The Bond Between Screenwriter and Actor

Hesitation is a sign of wanting, and wanting means getting it! Iver didn't intend to let Minister Drost live too long, so he immediately took action.

Although Minister Drost offended Meg... he only surrendered himself and was not hanged.

Although the Arbitration Hall has contingency plans specifically for punishing knights and ministers who commit crimes—from stripping them of their official positions and titles, to revoking their honors and holding a public trial, there is a complete process. You can't just declare someone guilty in the morning, then drag them out and behead them without any questioning or trial, and have them executed by noon.

The foundation of authoritarianism is the law.

Compared to focusing on human power, focusing on the "rules" of law is a more solid foundation.

Otherwise, every change in those in power could cause fluctuations in the strength of all the extraordinary individuals in the country.

Conversely, having a complete process also means that the process could be very long. This time will be used for the Inspectorate to investigate other ministers and secretaries in the Ministry of Trade to find those connected to Minister Drost and then follow the trail to find the person behind them.

In this process, it would be best if Drost were alive, because that way he could expose the other party and provide valuable witness testimony.

However, this also gave those ministers who were on good terms with him time to destroy evidence. The inspectors weren't clean either; there were certainly spies among them.

Iver worried that the more Minister Drost sold, the more valuable he would become. Perhaps several high-ranking officials would protect him for "greater interests." He might even genuinely help Avalon —in fact, that wasn't impossible.

Because he wasn't truly loyal to Star Antimony or genuinely wanted to surrender; Drost was simply selfish. In other words, if Avalon could offer him more benefits, he would return to Avalon.

Although he was not a businessman, this Minister of Trade was more like one than a businessman.

"But what about Lily's grudge? Persuade Lily to prioritize the greater good and let go of her hatred?" Iver scoffed.

Stop joking.

It sounds disgusting.

After discussing it with Lily, Iver realized that they actually only had two options.

Either they would send in "Miss Aleister" to use the same tactic to kill the opponent. As an imprisoned person, most of Drost's supernatural powers are sealed, making it possible for her to kill the opponent in a swift battle.

The biggest problem here is that Iver doesn't know if the Bureau of Supervision will increase the guard. After all, Drost and Lloyd are different—they can "lock up" Lloyd for life; they don't need to kill him, and his disappearance would actually make him easier to use.

But old Drost couldn't; he had a family.

Lloyd killed all his brothers and sisters and left no descendants. Therefore, Lloyd could disappear without anyone caring; this was his own doing.

But the Drost Founding Family. Not only were they of high status, but they also had many members. Moreover, Drost was very good at maintaining appearances; he had many friends, and his family respected and loved him.

—You can either drag him out for trial and hang him to sever ties with the family, or you can exile or imprison him. But you're just hiding him away, never putting him on trial, never letting anyone see him, and never saying whether he's still alive... What does that mean? Are we going to change the head of the family, or not? Not only will the Drost Family be dissatisfied, but other knightly families might also feel uneasy.

However, it wouldn't work if someone infiltrated and killed Drost.

That would first weaken the authority of the government, and then reduce the credibility of the Bureau of Supervision. It would also raise suspicions that Lloyd, who suddenly disappeared, was also dead. This would reduce the reliability of information obtained from Lloyd.

So assassinating Drost secretly would be easy. But the consequences would be very troublesome.

Fortunately, they had a second option.

That is to force Minister Drost to make a mistake.

If he provides enough excuses or says the wrong thing, then it becomes reasonable to skip the process and try him directly.

It's actually not that difficult, or rather, it's quite simple.

That would be to have Iver play the role of a member of the Noble Red Society, and then directly attack the Bureau of Supervision to rescue him.

Drost wasn't sure if he would survive, but as a spy for Star Antimony, he had someone who could get him back. So, as long as Iver stormed in, Drost would run out with him.

At that point, we could just kill him—it would be a perfectly reasonable excuse to prevent a high-ranking traitor from taking away a large amount of classified information.

What a coincidence.

With His Highness the His Highness the Prince gone today, all the powerful figures have gathered at the Silver and Tin Palace. Now is the perfect time to stir up trouble.

Let Iver and Lily enter the secret chamber first, then have Shadow Fiend take Lily out through the ventilation duct. Fight back from the front door and try to rescue him—while Iver uses the power of the Paradox Flame Butterfly to blow him up.

Everyone knows that Iver and Lily are in the secret room. Therefore, it couldn't have been them who rushed in from the outside. With this alibi, things will be much easier from here on out.

This is a preliminary plan drafted by Iver and Lily after discussion.

After saying goodbye to Isabel, they went to find the Grand Guardian had just finished a meeting.

Iver bluntly asked where Drost was being held, and his excuse was—

"... Do you want to see him?"

The Grand Guardian frowned. "What can he possibly show?"

His Excellency George clearly did not want Iver to meet with someone like the Minister of Trade.

Although the Grand Guardian is the most likely person to save the Minister of Trade, he is also the one who most dislikes the Minister of Trade emotionally.

"It's simple," Iver replied, "Because Lily's last name used to be Drost."

"He is yours...?"

"Biological father".

Lily twisted her hands together, her expression somber. "He's dying, and I want to see him one last time."

As an extraordinary being who Path of Adaptation, Lily has a great talent for disguise and lies.

However, her expression was a lie, but her words were not.

This was a method of deception that Iver specifically taught her, reserved for the Grand Guardian.

The Grand Guardian can easily see through other people's lies... but in Iver's experience, this is not a good thing.

Because reflecting on the sincerity in others' words is a necessary process. Information is hidden in words, and behind words lies the speaker's true intentions, which even they themselves may not be aware of. Why did they say such things? Why did they say this first and not something else? Relying too much on the ability to detect lies will lead to abandoning this kind of thinking and reflection.

After all, the truth can also be a lie.

The Grand Guardian could sense the honesty in Lily's words.

As a father himself, he deeply empathized with this.

Of course, this empathy was also designed by Iver.

This is the best starting point for Your Excellency the Grand Guardian.

The Grand Guardian loved his child dearly, and David revered him greatly. Furthermore, he had no illegitimate children, so he couldn't empathize with the other knights who were confronted by their illegitimate children, and instead subconsciously overlapped Lily and David in his mind.

He would not refuse such a reasonable request.

—After all, members of the Drost Family can request to see the Minister of Trade. Even though Lily is a bastard... so what if she's a bastard? She has Drost blood; does being a bastard disqualify her from being considered Drost person?

It's just that she's the first one to see him, it's no big deal.

That's what George thinks.

But as the Grand Guardian and also as Iver and Lily's elder, he had to remind them, "You can go see him, but don't believe anything he says."

"That guy is a liar. He'll lie without batting an eye for anything that benefits him. If he knew Miss Lily was his biological daughter, he'd most likely put on a pitiful act, pretending to be a victim or an innocent bystander."

"But don't forget, Miss Lily. It was he who abandoned you and your mother—I want you to understand that you have the life you have today not because of a single thing Drost, but because of the Moriarty family."

The Grand Guardian said in a deep voice, "Including the Professor, and even more so, Iver. He has been good to you; don't let him down."

This man, who resembled a quintessential traditional knight, stood tall and straight like a pine tree.

He spoke his mind without hesitation or reservation. His voice was deep and steady, giving people a strong sense of security, and one could clearly perceive his goodwill and rationality.

Those are words that are convincing enough without any processing.

Iver was somewhat envious of his carefree and composed demeanor. His generous kindness, the care and guidance he received from his elders, also commanded Iver's respect.

Don't worry, kind old man.

With me here, you would not have died such a tragic and desperate death...

Iver thought to himself.

"I know."

Lily spoke softly, looking at Iver with respect and gratitude in her gray eyes. "I am very grateful to Young Master Iver... He changed my destiny. He has a pure heart of justice, extremely high moral standards, and unreserved, selfless and sincere love for others."

Hey, hey, hey, don't add your own lines. This wasn't in the script I wrote for you.

Iver was a little nervous, wondering if the Grand Guardian would see through his lie.

Because he was actually somewhat guilty—he didn't consider himself particularly righteous, nor did he feel his moral standards were exceptionally high. According to Iver, it was Avalon was too depraved. What he did was simply what an ordinary person would do.

What kind of good person is a liar who speaks lies without batting an eye, uses the truth to lie, and can even skillfully use one lie to cover up another? But to my surprise, the Grand Guardian nodded in agreement. "Indeed."

"Iver is the most devout, righteous, loving, intelligent, and determined young man I have ever met. Therefore, Your Her Majesty the Queen..."

He paused suddenly at this point.

Then he changed the subject, saying, "Oh, His Majesty also praised him highly. He told us to have our children learn from him."

Iver couldn't hold back his laughter halfway through the conversation.

Although he knew that he was actually doing a pretty good job of portraying himself, about half of it was just an act.

Because he knew what kind of person he was, he always felt that the Grand Guardian was being sarcastic towards him... Although he knew that the Grand Guardian was definitely praising him sincerely, it made him feel even more uncomfortable.

—Can you wait until I've actually done something really great before praising me? Where's Lily? Where's Lily? Can we change the subject to salvage this?

Thankfully, the Grand Guardian didn't suppress Iver's furious praise.

He reached out and touched the Eye of Avalon on his chest, saying, "Let me see if he's awake yet. He's still locked up in the secret chamber. There's no light or sound in the chamber, and many people who are locked up do nothing but sleep first."

"They usually can't sleep at first, but once they fall asleep, they can pass the time by entertaining themselves. So the real punishment actually begins after they wake up, when they can't fall back asleep..."

He paused mid-sentence, his expression suddenly turning serious.

"Thank you, Iver."

The Grand Guardian suddenly spoke, then took out his Griffin Flute and blew it once before saying, "Thank you very much..."

"...?"

Iver tilted his head in confusion.

The Grand Guardian's words startled both him and Lily for a moment. "The Noble Red Society has arrived, quite a few of them... They're attacking the Bureau of Supervision, probably to rescue him—they're about to collapse. I just saw some Surveillance officers die in battle."

"If you hadn't told me about this, they would all be dead here. The Capital Bureau of Supervision would have been massacred, prisoners would have been taken away... This would have been a disaster."

Such a thing actually happened? Does Drost have a death wish? Is he so sure he can escape? How did he contact the Noble Red? How did they know he was here? Many questions arose in Iver's mind—but he knew the most crucial thing was that his opportunity had arrived.

"I want to go too, please take me with you."

Iver immediately replied, "I obtained the ability to dispel curses and heal groups from the Paradox Flame Butterfly, so I can definitely help."

That's the truth.

The Grand Guardian, not wanting to ask further, nodded and quickly led Iver to the window on the second floor.

His griffin had already landed at the window. The Grand Guardian then lifted Iver's wheelchair with one hand and threw him, wheelchair and all, off the second-floor balcony.

The griffin deftly grabbed Iver's wheelchair.

Iver added, "It would be best to bring Lily along!"

The Grand Guardian nodded, grabbed Lily by the collar, whispered "Excuse me," and then leaped onto the griffin's back with her in his arms.

Once everyone was present, the atmosphere around the griffin began to fluctuate. The three figures started to blur, like images seen through the smoke rising from a barbecue grill.

The wind is not an obstacle for griffins, but rather their companion—

The griffin's talons plucked the silent strings of a harp, and the atmosphere slowly parted like an automatic door. If breaking the sound barrier is like an ordinary person smashing through transparent doors with their body, then the griffin is like those doors automatically parting as it approaches.

They did not cause a sonic boom, but disappeared from the spot in an instant with a hurricane.

A long chapter of four thousand words, enough to combine into one, but this is only the first chapter! (Hands on hips)

There's a second chapter coming!