Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume14 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 1===

Early morning, the imperial capital's sky was shrouded by gray clouds.

After finishing breakfast that consisted only of simple offerings such as bread and soup, Fianna changed into her formal dress and headed to the assembly hall where the nobles had been summoned for an imperial council session. The primary purpose of this gathering was to unify viewpoints within the Empire before the All Nations Conference that was going to resume in the afternoon.

(...With all this intrigue going on regarding the successor question, it would be ridiculous to expect viewpoints to become unified.)

Fianna sighed with gloomy feelings.

She had carefully hidden the blood-signed petition in a secret box in the depths of her desk. Fianna also considered keeping the petition hidden inside Georgios for the sake of guaranteed secrecy. However, there was a chance of items going missing inside the unstable environment of Astral Zero. Due to this reason, she would not keep important articles in there.

(I never intended to engage in a power struggle with nobles, but&mdash;)

Lord Conrad's words kept echoing in her mind.

(&mdash;Arneus has the Holy Kingdom secretly backing him.)

If this were true, the Empire's demise could easily be predicted from the ascent of another country's puppet to Ordesia's imperial throne.

(...It that were truly to happen, the populace would suffer.)

While these thoughts went through her mind, she arrived in front of the assembly building before she knew it.

A magnificent structure built with marble, the assembly building was located some distance away from Nefescal Palace. After having her identity verified by the door guardian spirit, Fianna entered the assembly building.

The closer she approached the assembly hall, the heavier Fianna's footsteps felt.

This place was demonic den where one would get caught up in political struggles. Perhaps reacting to Fianna's unease, the Bloodstone seemed to shake faintly, hidden before her chest.

Sealed inside the Bloodstone was a guardian that was supposed to be able to protect her. Although Georgios was a top-class spirit, he was not suited to protecting her from assassins.

(There are many here who wish to target my life&mdash;)

A moment's carelessness and an assassin's dagger would probably pierce her throat. Fianna subconsciously reached for the Bloodstone in front of her chest and held it lightly.

"What's the matter, Your Highness? You seem quite preoccupied in your thoughts."

"...Hyah!?"

Suddenly hearing a seductive voice, Fianna cried out in surprise.

"P-Please do not startle me&mdash;"

The one who had suddenly spoken to her was the Dusk Witch dressed in a black dress.

"I did not erase my presence in particular. By the way, is something troubling you?"

"No..."

"Hmm, that would be best&mdash;"

Greyworth and Fianna walked side by side.

(...I suppose I simply ought to confess everything to the headmistress.)

Fianna suppressed her urge to do so. No matter what, this was not the right venue for having such a conversation. Inside the assembly building, there was no telling who might be eavesdropping.

"By the way, a large scale spirit disaster apparently took place in the border region."

Greyworth brought up the subject as though it were casual conversation while walking.

"At Laurenfrost?"

Laurenfrost was situated on the border between the Ordesia Empire and the Holy Kingdom. There were recent rumors about persistent blizzards at the Kyria Mountain Range, but as for a spirit disaster&mdash;

"How wide an area did the spirit disaster cover? Are the people living there safe?"

"That I don't know the details. However, according to rumors&mdash;"

Greyworth suddenly lowered her voice and said:

"Apparently, there were eyewitness reports of the Holy Kingdom's Sacred Spirit Knights sighted at the forest where the spirit disaster had occurred."

"...The Holy Kingdom's order of knights?"

Fianna could not help but frown in response to the sudden mention of the Holy Kingdom.

"What were the Holy Kingdom's knights doing in Laurenfrost?"

"Their objective remains unknown but they were apparently caught in the large scale spirit disaster and ended up forced to retreat."

Greyworth shrugged and shook her head.

At this moment, Fianna suddenly realized something.

"This was clearly a violation of national borders! If it is brought up during the All Nations Conference in the afternoon, it would allow for effective negotiations with the Holy Kingdom&mdash;"

"Indeed. But for some reason, the Empire's intelligence agency, Umbra, has covered up this news."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"In other words, Umbra's core is being controlled by someone who wishes for the Ordesia Empire's corruption. Hmm, infiltrating by taking advantage of when I'm not there to watch over things."

"..."

The prime minister's words from this morning surfaced in Fianna's mind.

(&mdash;Arneus has the Holy Kingdom secretly backing him.)

"Umm, since Umbra has covered up this news, then how did you come across it, Headmistress?"

"What a foolish question. Who do you take me for?"

(Indeed, it was a foolish question...)

Greyworth's illustrious past included positions such as the hero from the Ranbal War era, first-ranked knight among the Numbers, and Umbra's chief. She should know the Empire's dark side better than anyone. Although she had lost the power of her contracted spirit, her influence over the Empire would not wane.

"I have gained a rather ''outstanding pawn'' on my side, providing me with access to nearly all information."

Smiling suggestively, Greyworth stepped into the assembly hall.

On the step-like arrangement of seating, many nobles had already taken their seats. They were having a heated discussion about matters raised during the All Nations Conference the previous night.

The Ordesia emperor was not present at the imperial family's seating, but many sycophantic nobles could be seen there, hanging around Arneus.

(...Surrounded by nobles whose ambitions are clear as day, what a clown of a king he would be.)

Fianna thought to herself.

At this moment, their eyes met. Unsettled, Arneus then avoided eye contact with Fianna and began to converse secretly with his sycophantic entourage of nobles.

Displeased by these irritating stares, Fianna left the imperial family's seating area and sat down next to Greyworth.

&mdash;At this moment, Fianna suddenly felt a sense of dissonance.

"What's the matter?"

Seeing Fianna frown, Greyworth asked.

"Well, I don't think I saw the prime minister..."

"I heard that Lord Conrad is absent due to feeling unwell. Straining himself to handle the heavy workload related to the All Nations Conference, he finally collapsed ill&mdash;"

"...Absent?"

Fianna had not seen anything wrong with him when he visited early this morning.

(Somehow, I have a very bad feeling about this...)

The princess maiden's sharp intuition filled her with great unease.