Annan did not immediately return to Roth Fort to find Bishop Daryl.
After all, when Annan had completed his advancement, Mr. Eugene Geraint, Tan Juan’s second brother, had not yet set off to return to Noah.
Through Lin Yiyi’s vision, Annan could see Eugene’s attitude toward the "Tan Juan" who was temporarily absent from his fiefdom.
Since Eugene made no attempt to conceal himself, Annan could easily tell that Eugene obviously knew the lord here was not the real "Tan Juan Geraint." He never tried to inquire where the "real Tan Juan" was ... But he maintained politeness toward Lin Yiyi and the others nevertheless, acting relaxed at Roth Fort as though he had no guard against them.
Even after Eugene arrived at Roth Fort, he was not in a hurry even though he hadn’t seen Annan.
He did not press Lin Yiyi to ask where Annan had gone; however, he also did not return to Noah in disappointment. Instead, he stayed at Roth Fort for three days without a fuss, then left behind a letter and leisurely went back.
—— And thus Annan immediately realized what Eugene had come for.
Eugene had not come looking for his brother "Tan Juan Geraint" at all.
He clearly knew where the real Tan Juan was.
Luckily, Annan was not in Roth Fort at that time.
Otherwise, it would have been awkward for both parties.
Eugene’s personal trip here was probably to convey some false information to mislead someone in the Royal Capital.
His three-day stay in Roth Fort indicated that his visit was amicable; and if he safely returned to the Royal Capital, claiming he had seen Tan Juan, others would believe that Tan Juan had indeed safely arrived at Beihai territory.
From Eugene’s behavior, Annan could discern something else...
Benjamin had probably already found a place for Tan Juan’s soul.
Crow was directly involved in this matter, and he knew the truth.
So if Ferdinand had not been imprisoned... Crow would likely have treated him as a tool.
The Crow family only serve the King.
No matter who the King is, they only serve the person upon the throne.
Therefore, before the King has spoken, Crow would not make a direct move against Prince Philip.
He would only use plots and schemes to disrupt Philip’s plans.
Just think about it... Tan Juan was Crow’s most beloved son. Ferdinand Gerant worshipping Hermes, murdering his own flesh and blood; Crow would never easily forgive such actions.
Previously, Crow’s attempt to send Tan Juan to the frontier was to safeguard against the worst-case scenario.
If the Crow family were to face major issues, at least Tan Juan could flee to the Winter Principality, surviving by virtue of his mother’s noble Winter lineage.
But Ferdinand’s betrayal nearly wasted all efforts. And as a worshipper of Hermes, he would likely have to act against Crow himself, and another one of his brothers...
It wouldn’t be surprising if Crow directly killed him — while he couldn’t act against Philip, he could at least act against his own son, right?
However, Annan had not heard any news about "Ferdinand’s untimely death."
And now, Eugene evidently knew the truth too.
Taking into account that Claus Kass was still alive and well,
gradually, Annan pieced together the threads of the situation. He even vaguely saw the political landscape within Noah’s Royal Capital.
—— This was a classic, three-level structure of lies.
The first level was the "publicly known" information wrapped around the incident, the "public intelligence."
That is, "Claus safely delivered Tan Juan Geraint to Frostwater Harbor and, after the Viscount of Roth Fort died suddenly, officially completed the power transfer ceremony at Roth Fort, with the Great Wizard Benjamin staying in Frostwater Harbor to look after Tan Juan."
The second level was, "In reality, Tan Juan was assassinated by Claus, and Great Wizard Benjamin was also dead. The person in Frostwater Harbor now is someone with black hair and blue eyes, impersonating Tan Juan’s identity, with their real identity unknown."
The third level was, "Somehow, Tan Juan and Benjamin have not died. Moreover, Benjamin has completed the advancement ritual, becoming the new Pope of the gods."
But all these three layers were lies.
Very few reach the third layer... such as Prince Philip. He might have been the closest to the truth, but he had no evidence.
Claus was himself on the second layer, thinking old Crow was on the first.
——But in fact, old Crow was on the fifth layer.
He was the only one, other than the party concerned, Benjamin, who knew everything.
Eugene was at least on the third layer. Ferdinand, as old Crow’s eldest son, however, was the only one in the Crow family who was still on the first layer.
Given this, Annan could infer what old Crow’s objective was:
He would send Eugene to "take a look," which, to Ferdinand, would seem like his father had suspicions about "Tan Juan still being alive."
But after returning to the Royal Capital, Eugene would say that he indeed saw Tan Juan.
That would lead Ferdinand to believe that Tan Juan really wasn’t dead.
He would have to pass this intelligence to his master, Philip.
Consequently, from the three sources of information Philip had—Claus, Ferdinand, and the connection with Viscount of Roth Fort—the three pieces of intelligence were completely contradictory.
Earlier, Philip would have thought Claus failed his mission, obviously because he was more willing to believe another informant over Claus.
However, Philip didn’t punish Claus, which shows that he wasn’t completely sure the second piece of intelligence was definitely true... although it indeed came the closest to the truth.
From this, it can be seen that Philip was very suspicious and he wasn’t excessively cruel, acting very cautiously.
And now, Ferdinand, who had first fled to him, gave him a completely different third answer.
Afterward, the Delicacy Goose there will corroborate Claus’ story.
All three pieces of intelligence were completely credible, yet their contents completely opposed each other.
This would definitely plunge Philip into utter chaos.
Before he figured out the truth of the matter, Philip wouldn’t take any action.
Old Crow’s arrangement was buying time.
If Annan hadn’t guessed wrong, the Silver Baron church had already been informed by old Crow.
And the only possible answer for old Crow to agree to a plan proposed by the Silver Baron church was that
"... His Majesty the King, or the Eldest Princess had been persuaded?"
Lifting the envelope Eugene had left for him, Annan murmured softly.
If support from the upper echelons was secured, everything should be able to calm down soon.
...But why do I feel a bit uneasy?
What exactly did I overlook...
Contemplating, Annan tore open the envelope.
He quickly skimmed through it and found his previous conjectures were completely correct. And Eugene had attached another piece of intelligence:
Annan murmured to himself.
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
——He remembered what he had previously overlooked.