NOVPUB
Chapter 270: Something Beneath the Imperial Palace
Aldrian raised his eyebrows, while Irene frowned.
"What is it, Your Majesty?" Aldrian asked.
"I don’t know the details, but it seems the Flamecrest family is in a predicament. Rumors have spread that they are harboring devils. We don’t know who started the rumor, but it appears there is strong evidence suggesting devils exist within their ranks," Emperor Durand said, his expression contemplative.
Aldrian and Irene widened their eyes.
"Impossible! Even though our families are rivals and not on good terms, we hate the devils more than anything. For the Flamecrest family to have devils in their ranks? There’s no way that could happen," Irene said with certainty.
"Yes, I share the same sentiment as Miss Irene. I know a fair bit about Grand Duke Flamecrest, but the evidence being spread is quite solid. The Flamecrest family cannot evade the accusation. I heard one of their commanders was discovered to be a devil—a rather high-ranking one. The Flamecrest family can’t do much about it and is only trying to minimize the backlash," Emperor Durand said.
"When did this news spread, Your Majesty?" Aldrian suddenly asked.
"The day before yesterday, around noon," the Emperor replied.
"The day before yesterday? The day after I dispelled Emperor Durand’s curse. Is it a coincidence? No, I think all of this is connected. Maybe dispelling the curse triggered something, and now the Devil Lord is trying to act," Aldrian thought.
"Who is the commander they claim is a devil? I know all of their high-ranking generals," Irene said.
"They’re saying it’s Commander Marcus," Emperor Durand replied. "But as I mentioned, I don’t really know the details about why he was accused of being a devil, so I can’t provide more information."
Irene covered her mouth with one hand when she heard the name.
"Commander Marcus? There’s no way he’s a devil. He’s one of Aldrey’s most trusted people and has been with him for a long time. Something must be wrong," Irene said firmly.
Aldrian gently touched his mother’s back to calm her down. There were many strange aspects to this case, but he was fairly certain it was just another trick by the devils to sow discord among people.
"It seems I need to meet Father as soon as possible," Aldrian thought, glancing at his mother.
"Mother, I will go there to help solve this problem. I believe this is another trick by the devils, and we need to stop whatever they’re planning," Aldrian said to Irene.
Irene and Emperor Durand looked at Aldrian. Irene, however, hesitated, her expression uncertain. But the confidence radiating from Aldrian’s face always reassured her, giving her faith in her son’s ability to solve any problem.
Emperor Durand wasn’t surprised; he had expected this. Aldrian would go to help his father. However, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity—Aldrian would have to leave for another place so soon. His arrival in the Doria Empire had been brief, not even a month since he came.
"And I haven’t even given him anything worthy of his achievements," he thought. He wanted to ask Aldrian to stay longer, but it would be difficult with his family facing such a pressing issue, and Aldrian determined to resolve it.
"Your Majesty, before I go, I’d like to ask you something. I hope you can satisfy my curiosity," Aldrian said suddenly to Emperor Durand.
"Please ask. I would gladly answer, as long as I know the answer."
"What is the thing 600 meters below this place?"
Hearing Aldrian, Emperor Durand was stunned, but then he frowned.
"You can sense something beneath this place?" 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
"Well, I can only say that I have a special ability that allows me to sense everything within my range, even if it’s underground and there are obstacles. So, I sensed something unique beneath this place, and it makes me curious, Your Majesty," Aldrian replied.
Of course, this place was within his domain, and he could sense a secret underground area beneath the Imperial Palace.
He could sense that there was a secret chamber storing something interesting—something that had attracted the devils for a long time. He didn’t want to attract trouble by simply teleporting there, so he decided to use this method to make Emperor Durand reveal the ’thing’ inside the chamber to him.
Emperor Durand thought for a moment before standing up.
"Actually, I can’t really tell you about it because it’s our family’s top secret. But if it’s you, I will make an exception. Beneath this place is where our secret legacy treasure is stored," Emperor Durand said. "Well, if you want to know, why don’t you see it for yourself? I’ll bring you to take a look at it."
Emperor Durand said, walking toward Aldrian and Irene.
"You too, Miss Irene. You can look at our family—no, our empire’s legacy treasure."
Irene blinked her beautiful eyes, not expecting to be invited to see this unknown legacy treasure. She had heard rumors for a long time that the imperial family had a secret treasure, but no one outside the core of the imperial family knew anything about it.
Emperor Durand smiled, but he had another intention in showing Irene, as well as Aldrian, his family’s treasure. He wanted to show Aldrian his goodwill, to demonstrate that he also wished to grow closer to his family.
"Wait, Your Majesty, my father is still outside. Aldrian will be spotted by him the moment we step outside this room," Irene said, worriedly.
"Ah, right, I forgot that Grand Duke Rivas is still outside the hall. All the shocking matters made me forget about his presence," Emperor Durand said, then looked at Aldrian.
"How about you hide first? I’ll make Grand Duke Rivas leave," he suggested.
However, they only saw Aldrian smile.
"Your Majesty, Mother, don’t worry about me. Just walk past the door normally, and I’ll follow you without anyone seeing me."
"Well, if you say so."
Emperor Durand then walked toward the hall’s door and opened it, followed by Irene. Irene felt nervous as she glanced behind her to make sure, but she was stunned when she didn’t see Aldrian. He seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
Once the door opened, Grand Duke Rivas seemed to already be standing in front of it with an anxious expression. He didn’t know what had happened inside, but he had sensed a bit of killing intent from the outside, and not long after, he felt the presence of heavenly might descending upon the entire imperial palace. He thought something must have happened inside, but he couldn’t do anything unless the Emperor permitted him to enter.
Seeing that the Emperor and his daughter seemed normal, Grand Duke Rivas sighed in relief. He had thought something bad had happened inside the throne hall.
Emperor Durand smiled as he looked at Grand Duke Rivas.
"Ah, excuse me, Grand Duke Rivas. I would like to show your daughter a place. It won’t take long," he said.
Grand Duke Rivas wore a puzzled expression before he looked at his daughter. Irene simply nodded at her father. Though he didn’t know what had really happened, Grand Duke Rivas sighed and gave a slight bow to Emperor Durand.
"Of course, Your Majesty. I was just startled by the sudden heavenly might that appeared just now."
"Oh, that? You don’t have to worry, it’s not something you need to be concerned about. Now, I’ll go first. You may return, so you don’t have to wait here. Don’t worry about your daughter," Emperor Durand reassured him.
Hearing the Emperor’s reassurance, Grand Duke Rivas finally stopped worrying. It wouldn’t be polite for him to continue nagging after the Emperor had given his assurance. After Emperor Durand and Irene had walked quite a distance and Grand Duke Rivas seemed on his way back outside the palace. Suddenly, Aldrian appeared beside his mother.
"Aldrian, how did you do that? I couldn’t feel any of your presence; it’s like you just popped up out of nowhere," Irene said, puzzled.
"This is one of my specialties, Mother—hiding my presence from others," Aldrian replied with a joking tone.
They continued walking until they arrived at a secret path located in the Emperor’s workrooms, where he usually did paperwork. The secret path wasn’t like the usual narrow passages, it was more appropriate to call it a secret hallway. Irene was shocked to discover there was an entire secret hallway hidden behind the wall of the room.
The hallway spiraled downward, and on each side were numerous scriptures and statues.
"There are some traps here, but don’t worry—I deactivated them before coming here. If the traps were to activate, they could even kill a Middle Emperor Stage cultivator," Emperor Durand said.
After walking for a while, they finally arrived at their destination. In front of them stood double doors, protected by numerous formations. To open them, they needed Emperor Durand’s energy.
Once Emperor Durand injected his energy, the mechanism of the doors activated, and the double doors slowly opened, revealing the inside of the chamber.
The legacy treasure of the Doria Empire lay before them!
