Work Prophet

The trade proposal put forth by Romero made the Lady quite tempted. She was now almost ready to replace the Figrola Family as the new master of the Western Territory.

She had the people's support, was impeccable in reputation, and also had incredibly glorious battle achievements. The only minor flaw, if any, was the legal justification.

And this was the very thing most people on this continent valued the most.

If Claudio was willing to endorse her on behalf of the Vespasian Family, then this last blemish would be gone.

This made the Lady's heart beat faster, while Romero seized the opportunity to continue speaking.

"As long as you are willing to spare Ilkand and his five thousand warriors, they are willing to relinquish all currently occupied lands and wealth and leave the Western Territory overnight. You can also minimize casualties.

"In the past two years, the Western Territory has shed too much blood. On my way here, I passed many villages, half of their people were gone."

"I need to think about it, and fortunately, Merlin will soon be back." The Lady said, "You should go rest. I'll have someone prepare hot water, bread, and sausage for you. This is the frontline, the food isn't as good as in Rock Snow City."

"I'm not picky, as long as there's something to eat." Romero bowed again.

After the Finance Officer left, Miss Rabbit finally found a chance to slip away, but strangely, there seemed to be an unusual number of visitors today.

The guard came in again to report that there was a young man outside wanting to see him, claiming to be the Emperor's messenger.

The Lady felt a bit intrigued; in the past half-year, the Empire had lost two Emperors, and with Gars killed by those of the Wing Tribe, the Empire was now without an Emperor.

Where did this Emperor pop out from?

Miss Rabbit had already decided not to see any more visitors today but was piqued with curiosity upon hearing this.

So she had the guard bring him in.

The young man was probably about fifteen or sixteen, with a slender build. Just by his appearance, the Lady almost thought he was a relative of the former Imperial Forest Guard Captain Duren.

But upon a closer look, there were several differences. Duren's family's ears were longer and pointier, while the young man's ears were slightly shorter.

His eyes were narrower, which gave him a more wild appearance, and instead of brow ridges, he had a big gray tail behind him.

Miss Rabbit couldn't help but give him a couple more glances. Most of the Half-Beasts on the Bratis Continent didn't have tails. Their appearance was hardly distinguishable from humans, usually retaining one or two animal traits.

But Miss Rabbit had heard that tens of thousands of years ago, many of their ancestors had tails and even large patches of animal fur on their bodies.

However, such distant matters could no longer be verified and were merely passed down as tales.

It was the first time the Lady had seen someone with a tail, so she asked, "Which family do you come from?"

"I have no family," the young man said. "I'm just a messenger."

"Where did you come from?"

"Northern Territory."

"Northern Territory?" Miss Rabbit widened her eyes. "You came all the way from the Northern Territory? Where are your companions?"

"I have no companions."

"Just you alone?"

"Just me alone."

"How did you get here? With a caravan? No, there's war everywhere now, no caravans would travel so far anymore... by ship? But the east is unsafe too, and that route is too roundabout."

The young man listened as the Lady murmured to herself, his face showing a faint look of helplessness.

Fortunately, Miss Rabbit hadn't forgotten the main matter. After murmuring for a while, she asked, "You said you are the Emperor's messenger, which Emperor?"

"Allister," the young man said. "The Bratis Continent was invaded by those of the Wing Tribe. Gars fought until the very last moment. To retaliate against him, those winged ones nearly wiped out the Vespasian Family.

"Lord Allister is the only male survivor of the Vespasian Family, so he is rightfully the New Emperor of the Empire."

After saying his last sentence, the young man noticed the Lady's expression had turned somewhat peculiar.

So he asked, "Do you have any questions?"

"No. Oh, okay, I do have a bit," Ireya said. "I need to correct you; Allister is not the only male survivor of the Vespasian Family. In fact, besides him, there's another person who survived."

"Who?"

"His brother."

"Gars is already dead," the young man frowned.

"No, no, no, not Gars, another brother, Claudio."

"What?" This time it was the young man's turn to be surprised.

This situation was obviously beyond his expectation. His face showed a trace of bewilderment, but he quickly thought of something and spoke again.

"Only Lord Allister is the true Emperor because this is the arrangement of the Life Goddess."

The young man said resolutely.

The Lady, however, wasn't buying it. She sneered, "I think it's more of Cornelia's arrangement, isn't it? Are you a believer of the Life Church?"

The young man nodded, "The Priest of Cornelia adopted me and even gave me a name."

"What's your name?"

"Gray."

"Alright, Gray, what message did you bring for your Emperor?"

"He's your Emperor too. I hope you'll show some respect," Gray said sternly.

The Lady neither agreed nor disagreed, simply extending her hand to have him deliver the letter. After reading it from start to finish, she looked up to find the young man still standing there.

"Aren't you leaving after delivering the message?"

"I need your reply," Gray said.

"Then you'll have to wait a bit."

"That's alright, I'll leave whenever you give me the reply."

"Let me arrange a place for you to stay first. I'll also get you some bread and sausage to fill your stomach," the Lady was impartial to both messengers.

Gray, however, said, "There's no need. I can find food and a place to sleep myself."

"Where do you plan to sleep?"

"In the woods, there's plenty of food there too," Gray answered.

The Lady finally couldn't help but ask the question lingering in her mind, "Did you travel this way the entire journey, and I only recently defeated those of the Wing Tribe. How did you manage to reach the Western Territory so quickly?"

"I ran here."

"How long did it take?"

"Nineteen days."

The Lady drew in a sharp breath, "Seriously? Your speed is almost as fast as those of the Wing Tribe. How did you manage that?"

"The Life Goddess granted me power," Gray said solemnly.

"Bloodline Potion? Are you talking about the Bloodline Potion? Is that why you have a tail?" Ireya realized.