The moment when the image of Grand Duke Annan overlapped with Vladimir.
Selicia smelled the breath of death very clearly.
——She realized it very clearly.
If she really gave the same answer as she did to Vladimir back then...that answer that seemed like asking "Grand Duke? What Grand Duke?", she would really die.
Maybe it was a decent glass of poisoned wine, or maybe it was a public execution.
Today, she is no longer the innocent teenager she was back then.
Annan is serious.
She knew that it was impossible for the young new Grand Duke to forgive someone who had committed the crime of rebellion and was still unwilling to surrender.
Then, a new idea came to mind.
...I don’t want to die yet.
The "Solonik" of those days was just that.
At that time, Solonik really wanted to dedicate everything to the teacher from the bottom of her heart. After becoming Selicia, her first reaction was "I can help the teacher more."
But now, she has met a new partner.
She went to many places she had never been before, saw other people's lives, and also had her own life.
She has a partner who can travel with her, and someone who loves her. She has also laughed heartily, and has anecdotes that she can tell with interest over drinks...
Is she still loyal to Vladimir?
——That's natural.
But can she still sacrifice her life for him without hesitation like she did in the past?
...That's not necessarily the case.
She wants to live.
So, she gave up.
"A good reply. A good start."
Annan smiled, slowly grasped the three-color scepter, and slowly spread his fingers one by one.
He obviously has a weaker body than Selicia, and this young Grand Duke is just a wizard...but he exudes a strong sense of oppression that is difficult to look at directly.
"One thing must be clear - Vladimir has abandoned you."
Annan said calmly.
"This isn't—"
Selicia subconsciously wanted to refute, but her words suddenly got stuck.
She thought that after she became Celicia, she had never seen the teacher again. There was no communication or communication between them. The only thing that was certain was that the teacher and she confirmed each other's survival...
...Did the teacher already know that I would betray him now?
She thought sadly.
Selicia gripped the tea cup tightly, not caring that her hands were hot.
Rather, this hot tea cup can give her a masochistic sense of self-punishment, which in turn makes her more determined.
"What I want to ask is how Vladimir betrayed me."
Annan said slowly: "I'm talking about - everything."
"...All of them?"
Selicia was stunned for a moment and said slowly: "Just as you expected, there is nothing to say. The teacher used Dmitri's body fluids and the cup-holding girl's ritual to cultivate blood seeds, and used the cultivation results to make
A spell is created that can control frost beasts."
"That's not what I meant."
Annan asked calmly: "What I'm talking about is - why did he betray me back then? What was his purpose?"
"...He wants to leave the Principality of Winter."
Selicia glanced at Zoya, hesitated for a moment and then gritted her teeth and replied: "This is a deal. He exposed all the potential enemies in Winter and defeated them in one fell swoop...
"For example, local nobles, such as the Far North Brotherhood...for example, the Hand of Winter.
"'The biggest enemy of His Highness Annan is the Hand of Winter itself. Grand Duke Ivan does not even have military power or the right to appoint and remove personnel, and the eunuchs of the United Kingdom are not so outrageous... He is simply working for the Hand of Winter.' The teacher was
That’s what he said to me.”
Zhuo Ya said nothing and closed her eyes.
This is indeed true.
She also knew it, so she didn't get angry.
The Hand of Winter has always been the highest secret service agency directly under the Grand Duke of Winter, and with the gradual delegation of power from generation to generation, the scope of the Hand of Winter's privileges has gradually increased.
For the Winter family, which has a high mortality rate, this governance model can minimize the negative impact of the death of the ruler, and the Winter family is usually not good at politics... They can live in peace and stability.
It is already very difficult to survive without being assassinated, committing suicide, or going crazy.
And the more you want to be a good archduke, the more bad things you will encounter, and the faster you will die. In the end, every generation of archduke will not be able to become a "good archduke".
But the Hands of Winter are not complete machines - they are not as scary as the outside world reports. Their feelings are not completely cut off, just thin. They naturally have selfish motives and desires... Even eunuchs know how to enjoy themselves, not to mention the Hands of Winter.
?
The father and son Ivan and Annan are special cases among the great princes in the past.
Even after several generations of Grand Dukes... "Ivan" is definitely the wisest one. His talents as a ruler are unparalleled in the world. Even though he is just a mascot, he can convince many ministers and nobles and eliminate the conflicts within the principality.
disputes, gradually sorting out the messy political situation.
But the Hand of Winter was not happy.
As Ivan gradually tried to take back his power, the top management of the Hand of Winter also gradually came up with their own ideas.
Naturally, they must be loyal to the Grand Duke and obey his orders.
But that doesn't mean they can't benefit themselves.
——This is the truth why Vladimir was able to rebel with a wave of Hands of Winter.
He specially selected out all the "disloyal" Hands of Winter, leaving behind naturally usable people.
But without the Winter Hand of ordinary people, their strength has dropped significantly, and their power has shrunk on a large scale. They have to start relying on Annan, and then they will have no choice but to follow the young Grand Duke everywhere... Otherwise, there is a high probability that Annan will be installed by them.
An Anwen was placed in the Grand Duke's Palace as a mascot, and they performed the state affairs on their behalf outside.
Zhuo Ya is not a fool. She has long figured out the truth about that "betrayal".
His Highness Annan has been particularly good at this strategy he calls "fishing" since the beginning, and his enemies can always take the bait. This was the case for the border nobles in the past, the Hand of Winter... and the same is true for the Brotherhood of the Far North today.
so.
"—This is not comprehensive."
But faced with such an answer, Annan shook his head.
His words pierced Selicia's chest like a sharp sword: "What I want to ask is, why does Vladimir want to leave the winter?
"Don't try to fool me. I know... you know the answer to this question."
Annan stared at Celicia: "I trust you very much, Celicia. I have also decided to forgive you for your past sins. But on this issue, if you deceive me, it will be equivalent to betraying my trust in you."
...just like that day.
The young son, who penetrates people's hearts, stares at him like a devil.
But that day I was still his direct subordinate, but now I am a prisoner placed on the other side of the table.
"……I have no idea."
Selicia was silent for a moment and replied in a low voice: "I really don't know. The teacher ran very fast and hurriedly back then, so I could only form an icebreaker army with the defecting Hands of Winter to survive in the wilderness...
"
In fact, she does know the answer.
Using Dmitri's blood to study frost beasts is the deal between Vladimir and Professor Wolf; leading the Hand of Winter rebellion to form the Icebreaker Army and defrauding the support of local nobles is the deal between Vladimir and Annan...
The second half of the plan is to develop forces underground and surrender to Annan in power in the future to erase his past sins.
But Selicia knew that Vladimir had his own plan.
But this answer alone cannot be said——
Of all the secrets, this is the only one that cannot be told to others.
If she said this... she would really betray the teacher.
She also thought about making up an answer, but she was worried that with her IQ, most of the lies she made up would not be able to deceive Annan...
So, just answer "I don't know".
She was originally an idiot, so it was normal not to know...
"--you are lying."
However, this lie did not survive even one round before Annan recognized it.
That's natural.
Of course Annan didn't know what Vladimir was doing underground.
This is just his usual tactic. It is so frivolous that it is deliberately difficult to judge and difficult to know. He uses this to bluff Celicia and force her to vomit something to prove her sincerity and show that she really does not know about this issue.
...This is what he originally planned.
But the moment Selicia said "I don't know".
Her body was suddenly covered in red light.
——That is the light that belongs to the "betrayer".
So you really know?
At that moment, Annan was also stunned for a moment.
He suddenly understood the new use of the curse [Angel's Left Eye]...