Bell knew that Princess Elizabeth, standing before her, already suspected her. If she didn't explain herself clearly, the consequences could be dire.
"Princess Elizabeth, it wasn't me who revealed your identity! Didn't you just use your ability to confirm that I wasn't lying?" Bell hastily explained. When she was frozen earlier, she had already stated that she hadn't revealed Princess Elizabeth's identity to anyone.
"Oh, right," Iri thought. Bell had indeed said earlier that she hadn't revealed her identity to anyone, and that was under such circumstances. Now, Bell wouldn't dare to lie to her, especially with her chuunibyou-like heterochromatic eyes glaring at her!
Bell, intimidated by her made-up True Magic Eye, was even less likely to lie. However, how did Bell know that the Theocracy's high-ranking officials had already grasped her identity?
Furthermore, did the Theocracy acquire her information before or after granting her the Extra Seat of the Black Scripture? And since they knew her identity, what was the purpose of pretending to be completely unaware?
Were they playing a trick?
"Is that so? Then I ask you, how did you know that the Theocracy's high-ranking officials were already aware of my true situation?" Iri asked. This was crucial, as it would largely influence her next course of action.
"It was during that visit to the Empire. When you were watching the competition in the front row, the Emperor of the Empire handed a small note to Dominic of the Windflower Scripture, stating your true identity and also warning Dominic to be careful," Bell quickly explained.
"Hoh... and then what?" Iri narrowed her eyes. So the Blood Emperor had used that opportunity to hand a note to Chief Priest Dominic of the Windflower Scripture! Bell must have been standing behind them at the time! She actually managed to read the contents of the note; her eyesight was quite good.
"Then Dominic also wrote a note and handed it back, saying that they already knew your true identity and that you were controlled by the Theocracy's secret treasure, reassuring the Emperor," Bell continued.
"Haha! Alright!" Iri snorted, then dispelled her Ice Aura. Bell breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Iri no longer had her earlier murderous aura.
It seems the Theocracy somehow learned that she was the Magic Kingdom's princess. If Dominic said that to the Blood Emperor, it meant they still mistakenly believed she was under their control? It seems they were very confident in the performance of Falling Beauty of a Nation.
However, there was one thing Iri still couldn't figure out. Since they already knew she was the Magic Kingdom's princess, why did they still ask her to be a guard during the meeting with the Empire's Blood Emperor?
Wouldn't it have been better to assign the guard duty to other more trustworthy members of the Black Scripture? Iri guessed that the Theocracy's high-ranking officials must have had ulterior motives for doing so, but she couldn't figure out what those motives were.
After all, this wasn't in the original work, and she wasn't Xiao Di, so she didn't have such powerful imaginative abilities. However, from the current situation, it seemed that her feigned state of being controlled had not yet been discovered by the Theocracy, so Bell stopping her from appearing in E-Rantel earlier was indeed a great help.
"But, Bell... why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" Iri looked again at Bell, who had relaxed, thinking everything was fine.
"Eek... that... I didn't have a chance to say anything..." Bell replied cautiously.
She wouldn't dare to lie to her, so it wasn't Bell's fault. In that case, appearing in E-Rantel was out of the question. It was a shame she had gone to the trouble of wearing the new princess gown Albedo made for her; it would be a waste not to make good use of it. If that was the case, hmph...
Iri thought of her second destination. Although appearing in that place would probably also be dangerous, the Theocracy's spies shouldn't be that formidable, right? To be safe, she should do some preliminary work first!
"Anti-detection activated..." Iri silently took out a magic scroll, activated anti-detection, and then continued to question Bell.
"Bell, what's the effective range of your eavesdropping magic?"
"About two hundred meters..." Bell answered honestly.
"Tsk, what a waste, completely useless," Iri clicked her tongue and said.
"Ugh... but you didn't notice me eavesdropping on you for several weeks, so how am I useless...?" Bell mumbled something quietly, feeling a bit wronged.
"What did you say?" Iri had indeed heard Bell's mumbling, but for the sake of appearances, she didn't expose it. She really hadn't discovered how Bell had been eavesdropping on her.
"Nothing! Bell is indeed useless!" Bell quickly replied.
"Forget it. When we go to the place later, just stay behind me and don't talk nonsense! Do you hear me?" Iri said, a little annoyed.
"Oh..." Bell could only agree with a wronged expression.
"High-Tier Teleportation Magic activated!" So Iri directly activated the teleportation magic.
In the next instant, they were no longer in the alley of E-Rantel. In the blink of an eye, the surrounding scenery had switched to a dark room.
Through a sliver of natural light filtering through the gap in the curtains hanging on the window, she could roughly make out the furnishings in the room, which were quite luxurious. Although they couldn't compare to Princess Elizabeth's room, it looked like it should be a room used by some noble, Bell thought, looking around.
"It's still in its original state? I thought someone else would have moved in after I left," Iri said, also looking around. Bell was very confused. Where was this place? From what Princess Elizabeth said, this should be a place she used to live in, right?
Iri sat down directly, then gave Bell an order to open the curtains. Iri then rang the small Bell placed on the table.
Less than ten seconds after Iri rang the small Bell, she heard frantic footsteps from the corridor outside, and then saw the door violently flung open. A blonde female knight in full black and grey armor burst in, holding a long spear.
"Who is so bold as to dare to break in... Eh? Ah??" The blonde female knight didn't even finish her sentence before her expression changed dramatically when she saw who was sitting on the sofa.
"Yo! Long time no see, Renas," Iri greeted with a smile.
"Iri... Princess Elizabeth? You? How did you come here?" Renas was full of surprise. She hadn't received any information about Princess Elizabeth's visit. She had just been on her routine patrol nearby when she heard the Bell from Princess Elizabeth's former room and rushed over.
She had initially thought it was some suicidal servant who had carelessly entered and rung it, but to her surprise... it was Princess Elizabeth herself.
"Isn't this still my room? I can come whenever I want, right!" Iri said with a smile.
"Indeed... you can come anytime you wish," Renas echoed. This was certainly true. Let alone this room, strictly speaking, Princess Elizabeth was now another ruler of the Empire. Although the terms of the vassal state were still being discussed, the fact that the Empire was a vassal was undeniable.
"Then, where is Emperor Brother? Could I trouble Renas to inform Emperor Brother? Just tell him I'm here. If he's free, I'll go play with him later. If he's not free..." Iri didn't finish her sentence.
"I will go inform His Majesty immediately! His Majesty should be free to receive you. Please wait a moment! I'll go right away!" Renas said, then ran out nervously, not even closing the door.
Bell watched, stunned. Upon seeing the female knight's grey and black full body armor, Bell already knew where she was. That style of armor was only worn by the Empire's Four Great Generals.
In other words... now, she was within the Empire. What surprised Bell was that Princess Elizabeth, standing before her, had such great capabilities. Although she had been very curious when she secretly saw the Emperor of the Empire hand over a small note earlier in the Arena, about how the Emperor knew Princess Elizabeth's identity.
She didn't expect Princess Elizabeth and the Emperor of the Empire to have a private relationship? Then... after she told Princess Elizabeth about the note... she immediately ran over here... This meant that Princess Elizabeth was clearly here to settle accounts with the Emperor of the Empire, wasn't she?!
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