Dark Lord in Chains 39 (Patreon)

Leaving the bathroom while Aria and Sapphire continued to enjoy the soft caresses of the bubbly water was one of the most difficult things I had ever done. Pity that the things that Sapphire had revealed were too important to ignore. 

After all, the whole reason for her to take my rule down was to handle the situation. Actually, not even handle it, but handle it without alerting her political rivals, which was a kick to my pride. I had always known that the only thing that allowed the dark lands to exist independently was the political will of the empire, but even I hadn’t realized that the power differentiator was that significant, and I prided myself on having a clearer view than the other idiots who had grown into the idea of an eternal fight of light and darkness. 

I had been already seriously considering whether to take the mantle of the dark lord seriously, and the latest set of information I had received strengthened the negative side significantly.  

Before I could make a final decision, however, I needed more information. Sapphire’s explanation —as useful as it was— was ultimately a censored version she had told to Aria. Considering the lack of trust between them, I couldn’t have trusted Sapphire’s words even if her focus hadn’t completely been on serial orgasms she had been experiencing through a little assistance from my end. 

And what better source to get information than Councilwoman Fernhand, the leader of the opposition. 

Since it was early in the morning, I decided to disguise myself as something different than an elderly noble. After all, while they were famous for walking around without a care, they were also famous for sleeping in. If I walked around dressed as a noble that early, it would be remembered. 

And during an infiltration mission, being remembered was the worst… 

So, instead, I had picked a different direction, and disguised myself as a bearded servant, vaguely similar to multiple servants, enough to be mistaken from a distance. Thanks to a few bottles of cosmetics I had swiped from Aria’s stash, the disguise turned out to be even better than I expected. 

Of course, I was daring enough to disguise myself as a servant, because I had a much better impression of the palace’s layout and working principles, and worst came to worst, Aria could back me up by claiming me as her servant. 

At this point, I wasn’t even too afraid of Sapphire realizing what was going on. It would be inconvenient, but just inconvenient. At this point, if she was willing to whore herself to an unknown information dealer to get the item, she would be willing to make a deal with a previous dark lord. 

It was a good experience to walk around the palace corridors without alerting someone. Of course, the palace had hundreds of checks to make sure every single servant was vetted, but none of those checks assumed that someone in the palace would bother to disguise as a servant, leaving the quarters of the Crown Princess. 

So, this time, I was relaxed enough to enjoy the opulent yet tasteful decorations of the marble corridors. Avoiding possible checks of my identity was almost trivial as I arrived at Councilwoman Fernhand’s Office. 

A casual assessment of the situation would imply that Fernhand would never keep anything important in the Palace, somewhere that was ultimately controlled by the Queen no matter how strong her faction was, but considering she was being such a threat to Sapphire, I decided to give her more credit. From the trick she had pulled with Emma, she was clearly the type of person that would have misinformation in her office, trying to mislead the Queen. 

And while targeting already-manipulated information sounded like a bad idea, it actually had merit. After all, Fernhand would be trying to trick Sapphire, who already had a lot of information about her status. Fernhand had to keep most of the information accurate to slip the dangerous poisonous information. 

I was more than happy to eat that small poisonous bite if it meant I could finally get the rest of the accurate firsthand information about the political struggle between them. 

“Nice,” I murmured as I looked at Fernhand’s office from a distance even as I enjoyed the smell of freshly-mown grass and sweetness of the flowers. I wasn’t locked in my cell anymore, but still, I had little time to enjoy nature, even the meticulously cared kind.  

Funnily enough, Fernhand’s office —which was a standalone small building rather than a direct part of the palace— wasn’t too far away from the hedge maze I had first seen her while she was trying to trick Emma into a deadly trap, which gave me the perfect concealed spot to cast my shadow spells. 

The light faction might be stronger than I had assumed, but that didn’t change my absolute superiority in terms of sneaky spells. The level of protection in Fernhand’s office just confirmed my assumptions. It was well defended, but with some subtle yet glaring flaws. An amateur might have assumed that they were left there by an accident, but I could recognize a master’s intentional touch easily. 

And bypass their little trick just as easier, I thought with a smirk. The number of soldiers they could deploy or the number of heroes they could order around was meaningless when I was in the center of their power, slowly worming myself with their secrets. 

Breaking through the wards without alerting anyone was a straightforward but time-consuming task, so I was glad for the existence of the plant maze, allowing me to stay unnoticed as I unraveled layer after layer of magical protection, creating access for myself. 

Ultimately, I was able to crack the protections without triggering anyone, before triggering my shadow state and closed into the building. 

Then, I met with a nice surprise. The office was not empty. A familiar brunette who I had first met when she talking with Emma was already in the office, reading a thick pile of documents. Her alabaster skin and her youthful appearance did nothing to reduce the sense of authority she had been radiating as she sat behind the desk and discussed a number of issues with two men on the other side of the desk. Her femme fatale aura slipping slowly, affecting the other two men 

Though, admittedly, framing it as a discussion was not correct. Despite the high ranks of the other two men, the flow was more like Fernhand delivering orders between reading documents. They were framed as suggestions to make sure she didn't hurt the pride of the other two nobles, both ranking higher than her, but they were orders nonetheless.

I listened to their discussion carefully. The topic of discussion was not sensitive —if it had been, they wouldn’t be talking that in the palace— but still, listening gave me a better understanding of the most recent political status of the Empire. Then, they started talking about more interesting topics. 

“Is there any development from our … friends from afar, about the battle for the throne?” asked one of the men. 

“Not yet, it’s an ongoing struggle,” Fernhand answered sharply. 

“What a waste, after all the money, those dark bastards can’t even take the throne,” said the other man, despite the warning glare sent by Fernhand, clearly unhappy about discussing such a dangerous topic in an unsafe location. Smart, pity that while her authority was high, it was not high enough to forcefully break the arrogance of her fellow conspirators. 

“It’s an ongoing struggle,” Fernhand said, trying to dismiss the topic, but the second man didn’t seem to get the idea. 

“We need to make sure our guy takes the seat. There’s a reason that bitch sent a team to kill the previous one. There must be something precious about the dark lands that made her move, otherwise, that whore wouldn’t have bothered.” 

Interesting, I noted. Fernhand was clearly aware of my imprisonment after subverting Emma to her side —though I trusted Emma’s arrogance and her desire to be the best to keep my changed status of freedom hidden from them— but it seemed that her allies were not aware of it. And since Fernhand knew that I was being interrogated, she also knew that whatever the queen was searching, it couldn’t be attained through the new dark lord taking the throne. 

Apparently, the opposition against Sapphire wasn’t as united as well. 

“We have already spent a mountain of magical resources to give that idiotic necromancer an army of dead consisting of something other than mindless necromancers. What else does he need,” said the other one in annoyance as he stood up. “Maybe we should try seeking some alternative approaches.” 

“And start from scratch,” countered the other man, angry as he looked at his opponent. “And whose family is going to be funding all the money required? You can barely afford to pay the taxes after your idiotic son destroyed yet another barony in his incompetence.” 

“How dare-” the other one tried to exclaim, but before he could pick up speed, Fernhand cut in. “Gentlemen, we’re on the cusp of victory. It’s not time to squabble,” she said, and interestingly, even as she said so, I could feel a calm, almost impossible to detect mental probe entering the minds of her opponents, calming them slightly, proving that she was a true master of mind arts. Reading someone else’s memories was a difficult thing, but slightly adjusting their emotions could be achieved without too much of a risk. 

Still, the ease she had attempted to do that, and the speed of her success suggested that it was a regular occurrence. No wonder those arrogant nobles were listening to her like obedient children, she had been emotionally conditioning them for a long time. 

How interesting, I thought with a smirk. The legendary empire of light, split between two factions, one led by a sexy dancer who was an expert of the tantric magic, powering herself through their emotions, the other a dangerous mind expert slowly conditioning her followers like circus animals. 

What an ignoble situation to such a glorious Empire, I thought mockingly. Maybe someone selfless and good should fix the issue. Someone pure and heroic…

Like me… 

I smirked at the mocking thoughts, enjoying the irony of being the only one aware of the true nature of the political battle of the empire, even as I considered the next steps, whether to continue to observe her sneakily, or do something even more interesting…