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"We really are in Fort Whitebridge?" Linetta uttered with amazement as she inspected her surroundings.

If they could popularize such advanced magic technology, they could travel anywhere in the kingdom and perhaps even beyond within the blink of an eye, saving them an incredible amount of time.

Although Arabelle and her personal guards didn\'t comment, their expressions gave away their thoughts and surprises.

Artemis was glad she wasn\'t the only one to be shocked by the reveal, given it happened not long ago.

"It\'s a bit earlier than scheduled, but since you\'re all here, let us start the meeting right away," Artemis said as she swept the group with her gaze. "Which one is the imperial princess Dorothy?"

Shortly after the question was raised, Astoria and the others immediately frowned.

"Dorothy is not here. She is in a secured location," Astoria coolly stated.

"What?" Artemis also frowned before solemnly asking, "Then why have you even come here? I thought the purpose of this meeting was to discuss how we should hand the person over to the empire, no? What\'s the point if the person is not here?"

"What\'s going on here, Lord Helia?" Artemis directed her attention at Helia for an answer.

However, Helia didn\'t reply. Instead, she glanced at Vaan and signaled him to speak on her behalf.

"We can, of course, discuss how to hand over Dorothy to the empire. However, the person doesn\'t have to be here now," Vaan calmly said before saying, "Did you really think it\'ll be over once we hand Dorothy over to the empire? How naïve."

"More importantly, Lord Artemis isn\'t expecting any more guests to arrive," Aeliana added.

"Coupled with Lady Arabelle\'s cluelessness, it\'s clear that the border lords have not informed the capital regarding the empire\'s demands and threats."

"I wonder what Lord Artemis is secretly plotting?" Aeliana asked with narrowed eyes.

"You\'re overthinking things," Artemis coolly shrugged in the face of Aeliana\'s accusation and said, "Why do I need to inform the capital over trivial issues? You\'re making a big problem out of nothing."

"Sure, the empire\'s threat is unpleasant, but that is just that. They won\'t start a war as long as we hand over the imperial princess as per their demand," Artemis stated.

"As I said, you are too naïve, Lord Artemis—"

"Who the hell do you think you are to speak to me like that? Just because I tolerated you once doesn\'t mean I will keep tolerating you, pretty boy!" Artemis snapped at Vaan before he could finish speaking.

"I don\'t know what it\'s like for central in recent years, but here, men don\'t get to talk like my equal! I call the shots here—!"

"Do you?"

Aeliana narrowed her eyes dangerously at Artemis as she sealed the person\'s mouth and movements with her vines.

Artemis was caught off guard by the surprise attack, but she didn\'t panic. However, when she tried to resist, she realized she couldn\'t break free from her binding.

Only then did she start to panic.

"When my lord is speaking, you listen; nothing else," Aeliana stated overbearingly before her following words became colder, "I would kill you right where you stand for disrespecting my lord, but he still has plans for you, so count yourself lucky to be alive."

"However, let me remind you that the highest authority here is not you, not me, or anyone else; only my lord. Get that into your head," Aeliana coldly stated. "Is that understood?"

Faced with Aeliana\'s heavy murderous intentions and mighty pressure, Artemis wanted to nod her head with obedience.

However, even she found that difficult to do due to the vines constricting around her neck. She couldn\'t breathe, let alone nod her head.

Her eyes started to roll back, revealing sheer whiteness; she was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen when Aeliana finally released her binding.

In that instant, Artemis immediately dropped to the ground weakly and greedily gasped for air while grasping her neck.

She violently coughed and choked when she inhaled improperly, causing her eyes to naturally turn watery.

If Aeliana had applied just a bit more force, her neck would have snapped.

Meanwhile, when Arabelle witnessed the dignified Artemis reduced to a sorry state, she felt surprisingly good, knowing someone else also suffered under the overbearing Aeliana\'s hands.

She was no longer alone in the matter.

Nevertheless, as long as witches failed to recognize Vaan\'s importance in Aeliana\'s heart, she didn\'t doubt such scenes will become common.

"Do you think it\'s acceptable to assault another lord in her own territory? Are you all going to turn a blind eye to this?" Artemis hoped the other witches would step up on her behalf.

However, no one did.

"It seems you still feel rebellious. My punishment must be too lenient," Aeliana commented before suggesting to Vaan, "Should I just kill her, my lord? I don\'t think she will be useful…"

"No…! I am useful! Please don\'t kill me!" Artemis pleaded desperately after recognizing no one was on her side.

At the same time, she truly believed Aeliana would kill her at Vaan\'s order.

"I want to ask you a question, Lord Artemis. You have to answer me honestly, alright?" Vaan crouched down and wiped Artemis\'s tears, almost appearing like a saint, before he asked, "How many troops do you command?"

"F-Five thousand, sir," Artemis answered truthfully.

"Five thousand, huh?" Vaan muttered before saying, "Now, do you believe five thousand is enough to hold off the empire\'s entire army when they possess overwhelming numbers, superior strength, and better equipment?"

"No matter how trivial of a problem you think it is, it is still a matter concerning the whole kingdom. Seven days would have given the kingdom time to prepare. But if you deprive the kingdom of that chance, you would have become the biggest sinner when the empire invades."

"Or perhaps you have already sold yourself to the empire? Is that why you are keeping crucial information from the capital? Why don\'t you tell us what you have been up to while guarding the borders?" Vaan asked.

However, Artemis fell silent and didn\'t answer. As such, Aeliana forced her to answer by grunting, expressing her impatience

"Please," Artemis pleaded as she said, "If I confess everything, I don\'t know what kind of terrible fate will await me, and that scares me!"

"More than I scare you?" Aeliana frowned.