The royal family intervened
Perhaps Bernadette is the only one who could be said to have escaped this Fate.
But who can compare to her?
She has a powerful father; even disregarding her ascension to the Black Emperor, Emperor Roselle is still a Sequence One Knowledge Emperor.
How could he allow his daughter to suffer such Fate?
When she first appeared, Bernadette was already Sequence 3 Clairvoyant, holding the Wheel of Fortune Card, the Magic Wishing Lamp Sealed Artifact numbers 0-5), the Pale Death corresponding to Sequence One), and the Sage Diadem (corresponding to Sequence Two).
You tell me, besides Mr. Fool, who in the whole book can compare to her?
Therefore, Kronos was naturally very worried about his father.
Putting aside everything else, the Marquis Argel would be in great danger on the way back to Backlund from the Midseashire.
"Sigh!" Kronos sighed.
There was no other way. If Marquis Argel could never access that Sequence in his lifetime, he probably wouldn't gamble his life on his Fate.
Like Duke Negan, who wields such immense power, yet his Beyonder Sequence is only at Sequence 6. If Marquis Argel possessed such aptitude, he would likely have given up long ago.
But he is not like that. For many years, Marquis Argel has wanted to go further on the path of the Beyonder, and now he has reached the edge of Sequence 5. No one can persuade him otherwise.
Kronos rested for a bit, then decided to stop thinking about it.
There's really no way around it; my abilities are simply insufficient to solve this problem.
Whether it's directly confronting the Hidden Sage head-on or using some means to help his grandfather and father avoid the Hidden Sage, these are beyond Kronos's capabilities.
If he could have been given a few more years, he might have been able to kill the Hidden Sage and become a god. But there's really nothing he can do now. He can only pray that his family can live a few more years.
Having finished his contemplation, Kronos once again picked up his Inscribing Pen and began his extravagant spending spree.
A few days later, the reason Kronos left his Villa again was that he had another meeting.
In the past few days, Kronos's proficiency in Making Rules has skyrocketed. He can now Consciousness begin to etch skills with the slightest movement of his arm.
Perhaps what Kronos needs right now is a good rest, after which he can create his own Sequence 5 Scroll.
Without needing to be told, Kronos knew that the successful convening of this meeting meant that the Church of Steam and Machinery had "taken care of" Professor Portland.
Kronos was already aware of the subsequent procedures; it would simply involve further discussion of the Church of Steam and Machinery's proposal, followed by a vote.
The most likely outcome is that the proposal will receive over 90% support, and then be approved.
It was another meeting where everyone was putting on an act; Kronos genuinely had no interest in it.
If he hadn't been one of the masterminds behind it all, he really would have taken leave.
Meetings are nowhere near as interesting as making Scroll.
Kronos arrived at the Higher Education Committee, yawning all the way. As soon as he entered the hall, he saw Portland waving at him furtively from the doorway of a small room on the side.
Kronos was taken aback; the first thought that came to mind was, "Something's changed?"
Kronos glanced around, saw no one from the Reorganization Group or the Church of Steam and Machinery Member, and then stealthily headed towards Portland.
After following Portland into the small room, they saw Mr. Kask inside.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Kronos asked, puzzled.
Kask sighed. "The problem isn't too serious, it's just that things aren't going as we expected."
"What changes have been made?"
Kask pointed upwards and said, "They intervened. Just now, less than half an hour ago, they suddenly showed up."
Kronos was startled. "What's going on? Didn't they tacitly agree? Why would they suddenly overturn our plan?"
Kronos wasn't stupid; he naturally knew that when Kask said "they," he was referring to the Royal Family of the Loen Kingdom.
Portland gave a wry smile, then interjected, "They're quite nice; they recognize our capabilities and didn't overturn our plans, they just changed the timing."
They're all keeping us in suspense, getting to the point in several sentences, and Kronos is starting to get impatient.
Sensing Kronos's mood, Mr. Kask continued speaking before Kronos could press for further questions.
"Just now, Earl Rustin arrived and announced that he would be presiding over a meeting in a little while."
Kronos really wanted to hear Kask explain the whole story, but there was no way around it; the very first sentence contained an obscure word, and he had to ask.
"The Earl Rustin? Who is that? I've never heard of him."
Kask said speechlessly, "Can't you pay attention to the Kingdom's political structure? Earl Rustin, Your Excellency Edessak!"
Seeing that Kronos still looked confused, Kask had no choice but to say directly, "Edessak Augustus, His Third Prince!"
Kronos suddenly realized, "Oh, it's him! This is a character from the original story who drove countless plot points forward—absolutely the unluckiest guy!"
The Demoness Sect and the Augustus Family had probably felt that their actions were a bit too ambitious, so they needed someone to take the blame, and that's how they chose the Third Prince.
As a result, he became completely infatuated with Trissy Cheek, and was even willing to give up the Throne for her.
As a result, Trissy ran away during the Great Smog of Backlund, and Edessak took the blame and committed suicide.
On his deathbed, the third prince may still have been wondering whether Trissy had ever truly loved him.
But no one expected that before George III's Apotheosis Ritual, Trissy would risk everything to avenge Edessak.
In that incident, without Trissy's various actions, Klein might not have succeeded.
If George III knew about this, I wonder if he would regret making his third son take the blame.
If you say he wasn't pitiful, he was tricked into falling in love with a Demoness, framed by his own father, and died without ever knowing if the person he loved truly loved him.
But if you say he's pitiful, the person he loved was originally a man, but in the end he still fell in love with him, and even ruined a god's Apotheosis Ritual for him.
This is a male-oriented novel, but if it were a female-oriented romance novel, I would definitely vote for him; he is the protagonist.
While Kronos was lost in thought, Kask continued speaking.
"Earl Rustin didn't come alone; he brought two others with him, the bishops of the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms."
Upon hearing this, Kronos, who had regained his senses, had a very interesting expression on his face.
Seeing that Kronos did not interrupt him, Kask continued, "Earl Rustin said that since the Church of Steam and Machinery has made so much sacrifice for scientific procedures, and the other two churches have been inspired by this noble act, they also wish to join in."
"In that case, today's meeting has become a discussion about the Three Churches joining the Research Center, and Earl Rustin hinted to me that he will only come this once, and His Majesty the King is still waiting for our results."
Kronos glanced at Kask, then at Portland, and said with a touch of melancholy, "Farewell, both of you. I will remember to mourn you."
Portland rolled his eyes. "How can you absolve yourself of all responsibility when it involves three people?"
Kronos thought for a moment, then said, "You don't understand, I can actually roughly remove them all."
What's the situation now? Portland just finalized the terms with the Church of Steam and Machinery yesterday, and the contract was signed. According to the original plan, the proposal should have been submitted today.
Even if the other two churches need to be notified, it should be delayed for two days to minimize suspicion against Kask and Portland.
However, although the Royal Family agreed to the plan to exploit the Church of Steam and Machinery, they were unwilling to let Kronos and his two companions enjoy the benefits too easily, so they intervened midway.
Now it's become, do you think Kask and Portland helped the Church of Steam and Machinery?
You could say they helped, but not completely.
Then there are many things worth arguing about.
Even a closer analysis reveals that Portland, who doesn't particularly like dealing with Church of Steam and Machinery, had a problematic attitude in this incident.
Once Portland's "Werewolf" is exposed, Kask's "Werewolf" identity will be highly questionable.
Although no concrete evidence could be found, did the Church of Steam and Machinery need evidence?
That's why Kronos wished them a safe journey.
On the contrary, Kronos was able to clean himself up completely.
First of all, he's been involved in too few things. He's been staying home all this time, not even leaving the house. What else could he possibly be doing?
Secondly, the Royal Family and the Church of Steam and Machinery engaged in a lot of power struggles back then, using the Argel Family as pawns; it was basically the same every time.
The church tricked the Royal Family family once in the name of the Argel Family, hoping the Royal Family would doubt Argel; conversely, the Royal Family tricked the church once again in the name of the Argel Family, hoping the church would ostracize Argel.
In the end, both sides placed absolute trust in the Argel Family, who had been professionally making chess pieces for thousands of years, and neither side ever doubted that the Argel Family could also be chess players.
This kind of trust is something you might not even have with your most loyal subordinates. Tell me, isn't that amazing?
Portland and Kask were unaware of the details, but Kronos did, as he had recently read about this history.
Not only Kronos, but Archbishop Horamick also knew, because at his age, he had experienced the tail end of that period.
George III may not know, but that's not important. For today, all Kronos needs to do is dispel the suspicions of the Church of Steam and Machinery.