Chapter 1026: THE SILVER FOXES
Chapter 1026: THE SILVER FOXES
NIKOLAI knew that House Exton had a bad habit of stealing treasures that the Imperial Family had discarded already.
It was also House Exton who stole the Wind Spirit— the one Neoma fondly named ’Mochi’ now— after Mona ’died.’
But he let it slide because it happened during the time he lost his mind from anger.
Moreover, Glenn returned the Wind Spirit to Neoma.
Hence, he was able to forgive House Exton for that.
However...
"My father wanted the Silver Foxes to serve as his elixir of life, but you know that I don’t share his sentiments," Nikolai said coldly after sipping his tea. "Duke Exton, why did you steal and hide the corpse of the Silver Fox King?"
After their discovery in the Treasury, Duke Gilbert Exton brought them to the Treasury Room to talk.
Me and Mona, that is.
Grey Exton, the successor to House Exton, had to leave to take care of the workload that the duke couldn’t attend to at the moment.
"It was my sole decision to keep the corpse of the Silver Fox King, Your Majesty. My clan has nothing to do with my decision," Duke Gilbert Exton explained, already trying to save his family from the potential punishment that House Exton might receive. "I didn’t mean to steal the corpse. But during the witch hunt for the Silver Foxes, I stumbled upon a few dying Silver Foxes. They were the ones who snatched the corpse of their king before it got burned to ashes."
Ah.
Nikolai wouldn’t say that the duke was telling the truth, but he could tell that he wasn’t lying.
Not after he was already caught.
Having said that, he remained neutral while listening to the duke’s explanation.
"They begged me to save the corpse of the Silver Fox King," Duke Gilbert Exton said. "They said that I need to preserve their king’s corpse— that it’s a key to their clan’s secret. I didn’t get to find out what the secret was because the Silver Foxes died. But I couldn’t ignore their words. Hence, I decided to keep the corpse of the Silver Fox Clan."
Nikolai raised an eyebrow. "Then why didn’t you report it to me after I seized the throne? As a high-ranking noble, you should know that one of the things I did after becoming the new emperor was to stop the hunt for Silver Foxes."
"Yes, I am aware, Your Majesty. However..." Duke Gilbert Exton hesitated, gulping hard before finally speaking his mind. Nervously, at that. "Your Majesty wasn’t exactly stable at the time..."
Oh.
Nikolai could only frown.
Honestly, he expected Mona to laugh because his wife loved making fun of him (in a positive way, of course).
However, Mona just looked around as if she were sensing that something was wrong.
Of course, that made Nikolai more aware of their surroundings as well.
Ah, there’s a shift in the air.
Duke Gilbert Exton seemed to have rusty skills already since the old duke looked confused, not sensing the change in the atmosphere.
"Your Majesties, I have a report to make~"
Oh.
Nikolai frowned when Trevor Kesser materialized right in front of them. "Ah, it’s just you."
"I’m sorry to disappoint you, Your Majesty," Trevor Kesser said, still acting playful despite being in front of the imperial family. "But this is urgent— we need to return to the Imperial Palace. After we grab something from here, of course. A key, to be precise."
"Is it safe to assume that you’re looking for the Silver Fox King’s corpse?" Mona asked carefully. "But what is it a key for?"
"The key to thaw the frozen Silver Foxes, Your Majesty."
***
NERO was pretty glad after hearing that his parents were back at the palace.
But he wasn’t happy to know that Trevor Kesser was with them.
Tsk.
But since his parents asked him to meet at Neoma’s personal training ground— a vast open field— he figured they had to deal with something urgent.
Hence, he asked his Paladins to make sure that no one was around the area.
Only the Imperial Family and Trevor Kesser were on the field at the moment.
"Your Imperial Majesty, can you freeze the entire field with your ice?" Trevor Kesser asked. "I could have brought Delwyn, but he needed to stay in Hazelden Kingdom. The snowy mountain would collapse if he left."
Nero didn’t mind, but he was annoyed that the ’order’ came from Trevor Kesser.
"Son, please," his mother said, gently patting Nero’s shoulder. "This isn’t the time to be stubborn."
Haaah.
Nero nodded politely at his mother’s request, and then he summoned his Soul Beast.
"Zeru, freeze the field."
His giant ice wolf appeared at his feet, stomping its feet in the ground— immediately covering the grass into a thick layer of ice.
The trees, too.
It only took a moment before the entire field was covered in ice.
"Very well," Nero said, gently patting Zeru’s head before the Soul Beast disappeared. He then looked at Trevor Kesser. "Why did you need the entire field covered in ice?"
"I need to make sure that they won’t break as soon as I bring them out. I deciphered the spell before coming here," Trevor Kesser explained. "And I found out that the spell is designed to break the ice statues if they are moved to a different place without the key. But Your Imperial Majesty’s ice could prevent that from happening. After all, your ice is made of pure divine power and Mana."
Nero knitted his eyebrows, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"The Silver Foxes," Trevor Kesser said, and then he snapped his fingers. "The Silver Fox’s Royal Family, to be precise."
And then they appeared.
Giant ice statues of what seemed like Silver Foxes had appeared in the middle of the ice field.
And each statue was oozing with strange Mana.
Nero didn’t want to admit this, but he felt a shiver down his spine.
Have the Silver Foxes always been this powerful?
***
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