For a long while, seeing that the three dukes remained silent, Julian sighed inwardly and bowed slightly.
“My Lord, you are correct. Duke Garce dared to collude with foreign races and conspire to murder the descendants of imperial nobles. His crimes are unforgivable. According to imperial law, the execution of his entire clan and the confiscation of their territory are the only appropriate punishments. As for assigning the territory to Duke Leo...”
He paused, his graying beard trembling slightly. “Duke Leo's eldest son exposed this case and personally captured the chief culprit, which deserves a reward under the law. These three counties should indeed belong to House Leo.”
These words were completely airtight.
Every word sounded as if he were reciting the imperial legal code, his tone as steady as if he were reading a long-prepared decree.
Duke Windsor spoke up immediately after. “Your Majesty is correct. Garce committed such a heinous crime that executing his entire clan is a light punishment. Duke Leo rid the empire of this great scourge, so these three counties rightfully belong to him.”
Duke Natt nodded vigorously, forcing a smile onto his fat face that looked worse than crying. “Yes, yes, yes. Quite right, quite right.”
Duke Mindrow also chimed in, “Duke Leo has performed great services. This is only natural.”
Ethan looked at the four of them.
While they said “quite right” with their mouths, a lingering trace of sheer agony remained in their eyes, which they hadn't managed to fully conceal in time.
That pain was hidden quickly—so quickly that an ordinary person would never have caught it.
“Since everyone agrees,” Ethan said, “then it's settled. The entire Garce family will be executed, and their territory and property will go to my father.”
He turned his head to look at Duke Leo.
“Father, you handle the follow-up. Gal.”
Gal, who had been standing respectfully to the side, quickly took a step forward. “Lord Ethan, please give your orders.”
“You will assist him. In return, you will receive ten bottles of Spirit-Refreshing Potion.”
Gal stepped forward, his tentacles poking out from the edge of his robe, the suction cups at their ends contracting violently with excitement. His entire face turned red beneath the shadow of his hood.
“Understood, My Lord. I will definitely cooperate with all my strength.”
Ethan nodded, retrieved ten bottles of Spirit-Refreshing Potion from his ring, and casually placed them on the side table.
He turned his head and nodded to Duke Leo.
“Father, I'll be leaving first.”
Duke Leo sat in the host's seat, his fingers resting on the armrest. His face remained expressionless as he gave a slight nod.
“Very well.”
Ethan turned and walked out of the drawing room.
Colin was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed.
The two walked to the door.
Outside, the two princes and the three children of the dukes stood in a straight line, their backs perfectly erect, their faces carrying the daze of survivors and a lingering dread that had not yet fully dissipated.
Ethan swept his gaze over them.
“Alright, you can go in. I'm sure your fathers have things to say to you.”
The five of them bowed at the same time.
“Yes, My Lord.”
Their voices blended together, respectful to the absolute limit.
They straightened up and walked past Ethan one by one, keeping their footsteps extremely light.
Colin reached out to close the door, then turned around, his lips quivering as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
“Brother, I...”
Ethan knew what Colin wanted.
It was nothing more than seeing the Wizard's methods and having the fire in his heart ignited.
He simply wanted to obtain the same power.
For a fifteen-year-old youth, witnessing extraordinary power blooming right before his eyes was a shock powerful enough to shatter anyone's sanity.
He stopped his pace and turned to look at Colin.
“Colin, you are only fifteen this year. You haven't reached sixteen, so you can't. Do you understand?”
Colin's mouth remained open, the requests he had spent so long preparing completely blocked in his throat.
He stared at Ethan's face, hoping to find some trace of relenting.
But Ethan's expression was calm, devoid of hesitation or pity, merely stating a cold fact.
Colin's shoulders slumped.
He lowered his eyelids, his tone softening significantly. “I understand, Brother.”
Ethan looked at him.
Colin stood there like a frostbitten sapling—his branches and leaves were still holding up, but his roots had already gone soft.
He had seen this expression far too many times.
Shaking his head, Ethan walked away.
Duke Garce's territory spanned three northern counties, encompassing seventeen cities and over thirty thousand private troops.
This level of wealth and power easily ranked within the top three in the Thorn Empire.
The Garce family had been rooted in the Thorn Empire for over two hundred years. Through marriages, alliances, and infiltration, their roots ran deep into every inch of the empire's soil.
No one would have ever imagined that such a behemoth would be completely uprooted within a mere half a month.
The imperial family and the three dukes watched with their own eyes as House Leo's knights swept through the three northern counties like a tidal wave.
No one could stop them.
Duke Garce had assembled his thirty thousand private soldiers in his castle, establishing seven lines of defense with checkpoints at every level from the foot of the mountain to the castle gates.
The first line of defense collapsed on the very afternoon of the initial clash.
The remaining six lines of defense crumbled one after another in the days that followed, so quickly that even the messengers sent to request aid could not outrun the retreating stragglers.
Duke Garce stood atop his castle tower, watching the black-armored flood surging from the horizon. His hands trembled so violently that he couldn't even hold his wine glass.
He couldn't understand how his family, which had operated in the Thorn Empire for two hundred years with intricate networks of marriage and alliances, couldn't even hold out for half a month.
He of course couldn't understand.
Because those who took action were not just House Leo's knights.
As a veteran Third-Tier Apprentice who was also proficient in alchemy, Gal's efforts against a mortal army were a complete and effortless crush, to say the least.
When the news reached the Imperial City, Julian was drinking.
By the time the secret report arrived, he had gotten completely dead drunk that night.
When the news of the Garce family's destruction spread throughout the empire, the entire aristocratic circle erupted in an uproar.
Seventeen cities, thirty thousand private soldiers, a two-hundred-year-old ducal house... gone in half a month.
Just like that, gone.
Some sent people to the Imperial City to fish for information, some directly prepared lavish gifts to send to House Leo's territory, and a few clever ones had already begun revising their family trees, trying to find any distant relation to House Leo.
Yet they could find out absolutely nothing.
The mouths of the imperial family and the three dukes were sealed tighter than those of the dead.
Not a single word concerning that secret discussion in the drawing room leaked out.
Thus, the entire aristocratic circle of the Thorn Empire fell into a bizarre atmosphere.
Everyone knew something massive had occurred, everyone knew the Garce family was finished, and everyone was desperately trying to guess the reason.
Yet not a single person could provide a definitive answer.
Some said Duke Garce's rebellion had been discovered.
Others said he had offended someone he couldn't afford to provoke.
There were even more ridiculous rumors claiming he had dug up something he shouldn't have while mining in the North.
All sorts of rumors spread wildly through the nobles' private banquets and secret letters, growing more and more absurd as they were passed along. Eventually, no one could tell what was true and what was fabricated.
However, there was one thing everyone was certain of.
From now on, House Leo was not to be trifled with.
Those families who had originally been close to the Garce family were now completely panicked.
Some destroyed letters overnight, some packed up the gifts sent by the Garce family and stuffed them into the deepest corners of their cellars, and a few simply closed their doors to guests, claiming illness to avoid seeing anyone.
A bloodless purge silently spread across the Thorn Empire.
There were no official decrees, no public announcements, yet everyone knew exactly what to do.
The name Garce was completely erased from the map of the Thorn Empire.
Rate on N.U.
