In the Name of Empress-Chapter 617 - 358: Heartbeats at Zero Distance

Roland and Christine hid inside the wagon carrying Meinette's precious treasures, blending in with the convoy on the journey to Tirol.

This wasn't Roland's first time coming to Tirol, but his previous visit was a secret, so he had to feign curiosity as if it was his first time.

Meinette wasn't particularly focused on investigating the cause of the old King Franz's death.

He had neither the ability nor the motivation.

No matter how the old king died, his death was already a fact.

To kill silently during a concert, after much thought, only a few people could pull it off.

He could more or less guess that Sofia was somehow involved in this matter.

Queen Sisi sent people to assassinate Sofia during her weak period, only to be killed in return.

With Sofia's vengeful nature, it's a wonder Queen Sisi survived at all.

Meinette just didn't expect Sofia's revenge to be so fierce, not only targeting Queen Sisi but wiping out her entire family.

To this, Meinette could only wipe his tears and pop the champagne.

His family was a branch of the royal lineage and originally had no chance of inheriting the throne, but Sofia directly erased Franz's entire family, solidifying an otherwise fragile legal claim.

There were several other family branches with inheritance rights, but only he had both the strength and the legal basis.

After a brief internal struggle and a few unexpected accidents, his nephew, who was actually his son, Hamos, obtained the right to inherit the throne.

Having gained the most benefits, he had no reason to continue the investigation. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He neither stopped nor supported the investigation.

The old king was finished, and there weren't many willing to seek justice for the dead, at least not here.

In short, the succession of the throne in the Tirol Kingdom settled quietly without much turmoil.

After gaining royal power, Meinette still faced many challenges.

The internal royal disputes subsided, but troubles remained numerous.

First of all, how to deal with Roland and Sofia.

This question posed no difficulty for the old fox Meinette; as long as he didn't acknowledge Sofia as the murderer, there was no need to avenge the old king.

But the old king's death had to be explained; one couldn't just say the entire family caught a cold at the concert and died, right?

Such an absurd cause of death would leave a stain in history.

After much deliberation, Meinette finally found a good way to twist the story.

Find Roland.

Roland and Sofia were the ones who killed, and they also had the need to cover up the facts.

The Dark Race was preparing to use the Tirol Kingdom as a springboard to invade, and once successful, it would be a disaster for all humanity. Roland and Sofia also had the motive to stop this.

Aligned interests and a common enemy gave Meinette the confidence to approach Roland.

He wasn't wrong. Upon learning about the loosening dark barriers and the encroachment of the Dark Race, Roland unhesitatingly made the wise decision.

In the face of the Dark Race threat, personal grudges were insignificant.

Roland didn't like Meinette, but he didn't refuse to cooperate.

Though Meinette wasn't a good person, he hadn't made mistakes in major issues.

If that guy was determined to side with the Dark Race, covering up the truth, that would be a real disaster.

Compared to the Franz family and Marshal Mattson, who were bewitched by Queen Sisi, Meinette at least hadn't fallen completely.

As for Meinette's personal moral corruption, greed, lechery, and lack of boundaries, Roland chose to selectively forget.

Personal morals aren't the primary criterion for evaluating political figures.

As long as the major issues are handled well, a private life in shambles is minor.

Roland's plan was to infiltrate with Christine, using Christine's sensitivity to the Dark Attribute to identify high-ranking officials corrupted by the Dark Race and then capture them all.

If possible, try to understand the principles of the Dark Race's invasion and rectify the situation.

Completely plugging the loophole wasn't something Roland placed much hope in; he only hoped the crack wouldn't become a highway, allowing free passage as they pleased.

According to known information, the Dark Race was a collective name for the branches of human tribes that failed during the Second Era.

In the Age of Gods, the victors ascended to the Divine Domain, while the losers either fell into reincarnation or were exiled to the most barren Exile Land, also known as the Dark Side.

These Dark Side tribes had another name, the Demon Race.

They were once members of humanity but failed in the competition over opportunities with the Three Goddesses' descendants, thus becoming the Demon Race.

The Dark Side is impoverished in resources, and the living environment is exceptionally harsh, making the plight of the Dark Side remainders imaginable.

If a harsh environment can't crush a population, it will surely temper them into steel.

To survive in such a godforsaken place, the average combat strength of the Dark Race far surpasses that of ordinary humans.

Once they invade, it would be akin to nomadic tribes trampling over an agrarian society long at peace; victory or defeat would be an unprecedented catastrophe.

Meinette rode alone in one wagon, while Roland and Christine hid in another.

The two exchanged hardly any words along the way, casting a somewhat somber atmosphere.

Thinking of Tirol, the city of music, possibly becoming a rift for the Dark Race's invasion weighed heavily on their minds.

Perhaps finding the atmosphere stifling, Christine attempted to recall something cheerful, smiling as she shared it with Roland.

"Roland, I have good news. In the past few months, the promotion rate among Light Believers has accelerated."

Roland's smile froze at his lips, sighing inwardly.

What kind of good news is this?

Unless he chose to betray Sofia, the conflict with the Goddess of Light was irreconcilable.

The strengthening of the Light Believers was not good news for him.

Christine usually spoke in her original voice, but once she got into character, her voice became exceedingly sacred, carrying an unassailable dignity.