Although the decree that was quickly announced to the people of the empire didn't tell the citizens about the Blood Emperor's retirement and the underlying facts beneath the order, everyone with a normal mind would be able to figure it out with those pieces of information.

Even though the decree declared that not even a single noble nor official was allowed to leave the capital city, they would still try to sneak out to pledge their loyalty to the demi-human and Tradio Mordus, the would-be new ruler of the soon-to-be ruined Human Empire, for the sake of their survival, they had already abandoned the humanity.

...

Somewhere in the capital city of Human Empire.

In an imposing mansion's house lord's office.

There was a man in his middle age whose long greyish robe was worn out by the passage of time, despite that he was not that old yet, he looked like someone who had past his prime, due to all the stress he had to face during this period of crisis, his face was covered with wrinkles.

He sat on his ordinary chair, on the wooden desk were many sheets of paper.

Clearly, he was very busy.

"This shouldn't be happening, how could things turn out like this?"

Aceros Manedis muttered as he slowly lost himself in his own thoughts.

Aceros Manedis is the Grand Noble who is the highest ranking of all nobles, he had the same standing as the prime minister, if he didn't defect to the demi-humans.

He was no doubt the smartest and had the most flexible mind of all nobles, so he definitely knew that defecting to the demi-humans wasn't the right choice, as it would spell doom for everyone who tried to do so.

After all, who would want those selfish humans who could betray their close aids in the face of greater benefits for themselves?

Those demi-humans would just torture all the defects to get as much knowledge of human's society as possible, then they would kill off all the worthless nobles and officials, leaving only those with significant status to use whatever their corrupt methods had to force them to be spies in the inner circle of the empire.

As Aceros was pondering about the overall situation, there was a sound of footsteps heading toward his office, followed by three consecutive knocks on the sturdy doorknob.

He didn't raise his head to the direction of that sound but merely spoke a few words.

"You are permitted to speak but be quick, my time is precious."

He said casually while still writing something on the sheet of paper.

He obviously knew that his servants won't disturb him when he was in his office, only when there was an important news that could shake the empire would they come to his office.

"Master, there are messengers of the Pantheon waiting for you in the guest room."

A feminine voice of a young maid travelled to his ears.

The maid said softly yet clearly as she stood still outside the office, not making any other sound at all.

Surely, she must have been trained for countless times until all of her actions were flawless, only by then could she serve her master proficiently.

Aceros was astonished, although the reasons why the envoys of the Pantheon would abruptly visit him wasn't many, any of them was enough to shock him because the Pantheon had remained on the neutral side of the political struggle from the very beginning.

So their intention of visiting him was either because their vast intelligence networks had known that the emperor's condition was worsening rapidly, or because they knew that the balance of politic powers was about to collapse.

After he regained his sense, he recomposed himself very quickly, befitting his status of the Grand Noble.

"Tell them that I will be there in minutes and go serve them some drinks, remember to treat them as respectful as possible."

He commanded the maid and even reminded her of any possible offensive actions, that went to show how serious the situation was.

Of course, his reason for letting her serve them wasn't just to let her entertain them, but it was for her to confirmed their intentions.

Every servant that served him would undergo many types of training, ranging from housework, noble dance, assassin training, seduction methods and so on so forth.

Because this young girl was trained specially as a maid who would serve her master all the time as well as gather intelligence for her beloved master, so she had been trained to seduce her targets,

to manipulate them for the intelligence for her master.

While the beautiful maid who had the aura of refined lady gradually walked back to the guest room, Aceros himself was preparing everything necessary for his next battle of wordplays.

...

An hour later.

After Aceros finished his preparation and all his attire, he walked not too fast nor too slow toward the guest room, prepared to confront his opponents.

Just as he about to knock on the door, he suddenly stopped, he had noticed that the room was absolutely silent, without any talking sound nor flattering sound at all.

That's only mean 1 thing, the maid wasn't able to entice the envoys to leak the information, so she naturally didn't push further beyond the line and would only try to entertain them, while maintaining her vigilance for any possible actions of the envoys.

As soon as he reached the conclusion of his speculation, he began formulated his own plans and knocked on the door.

After waiting for a while, he slowly opened the door and stepped in.

At first, he saw a matured female, who wore a golden robe with blue lines craved on it, her face was as white as snow, her eyes shone beautifully like the full moon in the middle of the dark sky, her long blue hair gave an illusion as if the onlooker was appreciated the river in the calm wideness.

Behind her was another female, who should be the knight if she was to be judged by her look, as she wore her usual knight attire and had a long dual-handed sword on her wrist, due to the fact that her face was covered with her helmet, no one knew how she looked like.

"I apologise for having you to wait for me, lord envoys, this period of time had got me busy lately."

He spoke out the formal apology while trying to detect any emotions that those envoys made.

But contrasted to his expectation, both the envoy and her bodyguard didn't display any emotion.

Due to that, he couldn't get any information about these two envoys, so, he decided to use his backup plan.

He gestured his hand, signalling his maid to leave.

After she left, he casually walked to his armed chair and sat down.

"Lord envoys, this humble one would like to know why you would suddenly come to visit this one?"

He decided to test the water by asking for some relevant pieces of information.

"Sir Aceros, we are here to tell you the truth about the situation of the empire."

The envoy didn't speak, it was her bodyguard that spoke.

Aceros was taken back because after they told him the so-called truth about the situation and their plans, he would have no other choice but to cooperate with them.

"Lord envoys, this matter is too sensitive to be told casually, this humble one didn't dare to listen to it."

His underlying meaning in his message was clear.

I won't be ordered around by you and your organization.

"Sir Aceros, the situation is very crucial to all of us, it's revolved around the disappearance of your daughter."

The envoy said in a low tone almost immediately.

Your daughter is with us right now, your decision will decide her fate.

Aceros was shocked, his expression distorted rapidly.

But soon enough, he recomposed himself.

He knew that the Pantheon, as an organization, had incredible power and far-reaching influence, second only to the imperial troops.

In fact, they singlehandedly control almost all of the underground organizations, from assassinations to slaveries.

With their invincible man-power, they can easily rescue his daughter back to safety, so they used this advantage as a bargaining chip.

To comply or to lose your next family head.

He gritted his teeth and spoke nonchalantly.

"If she gets caught by those damn demi-humans, that means she is a fool, not befitted the status of the Grand Noble's daughter."

He slammed his hand against the table, creating a loud noise.

"Thus, she isn't qualified to be the next family head, so, she is worthless."

His eyes turned ruthless, the atmosphere of the room seemingly dropped by one or two degrees.

"Her life and death don't matter to me."

He spoke coldly, not minding anyone who sat before him.

He stood up, gestured his hand, signalled the envoys to leave.

"Lord envoys, I'm pleased to meet you, even though I would like to discuss more with you, I'm very busy at the moment."

He clapped his hands, the young maid from before opened the door and stepped in.

"You, see the guests off."

He said calmly, but there was a flash of hatred in his eyes for an instant, any normal person wouldn't notice it.

"Farewell, Sir Aceros, I sincerely hoped that we will meet again."

The envoy and her bodyguard bowed to him and were escorted away by the maid.

...

After everyone except Aceros left.

Exhausted, he sat down slowly on his chair as the tear started to rain down from his eyes to his face, he couldn't hold it in anymore.

The flash of his memory started to come back to him.

The smiling face of a little girl and her innocent voice echoed in his head endlessly.

"My little Relica, I'm sorry..."

He whispered quietly, alone in the guest room.

"I shouldn't have let you go out..."

If he knew any better.

"I'm sorry, my dear..."

He doesn't want it to end like this.

But he had no choice.