Chapter 432
Illusion Card for Sealing Succubi
Edward would naturally not refuse an invitation from Her Majesty the Queen and arrived at the Silver and Tin Hall on time.
As Edward approached the Gryphon Bridge, he even encountered the Minister of Palace Affairs, who was just leaving the Silver and Tin Hall. After a brief chat with the honest and gentle old man, he strode towards the Silver and Tin Hall.
Under Eivass’s request, Edward was not led to a side hall by a servant but was brought directly to Eivass’s bedroom.
Edward had naturally been to the Silver and Tin Hall before. He was, after all, the Chief Inspector of Glass Island.
However, each time he visited the Silver and Tin Hall before, he was either led to the reception hall, which could accommodate over forty guests, or went to the Round Table Hall to attend meetings in place of his foster father, James.
Edward had only one experience of meeting Queen Sophia alone – that was when he had just returned from the Iris Kingdom.
At that time, Edward had gone to the Queen’s study to personally and earnestly explain the demands of the Iris people and the price they were willing to pay.
That was the deepest place Edward had ever been. Reaching the bedroom of a royal family member was absolutely impossible.
He was even a little nervous – although his expression remained impassive, his palms were already sweating.
Edward politely knocked on the door. After hearing Eivass’s “Come in,” he felt slightly relieved and pushed the door open.
As soon as he entered, his steps paused for a moment.
—Because there were too many people in the room.
Eivass was sitting by his desk, seemingly engrossed in working on something.
Isabel had moved a chair to sit beside him, very close to Eivass. A crow was perched on her shoulder.
Lixia stood across the table, also looking down intently at Eivass’s work. Yulia stood far away at the corner of the table, holding her beloved stuffed bear, “Mr. Dad,” in her arms, her gaze still glancing towards Eivass.
There were many people, but no one paid him any attention, Edward thought.
“Young Master Edward.”
The only one free to greet him was Lily, who had suddenly appeared from nowhere. Edward added mentally.
Lily led Edward to a seat on the side and served him hot black tea at a perfect temperature.
“Thank you, Lily.”
Edward replied politely, picked up the black tea, and took a sip.
But then, he tasted the unexpected flavor and almost spat it out.
Lixia let out a crisp and unrestrained laugh, as if her prank had succeeded: “How is it, kid? Does it taste alright?”
“This is black tea made by Miss Lixia,”
Lily explained considerately.
“…The taste is not bad, Grand Arbitrator.”
Edward sat up straight and replied politely yet seriously.
“Tsk.”
Lixia clicked her tongue.
Although his expression was calm, his posture was standard, and his breathing steady… Lixia could tell at a glance that the boy was about to break out in a sweat. People who were too rule-abiding were somewhat uninteresting for Lixia to tease, so she stopped talking to Edward.
She lightly patted Isabel’s shoulder, signaling that Edward had arrived. Then she returned to her original position, continuing to watch Eivass draw and write on the Tarot card.
Isabel reluctantly shifted her gaze from the tabletop in front of Eivass, stood up, and walked towards Edward with a smile. The crow on her shoulder took flight and landed back on Eivass’s shoulder.
Seeing Isabel walking towards him, Edward’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately got up from his seat, knelt respectfully on one knee, and bowed his head: “Silver Crown Dragon above… I pay my respects, Your Majesty.”
“May the Silver Crown Dragon bless you, Edward Moriarty.”
Isabel skillfully reached out and touched Edward’s head, indicating “maternal affection.”
This was a relatively intimate gesture, one level higher than kissing the Dragon King’s signet ring.
After being touched by Isabel, Edward was allowed to look up.
After their eyes met, Isabel revealed a bright and generous smile, taking half a step back: “Good evening, Brother Edward. Get up quickly.”
Hearing this, Edward suddenly looked towards Eivass.
He seemed to understand something in that instant, then quickly turned his head back as if afraid of angering Isabel.
He breathed a small sigh of relief in his heart, nodded respectfully and politely, and stood up.
“I wanted to keep Eivass and Yulia here with me for the New Year, but it would have been too lonely for you. So I selfishly asked Eivass to invite you as well.”
Isabel’s smile was radiant and confident, her slightly curved eyebrows exuding an extraordinary amiability: “Why don’t you stay here tonight as well, Brother Edward? There are many empty rooms in the Silver and Tin Hall.”
In reality, this request was initially made by Eivass. But Isabel instinctively realized that doing so might lead Edward to blame Eivass for being impolite or breaking the rules.
So she smoothly took the responsibility, making it her own proposal.
Eivass, who was making cards on the table, naturally heard this.
He looked up at Isabel with surprise, his eyes meeting hers.
Isabel quickly blinked her right eye, her smile unchanged. Like the best actress, she left no trace of imperfection.
She clearly noticed Edward’s stiffness and awkwardness, so without waiting for him to reply, she smiled and said, “By the way, Brother Edward – may I call you Lord Moriarty?”
“Lord” was a unique honorific for knights in Avalon.
Being called “Lord” meant becoming a knight personally conferred by the Queen.
Edward’s extraordinary skills had already reached the threshold of the Arbitration Hall. However, he had previously refused the Arbitration Hall’s invitation due to his foster father’s advice.
As a member of the “Moriarty” family, it was unlikely he could enter the Round Table Hall. The armor inherited by the Moriarty family was left by the founder, Mordred, and that armor was worn by old James.
The Queen could not confer armor upon other members of the founder’s family; it would essentially be splitting the family. Therefore, unlike commoners, Edward could not simply enter the Round Table Hall through the conferring of armor.
To bypass this rule, he would need to obtain armor in his own name that was not passed down to descendants.
Such armor was usually professional armor for ministers, obtained upon taking office and relinquished upon resignation.
So Isabel’s question was essentially “Do you want to be a minister?”
But Edward hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and refused: “Father taught me… if it’s not due to my own abilities that I am promoted, then I must refuse. Because my abilities cannot control my power, so…”
“Naturally, this is based on your achievements, Lord Moriarty,”
Isabel replied with a light laugh, composed and at ease: “Your peace talks with the Iris Kingdom are of great significance, bringing peace and prosperity to Avalon. This has surpassed your responsibilities as Chief Inspector—”
Although the Inspection Department was essentially a spy agency, it also served to supervise the Inspection Bureau. Senior inspectors were essentially on par with bureau chiefs, but due to their duties, they ranked half a level higher. Above senior inspectors were chief inspectors, responsible for commanding all senior inspectors within a certain scope.
A normal-sized village would have only one Inspection Bureau, while a city usually had several. Multiple towns and cities formed a county, and only then would there be a Chief Inspector. Although Glass Island was the capital, it had a county-level establishment despite being city-sized.
However, even so, signing such a contract with the Iris Kingdom in his own name was a bit beyond the qualifications of a Chief Inspector.
“Precisely because of this, to make this contract more executable and to prevent the Iris people from betraying us—after contacting the Prime Minister of the Iris Kingdom, I will appoint you as the Special Envoy Plenipotentiary to the Iris Kingdom at the Round Table Conference on the day after the state funeral, and I will confer knightly armor upon you.”
Isabel said solemnly: “This is not seeking your opinion, but a notification.”
After saying this, she added: “This is also my grandmother’s intention.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Edward immediately knelt on one knee again, accepting his new appointment without hesitation. Special Envoy Plenipotentiary was a position of real power in Avalon’s diplomatic system, ranking second. The only issue was that he would have to be permanently stationed in the Iris Kingdom.
This kind of matter required the consent of the Iris Kingdom. This meant that the Iris Kingdom also wished for him to stay there.
Realizing his new mission, Edward had no questions, no objections, and said no more than necessary. This was what a pure Authority Path Extraordinary would do.
Immediately after, the smile on Isabel’s face became affectionate again.
She took Edward’s arm with one hand and enthusiastically led him to her study: “By the way, Lord Moriarty. Regarding this document, there are some things I don’t understand…”
Edward was clearly very tense about Isabel and Eivass’s relationship, even a bit flustered. He didn’t know how to act without being impolite or how to avoid being a killjoy.
But when it came to work-related matters, he could immediately calm down.
Eivass had not revealed Edward’s information to Isabel in advance. It was Isabel who, after interacting with Edward, realized his personality and instinctively chose a way for him to get acquainted with her.
“…I really wish Sherlock could see this.”
Eivass muttered to himself.
Sherlock had not interacted with Isabel for a long time and probably didn’t know how quickly she had grown after truly shouldering pressure. If he saw Isabel again, he would surely be very surprised.
She was the type who, as long as she wasn’t crushed by pressure all at once, would grow stronger at a visible rate.
With that thought, Eivass shook his head and continued to concentrate on making the cards. Lixia, with Eivass’s permission, watched him create Illusion Cards.
Each Illusion Card used by a Sin Scholar contained blasphemous knowledge.
It was different from regular Tarot cards, primarily because it lacked cards like “Justice,” “Strength,” “Judgment,” or “Temperance.”
However, Illusion Cards also had several new cards that corresponded to Tarot cards.
Among them, the card “Strength” corresponded to “Lust.”
It could also be translated as “Desire” or “Craving.”
This was a card belonging to the Path of Love, and its attribute was also dark.
In the “Strength” card, a Victory Goddess with an “Infinite” symbol, or rather, an Ouroboros Ring symbol, on her head, was bending down to caress a fierce lion.
The lion symbolized base animal instincts, also known as “beastiality.” For example, impulsive or chaotic passion… it was tamed by the goddess’s love and guided by her compassion.
Therefore, the “Strength” card actually symbolized “Controlled Power.” It predicted the Hengwo, and also predicted the Beast Lord.
In its mutated “Lust” card, it was almost the complete opposite of the “Strength” card.
The card depicted a naked, beautiful goddess lying in a drunken stupor on a lion with seven heads.
In her right hand, she held a holy grail, from which blood dripped from the moon, and countless snakes crawled out from the blood. Her left hand held the lion’s reins, which were pulled taut, as if about to slip from her grasp.
This was another interpretation of the Hengwo and Beast Lord states—meaning that the Hengwo had not completely tamed the Beast Lord. It was also an explanation of the Path of Love still retaining chaotic and barbaric bestiality.
Chaos, love, passion, reins, desire, drunkenness, snakes, loss of control, blood, reproduction, moon… So many keywords were enough to prove the strong compatibility of this card with succubi.
—This card was the Illusion Card Eivass had painstakingly created, preparing to use it to seal the succubus Emma.
The process of creating this card was, in a sense, very dangerous…
But Eivass did not fear it.
