafted this speech in the first place.

It was using the records Lucas and Allina had kept that Celestina had put together this story, and it really was just that, a story.

Celestina had requested this Royal Summit to explain the situation in the South-West Province, giving her a chance to justify the rather extreme actions she had taken and also gain some additional support for the reconstruction efforts.

That being said, she never intended to share all the details of what happened in such an open forum. An Imperial Envoy being present further forced Celestina to consider what information needed to be kept hidden, which was one of the reasons she requested Lucas be present to assist her.

With so much of the most sensitive information being concealed by Celestina, although the story she was telling was still quite thrilling, it was also far from comprehensive.

Lucas, who knew more about what happened in the South-West Province than basically anyone else, was naturally not interested in hearing the half-baked summary his Master was spinning for the gathered nobles tonight.

The other reason Lucas wasn’t paying much attention was because he was still recovering from the Imperial Envoy’s earlier probe.

Being the focus of the Soul Sense of a Low-Rank Soul Elite was no laughing matter, especially at such close range.

Needless to say, all of Lucas’ drowsiness had been blown away after that rather invasive examination.

Fortunately, Lucas wasn’t an ordinary boy with an ordinary set of life experiences.

He had faced even more fearsome Soul Qi pressures before, like from the Seventh Order Turtle or the Soul Manifestation of Yuki’s mother, so Lucas managed to remain both conscious and standing under the scrutiny of Lord Ateo.

This, however, only seemed to interest the Imperial Envoy further.

From time to time, Lucas could feel the gaze of Lord Alexandros land back on him with mild curiosity. What the man was thinking was a mystery, but whatever it was made the young boy extremely uncomfortable.

Thank goodness we decided not to let Christina come back, Lucas thought to himself.

His situation could be explained away as an accident, but the genius princess’ astonishing Innate Talent could not have been hidden and would surely have put her at enormous risk.

Within the first few seconds of meeting this Imperial Envoy, Lucas had already understood that this man saw no one in this room as worthy of respect.

They were all beneath him, his to do with as he pleased; and frustratingly, Lucas couldn’t really disagree.

Resistance was meaningless, and defiance would only result in death. Such was the power of the Empire and its chosen representatives.

If anyone noticed Lucas’ discomfort, they didn’t say so and the meeting continued on unabated.

Celestina spoke for roughly an hour, after which questions were asked by the various ministers and higher nobility.

The King also made a few inquiries, as did the First and Second Queens, each of them interested in their own particular areas of responsibility.

Nathanial Rockwell wanted to know about the shuffling of nobility in the South-West Province, Marianne Campbell worried about the re-deployment of so many troops, and Natasha Summers naturally had concerns about the massive disruption of trade and commerce.

The Second Queen was also the only one to ask specifically about what measures were being taken to alleviate the suffering of the common citizens and what the Royal Family could do to help, showcasing her compassionate personality.

There were also some present who make pointed remarks and leveled thinly veiled criticisms of Celestina’s reckless and unilateral actions.

Others stepped up to defend the Marquess, arguing that extreme circumstances demanded extreme responses.

All-in-all, the summit lasted for nearly 3 hours before King Nathanial brought it to a close, rising from his throne and dismissing the crowd.

The first to disappear was the Imperial Envoy, who exited the hall just as casually as he had entered, not sparing anyone a second glance.

The rest of the nobles and proxies then began shuffling out, all of them whispering and muttering to each other about everything they had just learned.

King Nathanial descended from the dais at that point and approached Celestina, maintaining the stern countenance of a ruler as he spoke, "Thank you for your service to the kingdom, and for enlightening us with the truth here today, Marquess Balfour."

Saluting respectfully, Celestina dipped her head, "I was only fulfilling my duty, Your Majesty."

Nodding once in acknowledgement, the King continued, "It would please me greatly if you could join us for dinner."

Pleasantly surprised by this invitation, as she too wished to discuss some matters with Nathanial in private, Celestina lifted her head and looked into the eyes of her former student, only to catch something in their depths that she immediately recognized as anxiety.

Why would he be anxious about inviting me to have dinner? Celestina wondered before realizing something, Wait, unless...

Celestina put together everything she had witnessed tonight and soon had a pretty good guess what the young King’s intent was.

Doing her best to not instinctually release her Soul Sense to scan for traces of surveillance, Celestina shook her head lightly, "I’m afraid that will not be possible, Your Majesty. The hunt for the Sixth Order Beast which invaded our territory is still ongoing; I must return to the south as soon as possible to ensure further harm is not brought to the kingdom."

"Is that so? A shame," Nathanial Rockwell shook his head, his face a mask of disappointment to conceal his true feelings.

Understanding her former subordinate well, Celestina recognized when Nathanial was acting a part, so she knew she had made the right decision here.

Nathanial only wanted to make it look like he was trying to retain her, like he was hoping for some kind of secret briefing disguised as a casual dinner.

It must be that damn Imperial asshole, Celestina cursed to herself.

Celestina being invited to dine with the royal family was nothing out of the ordinary as she was quite close with both the King and the First Queen, and had amicable relationships with the Second and Third Queens.

No one in the Rockwell Kingdom would have thought much about the eastern Marquess being asked to stay the night in the palace. Some might have wondered what the Royals and Celestina were talking about, but none would dare to intrude or impose on such a meeting.

The Imperial Envoy, on the other hand, was another story.

If Lord Ateo suddenly ’requested’ to join the royal family for dinner, he could only be welcomed with open arms.

If the Lord Envoy demanded answers to uncomfortable questions about the South-West Province incident at that dinner, there would be no choice but to answer him.

Celestina may have had a friend in the Rising Sun Empire, a powerful and influential one at that, but they were over 10,000 km away and could not shield her from inquisition if the Imperial Envoy really pressed the matter.

Whatever. It might delay things a bit, but I’ll just have to talk to Nathanial about this another time, thinking as such, Celestina gave up the idea of briefing the King about certain critical matters she had left out of tonight’s summary of events.

"Come along then, Lucas," Celestina called out to her First Disciple, prompting the two of them to bow politely before turning and swiftly heading for the exit.