Queen Sophia's Life Is Drawing to an End

At dusk.

Glass Island, the Silver and Tin Palace.

"I'm telling you, Sofia, you're really not nervous at all."

A clear, childlike voice rang out in the Queen's bedchamber.

Ligeia sat at the foot of the bed, swinging her legs and munching on a bright red apple. Her tail swept across the blankets on the bed, sometimes creating wrinkles, sometimes smoothing them out.

The Queen, lying in bed, did not answer.

Compared to a month ago, she looked noticeably older. Her eyes were so swollen she could barely open them, and she appeared much more listless.

She simply unfolded the sweater she had just knitted, admired it for a while, then carefully folded it and placed it on the bedside table.

"Sofia?"

Seeing her old friend's lack of response, Ligeia turned to the silent old woman with displeasure. "I'm asking you a question! Don't we all know that Miss Aleister is Lily Drost? Now that Charles is dead, why don't we just announce her identity? Do the Drost family dare to object?"

"--It's best not to. Former Minister Drost is still 'not dead'."

Yanis's voice suddenly came.

In a painting depicting a summer seaside scene in the bedroom, Yanis, dressed in a white gauze dress and wearing a straw hat, sits leisurely in the shade of a parasol, slowly peeling grapes while casually remarking, "And Iver would probably prefer this method."

Information about the murder of former minister Drost remains classified to this day.

In other words, he has always been alive in society. He's just been secretly imprisoned and occasionally spills out some crucial information—which could be used against someone at any time.

Because he knows so much.

That's why Iver, as the Minister of Everything, was targeted by those old fogies.

In their view, the inauguration of the new Minister of Everything, Iver, and the arrest and imprisonment of Minister Drost were not two separate events.

It's the same thing.

Minister of Everything is directly under the royal family, the Queen's term is coming to an end.

With the New King Isabel unable to maintain order, it remains to be seen how much real power Minister of Everything will ultimately hold.

However, the situation changes when you add the endless stream of "evidence" that Minister Drost keeps spewing out.

Only when these two are combined can they have sufficient deterrent power.

"Therefore, they are eager to weaken the power in Iver's hands. Even if his appointment is no longer subject to interference, they at least want to stop the expansion and actions of the Minister of Everything."

Yanis explained slowly and deliberately, "Even if this intelligence hadn't come, they would have found another excuse to launch an attack. Rather, this is actually an opportunity for Iver —because this matter came too early and too cleverly, so that the knights could no longer continue to plot in secret."

"They didn't want to miss this golden opportunity, so they launched their attack prematurely without proper preparation. And since they were in such a hurry, there were bound to be flaws in their strategy."

"Oh... because we all know that there is actually no such person as ' Aleister.' And it's even less likely that Iver would be associated with Star Antimony... Is that what you mean, Yanis?"

Ligeia also realized what was happening.

But she still didn't quite understand. "Then why did Sofia act as if it were really true?"

Queen Sophia's attitude appeared to be one of great anxiety—she ordered the Inspectorate to prohibit the publication of this matter "before verification." This order itself would then circulate within the circle.

"Stupid thing..."

Sofia looked at her vibrant, energetic, and somewhat childlike best friend, barely opened her eyes, and sighed, "Isn't it the same as before..."

"Before?"

Ligeia was taken aback.

But she quickly realized what Sofia was referring to.

—Just like when the royal family was cursed in the past.

Queen Sophia particularly favored the tactic of feigning weakness—or more accurately, she liked to lay honey-sweet traps, making her opponents believe that her plans were progressing smoothly, thus luring them in deep. Then, at a crucial juncture, when the enemy was already unable to extricate themselves, she would launch a counterattack.

Sofia's plan was entirely feasible if the "Shadow of Avalon" ritual had not been tampered with.

King Lancelot I, whose strength rivals that of an apostle in the temple, was resurrected and returned to his peak in physical form. Whether it was the ancestor's own combat abilities, the authoritative power of the Sixth Level Path of Authority over his subjects, the founding monarch's high prestige among the people, the deterrent effect on foreign enemies, or the political influence of his policies being invincible, all of these factors directly enabled Avalon to be reborn from the ashes.

At that crucial moment, a resounding victory will be achieved—and our side will be the righteous invaded party. We will demonstrate our military strength to powerful nations, instill strong confidence in our people, and conveniently eradicate those corrupt knights.

To achieve this goal, the lower one's political desires, the better.

Otherwise, it might lead to the split of Avalon.

Therefore, Isabel, who can inherit Sofia's desire for reform, is the best successor.

Isabel's lack of political acumen and adaptability to Path of Authority can be perfectly resolved. All she needs to do is stand with her ancestors and clarify the goals for those ministers who are confused about whether to obey the modern monarch or the founding monarch.

Queen Sophia had foreseen everything.

The only thing she hadn't anticipated was that the ritual performed by the sage Merlin itself went wrong—she trusted Merlin too much. This directly disrupted her entire plan and even left her feeling lost for a time.

It wasn't until Merlin personally explained to her where the problem lay and advised her to abandon the plan that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

From then on, she watched her health deteriorate day by day, visibly declining at an alarming rate.

However, compared to the ever-approaching death, her will and mind became clearer.

Those past events kept replaying in her mind.

Sofia was not senile; on the contrary, she gradually came to understand the situation.

This is not a defeat, much less a dead end. Rather, it is the time to break the deadlock.

Now that their intelligence has been stolen, and they seem powerless to do anything but issue warnings... it's exactly the same as when they were cursed.

Just as when the curse was cast, Meg wasn't allowed to immediately seal off the entire city and conduct a thorough investigation. This time, Sofia is again preventing Ligeia from launching a "physical debunking" operation.

"They won't miss this opportunity; they'll definitely provoke Iver ..."

Sofia looked particularly listless, and her voice was weak and listless.

But compared to her previous period of confusion, she now seems much more determined.

The old Queen spoke slowly and softly, "It seems like a weakness, but it's actually full of flaws... Once this matter is resolved, no one will dare to provoke them... I can leave in peace..."

Seeing that the old lady had to catch her breath after every sentence, Yanis in the painting simply added, "Iver is a young man, a child who is still young and doesn't understand things. It's understandable that Iver might 'go a little overboard' when he retaliates. Although he is a priest, even an honest person can get angry. After all, such obvious hostility has been laid bare, can't people be allowed to get angry?"

"... That makes some sense, after all, that kid isn't exactly a pushover. Now that you mention it, I'm actually looking forward to it... But you haven't spoken to Iver yet, have you?"

Ligeia raised an eyebrow and jumped off the bed. "How about I go to Eagle Cape Village and tell him about the situation so he can be on guard when he comes back? I'm also a little curious about my disciple's living environment. I can ride a griffin there; it'll be a quick round trip."

"Then we won't need to."

As Yanis chewed on the grapes depicted in the painting, she said elegantly, "He's back. He's chatting with little Isa now."

"I'll have him come over in a bit."

"...fine..."

Upon hearing that Iver was coming soon, Queen Sophia's lips curled up slightly as she murmured softly before gradually drifting into a dazed state.

It's not far away.

Silver and Tin Palace, in Isabel's bedroom.

Iver was happily sharing her experiences and observations from the trip with Isabel.

Yes, Iver did not immediately set out to investigate the missing letter.

He is not Sherlock, after all.

As Edward said, whether Aleister was a spy or not is irrelevant—similarly, whether Iver ultimately found the letter is also irrelevant. Even whether Aleister ever existed is irrelevant.

On the contrary, confirming the Queen's and those senior powerful Senior Generation ' attitudes toward this matter is the most important thing.

Seeing that it was getting late, Iver hinted to Edward to send Captain Camus back first. The group agreed to meet again the next morning to officially begin the investigation.

After Camus left, Iver went straight to the palace.

To Iver's surprise, Isabel had guessed he would come and had already changed into the pure white dress she usually wore for family dinners.

However, Iver quickly realized that it must have been the "Golden Dawn" brand security camera at home that had alerted Yanis. That's how Isabel got the news from her teacher.

After sharing her travel experiences, Isabel, who was initially excited to see Iver, instead showed a worried expression.

Her first words surprised Iver: "It's just an idea, I'm not entirely sure..."

"But, Iver, has your path taken a noticeable turn?"