Chapter 95. Emergency Arrest

A few days later, the Imperial Knights stormed Blanche Castle and arrested Duke Blanche. It was highly unusual to arrest the head of a noble family without warning. It had to be an urgent matter, or it could lead to a counterattack.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Please come with us to the imperial palace.”

Their tone was polite, but in reality, he was being forcibly taken. The Duke frowned as he read the contents of the arrest warrant they brought.

“I’ll be back soon, so take care of things here.”

“Don’t worry.”

Aster replied briefly, seeing the Duke off.

Meanwhile, Isabelle seized the opportunity of the loosened security to hurriedly leave the villa and head towards Paris.

Camilla had said that Paris would be released on the day the Duke was arrested. She hadn’t seen her son for a long time, and her heart ached with worry.

She had been nervously pacing when she finally saw Paris walking out of the police station.

“Paris!”

Isabelle burst into tears and welcomed Paris. His face had become gaunt. His once glossy hair was now dull and lifeless, likely due to the excessive use of illegal drugs.

His haggard face and the shadows under his eyes made him look nothing like the well-groomed young master he once was. Isabelle caressed Paris’s cheek and said,

“You’ve been through so much. Let’s get to the carriage first. We need to escape before your father is released.”

Isabelle pulled Paris along. She didn’t want to waste any time, fearing the Duke’s men might pursue them.

By now, the Duke must have realized that she was behind this. The evidence was something only Isabelle could have provided.

She needed to flee to a safe place before the Duke retaliated. She had a house purchased under a false name for such an occasion. It wasn’t as grand as Blanche Castle, but it was a cozy place for the mother and son to live.

At that moment, Paris stopped walking and looked at Isabelle with a dazed expression. He asked in a dreamy voice,

“Father?”

Though his behavior was suspicious, Isabelle didn’t have time to notice. She was desperate to escape and roughly pulled him along as she answered,

“Yes, your father, Duke Blanche. He’ll surely try to kill both of us, so we need to hurry.”

Just as she dragged him to the carriage and opened the door, Paris asked another strange question.

“Why is Duke Blanche my father?”

“What?”

“And who are you to be dragging me away?”

“!!”

Isabelle stopped trying to push Paris into the carriage and widened her eyes in shock. Only then did she realize something was wrong with Paris. She grabbed his cheeks and asked,

“Paris? What’s wrong with you?”

Now that she looked closely, his once bright eyes were incredibly dull. She had heard there were terrifying people in the prison and feared he might have been tormented.

Then his next words shattered Isabelle’s heart.

“Is my name Paris? All this time, I thought I was 286.”

286 was the inmate number he received while in prison. It seemed Paris had been mentally pushed to the point where he forgot his own name and origin. In reality, it was memory impairment caused by the excessive use of illegal drugs, but Isabelle had no way of knowing that.

“How dare they turn my son into a fool?”

If it weren’t for Duke Blanche, her precious son wouldn’t have spent time in prison. Isabelle coaxed Paris into the carriage and moved to the designated location.

Inside the carriage, Paris continued to ask nonsensical questions. Isabelle couldn’t answer and just wept.

She thought that if her sins hadn’t all fallen on her son, this wouldn’t have happened. Isabelle silently cried, pondering the indifference of the heavens.

* * *

Blanche Castle exuded a gloomy atmosphere due to the recent events.

As soon as the Duke was arrested, Isabelle disappeared. It was clear to anyone that Isabelle was behind this.

Everyone shuddered at the spectacular marital fight between Isabelle and Duke Blanche. A wife who reports her husband and a husband who detains his wife in a villa—neither was normal.

The servants moved to their workplaces as usual. After all, the Duke would be released by tomorrow due to his exceptional abilities.

They were all busy, thinking they shouldn’t create any issues that the Duke could pick on when he returned.

Meanwhile, Camilla, Aster, and Duke Francis headed to the underground prison where Marco was held.

As they deactivated all the confinement devices as instructed by the Duke, they saw a half-n*ked Marco. He noticed them and smirked as if he were about to receive some entrusted money.

“You came quickly? As expected of Francis. It must have been difficult to come here without the Duke noticing.”

“There are always ways.”

“It seemed noisy upstairs. What did you do?”

“The Duke was arrested. We brought him to the imperial palace so we could talk to you comfortably.”

Marco’s eyes widened at Camilla’s cheeky response. Moments later, he tilted his head back and laughed heartily.

“As expected, you’re thorough. It would have been too tight to wait until the Black Shadow arrived.”

“Now, let’s hear about that method you mentioned.”

“Can’t you untie me and talk?”

“We can’t untie you yet. If you really know the method, we’ll release you.”

“Hahaha.”

Marco laughed at Camilla’s unyielding demeanor. But he quickly made a decision.

“Alright.”

Marco nodded and scrutinized Aster and Duke Francis one by one.

“After all, everyone needed for this task is already here.”

“Everyone needed?”

Camilla tilted her head at Marco’s words. That meant that the people here could perform the extraction.

She had vaguely guessed this when he mentioned needing her father. Camilla pressed Marco for answers.

“Stop beating around the bush and explain.”

“Blanche and Francis are enemies because they are opposites. Just like the Phoenix and the World Tree.”

Marco began with basic principles that anyone from Ahivith would know.

Like he said, Blanche was a family blessed by the Phoenix, and Francis was a family blessed by the World Tree.

These two noble families in Ahivith inherited extraordinary powers of fire and water, respectively, making them prominent among the aristocracy.

Though fire and water seemed like opposites, their essence was the same.

Both elements governed life and death. Water inherited more of the power of death, while fire inherited more of the power of life.

The Phoenix was a divine beast that received new life through death, and the World Tree was an entity that that entered the path of death as it bore fruit.

Originally, the two families could have complemented each other, but the greedy Blanche antagonized Francis, making them eternal enemies.

Not knowing why Marco was bringing up such basic principles now, Camilla stared at him, and Marco spoke.

“When those two powers collide, they create a state of nothingness. That’s when the Maved Stone can be safely dismantled.”

“!!”

Camilla felt as if she had been struck on the back of her head. She hadn’t thought it could be resolved so simply.

Marco explained her doubts.

“At first, I thought it was impossible too. When I tried with Blanche’s power, it wasn’t enough.”

“Tried?”

“If you encountered the Black Shadow, you might have felt Blanche’s abilities in their emblem.”

“Did you experiment on your subordinates?”

“Even with mere imitations, they couldn’t withstand the power of the Maved Stone and died one after another. So I thought it was a failed attempt. But then.”

Marco smirked at Camilla.

“When I found out that you, Camilla Francis, were alive with that fragment in your body, I was convinced. This isn’t an impossible feat.”

The difference between Marco and her father’s gamble was whether they intended to save the other. Her father used the safest sealing technique to save her, while Marco pushed his subordinates into danger to save himself.

Marco seemed to have resigned himself to living with the realization that he couldn’t extract the Maved Stone from his body with just the power given by Duke Blanche.

His eyes burned with fervent hope for life. He spoke.

“How about it? Do you still think my words are nonsense?”

“It makes sense.”

At that moment, her father, who had been listening quietly, murmured. According to him, it was possible to perform the extraction right here.

If they used sealing techniques and infused Blanche’s abilities to separate and extract it, it seemed feasible.

“So, it’s impossible without Francis and Blanche working together.”