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The rules of the Material Gathering event were simple enough that no one expects to find any noteworthy incident.

The participants would encounter some small to medium-sized forest beasts the Courtenay Family released, that was for sure, but those beasts were a common type of forest beast that even a group of average humans could handle on their own.

And yet...

For those encounters, an unknown mage caught the attention of most top brass watching the event from the towers.

It was especially true with the people in the Royal Army\'s tower.

Even Emperor Euan showed interest in that mage.

A mage named Aki, from the Conclave.

It was easy to draw attention by performing well. In events such as this, one could do well by how fast the materials were gathered while retaining their quality. A person\'s dismantling and collecting skills played a large role in this.

So one would assume that in this event, the participant to showcase extraordinary skills in these two would definitely shine.

Thus, it came as a surprise that the one taking the spotlight was not a person who excel in these two skills but how one could find materials hidden in the most dangerous and even obscure places.

That was how Aki caught the attention of most top brass in the audience.

Apart from this, he was able to detect the location of each forest beast near the materials and avoid them without alarming them.

As it turned out, the Royal Army had to deal with the forest beasts they encountered and even had to abandon some materials that got damaged during the skirmish. On the other hand, the Conclave lured the forest beasts away from the materials thanks to Aki\'s accurate detection, completely avoiding a fight against the forest beasts.

The Material Gathering was focused on herbs, miscellaneous items, and stones, after all, beast parts were not included, thus, it was unnecessary to engage the beasts.

If this was the Beast Hunt event then fighting and even collecting their parts was important.

Callan and Vaness kept an indifferent expression, concealing the shock they felt from the performance of Kyran\'s puppet. They also maintained such an expression to ensure those leaders giving them furtive glances would not notice anything strange.

Aki was supposed to be a talent directly from the Conclave. Callan and Vaness should have a good grasp of what they could do. If both of them had a shocked expression from seeing Aki\'s performance, those leaders would definitely think something was wrong.

While everyone commended how the Conclave continue to collect the materials without any problem, the Royal Army already received the first casualty. It was not life-threatening, though. But their pace was affected to ensure his injuries would not be aggravated further.

This turn of events made the eyes of both Ingrid and Imman narrow.

It seemed, that the Conclave had hidden talents even among their reserve members.

Euan also watched in great interest. However, from his expression, it was still hard for anyone to really guess what was going on in his head.

Kyran, on the other hand, was looking at his creation with a slight frown. He initially programmed all his puppets to be sensitive to beast energy, to avoid needless encounters with them. Because if they ended up facing a beast they could not win and end up in shambles, then their real identity would be revealed. After all, instead of flesh and blood, they had mechanical parts and even liquified spirit stones.

But this particular program seemed to draw too much attention.

If Len and Neo also showed skills similar to Aki, then these oldies from the other factions would think the Conclave might be \'nurturing\' a group of mages with similar skills. As for their reasons... well, who knew what kind of twisted ideas the other factions would come up with to make the Conclave seem like they were up to something.

\'I\'ll have to adjust Len and Neo\'s programs,\' Kyran thought, sighing inwardly.

Len should be safe since she would be participating in Alchemy.

Neo was the one Kyran had to make further adjustments because he would participate in the Beast Hunt.

The Material Gathering was set to have a six-hour time limit.

But four hours and a half later, the Conclave already completed their list and thus, the event ended early.

Of course, the Royal Army could still continue, because the event was not made to only judge how fast one group completed their list but also the quality of their collected materials. But because the Royal Army already had three casualties by then, they already admitted defeat.

Thus, the status of the official joint military exercise was one to zero, in favor of the Conclave.

With a couple more hours to spare before the next events that the Three Noble Families would also participate in, the Courtenay Family decided to open the dome\'s Center Hall and have lunch served there instead of delivering it to each of their rooms.

Empress Iulia had another idea though.

As soon as Kyran made his way back to the dome alone— since Callan and Vaness had to meet with the Material Gathering members—, Iulia sent him another telepathic message to move their \'tea\' early.

Kyran did not refute.

So, a Royal Family messenger appeared before Kyran and led him to the room where the Empress was staying.

The room where Iulia was staying was on the same side of the dome where Noir and the rest of the Conclave council members were staying.

However, being the Empress of the Ylfaen Empire, her room was more spacious and even had a better view of the Courtenay Land\'s surroundings.

The Royal Family messenger lowered her head and left, the moment she fulfilled her task of taking Kyran to Iulia\'s room.

Iulia was seated on a carved gold and white long sofa on the balcony just outside the living room. Small single chairs, similarly carved like the sofa, were placed on each side, and a matching tea table was in the middle.

Without looking at Kyran, Iulia spoke, "Don\'t worry, it is only me and you in this room at this moment."

Kyran gave a wry smile while he looked at Iulia\'s profile.

Iulia finally lifted her head and looked at Kyran, with a gentle smile.

"I have a feeling you don\'t like meeting my husband and my daughter, based from the stories I heard from them," she added with a soft chuckle.

"I don\'t like meeting royalties in general," Kyran replied, refusing to act differently in front of her. "The same goes with you."

For all Kyran knew, this woman would be plotting something against him.

After all, Iulia was still the Empress of the Ylfaen Empire, a member of the Royal Family.

Apparently not taking offence from Kyran\'s words, Iulia nodded in understanding, "Most people have the wrong impression that one has to act respectfully in front of the Royal Family.

"I suppose, how the previous Royal Family ruled greatly affected the mindset of the people."

Iulia looked him in the eye and smiled apologetically, "I only have my words as proof of my sincerity, which I know cannot be trusted given I am part of the Royal Family. However, I do hope you will keep an open mind, while we speak."

Kyran raised his brows at her words but did not say anything.

From the information the Conclave had about the Empress, she came from an old noble family. But their power had declined for more than a hundred years and they were rarely ever mentioned.

What was interesting about Iulia was that, apparently, she was Emperor Euan\'s first love and wanted as the Empress. But the previous Emperor did not approve of it because she did not possess the Winfrey bloodline, who were the real rulers of the empire.

In any case, Euan married the Crown Princess from the Winfrey bloodline and Iulia\'s name was forgotten.

It was not until the death of the first Empress that Iulia\'s name resurfaced and the first couple of years had been a struggle for her because some noble families were convinced the first Empress\'s death was planned by Euan to make Iulia his Empress.

The Mercenary Hall also received a \'secret mission\' to reveal the truth.

In the end, no foul play was found during their investigation and slowly but surely, the people accepted Iulia as the new Empress.

"That will depend on the topic you want to talk about," Kyran replied with an indifferent expression.

Iulia smiled, "Of course. Please, Disciple Tyr, have a seat. I hope you don\'t find my greeting you while seated, rude."

"Don\'t worry. You\'re expecting, that much I understand," Kyran replied and did not stand on ceremony and took a seat on the single chair on Iulia\'s right. "I get that its tiring to stand with that big baggage right there."

He added while looking at Iulia\'s bump.

Iulia chuckled at his words, "Baggage, huh. Are you not fond of kids, Disciple Tyr?"

Kyran\'s face distorted at the question.

How was he supposed to answer that?

Seeing Kyran\'s expression, Iulia chuckled, "Looking at your expression, it seems I have asked something you are uncomfortable with. I am sorry."

Kyran looked at Iulia, his eyes glinted uneasily.

He could not read her.

No.

Rather than read, he should use the word \'sense.\'

There was no ill-intent whatsoever coming from Iulia that it made Kyran even more wary of her.

It was simply impossible for a person not to emit anything. Even if Iulia did not have any ill-intent, she should at least appear guarded.

But just as Iulia said, it was only her and Kyran in the room. There was not even any array in place to protect her, or any hidden Royal Guard.

While Kyran pondered this, Iulia\'s expression turned sober and chose this time to open the topic she wanted them to talk about.

"Disciple Tyr, I know you find my daughter and my husband\'s way of doing thins strange and full of... malice, I suppose. However, I hope you keep an open mind when I tell you their reasons."

Kyran\'s eyes narrowed at once.

He planned to infiltrate the Royal Family because he wanted to investigate what the Emperor and the Crown Princess was planning to his clan, but it seemed, he might get a chance to hear it from the Empress today!

When Kyran did not respond, Iulia took it as an acknowledgement and continued, "Are you aware of the tyranny of the previous Emperor?"

The sudden question left Kyran reeling. He was expecting for an explosive revelation but heard a question one would usually hear in history class.

With a disgruntled sigh, Kyran shrugged and leaned back while saying, "I only know he was an asshole."

Iulia chuckled, apparently not taking offense at Kyran\'s language.

"Yes. I suppose that sum up how people viewed him. I myself, agree... however, I would use the word detestable."

She lowered her gaze and waved her hand.

The tea set on the table moved.

"Do you drink tea, Disciple Tyr?" She asked while looking at him.

Kyran shook his head, "No. I\'m okay."

"Would you rather have something else? Coffee? Hot chocolate?"

A bitter smile appeared on Kyran\'s face from Iulia\'s question. It was not because he did not like any of those, but it was because he recalled his mother would usually offer something similar to their guests.

"I..." Kyran initially wanted to say \'I\'m okay\' again, but then said, "I\'ll have juice then."

Iulia looked at him in surprise, but then smiled and nodded, "Alright."

With a wave of her hand, the tea set disappeared and two tall glasses and a crystal pitcher appeared.

"Any particular flavor?"

"No."

"Alright."

The crystal pitcher soon turned the color of very light pink. Then it poured some on both the tall glasses. After that, one of the tall glasses flew toward Kyran, who took it with his right hand, while the other hovered toward Iulia\'s direction.

"As I was saying," Iulia started after seeing him take the glass, "Because of the previous Emperor\'s tyranny, Euan... my husband, wanted to be a better Emperor."

She paused and looked at Kyran with a wry smile, "I suppose it is rather impossible to believe given how there has not any visible change seen in the empire... yet."

"Yet," Kyran repeated.

Iulia smiled and nodded, "Yes. Yet."

She stared at the tall glass hovering in front of her and continued, "The Royal Family\'s authority has been declining over the years because of the previous Emperor\'s tyranny. Euan knew the root of all this and is doing everything he can to regain its authority.

"All because, he wanted to unite all differing factions in the empire."

Iulia looked at Kyran.

"However, in order to do this, he would need someone—," she paused, and hesitated only for a moment before finally saying, "No. Not someone... but another powerful ally."

It took every ounce of willpower in Kyran, to stop himself from crushing the tall glass in his hand. Because he already guessed which powerful ally Iulia was referring to that Euan needed.

"You may or may not know about them, because they had been in seclusion for years. However, they are one of the oldest and noblest, noble family in the empire— maybe in the whole continent," Iulia continued.

"The Regis Clan."