The days went on quickly in Rozex when many people finally noticed that building after building was built up next to the main market square. Even more shocking was that these complexes were quickly walled off and demolished. A new, massive building was slowly emerging from the ground up before their eyes. When everyone realized what was happening, it became the biggest news all over the city in the past century. It rarely ever happened; if someone did something like this, it was always connected to one of the Spires.
Their guesses were confirmed only a day later when a notice popped up, signed by Rabout and Ren. When the public read the statement, pinned to a giant noticeboard before the construction, it told them that a so-called "Wonder Emporium" would open its doors in the upcoming months. Two Spire Lords signing something at the same time? It had never happened before, and people were guessing what this even meant. What is a Wonder Emporium? But no matter where they looked, they found no answers to their question, left to wonder and guess randomly until it was finally opened to the public.
While the masses were spreading rumors, some people were sitting back home with shaking hands, holding a letter from the Nelvis family. All of them were on friendly terms with Ooda and had worked with him before, trusting and knowing his personality. Now a letter came from him, informing them about what the two Spires are working on and being asked to join in as partners. One way or another, this was something that none of them wanted to miss. It was a golden ticket to rise up and become one of the elite families inside Rozex, no matter their original backgrounds. Those families with ties to one of the Spires always enjoyed such privileges that only their backing could offer. Sometimes even having the chance to send their daughters or sons to be a concubine to someone from the Naulin bloodline… a true ascendence in some of the nobles' eyes. Life was dangerous inside Rozex. Families came and went in the wind, and only the tall walls of the Spires provided any shelter and security for their families' longevity.
Previously, when Rudrick held the leader position, his family backed multiple nobles throughout the city, keeping a firm grip on Rozex. He dipped his fingers into all walks of life, pressing them on the city's pulse at all times. Yet when he died, most of the families he had close ties with had unwillingly followed him to the grave, ending their lineage on the spot. Still, a handful remained who decided to leave at the first notice of trouble. They were so marginal and unimportant to their luck that not even Rudrick wasted resources for marking them. They emptied the then-still Spire of Rudrick and cut every tie with it, trying to avoid trouble or possible ramifications if anybody came after the weakened Spire and its followers.
Everything was calm and silent until now. Hearing that a descendant of Rudrick was alive and well? She arrived, took over the courtyard, and now decided to open a new business? Of course, they wanted to find their way back into their previous positions. They hoped to even climb the proverbial ladder, reaching new heights. In their eyes, it was a perfect opportunity to become more powerful than they had ever dreamed of!
"How many came to see my Master?" Ariana asked, sitting the same way Ren usually did, even holding a cup of coffee in the same posture as she was while asking Sentios.
"Five," he answered with a smile. "They are in the conference room on the first floor. Kitten and some servants are currently accompanying them.
"So they are here for my Master?" She asked again, placing down the cup, stretching and moaning softly.
"I told them she was unavailable as she is at the Spire of Rabout. They said they are willing to wait, of course." he shook his head. "I can throw them out if you want."
"No. This is good. Call Seya. She and I can handle this! No need to even bother Master about it!"
"I thought so." Sentios nodded. "I already notified her. She is waiting for you."
"Ahaha, you are efficient!" Ariana clapped, already seeing Sentios in a new light. Getting to know him personally and working together managed to ease her mood and stance toward him.
"I always was. Maybe too lost in details. That is why my brother won the throne, as I always got lost in chasing unimportant extras. Anyway, I've learned a lot since then!"
"Mhm, I know." she shook her head before standing up. "Come, accompany me!"
"Certainly." Sentios smiled, following her until she met up with Seya. She was nervous about meeting with the arrived noble family leaders. They once escaped the courtyard, leaving Seya and the others behind, slipping out with who knows what kind of wealth under their arms.
While they were coming down to the first floor, looking at Seya, she was waiting at the bottom of the spiral staircase, playing with her fingers, waiting for Ariana's arrival.
"Lady Ariana!" She bowed quickly, but she just sighed, helping her stand straight, reaching out with a shadowy arm from the girl's shadow.
"No bowing towards me; I'm just a maid!" Ariana walked down, fixing Seya's clothing. "You are the Lord of this tower until Master is back!" she giggled, even fixing her hair. "Have you been briefed on what is happening?"
"Yes. I know everything! I took a quick look, and I recognized all of them! They were leaders of small families who were working inside the courtyard. Three of them provided an unskilled labor force to the manufacturers, one of them provided a lot of servants for menial tasks, and the other was responsible for keeping the garden prim and proper!"
"So the ones who were not important enough to be planted with Rudrick's controlling powers, huh? Figures." she crossed her arms, listening to her. "And now they are here to show off, saying they are back to serve? Laughable!"
"Lady… they… they stole a lot of things, especially from the servants' quarters and from the empty manufacturing buildings!"
"That would explain why there were a lot of tools missing." Sentios nodded. "When I combed through the buildings and workshops when we arrived, they were mostly empty; only heavy machinery was left behind, bolted to the floor."
"It would mean they are up for a beheading! Stealing property of the Naulin bloodline is not a joke." Ariana grinned. "Even in our Sect, stealing from a fellow disciple warrants heavy punishment, even the chance of exile with the possibility of crippling the culprit's cultivation!"
"But we can't provide proof for it…." Seya said with a downcast voice when Ariana patted her shoulders, raising her head.
"Aren't you the best evidence we have? All of you who remained here and saw what happened?" She asked, looking into her eyes, dispelling her gloomy mood. "I am going to walk in behind you! This is going to depend solely on you, Seya! Go in and do what you feel is correct; I will support you, no matter the outcome!"
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"I…" she opened her mouth but seeing her and Sentios's gaze, she just gulped, collecting all of her strength and finally nodding, walking up to the double door, placing her hands on it.
"Don't forget…." Ariana sent a voice transmission to her. "You are now Princess Seya. When my Master is not here, you lead the Spire!"
"..." Seya gulped loudly, looking back over her shoulder and nodding at her. "Yes, Lady Ariana!" She mouthed the words and pushed the door open, walking in with a completely different attitude, looking really confident, exuding a regal aura from all over her body.
As soon as she entered, every other pair of eyes landed on her body, scanning her from top to bottom, trying to figure out whether they had seen her before. The five family heads were in their late forties, with varying strength but none stronger than the fourth or fifth stage of the body refinement realm. One of them quietly exclaimed as he recognized Seya, seeing her before amongst the servants.
"Oh? Are we going to be escorted to our lodgings until the Lord comes back?" He smiled and asked after recognizing Seya, thinking they had come to show them where they would rest for the night.
"No." she shook her head, remaining calm and confident while facing them. "But for now, you are all under arrest." she dropped a bombshell onto them, drawing a small smile onto Ariana's face but freezing the ones present on theirs.
"T-this must be a mistake… why would-" one of the others stuttered.
"A servant should not joke behind her Master like this! We are going to report it-" fought back the only one who knew Seya from the past, but he was quickly shot down by a glare from her. What was even more frightening was that Sentios, who already walked behind them, locked onto every one of them with his own aura. It was starting to weigh down on their consciousness stronger and stronger as they continued to resist. Kitten, who was playing the role of a smiling, shy little maid girl, was leaning against the only door to the room, grinning, ready to jump in if any of them tried to run for it.
"I'm not a servant. I am the Princess of this tower and the second in command if Her Majesty is not here!" Seya rebutted them with a strong voice. Even though she was shorter than them, they felt like she was looking down on them as their eyes met. "Your families are accused of deserting the courtyard, betraying the family line, and even stealing from it!"
"We did not!" came a panicked protest by reflex, but Seya just looked at them like they were already dead.
"We would not have pursued the matter. Not if you stay put and enjoy what you stole from the courtyard! From a ruling family! From the Spire that was bearing the name of the previous King of the Naulin Kingdom! Do any of you know what it means to steal from the royal family?" she asked, tilting her head to the right, holding her hand behind her back to mask its trembling. Deep inside, she was stressed and excited at the same time, giving her first important performance everything she got. She hoped to be praised by Ren when she returned.
"Death penalty. For the whole family," Sentios answered instead of the five, crossing his arms before his chest and forcing them to kneel before Seya with one push of his aura.
"Please! We-"
"It was a mistake to come back! You made off with a fortune, and you could live effortlessly with your families for generations if you spend rationally! Yet you came back at the first sign, trying to weasel your way back to earn more? Portraying yourself as a loyal family in service of the bloodline? I bet you wouldn't even dare to let out a fart if Rudrick was still alive! Hmph!" Seya scoffed at them, angry at the memory of being left alone with dead bodies surrounding them.
Her words made Ariana chuckle, seeing a little of her Master in Seya at that moment, be it her posture or wordings. Now she really looked like they were cousins.
"Take them away! Leave none related to them outside! For now, send out Balbeer and some guards to round up their families and transport them here! We are going to wait for Her Majesty's return, and she is going to make the final decision!"
"Yes!" Ariana and Sentios bowed and answered simultaneously, escorting away the five deathly pale men, who barely could walk, dragged along by Ariana's black tentacles, wrapping around their wrists as shackles.
…
….
…..
"Oh? Did she do that? Nice!" Ren laughed, hearing Ariana's report through a voice transmission crystal. She was explaining to her what happened while she was inside Rabout's Spire, floating amongst tens of meters tall bookcases, forming a real labyrinth inside. "I knew she had potential~ Good job~ Anyway, I'll be back only tomorrow or the day after! Keep them locked up until that day! Grandpa locked himself into his laboratory after coming out from the training room that I promised to him."
"Are you really giving him one, Master? Is it a good idea?" Ariana asked with a bit of caution in her voice.
"It is only a temporary one. Plus, now I have a lot of resources to start producing goodies to fill up our Wonder Emporium by the time it has its grand opening! Also, only a few more uses, and it is going to crumble! I'm not a saint; if he wishes to use a permanent one, he is going to need to join the Sect and contribute to it!" Ren smiled while she floated to the side, scanning the hundreds of thousands of books before her. "It would be a win-win situation. Especially now, after I saw his collection… he really is a history maniac. I read records about how the earlier descendants of Zelig thought about him!"
"I guess they worshiped him, huh?" Ariana replied with unmistakable sarcasm.
"Believe it or not, no! They were afraid of him! The direct descendants' memoirs that remained here tell an interesting story! They all mention the same thing: What they MUST avoid at all costs if they anger him! If they anger Zelig, they risk their… where was it…." She flew a few rows back and picked out an old, almost crumbling roll of paper, unfurling it and reading it to Ariana. "Ah, here it is! I quote: Angering His Majesty can result in severe consequences. One of them is that he may perform a late-term abortion on the family, affected by his ire. If this comes to pass, the rest of the family branch that is suffering under his attention MUST avoid resisting at all costs. It is to prevent further steps and not cause the collective punishment of the whole family line. If it still results in his 'prevention of bloodline degeneration,' the affected branch must be purged, and the younglings must be adopted into other branches in secret. That is what the text says!"
"What the… hell?" came her answer after a few seconds of silence.
"It seems back then he was even worse than now. This was a letter between family heads. I guess if it came down to penning something like this, there must have been examples for all the mentioned warnings! I bet if this reaches Zelig, the one who wrote it would be killed with all of his close relatives! Anyway, the guy is a complete nutcase! I already decided he had to go! No way around it!"
"I agree, Master. He is too dangerous!"
"Luckily, not everyone inherited his personality. One such line that did has already been ended by me… and I'll finish cleaning the house. Using his own wordings, I am performing prevention of bloodline degeneration~."
"Sounds good, Master!" Ariana chuckled. "We should go back right to the root of the problems!"
"Oh, don't worry about that. When the time comes, I will! Plus, there is another thing!"
"Yes?"
"I found some interesting clues. I'll talk about it with Rabout when he is out and interacting with us again and not lost in his own world… but for now, do something for me! And be CAREFUL about it!"
"I'm listening, Master!" She answered with a solemn voice, turning serious in an instant.
"Go down to the base of the Spire, try to get a feeling of the air and energy flow there. Note down what you feel, no matter how strange or inconspicuous it is. Then please go to Keina's Spire and do the same."
"On it, Master… but… why?"
"A hunch…" Ren said after a bit of pause, looking at the extensive library around her, "I get the feeling that those five Spires are not just there because they look cool… the whole city feels… strange. Artificial. Planned too perfectly."
"Like…" Araina's eyes opened wide, getting onto what her Master was saying.
"A formation."