CHAPTER 194: CLAUDIA’S GAMBLE

Claudia remained composed despite the blatant threat of endless torture to befall her if it failed.

"What if I manage to succeed in helping you?" Claudia asked. Since there was a punishment for failure, there should be a reward for success.

"Bargaining?" Leonard chuckled in amusement.

"Do you think you are in any position to be bargaining with me?" He raised his tone slightly.

"I know I am not in any position," Claudia admitted. "But I also know your hatred toward me is negligence as opposed to the platinum rank assassin, Redflow."

Nodding, Leonard didn’t deny the statement. Although Claudia had also killed his people, they were all hired people who knew about the risk. To summarize, they took a hefty paycheck.

"You’re right about that, but don’t forget about this part." His expression turned cold as he stated, "You’re still a slave under the effect of the contract. Or did you forget about it because I haven’t ordered you around as of late?’

"You’re right about that," Claudia confessed. Unfortunately, he had underestimated her this time.

"I have already reconstructed my magic circle, so if you refuse to comply with my request. I would explode the magic circle and commit suicide." She threatened.

The slave contract was absolute, but having resisted for so long, Claudia indeed had the capability to utilize the fleeting chance to suicide. After all, the explosion of a magic circle wasn’t something easy to stop.

Although one could defend against it or even prevent the damage from spreading, they couldn’t possibly save the person who personally made the action to explode their magic circle.

"How did she reconstruct her magic circle?" Leonard narrowed his eyes. He was certain that she wouldn’t be able to recover, given her current circumstances.

Without resources, it would be impossible...

Suddenly, Leonard’s expression changed as he shifted his sight to Mirelle.

"You again?" He clenched his fist and questioned.

Mirelle could only lower her head.

Her body response and guilt expression confirmed Leonard’s suspicion. She definitely used one of the Restoration Potions researched by Caroline and offered it to Claudia.

Otherwise, there was just no way Claudia could reconstruct her magic circle in such a short span of time.

"Once again, you disappointed and impressed me at the same time." Leonard clapped his hands and praised sarcastically. Out of everyone in his rank, she was the only one who consistently betrayed his trust over and over again.

Just when he was about to give his ultimatum and dismiss her entirely, Claudia suddenly interrupted.

"You shouldn’t blame her." Claudia stepped forward. "I’ve told her that I have clues about the assassin who killed Irene. Redflow is the name I gave her in exchange for the Restoration Potion."

"Wow, am I supposed to be impressed by your explanation?" Leonard snickered. "Both of you are making me seem like the villain now."

He was exasperated and began to lose his composure. There was a limit of tolerance he could give to Mirelle. But time and time again, she kept testing him, almost as if she was trying to step over his head.

Mirelle remained silent and knelt on the ground to seek forgiveness.

Meanwhile, Claudia continued her defiant behavior, albeit her stance was different than the previous.

The previous time, she was self-conceited and arrogant in her view when confronting him.

Yet this time, she was being defiant to defend Mirelle from being reprimanded by him.

"Mirelle was only doing her best to give you clues to help alleviate the burden in your heart. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have offered me a valuable potion in exchange for a name and brought me over here to negotiate with you further."

"So what you’re saying is that as long as there’s a burden in my heart. The people around me could do whatever they want without seeking permission or even going against my decision just to alleviate my burden, right?"

"That is not my intention."

"Is that so? But that’s precisely what I am getting from your statement."

Instantly, the aura around Leonard began to fluctuate.

What he despised the most was people thinking their ideals were flawless or near perfect. They were the type to go behind one’s back and commit to their belief, only to end up creating catastrophic damage.

Right now, Mirelle was precisely one of those people.

Based on Claudia’s threat from earlier, it was obvious that she could immediately commit suicide when her magic circle was reconstructed.

In other words, if Claudia never intended to negotiate with him and wanted to give him a dead-end. Then she could have totally suicided, leaving him with a lifeless corpse and zero clues.

"Logan!" Leonard called out.

A few seconds later, a portal appeared, and Logan emerged.

Logan then went on his knees and awaited the order.

As a member of the Crimson Veil Division, he was responsible for counter-assassination. Since Leonard now permitted them to be active, Logan had always been by Leonard’s side to ensure his safety.

Of course, that didn’t mean Logan was eavesdropping or spying on Leonard.

Without Leonard’s summoning or rapid change of vital signs within him, Logan wouldn’t appear or attempt to spy on him.

"A name going by Redflow may very well be the platinum rank assassin. Tell the Shadows about this information and see if they can find the lead." Leonard instructed, much to Mirelle’s relief.

’So he didn’t summon Logan to execute Claudia...’ Mirelle wasn’t worried about her life, but rather Claudia’s.

However, her relief was cut abruptly when Claudia pressed on.

"You won’t find anything with just the name, Crown Prince." Claudia sneered. "If a name alone were sufficient, then I wouldn’t have even offered the codename to Mirelle for some Restoration Potion. I would have directly requested my freedom."

"You’ve got courage," Leonard admitted that she was indeed bold enough to repeatedly provoke him.

"You want freedom, huh. Then I’ll gladly grant you it if you can help capture this Redflow."

"Please don’t take me for a fool, Crown Prince. The definition of freedom for people of your status is very grand and broad. What I want is the freedom to leave Velastra, and you won’t persecute me until a week later if you want my assistance." Claudia opened her cards publicly.