As Heena walked toward her chambers, she crossed through a corridor and casually threw her bloody gloves into a trash bin. As she was about to remove her outer robe and toss it as well, she noticed sothing unusual.
Her System had been completely silent all this ti.
She turned to look at him. He was floating just beside her—not disappearing or wandering off like he usually did—but he was quiet. Uncharacteristically, disturbingly quiet.
She looked at him as she threw the bloodied robe into the bin and said, "What’s wrong? Why the grave expression?"
The System paused, looked at her, and said carefully, "Host... from how much I know you, I know that you’ve never even killed a dog because you find violence distasteful. You always follow rules and regulations. Even when other hosts did questionable things, you never crossed that line."
Heena looked at him and said dryly, "Uh-huh. You know so well after just a few etings together?"
The System looked at her earnestly. "Host, from what I understand about you, I know you would never kill soone without a very good reason. So I’m quite surprised that you just... executed that noble so easily. I an, that one you just—"
He made a cutting gesture across his throat.
Heena smiled slightly. "You know quite well, don’t you?"
The System, hearing the approval in her voice, was slightly happy—but he was still confused about the execution.
Heena looked at him and said, "That fat noble—Lord Pemberton—he wasn’t a good person. That bastard has been running a trafficking operation right under everyone’s noses."
"What?" The System’s eyes went wide.
"I found out that in my capital, there have been many kidnappings happening. Mostly lower-class won—commoners. Many won were going missing, and no one could find them. And do you know where the investigation led?"
The System shook his head, looking horrified.
"To him," Heena said flatly. "I found out he was selling won as prostitutes and slaves to other nobles and small kingdoms. And just because he was under Duke Valen’s command, no one dared touch him. I didn’t act imdiately because I was gathering evidence, but he used that protection as an advantage and continued his operations."
"That bastard," the System breathed.
"Exactly. So when he gave a convenient excuse by babbling in my court and wasting my ti—" Heena shrugged. "Two birds, one stone. Problem solved, ssage sent."
The System processed this, then asked hesitantly, "But Host... do you really think it was the Dukes who ordered the assassination attempt on Larus? Because I don’t think so."
Heena raised her eyebrows. "And why not?"
The System spoke quickly, his analytical mind working: "They’re powerful and experienced. If they really wanted Larus dead and sent assassins, wouldn’t those assassins be elite? Silent professionals? Rember the last ti an assassination attempt happened to you—those assassins literally ate poison and killed themselves rather than talk. It doesn’t make sense for professional assassins to just speak the na of their employer without even being tortured. The whole thing feels too... obvious. Too sloppy."
He continued, "And secondly, if the Dukes wanted to kill Larus, I don’t think they’d send novices who would reveal everything so easily. They would have eliminated the evidence before we could even investigate."
Heena looked at him and ruffled his head—or the area where his head would be, since he was essentially a floating lion cub spirit.
"You’ve gotten smart, huh?" she said with approval.
The System bead at the praise.
Heena nodded. "You’re absolutely right. The ones who sent these assassins are *not* the Dukes."
"Huh?" Now the System was confused. "But then why did you—"
"Because," Heena explained, "soone wants the Dukes to be caught up in this ss. They want the Dukes busy dealing with , and busy dealing with them, so neither side has ti for other things."
"But who would want to cross the Dukes like this? And why—" The System paused, then said, "Wait, I tried to get the assassins to speak the original na. I literally went to their cells and tortured them myself by manifesting as ghosts, making scary sounds and everything—"
Heena looked at him and slapped him on his incorporeal head. "Oh, *that’s* what you’ve been doing all this ti? Playing ghost gas instead of helping ?"
The System made a pitiful expression. "I just wanted to help..."
Heena sighed. "The reason the assassins can’t speak the original na is because they *don’t know* who really hired them. They only know the interdiary."
Now the System was even more confused.
Heena smiled. "Think about it. If both Dukes—Valen and Ashford—are caught up in this scandal and possibly executed or stripped of power, who would benefit the most?"
The System thought hard. "Damien’s father and Adrian’s father?"
Heena shook her head. "No. If both Dukes get caught, suspicion would also fall on those two. Plus, all four Dukes’ business operations are interconnected. If even one of them suffers major problems, the others would face consequences too."
"Then... who?"
The System suddenly paused, his eyes widening.
Heena looked at him with a smile. "You’re finally eating those intelligence-boosting dry fruits I recomnded, huh?"
The System imdiately said, "Wait, that’s not important right now!" He looked at her. "The only one left is... Raphael, right?"
Heena nodded.
The System quickly pulled out a virtual book—his information database—and started scanning pages.
"But Raphael doesn’t have parents, right? According to records, his parents abandoned him when he was a child at the church. After that, there’s no news of them. So how could his family be on par with the Dukes?"
Heena smiled and said clearly, "His parents can’t be on par with the Dukes. But the *Church* can be."
The System froze.
Heena continued, "If I divorce Raphael today, the ones who would suffer most would be the Church. After our marriage, the Church has been gaining trendous benefits from —tax exemptions, land grants, increased political influence. They absolutely don’t want Raphael to be divorced, because if he is, it wouldn’t only damage his public image—it would cause them significant financial and political losses."
She walked slowly toward her chambers as she spoke.
"Think about it. The Church has been consolidating power quietly while everyone focused on the more obvious political players. They’ve been playing the long ga. And now, with this assassination attempt creating chaos among the Dukes, what happens?"
The System’s eyes went even wider. "The Dukes are distracted fighting you... the other nobles are terrified after watching you execute soone... and anwhile the Church can quietly expand their influence while no one’s paying attention!"
"Exactly," Heena confird. "And if the Dukes fall, who fills that power vacuum? The remaining consorts’ families would be too busy defending themselves. But the Church? The Church is clean. Uninvolved. Sympathetic. ’Poor Raphael, caught up in this terrible situation, but the Church stands strong and ready to serve the empire.’"
"That’s... that’s really clever," the System admitted. "And evil."
"It’s politics," Heena corrected. "And the Church has been playing this ga for centuries. They’re very good at it."
"So what are you going to do, Host?"
Heena smiled—a cold, calculating expression.
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