Chapter 96: Meeting

“Welcome, Sir Raven,” Philip said with a polite bow. “Her Grace is in an important meeting. Please follow me to the guest room.”

Raven followed the butler through the grand halls of the mansion, his boots clicking softly against the polished marble floor. Chandeliers adorned with glowing crystals lit up the space, casting a warm glow.

But as soon as they entered the main hall, a female voice filled with spiritual power echoed through the mansion like divine words.

“Philip, guide him to the study,”

“Y-Yes, Your Grace!” Philip nodded hurriedly and guided Raven upstairs.

They ascended a spiral staircase and passed through several intricately carved wooden doors, each radiating a faint magical energy. As they walked further, a pair of double doors adorned with carvings of birds and runes glowing faintly in different colors stood at the end of the corridor.

Philip opened the doors with a deep bow, gesturing for Raven to enter.

Inside, Judith was seated at a large desk, her sharp eyes focused on a parchment. Bookshelves lined the right-side wall, and tables and cupboards were on the left side.

But Raven’s attention was drawn to another person in the study.

‘An advocate? Even an advocate is an Expert Rank?’ She was only around 20 years old, had amber eyes and blonde hair, and wore a long black coat over her white shirts and pants. At that moment, she sat on one of the wooden chairs placed across Judith and was in the middle of looking at a paper.

Noticing his gaze, she turned her head, smiled at him, and introduced herself.

“I’m Lorain, a high-rank advocate.” She responded with simple words.

Meanwhile, Judith looked up, her piercing gaze meeting Raven’s. She set the parchment aside and leaned back in her chair, motioning for him to sit across from her.

“So, that Wizard can indeed look into the future, huh,” she said, her tone laced with curiosity. “Raven Sillalus Jorvot, is it?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Raven replied, bowing slightly before taking the seat offered.

“I have a question before we start discussing your problem.” Judith went straight to the point and asked.

“Is your teacher still alive? If the Wizard from my dream can even look into a faraway future and prophesize, why does he need my help?”

‘Did she assume that dream was a memory of her?’

Raven froze for a second and soon answered.

“My Teacher is indeed still alive, Your Grace. But he is currently in a faraway place and can’t help me.” He soon added with an apologetic tone.

“I must apologize for involving you in my problems, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Judith smirked, folding her arms. “Desperation indeed. You claim yourself as the 66th prince of the Empire. Your teacher even asked me to get involved in royal affairs to save a criminal while tempting me with an affinity potion. But as far as we know, the 66th Prince was born dead, right?”

At that moment, the young girl beside Raven stared at him for a few seconds and spoke.

“It’s indeed strange. If you are indeed the 66th Prince as you claimed to be, why did the Royal Family declare you born dead? Moreover, why did that woman named Shirley kidnap you and the sword princess in the middle of the night and disappear 15 years ago?”

“She is not a random woman but my aunt. And she didn’t kidnap us. She and my sister took me from the Royal Palace to save me.” Raven said solemnly.

“Save you? From whom? Emperor?” Even Judith was startled by his words. After all, no father would be cruel enough to kill a newborn child.

“I was born with no affinities and even had problems in my soul, Your Grace. The Emperor and the Prime Minister seemed to have given up on me and decided to kill me on the day I was born. I don’t know what happened, but my aunt and sister sneaked me out of the Royal Palace after learning their plan and raised me in a rural town all these years. Thankfully, my teacher found me and gave me a second chance. He also cured my soul and gave me a ‘Genius’ rank affinity potion as a gift.”

“G-Genius rank affinity potion?” Judith blinked her eyes in surprise.

“And I have this thing with me to prove my identity.” Saying so, Raven took out the bracelet from his inventory and showed it to her.

Meanwhile, Judith caught the bracelet, used her spirit power to analyze it, and soon nodded.

“This is indeed a royal Inheritance bracelet that everyone from the Royal Family wears. But I heard it’s almost impossible to remove once you have worn it. How did you remove it from your hand?”

Raven smiled instead of replying and soon asked.

“Is it enough for me to prove my identity?”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“It’s indeed good evidence. But your aunt’s case has no hope. Even if I take this case, the judges will postpone this case to a later date and delay as much as possible. I don’t know if you know this, but the Chief Judge has unique eyes capable of discerning truth from lies. But why do you think your aunt is in jail? It’s a predetermined case. And once the public shifts their attention to something else, the Royal Family will stealthily close the case.” Lauren said.

‘True. I have long heard of Chief Judge’s unique eye skills. Moreover, my whole court plan depends on his unique skill.’

[Eye of Truth skill is popular for discerning truth from lies. But to learn that, one has to walk on the Divine or Class Gem pathway path. I’m 100% sure that Chief Judge is a follower of Divine Pathway. And those who follow the Divine pathway will have heavy restrictions. Well, his weakness is bound to get exposed during the next hearing anyway.] Zera said in his mind.

“As long as I’m alive, they have no choice but to keep my aunt safe, right?” Raven said.

“Naïve thought,” Lauran responded with a sigh.

“Deliberate accidents. I’ve seen countless cases disappearing after the defendant died in the cell accidentally. The more this case stays in the court, the longer it damages the reputation of the Royal Family. They put this kidnapping case on the Supreme Court trial to get the good side of the people while making your aunt the enemy of the public. Do you think they will stay still if things start happening in the opposite direction?”

Raven’s expression soured.

“Haa, it seems I have no choice but to rely on my teacher’s gifts then.” His words made Judith raise her eyebrows.

“Gifts? What can they do?”

Raven took a deep breath and asked a strange question.

“Do you think this Empire is moving in the right direction, Your Grace?”

“Pardon? Aren’t all people living happily compared to before?” Judith tilted her head in confusion.

“But who is the real ruler? Even though my biological father is the Emperor, he doesn’t even have the power to decide the fate of a single person. And if you say this Empire is slowly moving to the people’s rule, I don’t see anything happening anywhere. The ones who rule are Wizards. Especially the Wizards from the Wizard Alliance!” Raven said in a solemn tone.

[To be more precise, the Wizard Alliance of the Arcane Mist Empire.] Zera spoke in his head.

“So, what can we even do? They hold the power already. Even though I’m considered the second strongest, I can’t even last ten seconds against Gavin. Moreover, I heard Gavin isn’t even in the top 1000 in the Arcane Mist Wizard’s Ranking list. They have advanced knowledge, advanced spell models, and even many terrifying artifacts. What does our Empire have? Although we have Aether weapons and armor, they were far inferior in quality when compared to the ones in the mainland continent.”

“Truth be told, Raven. If not for my attachment to the Empire, I would’ve long become a member of the Wizard Alliance and left for the mainland. Currently, more and more wizards are going abroad for a better lifestyle. Unlike our small Ivory Island continent, the mainland has countless treasures, wealth, and opportunities. Even the Royal Family agreed to the Wizards’ agreement and accepted the changes ages ago. You can’t save your aunt while opposing the Royal Family. It’s the same as rebelling.” Judith shook her head.

“I know it’s impossible to save my aunt through legal means. Even if I save her now, the Royal Family will do something behind my back to take their anger out.” He took a deep breath and soon spoke.

“That’s why I’ll do it in my way. I want you guys to help me with something during the hearing. I want to get an answer from the prime minister during the hearing. Can you arrange that?”

“He will show up if he receives the news of Lauren taking this case,” Judith said calmly.

“Thank you, Your Grace. Once the hearing is over, I’ll come again and discuss our future partnership.” He then turned his attention towards Lauren and bowed his head.

“Please take this case, ma’am. You don’t even have to win this case. All I need is the public’s attention.”

His request confused Lauren, but she finally nodded.

“You want me to take the case and reveal your identity to the world, right? It seems your teacher gave my elder sister a big gift. I’ll take this case and allow you to prove yourself.” She suddenly took a golden badge from her spatial ring and gave it to him.

“As long as you show this badge to the police officer at the entrance, they will directly escort you to the first row’s VIP seats. That’s all I can help you.”

“That’s more than enough. Also, I will appear in the court only for around 30 seconds and then disappear. After that, you must wait five more minutes to appear again to hear. That way, even if things go south, I won’t get caught by Royal Guards or Wizards.”

“A spell capable of evading even Legendary Wizard’s spirit power, huh?” Judith was even more intrigued and nodded in understanding.

“There is such a spell?” Even Lauren showed a shocked look and soon spoke.

“If you are capable of such feet, you won’t even fear the judges and emperor, right?” The real reason even Lauren kept her mouth sealed in many cases, even though she had evidence to prove the opposition guilty, was mainly due to the power held by the Wizards.

If she doesn’t follow the rules, the Judges would summon the guards and forcefully drag her out of the courtroom. In the worst-case scenario, they would file a case against her and lock her in jail.

‘But if he can protect himself in that situation, he doesn’t need to hold back and can even criticize the emperor!’ What mattered most was the public opinion. As long as the truth was revealed to the public, the court would’ve no choice but to comply.

“I’ll set up a stage for you. Play all you want.” A cold glint appeared in her eyes.

[Remember, kid. In front of absolute strength, nothing will stand in the way.]

“I’ll use the opportunity wisely,”

Raven stood up and thanked both from the bottom of his heart.

“Then, I’ll be taking my leave, Your Grace.” Saying so, he turned around and started walking towards the door.

But all of a sudden, he thought of something and spoke.

“A piece of information from my teacher to you, Your Grace. He told me a wolf named ‘Edward Raynor’ lurks around you.”

At that moment, Judith also thought of something and asked.

“Did your teacher come from the mainland?”

Raven paused, pondering for a few seconds.

‘What should I tell?’

[It’s better to keep things more mysterious. If you said yes, there is a high possibility that the Wizards from the main continent will investigate thoroughly and cause trouble. Let’s keep everyone in the dark.]

“No, Your Grace. He isn’t from the main continent. He came from a faraway land. No, more like a faraway world.”

Saying so, he opened the door and walked out, leaving Judith and Lauren dumbfounded.

“Faraway world? What does he mean? Is there another world like Eclipse?” Lauren widened her eyes in shock.

“He came in like a storm, talked like some big shot, and even left clues of some spy! I’m truly curious about his teacher’s origin now.” Judith muttered.

She thought of a different approach after learning his teacher wasn’t from the mainland.

“So, do you have any idea of the wolf?” Lauren asked.

“I may not be that smart regarding schemes, Lauren. But I’ve lived for centuries and reached the legendary realm long ago. I’ve long guessed it’s a crafty wolf in sheep’s skin. But I never thought it came from the Raynor family. Aren’t they in cahoots with Wizard Alliance recently?” Judith frowned a bit and soon shook her head.

“Until we find a way to mass-produce potion ingredients on our own, we’ve no choice but to keep all these wolves and rats nearby.”

As they discussed politics and wizard-related things, Raven quietly descended from the second floor and reached the main hall.

Then, he bid farewell to the butler and left the mansion house.

…