The atmosphere in the room grew heavy.
The candle flas seed to sense sothing as well, beginning to flicker uneasily.
The lines on the floor writhed even more violently, as if sothing were awakening from the abyss.
"So."
Gregor broke the silence.
His voice was raspy and somber.
"What are we going to do?"
"What else can we do?"
The young man's tone carried a hint of coldness.
"Eliminate her."
"Get rid of Yana Lovelace, and if possible, deal with that old stubborn fool Erwina as well."
"Easier said than done."
The sweet-voiced woman's laughter rang out.
"Lovelace is no easy target to deal with. Not to ntion she's currently in hiding."
"Furthermore, she now wields a power we know nothing about."
"How do you plan to kill her? Who goes? You?"
"I have no desire to follow in Liselotte's footsteps."
"Enough."
Peter's voice rang out again.
It remained calm, devoid of any emotion.
"Disagreents can be discussed later."
"Right now, we must face our common enemy."
"I will never allow any existence ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) that can threaten the Secret Party to appear in the Empire again."
"And I certainly won't allow that existence to be Yana Lovelace."
"She has opposed us for far too long."
"It is ti to end this."
"Therefore."
He looked around.
"I propose a total purge of Dr. Lovelace and Duchess Erwina."
"Mobilize every resource available."
"At any cost."
"Until they vanish completely."
"Regarding my proposal, who is in favor? Who is opposed?"
Silence.
No one spoke.
A mont later, Gregor was the first to raise his hand.
Then the sweet-voiced woman.
Then the young man.
One by one.
Of the thirteen chairs, the black-robed figures in ten of them raised their hands.
The remaining three chairs remained silent.
But silence itself was tacit consent.
"Very well."
Peter nodded.
"Next, we need to discuss the specific plan."
"First question."
Gregor spoke imdiately, his voice raspy and urgent.
"We have to find that woman."
"I can use my black market channels to mobilize a group of people imdiately. As long as she is still within the Empire, she will show her tail sooner or later."
"The black market alone isn't enough."
The young man shook his head.
"Lovelace has operated in the Empire for so many years; her hiding place won't be found so easily."
"We need to utilize higher-level powers."
"We have people in the Imperial Security Bureau, and in the military as well."
"Have them act simultaneously to weave a net."
"And the Royal Research Institute."
The sweet-voiced woman added.
"Dr. Lovelace was a core mber of the Research Institute."
"She must still have so old subordinates there."
"Find those people, and we might be able to follow the trail to her."
"All of this can be done."
Peter said.
"Each of you do your best to investigate. Send all information back to the Secret Party, to be coordinated by Adelaide."
"Now, for the next topic: what exactly is the existence that defeated Liselotte?"
The room fell into silence once more.
This question clearly made everyone present feel uneasy.
"Liselotte was a Sequence V of the Path of the Empress."
A black-robed figure who hadn't spoken yet suddenly chid in.
His voice was dry, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.
"To defeat her, one must be at least Sequence V or higher."
"But as far as I know, there are no more than twenty Wayfarers within the Empire capable of doing that."
"We have so understanding of all these people."
"If any of them were to make a move, we should have received word imdiately."
"But we received nothing."
Gregor took up the thread.
"In that case, either sothing is wrong with our intelligence network..."
"Or..."
His voice grew low.
"That existence is sothing we have never seen before."
"Or perhaps it's sothing Dr. Lovelace researched herself."
The young man sneered.
"That woman has always been ssing around with all sorts of ssy experints."
"Who knows what kind of monster she's concocted this ti."
"No matter what it is."
Peter said.
"Find it, confirm its weaknesses, and find a way to eliminate it."
"Andrea will handle this matter."
"Now, let us discuss the third issue."
"Weakening her allies."
"That's easy."
The sweet-voiced woman's laughter rang out again.
"The nobles of the Peace Party are all spineless cowards."
"Scare them a bit, let them know the price of standing with Lovelace, and naturally, so will back down."
"Scare them?"
The young man scoffed.
"You think those old foxes can be scared off?"
"They've been rolling around in political struggles for decades; what kind of scenes haven't they witnessed?"
"Simply scaring them isn't enough."
"We need a more direct thod."
"Such as?"
"Such as killing soone."
The young man's tone turned icy.
"Kill soone sufficiently important."
"Let everyone know that standing with Lovelace ans opposing the Secret Party."
"And the consequence of opposing the Secret Party is death."
Silence.
This proposal was not unexpected.
For an organization like the Secret Party that controlled a machinery of violence, assassination had always been the simplest, most direct, and most effective ans.
The only question was—
Who to kill?
"The choice of target is very important."
Peter said.
"It cannot be too high, or it will cause too much backlash."
"It cannot be too low, or it won't have the desired deterrent effect."
"It must be just the right candidate."
"Soone whose death will cause the Peace Party to feel a sharp pain, but won't plunge the entire Empire into chaos."
"How about the Schwartz Family?"
Gregor spoke up.
A certain dark light flickered in his eyes.
"The Schwartz Family is one of the core pillars of the Peace Party."
"That Marchioness has considerable influence in the Council."
"If we could give her a lesson..."
"The Marchioness herself won't do."
Peter shook his head.
"Her status is too high."
"If she dies, the entire Peace Party will go mad."
"The Imperial Council would also fall into turmoil."
"This does not align with our interests."
"Then what about her daughter?"
The sweet-voiced woman's voice rang out.
"The Schwartz Family has two daughters."
"One is nad Eleanor, and the other is Irene."
"Irene is still studying at the Royal Knight Academy; she's too young, and killing her wouldn't have much of a deterrent effect."
"But Eleanor..."
Her tone beca playful.
"Eleanor von Schwartz."
"Imperial Royal ch Knight, forr acting commander of the Seventh ch Knights Corps."
"She has achieved illustrious military rits on the Eastern Front."
"She is the most important bridge between the Schwartz Family and the Imperial military."
"If she dies..."
"The Schwartz Family's influence in the military will be significantly weakened."
The young man took up the conversation.
"The Marchioness's confidence in the Council will also be much diminished."
"Furthermore, her death won't cause too much political upheaval."
"After all, she is just an officer, not yet the head of the family."
"A perfect target."
Peter was silent for a mont.
The darkness shrouding his face seed to deepen.
"Eleanor von Schwartz."
He slowly repeated the na.
"I rember her."
"During the Night of Calderburg, she once fought against the so-called Ghost of Caldberg."
"Supposedly, she even heavily wounded the opponent."
"Correct."
Gregor nodded.
"If I recall correctly, her Seventh ch Knights Corps was crippled during that encounter."
"She herself was also seriously injured and nearly died on the battlefield."
"Interesting."
The sweet-voiced woman's laughter rang out again.
"Doesn't this provide a ready-made excuse?"
"Dr. Lovelace is hiding herself using the na of the Ghost of Caldberg."
"Then we shall also use the na of the Ghost of Caldberg to send Eleanor von Schwartz to see her ancestors."
"Eleanor once heavily wounded the Ghost of Caldberg."
"Now, the Ghost of Caldberg, already in Victoria, has co to seek revenge and killed her."
"What a perfect story."
"What a reasonable vengeance."
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