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Chapter 281: Imperial Family’s Proposal
Earlier, the Sloth Devil was stunned by the sudden disturbance from one of her undead. She immediately recognized it as a deadly karmic attack! Without hesitation, she severed her connection to the undead, causing damage to her soul due to the forceful disconnection. Though she had no idea who the attacker was, she knew they were undoubtedly an expert in karmic techniques.
From the nature of the attack, she could discern its type—a curse, and a powerful one at that. She felt fortunate to have detected it in time; otherwise, the curse would have struck her soul directly. She had no desire to discover its effects, her sense of danger warned her that a direct hit to her soul would spell her end.
Sweat rolled down her forehead; it had been a long time since she had felt so close to death. Once she calmed herself, she lay back down. After checking her connections to her many undead, she finally identified which one she had lost. Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes, appearing tired and drowsy.
Although she had just lost one of her pawns, she seemed unfazed. She had already succeeded in accomplishing what the Devil Lord wanted. Following the incident in the Doria Empire and the complete failure of their plan in that region, the devils had decided to proceed with their backup plan. Even if someone discovered her undead, it wouldn’t change the outcome now—the news had already spread. She couldn’t imagine how the Flamecrest family could salvage their reputation, especially with the opportunistic noble snakes ready to exploit the situation.
This time, the Devil Lord’s plan was to activate all their sleeper agents. After their failure in the Doria Empire, the Devil Lord decided to have the traitors within the empires stir up chaos. She and the other devils would serve only as support, watching as the factions within the empires tore each other apart.
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Back at Aldrian’s location, he removed his hand from the forehead of Commander Marcus’s corpse. He had just given the caster of the necromancy technique a taste of his newly created technique. Since this type of necromancy was deeply tied to karma and possessed karmic properties, a karmic attack was the most fitting response.
Building on his comprehension of the curse from the Envy Devil, Aldrian developed his own curse technique and refined his concept of curses. The result was a new curse he intended to use against the Sloth Devil. It was a powerful curse—by his standards—that inflicted excruciating pain within the victim’s soul. The victim would endure a slow and agonizing death over the course of several days, depending on their ability to resist the curse’s effects.
Since it was a type of curse, it couldn’t be healed with pills or ordinary healing techniques. The simplest solution was to seek help from cultivators who possessed holy energy to dispel the curse. However, for devils, that option was out of reach. To them, a curse attack of this kind was particularly devastating. The only way to break the curse was to overpower it.
Once a powerful curse attaches to a devil, it becomes a battle of attrition. Either the curse eventually triumphs, or the devil manages to destroy it by sheer force.
Curse laws are a type of law that leans toward yin or negative energy, making devils particularly sensitive to them. This sensitivity allows devils to easily recognize a curse for what it is. Situations like Emperor Durand’s, where he couldn’t distinguish between a curse and an illness, are exceedingly rare among devils.
But as expected from one of the Seven Deadly Sins, he could sense that the Sloth Devil had instantly severed her connection with Commander Marcus’s body. She must have realized that a karmic based attack was exploiting the karmic connection between her and her undead. He felt it was a pity, but he wasn’t surprised. If she had been defeated so easily by his curse, he would have been disappointed by her lack of sense.
"Let’s clean up this place." With the karmic connection severed from the Sloth Devil, Commander Marcus’s corpse returned to normal corpse, no longer an undead that could be exploited.
Aldrian then erased his presence from the memories of the unconscious witnesses before vanishing, leaving no trace behind.
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Near the main mansion, Aldrian appeared without a sound. He then looked at the large mansion beside him. To be honest, he was still weighing whether to meet his father at this time. Given the situation with the devil, his father was likely the most affected, as Commander Marcus had been one of his trusted people, and many knew of the close relationship between them.
Commander Marcus had been like a guardian knight, always by his father’s side. When Aldrian saw the corpse’s face, he was stunned. He recognized it instantly, as he had already seen Commander Marcus’s face when his father visited the Forgeheart Kingdom with the envoy from the Flamecrest family.
After a moment of thought, Aldrian decided to check on his father’s condition. He wanted to make sure everything was still okay for him.
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While Aldrian had decided to meet his father, the mentioned person was inside Grand Duke Flamecrest’s study. The symbol of the fire dragon proudly adorned the top of the room, visible to anyone who entered. In the center of the room were a table and sofas, arranged to receive guests personally invited by the Grand Duke.
At this time, Aldrey and Grand Duke Flamecrest sat face to face, and from Aldrey’s expression, it was clear that their conversation was about something unpleasant to him. Grand Duke Flamecrest sighed tiredly as he looked at his son.
"I know this is our last option, but the proposal from the imperial family should be considered seriously if we want to get out of this trouble," he said to Aldrey.
"But father, our long-standing stance will change once I accept the imperial family’s proposal. Once I accept it, we won’t be able to focus on the border as we always have," Aldrey said with an exasperated expression.
"Also, the way they’ve put forward this proposal amidst this situation feels like they’re taking advantage of our misfortune, not genuinely intending to help us. I can already imagine that they know we’ll be in a pinch and forced to approach them because of this event."
Grand Duke Flamecrest sighed again, knowing the consequences if Aldrey or their family accepted the imperial family’s proposal. The proposal from the imperial family offered direct help, but such help came with a price: marriage.
The imperial family seemed to be suggesting that the Flamecrest name could be cleared if they had a marriage connection to the imperial family. It made sense, as most people believed the imperial family would never accept a family or individual affiliated with the devils. By building a relationship through marriage, their two families could instantly resolve most of the problems.
However, there would be downsides. The Flamecrest family’s stance in the political landscape of the Vindas Empire would shift. They would become more active in the empire’s political schemes, which is not ideal for a family that guards the border. Much like the Rivas family, the Flamecrests have their own principle regarding their position in the empire: neutrality.
However, if they were to marry into the imperial family, it would automatically change their stance and drag the Flamecrest family into everything the imperial family does. Even if they wanted to distance themselves, they couldn’t, due to their marital connection and the debt the Flamecrests would owe the imperial family for helping clear their name.
These are the cons of accepting the imperial family’s proposal. But what if they reject it?
There is no doubt that the imperial family’s help would only be half-hearted. Even Grand Duke Flamecrest would not be shocked if the imperial family themselves began to pressure the Flamecrest family over the devil incident.
The only bargaining chip the Flamecrest family has is their powerful strength and strategic position as the border guardians. However, that is not absolute. If many nobles, and even the imperial family, were to unite against them, they would have no choice but to make concessions to the nobles and the imperial family.
The setback would be much worse if they rejected the imperial family’s proposal. However, neither Grand Duke Flamecrest nor Aldrey is willing to give up, which is why they only consider the imperial family’s proposal as a last resort. The key factor is that all of this could happen only if they cannot find proof that the Flamecrest family is also a victim in this situation.
If they can find solid proof that the devil incident was solely the act of Commander Marcus, the Flamecrest family could escape this troublesome situation. This would be the best outcome for them—no setbacks and no one would be able to control them.
Aldrey sighed for the umpteenth time. At that moment, he truly missed Irene and Aldrian—his little family and the main reason he had to reject the imperial family’s marriage proposal.
"I really want to meet them now." He leaned his head back on the sofa and closed his eyes. However, suddenly he opened his eyes and looked toward the window.
