"Are you sure??" Aurelius asked again. His voice was devoid of certainty and belief.
He still could not believe that the person who helped him the most during difficult times was the one who was responsible for Aurelius’s smooth rulership of the empire.
A faint tremor lingered beneath his words, barely perceptible, yet heavy enough to reveal the storm raging within him.
The one man he respected with all his heart was now under suspicion of betrayal. The very thought felt like poison creeping through Aurelius’s veins.
Number 1 looked at the Emperor’s expression and sighed; he knew he had to be very careful with his words.
He stood up and started narrating everything from the start, where the butler had handed the copper coin to the innkeeper, and how it ended up in Duke Winter’s mansion.
"Currently, Duke Winter is arriving at the imperial palace to meet someone and inform him of the news of attack in four hours; that someone might be the one who leaks the secrets to the cult, and even if that person is not involved with the cult, he is still suspicious enough just by the manner in which intelligence is being relayed to him."
Aurelius fazed out absentmindedly as several thoughts flashed across his mind. Duke Winter had earlier refused to join him in the invasion so why was he moving right now? Was the person he was going to meet Daniel?? he wondered for a moment before shaking those thoughts.
Blue Raven, who was sitting nonchalantly on the sofa, looked at Number 1 and said, "You should find out who this Duke Winter is meeting with in the imperial palace; that person must be the mole."
He spoke with an ease that contrasted sharply with the suffocating tension on Aurelius’s face.
Number 1 hesitated to nod; he wanted to do exactly that, but the emperor in front of him was too fazed by the feeling of betrayal that he couldn’t muster the courage to ask for any orders.
"Go," Yue, sitting on the other side of the couch, spoke in a firm voice, finally making Commander Number 1 bow and disappear to carry out the orders.
"Huh, I was talking in the same language." Blue Raven said while looking at Yue with a chuckle, complaining how Number 1 didn’t move on his words. He leaned back, stretching slightly after voicing out loud.
Yue’s smile curled. "Didn’t you know that the imperial army and forces only take orders from the emperor or the ancestors of Riverdale? Isn’t that common for where you come from?" There was a faint glint of amusement in her eyes, though it did little to hide her curiosity.
Blue Raven shook his head. "In our organization, people aren’t bound by formalities; they act swiftly according to the situation, and their utmost priority is completing their mission swiftly and precisely. Success is followed by formalities; that’s what the sovereign believes." His tone carried a quiet pride, as if speaking of something far greater than what words could convey.
"Oh, interesting," Yue spoke, fiddling with the cup in her hands.
"By the way," Andrea kept the cup down and spoke; she had been hearing the two of them converse.
"Tell us something more about your organization; we are really in the dark about your eternal sovereign and all the ravens with different code names after colors." Her posture straightened slightly.
Andrea spoke with a mild smile, hoping to get clear on the intentions of this mysterious entity.
The blue raven looked at both ladies in front of him for a few moments before nodding while he sat in a laid-back fashion on the couch with one hand spread behind it.
"My lord’s intentions are mysterious. His foresight and intent are beyond us mortals; we ravens are just humble servants running the organization under him and helping him as pawns on his board."
Andrea’s face twitched slightly while she masked it with a smile. She got not even a speck of useful information from those lines, just hyperbole of the eternal sovereign. A flicker of annoyance passed through her eyes.
She still did not give up. "What I was hoping was to know about what it is that you ravens contribute to your lord that you can call yourselves the elders of the cult." Her tone sharpened subtly, pressing forward with intent.
Blue Raven sat up from his laid-back posture as he saw Andrea leaning forward; with a sigh, he twisted the base of the cup against the plane of the table resting between them.
"We ravens have different responsibilities, and each one of us has different responsibilities and departments to manage," he spoke. His words carried more weight this time; he had chosen to reveal just a fraction more.
"Oh!!" Both ladies’ eyes lit up as they finally made the raven speak up. A shared spark of excitement flickered between them.
"May I ask what department you manage, Lord Indigo?" Yue asked with a slight smile.
Blue Raven tilted his head and looked at her with angled eyes as she tried to look at him with a stare that could melt the hearts of men. William chuckled in his mind and simply replied with an amused expression.
"Department of War," he said with a smile.
"War??" Andrea, Yue, and even Aurelius, who had now come out of their stupor, looked at him with wide eyes.
Yue coughed a bit before saying, "I don’t mean to sound rude, but I have never heard about your army or any other wars the Eternal Sovereign has fought against anyone in the past." Her voice wavered slightly, caught between skepticism and caution.
"So I find it hard to believe you guys have a military," Yue said in a low tone, trying not to sound mocking. Even so, a faint edge of doubt lingered unmistakably.
Meanwhile, Andrea at her side didn’t have a similar reaction: she had seen the capability of this organization closer than Yue; she had seen the insanely broken array that had ended a battle against a demon lord in a matter of half an hour.
She had also seen the capability of that spacecraft to attack like a weapon.
The blue raven looked at Yue with a chuckle. "Well, you can consider today’s mission as the first operation our organization is going to perform in front of the world."
Yue chuckled and wanted to know where his army was, but she stopped as she sensed another presence entering the room.
Number 1 entered the chambers and kneeled in front of Aurelius. "Your Majesty, Duke Winter is holding a closed-door meeting with Lord Daniel."
As soon as the words left his mouth, realization settled on everyone in the room, well, except William, who already knew everything.
The Blue Raven (William) stood up from the couch and came forward before placing his hands on Aurelius’s shoulders and pressing them firmly.
"See, there is your mole right next to you, yet you chose to question my lord." Next, he leaned a bit forward and spoke in a low, deep voice.
"Next time, instead of questioning my lord’s words, question your own capability."
He said before patting the shoulder lightly and turning to sit back in front of Yue and Andrea.
"We are going to attack right now," Blue Raven said as if making an unquestionable declaration.