The place where Coladia and her four people appeared was in the storage room of Grancel City. After they came out of the secret door on the east side, they restored the stone wall.
There were a large number of wooden barrels and boxes stacked in this empty room, most of which were ingredients needed for palace cuisine. Because it was a place where debris was stored, no one noticed the soldiers stationed here. The stairs on the south side lead to
The main passage of Grancel, the door on the north side leads to the treasure house, and the power elevator that is crucial to the gospel plan is built behind this door.
"What should we do next? There are quite a few soldiers outside the corridor. Should we attack all the way to the venue where the dinner is held?" Ling sensed that the number of Royal Army soldiers outside the south door was probably no less than a squadron.
"No, there is a trustworthy person in the royal city. As long as we get his help, we can enter the dinner venue openly."
After Clodia finished speaking, she led the group of people up from the stairs on the west side of the utility room to the ground floor and entered the kitchen of Grancel City.
"Don't rush. Exquisite food requires patience. Besides, it's not the agreed time yet." After hearing the footsteps, the head chef wearing a red scarf in the kitchen said, but he immediately felt something was wrong.
The source of the footsteps was neither the main entrance of the corridor nor the side door leading to the main restaurant. He turned around.
"You are..." The chefs wearing green scarves were also surprised by the four people who suddenly appeared in the room.
"Huh? Do you mean...?" The head chef's eyes were bright, "Your Highness, it's great to see that you are okay."
"Long time greetings, Uncle Gilvey. And Mr. Regis and Mr. Fluker. Long time no see."
Gilvi is the name of the chef. Although his main business is making palace cuisine, he has traveled across the continent and is able to cook thousands of different dishes. He is the unparalleled eldest brother in the culinary world of the Kingdom of Liber. His
Disciple Regis is in charge of knife work, and Fluke is in charge of platters. The three of them have always taken care of the kitchen in Grancel City.
"I haven't seen you for a week. It's great to see you're okay now. But how did you get into the city? I heard from Lady Hildane, the lady governor, that you were under house arrest."
"I came here through the secret passage of the royal family. They are my guards."
Clodia and Gilvi exchanged pleasantries, and the other three also understood the situation.
The three chefs have watched Clodia grow up, and of course they will not betray her. The kitchen is connected to the main dining room through a small door. As long as you pass through the side door, you can enter directly without alerting the Royal Army soldiers in the corridor. Give them
After the four of them arranged a resting place that could not be seen from the main entrance or the side entrance, Chef Gilvey returned to his post pretending that nothing was wrong. Even if the maids came in to inquire about the progress of the cooking, they responded as usual. The maids responded as usual.
They also served as waiters at the dinner and complained about Duke Dunant's arrangements.
Maid Aiko: "The Duke held a dinner party just to kill time, and he also bothered all the guests to come all the way to attend. It was really embarrassing for them. Everyone is obviously very busy."
Maid Sorela: "I really can't understand it. There are clearly enough manpower here, but the Duke asked Mrs. Hildan to increase the number of maids... He must not have had any good ideas."
Maid Brím: "I just passed Duke Dunant in the corridor, and he stared at me with a very unpleasant look. Humph, so uneducated."
The maid Nishu said nothing, and quietly pushed away the dining cart prepared by the chefs with her companions, and began to serve appetizers to the guests.
"Princess Clodia, won't you show up at the dinner?" Chef Gilvey asked.
"Now is not the time." Clodia shook her head.
There are only four guests in the main restaurant now, and they are representatives from the four major regions of Lorente, Perth, Luan, and Chase. The representative of Lorente is Mayor Klaus, and the representative of Perth is Mayor Maybelle.
Because Mayor Delmon fled, Luan was replaced by the respected Dean of Collins College of Janis Royal Academy, while Chase was the director of Maddock's Central Workshop who also served as the mayor.
As soon as she finished speaking, the old man's voice came from the direction of the main restaurant, "The Duke has arrived."
Then, there was a man's voice that Ling had heard many times at the martial arts competition venue, that was Duke Dunant, "Ah, gentlemen, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. We just negotiated some things, and the result
It took some time." He paused for a moment and then continued, "This is Colonel Richard, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Army's Intelligence Department. In order to capture terrorists, he has been working hard day and night and doing his best. As a thank you,
I invited him to this dinner."
"First meeting, everyone, I am Alan Richard from the Royal Army Intelligence Department. Thanks to the kindness of the Duke, I come to attend this dinner. It is really rude to wear this inappropriate military uniform, but please allow me to talk to you.
Everyone." The cheerful man's voice came next from Duke Dunant's side.
When the banquet started, it was just a simple dinner for the first ten minutes, but when the appetizers were served and the main course was ready, the situation finally changed.
"...Okay, we won't use false etiquette tonight. There's plenty of food and wine left, so just speak if you need it, and I'll make sure you take care of it."
After Duke Dunant finished speaking, Richard on his left spoke.
"Your Majesty Duke... How about we explain that matter clearly first?"
"Oh! By the way, there is that thing to say. In fact, I summoned all the representatives of the kingdom here for no other purpose... I just want to make an important announcement to everyone at this dinner. Next, Colonel Richard
Explain it to me." Duke Dunant handed over the topic to Richard.
"It is with great trepidation that, as you all know, Her Majesty the Queen has been in poor health recently. However, Her Majesty is recovering slowly and will be able to appear in good health soon. In addition, we should be able to bring the
The terrorists lurking around the royal capital have been wiped out. After this is accomplished, the Queen's birthday celebration will be held as scheduled."
"Well, this is really gratifying. The Hundred Days War happened on the 50th anniversary, so the birthday celebration could not be held properly. The majority of the people are looking forward to the 60th anniversary celebration. But there is more to that than what you want to say, right?
"The old man who spoke is the president of Corinth College.
"Haha, the dean is really very perceptive. As mentioned just now, Her Majesty the Queen is gradually recovering. However, this illness prompted Her Majesty to make a decision. This decision is to voluntarily abdicate and pass the throne to Duke Dunant who is here.
grown ups."
"What!" Maddock's workshop manager was surprised.
"Really, really?" Maybelle asked in disbelief.
"...This decision confuses me, but His Majesty is indeed somewhat overwhelmed. It is no wonder that, as a woman, Your Majesty has been leading the precarious Libert during these turbulent forty years. Considering this, I decided
On the last day of the birthday celebrations, Her Majesty the Queen should be free from the trivial matters of government affairs. As the heir to the throne, I should have this awareness."
At this moment, the side door of the main restaurant was pushed open, and Coladia, who had been prepared for a long time, appeared in the main restaurant.
"Is this why you put me under house arrest? To use me as a hostage in order to force Her Majesty the Queen to abdicate, Colonel Alan Richard!"
A clear and pure voice appeared, and Clodia appeared in formal attire, attracting everyone's attention.
"Claudia, why are you here? Shouldn't you be staying at the Albert Palace?" Duke Dunant slapped the table and stood up.
"I haven't seen you for a week, Uncle Dunan. It seems that there is no need for me to speak. You also told everyone the place of house arrest."
"Well... that's..." Duke Dunant was at a loss for words, hesitating, "Fake, fake! She must be someone else pretending to be her. The Albert Palace is the search headquarters of the Ministry of Intelligence, and several brigades of troops are stationed there.
, how could a real princess escape so casually?"
Clodia sighed, "Uncle Dunant, you are getting darker and darker."
The sudden scene made the kingdom representatives present frown.
"No, Your Majesty the Duke. I can guarantee in the name of Royal Janis Academy that she is the real Her Royal Highness Clodia. It is impossible for you not to recognize the Royal Sword Lyra." After finishing speaking, the principal of the Academy turned to look at her.
"It's been a long time, Kolos. You suddenly said you had something to take off and then you heard nothing from you, which made me worried for a while."
Behind Clodia, Sherazade, Olivier and Ling also appeared.
Mayor Klaus looked at Sherazade, who was Lorente's resident guerrilla, and the two were very familiar with each other.
Mayor Mabel looked at Olivier, who once had a meal at her restaurant and drank five hundred thousand mil worth of famous wine. She was also deeply impressed by this man.
Maddock's workshop director looked at Ling. During the previous attack on the central workshop, it was Ling who protected the guidance calculator Capel for the central workshop. He was present at the time. He was very grateful to this benefactor. And afterwards, he was very grateful.
He had already found out Ling's true identity from Dr. Russell. It was a pity that she didn't ask for advice when she stayed in Chase.
But besides them, there was another person whose eyes were fixed on Ling, and that was Duke Dunant's butler, Philip Runard. He frowned, put his right hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and raised his hand.
He had a posture of being ready to take action at any time. There was a certain amount of telepathy between master-level warriors, and even if Ling hid her aura, she couldn't completely hide it from the opponent. Because he couldn't figure out Ling's depth, Philip raised his alertness to the maximum.
"Your Majesty, no, Colonel Richard, what on earth is going on?"
Mayor Klaus was the first to ask questions and threw the question to Richard.
"Haha, your doubts are reasonable. But you got one thing wrong. Don't you think that I really have the guts to tamper with Her Majesty the Queen's decision? The Royal Army is Her Majesty the Queen's Royal Army. Our Intelligence Department has even obtained
It is an institution that was established with the permission of the Queen. On the occasion of the birthday celebration, His Majesty will personally announce the important decision on the successor to the throne. Won't it be obvious by then whether this matter is true or false?"
"But the fact that Her Royal Highness the Princess is under house arrest...is a fact, right?" Mabel asked.
"Well, this is Your Majesty... No, this is my fault alone. In order not to interfere with the Queen's judgment, I made this move. After the matter is over, I will apologize to Her Majesty the Queen and voluntarily resign as Commander of the Intelligence Department.
Position. And the reason why I have to do this is you, Princess Clodia."
"I?"
"In fact, you have always received the best courtesy when Albert left the palace. We are not treating you as a prisoner, but as a distinguished guest. It is the best that you can appear here in such high spirits as you do now."
Prove. According to the provisions of the Royal Code, you do have the same inheritance qualifications as the Duke... However, compared with the Duke who is still immature but still takes the initiative to express himself in public, Princess, you have been
Evading his responsibilities as a royal family, he used a pseudonym to play house in the academy and lived a college life. He was immersed in his own little comfort and turned a blind eye to the threat to the north and the growing ambitions of the Erebonia Empire. Perhaps for women
It is said that the responsibility of shouldering the fate of the country is too heavy, so we decided not to let Her Royal Highness bear such a heavy burden."
"this……"
"That's right, that's right!" Duke Dunant suffocated when he saw Clodia's momentum, and immediately borrowed the pole to climb up.
"Uncle Wang, shut up. This is an issue between me and the colonel."
After Clodia said something, Duke Dunant immediately turned into a turtle again.
"You are right. In the past, I was indeed too selfish and only thought about my own safety. This was a mistake I made before and I cannot refute it. But this is not enough reason for you to plan this incident. Dunan
I know your uncle's ability very well. He obeys Colonel you. If the Queen's grandmother really abdicates, then after he succeeds to the throne, it will be Colonel you who really controls Liber. I don't know what you want to do in this land.
What, but our Kingdom of Liber has been a hereditary country accustomed to the governance of the monarchy family for thousands of years. Thousands of years of history have long proven that as long as we do not change the system rashly and let things take their own course, we can maintain the prosperity of the country. Even if
If powerful ministers usurp power from the royal family, it will not last long. It will not bring any benefit except causing chaos to the kingdom."
"Haha, I said, you misunderstood me. I also look forward to Liber's strength, but this is not premised on my own taking power. I said that I will leave the center of power after the birthday celebration.
And everything I do is for the future of this country. Love and friendship cannot save this country. Only strong reforms can save Liber. For this reason, I do not hesitate to become a stepping stone on the road of reform. Your Excellency the Duke recognizes this.
Only if you realize my ideal can you walk on the same path as me." After Richard finished speaking, Duke Dunant nodded quickly to express his cooperation.
"This is just your one-sided statement. Even if the motives are good, Colonel, have you ever thought about how many people will be harmed during the reform process?"
"This is a necessary 'evil'. You cannot protect the country just by being glamorous. If you don't even understand this, you are not qualified to shoulder the responsibility of the country."
"No, during the Hundred Days War, when I was young, I was also exhausted under the artillery fire of the Imperial Army. How could I not understand the thoughts of the victims. But the same thing is the same, firing at the enemy and pointing at my own son
There is a complete difference between oppression and oppression by the people!”
………………
………………
The exchange of words on the stage was quite intense. The maids were all dumbfounded as they looked at Clodia, who was completely different from the weak and frail person they remembered. It didn't take long for them to be confronted by Princess Clodia.
Colonel Chad was impressed by his unyielding heroic demeanor, and stars appeared in his eyes.
The representatives of the kingdom who attended the dinner are also very entangled now. The two have been arguing for dozens of minutes, and there is still no sign of stopping.
At first, the topic between the two parties was just about the succession of the throne, but as they chatted, it turned into what kind of national policy the kingdom should adopt in the future. And the most embarrassing thing is that their four regional representatives can't get in the conversation at all now.
"Princess Clodia has finally grown up. It seems that she has made good use of the debating skills she learned in the academy." The elder of Corinth Academy sighed with great relief.
"Looking at the strong princess, I feel like I'm seeing the deceased Crown Prince." Mayor Klaus also said.
"W-Isn't this not good?" Although Mabel, who managed Perth, was a few years older than Clodia, she found that the other person's aura was not on the same level as hers.
"It seems that none of them can convince the other. Such an argument will not lead to any results even if it is discussed for days and nights. But I am a little worried." Maddock, the workshop director, noticed that he and Colonel Richard had entered the main dining room together.
His adjutant, Captain Kenona, left without knowing it.
When she reappeared, a man wearing a red helmet appeared next to her. Behind the man, more than a squadron of special agents were guarding the door of the main restaurant.
"Colonel, the underground has been completely penetrated, and the force ladder has finally been constructed." Captain Kenona came to Colonel Richard's side and said.
Most of the people in the restaurant were confused. At this time, Colonel Richard reached out and made a gesture, and the special agents outside the door filed in and stood behind the representatives of the kingdom one by one.
"Huh, Your Highness, let's leave our debate to tomorrow. I promise you that tomorrow, I will be able to let you see the reason why I am so confident in implementing reforms. If you see 'that', you must also
It might change your opinion."
"Your Highness, I'm very sorry. Please do as the colonel said for the time being and rest for the night." Butler Philip said to Clodia in a pleading tone. He no longer warned Ling, but began to warn Luo who had just entered.
Second Lieutenant Lawrence. Having watched the martial arts competition a few days ago, he knows better than anyone else what a terrible guy Second Lieutenant Lawrence is. All the important people in the kingdom are here. If he is allowed to mess around, it will turn into a terrible situation.
"I have something to do and I need to excuse myself. Please forgive me for being rude. You can stay for the dinner or you can go back to the guest room to rest with the maids. I assure you that you will be able to see Her Majesty the Queen tomorrow. Please be patient.
Wait for one day. When the time comes, my purpose and the Queen's decision will be revealed."
Impressed by Richard's serious tone, and also frightened by the special agents standing behind them, the representatives left the main restaurant and returned to their rooms. Richard was also moved by Coladia and her "
The entourage" arranged a room for rest.
Second Lieutenant Lawrence glanced in Ling's direction without any trace, and then left the main restaurant with Colonel Richard.
Under the leadership of Sia, who was originally the princess's personal maid, a group of four people came to the room prepared for Clodia and the others. This was not the princess's original bedroom. The princess's original bedroom was in the Queen's Palace, not in Grantham.
Ercheng. There are a large number of special agents guarding the room outside, and you can't even take a step.
In the room, Clodia took off her disguise in front of others and returned to her image of a weak princess.
"Why don't you use force if you can't say it? Sure enough, this is what happened. Soldiers are so unreasonable." Sherazade glanced at the special agents outside and said.
"I'm sorry, everyone, I'm too naive. I still can't convince Colonel Richard." Clodia said apologetically.
"You have worked very hard. Listening to your conversation has opened my eyes. Rather, I think Colonel Richard has been shaken. Although you still have different opinions, he should look at it this time.
Understand, how big the gap is between Duke Dunant and you." Olivier said.
"If he is truly patriotic and not tyrannical for power, what he said today will probably make him think that Clodia is a better heir to the throne than Dunant. As a minister, it is also very important to choose an excellent lord.
"Ling also came up and said something.
"Then what should we do next? That Richard said there will be something for everyone to see tomorrow, right?" Sherazade asked Coladia.
Clodia shook her head, "Maybe I'm paranoid. But I feel that if the other party keeps taking the lead, something bad will definitely happen."
Clodia took out a small walkie-talkie-like communicator from her pocket. This was a communication device exclusively for associations that Ling was very familiar with.
"Do you want to carry out the original plan?" Olivier asked.
"Yeah." Clodia nodded, and then pressed the call button.
…………
Outside the gate of Grancel City, Alz, a soldier of the Royal Army, looked at the three people approaching and put himself on guard. It was already night, so it stands to reason that no one would come.
"Hey, come on, stop here. This is Grancel City where Her Majesty the Queen lives. If you have nothing to do, please leave." Arz said.
"Of course it's something. I came here after receiving a formal invitation. The Duke personally presented the invitation to me." Valut took out the invitation.
"Well, let's see. 'A player Valut won the championship in the martial arts competition and was specially invited to the dinner party.' That's it. No, no, it's already so late. The dinner party is over! And the number of people is wrong.
Right? There is only one person invited on the invitation, but there are three of you." Alz immediately raised his guard and looked at the three of them.
"Brother, can't you be accommodating?" Luciola said with a smile.
"Forget it, I know the invitation is useless. Let's do it the way we like best."
Just when Arz felt something was wrong, he felt a chill on the back of his neck. Valut put down his finger, and Arz fell to the ground.
"Did you specifically attack the non-fatal Fengchi Point? This guy saved his life." Luciola said to Valut.
"This time the employer has made it a point not to kill people, so that's it."
Colonel Richard specifically warned him to be more vigilant. The movements outside could not be concealed from the special agents on guard. Some of the special agents had fought against Valut in martial arts competitions. Of course, they knew that no one among the soldiers left behind could be his opponent.
They kept the gate of Grancel City firmly closed.
"Well, although it is an old city gate, it uses the newly developed force-guided door magnetic lock. It may be difficult to push the city gate open manually," Blubrand said.
"Haha, leave this to me."
Valut took a step forward, and his whole body began to gather energy, gathering it at his fingertips.
With a "pop" sound, the two-story city gate he hit began to crack layer by layer, turning into fragments.
"Is this the secret strength of the Tai Dou style? I heard that you spent a lot of energy fighting with your junior brother in the martial arts competition in the afternoon. I didn't expect you to recover so quickly." Luciola praised.
"Haha... your moves are still as wonderful as ever. No, you are more familiar than before." Blubrand also said.
"Hahaha, there are many ways to restore physical strength, they are just trivial. Then, let me break another piece."
Valut gathered his energy again and smashed the gate of Grancel City with his second blow.
After hearing the attack alarm, Duke Dunant and Philippe, surrounded by special agents, immediately came to see what happened. When they saw that the two-story city gate was smashed with bare hands, they showed that it was true.
"During the martial arts competition, I was wondering if Valut players could fight with the guard airship with their physical bodies. Now it seems that my guess was correct. The gate of Grancel City is thicker than the armor of the guard airship.
.”
"Don't think about these things. Duke, please leave. Leave this place to me. In front of a master like Valut, numbers are meaningless."
But Dunan did not understand Philip's kindness, and instead spoke to Walut below, "Hey, Walut, you are late, the dinner is over. If you have something to say, please say it, there is no need to be like this."
"Haha, this Duke is really cute, don't you see that we are enemies?" Blubrand looked at Dunan who was standing on the second floor trying to talk to Valut with some disbelief, and said to his two companions.
"It's not a bad thing to be simple-minded. It's a pity that he is too fat, otherwise he would definitely be very popular with women." Luciola replied.
"Your Majesty Duke, leave quickly!"
After Phillip finished speaking, he jumped down from the second floor and stood among the special agents.
"I am the steward of His Excellency Duke Dunant and the former captain of the Royal Guards, Philip Runard." Philip pulled out the saber on his waist and pointed it at the three Valuts. "My sword is not old. Although
I don’t know how useful it is, but I will at least give you a knife before I am willing to do it.”
"Haha, it seems like it's a little more fun." Luciola said.
"Leave the trash to you, and leave this old man to me. Is that okay?" After Valut said, he raised his fist and rushed towards Philip.
VIP lounge area.
Hearing the huge noise outside and discovering that almost all the security guards on guard had evacuated, Coladia certainly knew what had happened. After opening the door, a group of four people neatly knocked down the two unsuspecting security guards and regained their freedom.
.
"Next, I plan to meet with Grandma Wang. Can everyone continue to protect me?"
"Well, of course I have no problem." Sherazade replied.
"I'm also willing to accompany you." Of course Olivier would not miss this opportunity to meet Queen Libertine directly. Rather, this was actually the reason why he finally persuaded Mulla to make an exception and allow him to take risks.
original purpose.
"Hey, where is Xiaoling?" Coladia suddenly noticed that someone seemed not to be there.
After listening to her words, Sherazade and Olivier also felt something was wrong. They didn't know when Ling, who was fighting with them just now, had disappeared.
At this moment, Ling activated her stealth combat skills to avoid the spy's eyes and arrived at the treasure house. In front of her eyes, the force-guiding elevator had dropped to the lowest level, leaving a bottomless hole in the treasure house. The original garrison
None of the special agents here were seen. It seemed that they had all descended to the lowest level.
Ling took out her communicator and contacted Professor Wiseman, then she jumped directly into the foundation pit of the guidance elevator. The depth was 500 submoments, which was not a problem for her.
After the construction of the guidance elevator is completed, Colonel Richard will be useless to the Gospel Plan. The success or failure of his coup will have no impact on the Association. Next is the time for the Association to reap the fruits of victory.