Early in the morning, when Special Envoy Owen stepped out of the bedroom looking refreshed and full of energy, the embassy's confidential secretary—Johansen Fules, the man with a neatly trimmed mustache—was already waiting in the office.
"Your Excellency... Mr. Sarri has arrived," Johansen leaned in and whispered.
"I know," Owen replied casually with a slight nod, showing none of his previous enthusiasm whenever the Sarri family was mentioned.
After all, what he truly wanted from the Sarri family was already in his hands, and no one had noticed his real objective.
Seeing his indifference, Secretary Johansen began to panic. He hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, although I sabotaged the embassy's ritual chamber, with that man's mastery over ritual magic, it won't take long before he notices something's wrong… He may start getting suspicious."
"Alright, Johansen… don't worry. I'll take care of the Sarri matter," Owen replied unhurriedly, then asked, "What about Sarri's granddaughter? Did you send people to capture her?"
"After Mr. Sarri entered the embassy, I already gave the order. And as per your instructions, I told them to take her alive," Johansen replied, still unsure why the envoy was so concerned about this particular girl.
"Very good. You've done your job well," Owen praised with a meaningful tone. Then, his gaze suddenly shifted to a corner of the room, and he smiled. "See? The Sarri matter has already been resolved."
Johansen instinctively followed Owen's gaze—and was stunned.
Standing there was a "girl" with black hair and blue eyes, beautiful and ethereal, possessing a hard-to-describe charm. In her hand, she was holding an elderly gentleman in formal attire.
But this gentleman now had black blood seeping from the corners of his eyes, his face pale, his lips purplish, and not the slightest breath left in his body… Clearly, he was already dead.
"A witch… That's… Mr. Sarri?!" Johansen's shock was palpable. After all, all of his and the envoy's prior plans had been centered around capturing Mr. Sarri alive, forcing him to take the fall for "colluding with Prince Edessak and witches, and committing crimes during the Great Smog"…
To this end, he had mobilized his family's political influence to cooperate with the forces backing the envoy, putting immense pressure on the Sarri family—all to force him to confess willingly…
And now, he was dead?! That completely undermined the plan! Not only would Loen be dissatisfied, but the Church would surely become suspicious.
"Your Excellency, why did you have that witch kill Mr. Sarri? This wasn't part of the plan!" Johansen instinctively sensed something was wrong. He took a few steps back, panicked, and demanded an explanation.
"Haha! My dear Johansen Fules, if Sarri doesn't die, how are you, the 'real culprit,' going to pin the crime of colluding with witches on him? And how would you compete with him for the position of next Intis ambassador?" Owen laughed, his tone thick with implication.
"Owen, what are you saying?!" At those words, Johansen's face went deathly pale. Realizing the danger, he raised his voice in alarm and drew his extraordinary firearm.
"Heh… the Sarri family's archbishop in the Church of Steam was just assassinated by a witch, and now Colton Sarri is pushed out to take the blame… You think the Church of Steam is full of fools?
"So, naturally, the whole affair needs a convincing story…
"For example, Johansen Fules, confidential secretary of the embassy, secretly contacted Prince Edessak and Baron Larrie, and colluded with the Aurora Order and the Demoness Sect to orchestrate the Great Smog Incident.
"To escape punishment, this secretary then conspired to frame his rival for the Loen ambassadorship—Mr. Sarri.
"He used the resources of the Fules family and, at the cost of sacrificing major interests, united several of Intis's great families to suppress the Sarri family's political influence. At the same time, he ordered the witches he colluded with to assassinate the Sarri family's Saint in the Church of Steam.
"Once everything was ready, Johansen finally silenced Colton Sarri by killing him, then fabricated evidence to present him to Loen and the Church as the 'mastermind' behind it all…"
At this point, Owen turned to look at his confidential secretary with a smile.
"So, Mr. Johansen Fules—what do you think of this script?"
After hearing the whole story, Johansen's face turned from pale to red, veins bulging from his neck. He raised his gun and pointed it at Owen, his voice trembling with fury:
"So… you've been using me from the start?! What could you possibly gain from this?!"
Owen showed no concern whatsoever for the extraordinary weapon in Johansen's hand. He merely shook his head and said with scorn:
"You never met with Baron Larrie?
"You never spoke with Prince Edessak's steward?
"You never plotted against Mr. Sarri?
"You never sent men to capture Sarri's granddaughter?
"You never made sure to send away those military officers close to Mr. Sarri from the embassy beforehand?
"All the things you did—while they may have seemed clean—left behind traces!
"If the Church of Steam conducts a serious investigation, they're bound to uncover something!
"And all of this happened simply because you were too stupid… The Fules family really has declined, to think they'd entrust so many resources to an idiot like you.
"I heard it's because you resemble some ancestor of yours? Heh, if that's the case, then that ancestor must've been just as much of a fool!
"As for my motives? What does any of this have to do with me? I've merely been a bystander from the start."
"You bastard!" Johansen's face twisted in rage, and he was about to pull the trigger.
But at that very moment, a look of confusion came over him. A thought surfaced:
Why am I angry? I did do all these things… Oh, right, it's because I did them behind Mr. Owen's back, and now he's about to find out—that's why I'm angry...
Yes, I must keep hiding it from him.
With that, he seemed to completely ignore Owen and the witch standing there. He calmly picked up Sarri's corpse and walked out of the office.
Only then did the "White Saintess" Katarina finally speak:
"You deliberately made him 'angry' just now? That kind of manipulation of desire, of emotion… Did you use the same Sealed Artifact you used to control me? But against a mere Sequence 6, wouldn't your own 'Hypnosis' abilities as a Marionettist be enough?"
"You don't need to test me—I trust you completely…" Owen gave her a glance, then explained everything openly, "Yes, my Hypnosis could have done the job… but it wouldn't have passed the Church's scrutiny. It would've left flaws, which could interfere with the rest of the plan."
"You're keeping him alive?" Katarina asked in surprise. She had assumed that once the blame was pinned on him, the secretary had no further value.
"Didn't he send men to capture Sarri's granddaughter? Once they bring her in, I'll find a way to let her learn the 'truth'—then deliberately let her escape. She'll return to her family and expose Johansen's conspiracy."
As he spoke, Owen's lips curled into a confident smirk. He went on, "If she's the type to repay kindness, I might even develop a more… intimate relationship with her. That'll make it even easier to 'control' her.
"Heh, I wonder… when she learns the full truth in the future, will she break down emotionally?"
"You're a real scumbag," Katarina clicked her tongue. But in her long life, she'd seen far worse. It didn't really stir her. She merely asked, "Why are you doing all this?"
"To stir up infighting among the major families of Intis, of course! Once Sarri's granddaughter returns, the Sarri family will surely become sworn enemies with the Fules family. A little push, and the political situation will descend into chaos," Owen explained with a smile.
"And how does that benefit you? Won't your own family be dragged in too?" Katarina still didn't understand the logic.
"It's in line with the spirit of the times…
"Besides—are you sure that's really my family?"
As he spoke, Owen stood up and gazed out the window toward Sodrak Palace, continuing,
"I've easily thrown Intis into internal strife… In the eyes of George III, wouldn't that make me the perfect tool to sow disorder in enemy nations—an ideal infiltrator?
"To win me over, he'll surely make some 'investments'...
"For example—agreeing to the marriage alliance I requested."
(End of Chapter)