About ten minutes later, Shane emerged from Harvis's sleeping quarters.
He did not rescue Harvis.
Because it was not necessary.
"If I were to disappear, the Emperor's Consort faction in the Imperial Palace would surely accuse me of fleeing due to guilt. At that time, I would truly be unable to shake off the accusation of colluding with the enemy and betraying my country."
This Prince shared the same thoughts as Shane.
Therefore, Harvis was certain he could not, or rather should not leave—giving the Emperor's Consort faction no opportunity to pin a crime on him.
And since he could not leave the Imperial Palace, or even his sleeping quarters, all matters could only be handled by Shane alone.
"You help me deliver a letter to Lord Rocque."
Harvis had indeed mentioned this.
"With my orders, Lord Rocque should fully support you and help you against Moro."
Although the Bigusler Family was also in a precarious situation, Rocque was still a Legendary-level warrior, and among the Legendary, he was regarded as one of the strongest. His assistance was significant.
Of course, to Shane, Rocque's combat strength was of the optional sort.
He wasn't lacking a Legendary-level combatant.
Even without Ai Yi by his side, with just Lilith, he could replace who knows how many Legendary fighters. So one more did not add much, and one less did not take away; it was naturally dispensable.
Harvis clearly thought of this too, and in the end, to form an alliance with Shane, made a deal with him.
Thinking back on that deal, Shane found it a bit amusing.
"To even dare to offer such a bargaining chip, this Prince is truly willing to pay the price."
To seize power, the Prince was obviously going all out.
According to him, as long as the throne was not seized, the Empire remained under the control of that Poisonous Consort, Moro.
It was extremely dangerous.
Harvis was certain that if the Empire could not break free from that woman's control, it would be doomed sooner or later.
Plus, with his father, the Emperor, having become so incompetent, and with Shane being so unique, in the end, Harvis decided to cooperate with Shane at all costs.
The bargaining chip he proposed, honestly, didn't greatly interest Shane.
Still, since he was going to deal with Moro either way, once Moro was taken care of, he had no desire whatsoever to clean up the mess in the Empire. It would eventually fall into Harvis's hands anyway, letting him cheaply ascend to the throne he desired.
In that case, why not accept the bargaining chip Harvis was offering?
Thus, Shane gladly agreed.
"The show is about to begin."
Shane touched the scroll and crystal in his pocket, suddenly smiling, and with a flash, he disappeared.
He was leaving the Imperial Palace.
So, Shane went to find a certain Lady who was wandering around the Imperial Palace.
"Everything alright over here?"
In a corner of the Imperial Palace, a group of patrolling knights was discussing the results of their watch.
They stood talking in the courtyard, completely unaware of a shadow near them, where a Female Knight sat hugging her knees, curled into herself in an almost self-isolating demeanor.
"You can't see me... You can't see me... You can't see me..."
The Female Knight, as if comforting herself, buried her face in her knees, feeling almost tearfully desperate.
"The patrols in the Imperial Palace are way too tight tonight...!?"
Tilly was mentally collapsing.
Originally, she had been snuck into the Imperial Palace by Shane, which counted as an illegal infiltration.
Under such circumstances, Tilly naturally had to hide and avoid being detected by anyone.
But after the incident with Tielle, the Palace's defenses were much tighter than before. Moreover, with the major events that occurred today in the Noble District, the Palace was essentially in a state of high alert, where any rustle could alert the patrolling Knight Order.
In her effort to avoid the Knight Order, Tilly had to hide and dart from place to place, constantly running into patrolling knights, driving her to the brink.
Especially, thanks to Shane, Tilly was already feeling chilly, with the cold Armor sticking to her. Every movement caused severe friction and pain, nearly bringing her to tears.
As a result, she had to continue hiding and play a game of cat and mouse with the patrolling knights, and one could imagine just how much Tilly was falling apart.
As she thought about it, Tilly couldn't help but cry.
She dared not cry out loud to avoid attracting the knights' attention, so she could only silently sob in humiliation and disarray.
"Can't you handle it already?"
A voice reached Tilly's ears.
"It seems your psychological resilience isn't that great."
Upon hearing this, Tilly froze, suddenly lifting her head to look beside her.
There, covered in a cloak, Shane had appeared at some point, arms crossed and leaning against the wall, looking down at her with an almost gloating expression.
"You... wuu wuu wuu...!"
Seeing him, Tilly's emotions erupted, and she couldn't help wanting to scream out loud, but Shane quickly covered her mouth.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Dare to scream out in a place ?"
Shane raised an eyebrow with a smile directed at Tilly.
Tilly could see Shane's mouth curving into a playful angle under the hood, and her eyes could almost spit fire.
In anger, Tilly opened her mouth and fiercely bit down on Shane's hand covering her.
To her dismay, she found she could not bite through.
"Hehe," Shane chuckled dryly. "Did you think you were some sort of illogical Princess who could ignore Resistance Skills?"
With the "Inner Destiny's" protection, other than some illogical Princess, no one else could do so much as bite Shane, let alone try to pierce his eyeball with reckless stabbing.
Tilly, seemingly not convinced, bit down with all her might, drenching Shane's hand in saliva.
Shane's face instantly took on a look of distaste.
"Can't you have a little decency as a girl?" Shane said with a look of pity, "Why act like a dog when you could be a human?"
Tilly was so furious she almost fainted.
Your whole family are dogs!
"Woof woof woof...! Woof woof...!"
All Tilly could do was flail her arms and legs, desperately calling out.
My Virtual Library Empire (*) appreciates your readership at the source.
Her calls were getting quite loud.
At this rate, being discovered was just a matter of time.
Shane narrowed his eyes.
"If you keep barking, I'll have to use Instant Movement," Shane said with a smile, "Just that this time, after moving, you might really lose everything, including your armor."
Tilly froze on the spot.
In her eyes, filled with rage, fear finally surfaced.
Clearly, Shane's words had successfully scared her.
Shane then curled his lip. While releasing his hand from Tilly's mouth, and before she could react, he took another firm feel in front of her body.
Tilly let out a silent scream.
This time, she didn't feel anger, only shock.
Because she thought Shane was really about to strip away her armor with Instant Movement.
If that had happened, she would truly have been left with nothing on, stark naked.
That thought brought panic to Tilly's mind before anger.
However, the sensation of her armor detaching didn't come. Instead, the chilly feeling beneath the armor disappeared.
Tilly was initially stunned, then she quickly realized what had happened.
"You... you put it back on?"
Tilly blurted out a sentence full of ambiguity.
"Yeah, I put it back on," Shane said nonchalantly, not caring if he realized the ambiguity or not: "Only two others have ever received this treatment, and one ran off before I woke up, so you're the third. How about that? I'm nice, right?"
Tilly nearly drew her sword in frustration.
If not for the fear that Shane would dare to do anything, like moving away her armor and all, she would have definitely drawn her sword by now.
Even if she couldn't beat Shane, it was imperative to draw the sword!
"Calm down... calm down..."
Tilly could only take deep breaths to control her emotions.
"Don't mind it... Don't mind it... It's just a prank by an old guy who's much older than me... Don't take it seriously..."
Tilly consoled herself in this manner.
But Shane overheard her.
"Old guy?" Shane glanced at Tilly, saying casually, "Don't slander people carelessly. I'm a youngster in his early twenties, which of your eyes sees me as an old guy?"
At these words, Tilly was stunned.
A guy in his early twenties...?
Tilly's response was almost reflexive.
"Why is it impossible?" Shane countered.
"You... you're so strong, even Legendary fighters retreat from you, and you decimated the Lefirut Family. How could you possibly be in your early twenties?"
Tilly dismissed the thought outright.
If Shane was in his early twenties, then wouldn't that make him younger than herself?
She was twenty-four this year and only at Level 73. A person younger than herself who could repel Legendary fighters and destroy the Lefirut Family?
Seeing Tilly's disbelief, Shane wanted to say one thing.
"You know nothing about power, sis," Shane said, still smiling, "If you don't believe me, why not ask your father when you get back?"
With that, Shane didn't give Tilly a chance to express more of her opinion. Stretching out his hand, he placed it on her shoulder.
In the next second, the two of them disappeared from the spot.
Tilly only saw a blur before her eyes. When her vision cleared up, she was back at the square in front of the Imperial Palace.
In other words, they had left the Imperial Palace.
"Alright, let's go back," Shane said, yawning, "I'm dead tired, need to go back to sleep. There's a lot to do tomorrow."
Leaving those words behind, Shane walked away.
Tilly swiftly followed.
Watching Shane's retreating figure, her heart was in turmoil.
"A legendary fighter in his early twenties...?"
Absolutely impossible.
Such a monstrous person could not exist in this world.
Even the Valkyrie, with a talent rivaling the Kingdom Treasure, was only at Level 70 at seventeen years old. Even by twenty, it was implausible for her to raise her level to above ninety.
It must be the same for the Kingdom Treasure, right?
"I won't believe it."
As Tilly said this, a seed was planted in her heart.
A seed of curiosity about Shane's appearance, his background, and his real age.
All this, Shane was yet unaware of.
But even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
The night in the Imperial City was still going on.
And this night was far from peaceful.