Chapter 96
Chapter 96. Serela's Swift and Sweeping Action
Imperial Capital Opalia. The Perez Residence.
"Your Highness…… Your Highness, please hear my explanation……"
A well-dressed middle-aged man was bowing at the waist five meters from Serela, voice trembling with panic, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
Dalin Perez—the current Perez Earl, a man of considerable standing in the mining industry—was at this moment behaving exactly like a schoolboy who had done something wrong, head lowered, scrambling to explain himself to the breathtakingly beautiful Imperial Princess.
"Oh? Perez Earl, all the evidence is right here. What exactly is there to explain?"
Serela was not wearing yesterday's casual dress today. Instead she wore an exquisitely elegant noble lady's gown, concealing her finely shaped figure beneath the fabric—yet the ensemble did nothing to diminish her beauty. If anything, it added a touch of dignity and grace.
This was the image of the "Benevolent Imperial Princess" as she existed in the public's mind.
Her Imperial Highness narrowed her violet eyes, seated in the prime position on the sofa, gazing with an expression of playful amusement at Dalin Perez, who stood before her with his head too lowered to meet her gaze.
Serela gestured toward the stack of evidence on the table—evidence that had come from the letter Pati left behind, extracted from the envelope Luo Nan had given her yesterday.
"This evidence is sufficient to prove that the Perez Family colluded with 'Nature' cultists and attempted to assassinate Luo Nan von Medillion, is it not?"
"Do you know what crime this constitutes?"
Perez Earl swallowed hard, drew a deep breath, and answered, "Naturally I know—but Your Highness, the assassination attempt against Luo Nan von Medillion was not ordered by the Perez Family, nor was it the Perez Family who funded those Abyssal cultists."
"Mm…… your meaning is that the Perez family is spotless?" Serela picked up the evidence again, leafing through it carefully.
"And yet it is written plainly here…… that it was Lek Perez who funded the 'Nature' cultists?"
As she finished speaking, Serela glanced at Lek Perez, who was at that moment kneeling in the center of the hall.
Serela had some recollection of this son of the Perez household.
She remembered—this person appeared to be the first one who had publicly provoked Luo Nan at her Homecoming Banquet.
'Ah…… so there was indeed an ulterior motive lurking behind it all.'
"Lek, you unfilial wretch—how dare you go behind my back to contact those wicked Abyssal cultists—I, I……"
Hearing Serela bring up his son, Perez Earl immediately seized the opportunity. Face contorted with fury, he strode over to Lek and swung his palm hard across his own son's face without a shred of restraint.
As a Tier Three Warrior, Dalin Perez, even without invoking Battle Aura, had enough raw physical strength to make his son's face swell instantly from the blow, blood flowing freely from the corner of his mouth, his nostrils, and even his eyes.
Watching Dalin's performance, Serela's brow furrowed ever so slightly. She was perfectly clear: this Dalin Perez was putting on a Bitter Flesh Stratagem for her benefit.
Sure enough—once Dalin had delivered this slap, Lek Perez, heedless of the ringing in his head and the iron taste flooding his throat, prostrated himself on the floor and begged in a hoarse voice:
"Father, Father—I was wrong, I was wrong……"
"You worthless wretch! What good is apologizing to me?!"
Realizing he had been apologizing to the wrong person, Lek immediately turned his body toward Serela as well. "Your Highness, Your Highness Serela—I was wrong, I shouldn't have—I shouldn't have! Please, please give me a chance!"
Once Lek finished speaking, Dalin planted his foot into his son's back and kicked him two meters away. Then he turned to face Serela:
"Your Highness, you need not listen to his nonsense—this unfilial wretch has committed an unpardonable crime. Let the imperial law judge him however it sees fit. The Perez Family will not shield him!"
"What? Father, you told me before—"
"Silence, you wretch! We're already at this point, and you're still clinging to your laughable delusion that the family can save you?! Have you forgotten the Perez Family motto?!" Dalin cut his son off, berating him with a sharp rebuke.
"But……"
"Someone—take this unfilial wretch away and await Her Highness's disposal!"
"Yes!" Several family guards responded.
They stepped forward, moving to drag Lek Perez away.
"Wait, Perez Earl." Serela interrupted the guards' actions.
"Your Highness? Is there something else you wish to emphasize?" Dalin bowed, his expression respectful.
Serela gave a light smile and waved her hand behind her.
The female knight Tanya, who had been standing at attention behind her the entire time, stepped forward and placed another dossier in Serela's hand.
"Perez Earl—let us simply regard this as Lek Perez funding the 'Nature' cultists privately in a personal capacity. His disposition will be handled by imperial law. As for these……"
With that, she slapped the dossier down onto the table with a sharp thwap.
"This is—" Perez Earl flipped it open, and after only a brief moment, his pupils dilated. "Your Highness, you…… how could you……"
"No—this is all fabricated—a frame-up against the Perez Family! Your Highness, where did you obtain these falsified documents? I, Dalin Perez, demand to take this to the Supreme Court!"
Perez Earl was indignant to the point of outrage—the picture of a wronged innocent, bristling with fury and grievance.
"Where did I obtain them?"
A cold flash crossed Serela's eyes. "Naturally from the customs house, the border trade bureaus, and…… the various merchant guilds mentioned in the documents."
"Alright, Perez Earl. You and I are both people with honor's blood running in our veins. Having come to this point, are you really not going to preserve some dignity for yourself?"
As Serela's voice fell, a clamor erupted outside the hall doors—the sound of steel clashing against steel, of armor grinding together.
Boom—
The hall doors were kicked open by a towering knight wielding a greatsword and clad in heavy armor. More than a dozen fully armed Royal Knights poured in behind him.
The tall knight came to a halt five meters before Serela, dropped to one knee, and pressed his fist to his chest in salute. "Your Highness—the Royal Knights, reporting as summoned."
The breathtakingly beautiful Imperial Princess gave a slight nod and said at a measured pace, "Perez Earl, the 'Search Order' in the Royal Knights' hands was personally issued by the Prime Minister himself—and it has also been passed by the Dome Council."
"So—would you please comply with the proper procedures?"
At the words "Dome Council," Perez Earl's body—which had still been tightly wound—instantly deflated like a punctured ball. He straightened up, drew a long breath, and let slip a helpless smile.
"I see. Since it is the Dome Council's decision, the Perez Family naturally has no objections. Your Highness, please proceed……"
With that, Dalin Perez settled into the sofa without so much as a trace of his earlier deference. He casually picked up a bottle of green grape wine from the table, flicked the stopper off with a finger, tilted his head back with little grace, and drank directly from the bottle.
At his signal, the Perez Family guards who had still been stubbornly resisting outside the hall also abandoned their resistance, allowing the Royal Knights to disarm them and herd them together under supervision.
"Then, Knight Ernst—carry out the search."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The tall knight promptly rose, walked out to the hall, and went to direct everyone in executing the Royal Knights' "business."
'It seems that after today, the Perez Family will be struck from Opalia's roster,' Knight Ernst thought to himself.