"They are already on the street and approaching the imperial palace." One of the elves gave a report to the middle-aged elf sitting in the center seat. There was nothing particularly noticeable about the elf in the center seat, except that he possessed cultivation at the middle pseudo-immortal stage.

His middle-aged face still retained its handsomeness and youthful appearance, without much sign of aging. All of the elves inside the room looked at him, waiting for his response and instruction, because he was their leader in the movement against the Silvarin imperial family.

He was the opposition faction's leader, and the future emperor if they could seize the throne—Grand Duke Freindor lyn Valian.

"I see. To think that the imperial family could really bring Aldrian the Great into our problem. It is truly surprising that they managed to convince Aldrian the Great to even send his fiancée. I suppose the imperial family must have given something so valuable that it made Aldrian the Great decide to choose Verdyn empire. This is truly a dangerous development for us," Freindor said with a frown.

The others also wore worried expressions, and one of them, a female elf, spoke.

"With Aldrian the Great's fiancée actually coming here for real, I can guess that after today our support from the populace will reduce drastically. Aldrian the Great's fame and reputation are truly high at this moment, and even his name alone carries heavy weight. Everything that seems to be acknowledged by him will also be acknowledged by others."

"Damnit, it's only a matter of time before all of us are swept away by the imperial family. With the reduction of support from the populace, we have nothing to depend on to go against the imperial family. Shit! As expected from those bastards, we really can't trust them. Where the hell did those devils actually go?! After offering to work together, they suddenly disappeared," another elf said in frustration.

Grand Duke Freindor frown deepened, as he had thought about this many times. He shared the same frustration as this elf and had cursed the devils countless times because they suddenly disappeared after everything they had done.

In the past, their plan had seemed smooth sailing. They only needed to take advantage of the chaos created by the so-called devil god and seize the throne. He would become the ruler of the continent of elves, and the devils would not disturb them as long as they continued working together.

However, the appearance of Aldrian the Great truly messed their plan. The so-called god had not created enough destruction and distraction for the entire world, and was even defeated by Aldrian the Great. The devils, who had always reassured him that the plan would absolutely work, were themselves confused, and that made him truly furious.

The golden time for their plan to work had already passed without much happening. The imperial family still retained their strong power because of the existence of the World Tree. In their plan, they had intended to weaken the World Tree with the help of the devil god.

However, with the devil god defeated and the world quickly returning to normal, they could not simply barge into the imperial palace and wreak havoc. That would be a foolish thing to do, nothing more than suicide.

With the plan gone awry, and with the devils not even certain about what had really happened to their god, all of them finally decided to take a more frontal approach. They still had much of the populace's opinion leaning toward them, and they could use that. With the growing dissatisfaction among the populace, the imperial family—whether they wanted it or not—would have to concede to public pressure.

That was, if they did not want a civil war that would take the lives of many innocent people. If the empress stubbornly clung to her position, then civil war might truly be inevitable, and he would likely win because the people's power was leaning toward him.

With the devils also helping behind the scenes, he was sure that although their initial plan had gone awry, they would still reach their destination. With him, the Grand Duke, becoming an emperor, there would be nothing to disturb him or threaten his position.

As emperor, he could erase any connection between himself and the devils, and no one would be able to investigate him because of his status. The fact that he had ties to the devils would be buried forever, while the devils would gain their own benefit from him becoming emperor.

But then another disaster occurred. All of the devils who had helped him suddenly disappeared, most likely dead after those strange heavenly lightning strikes. He could not find any of them, nor could he contact them anywhere, and when he visited their secret place, only destruction remained.

At first, he thought that the devils had escaped and abandoned him and his faction. But after thinking thoroughly and analyzing the phenomenon and its traces, he concluded that the devils might already be dead—all of them.

This was truly shocking to him. Still, he did not care about how or why the phenomenon had happened, what mattered was that the devils who had supported him were gone. With the devils dead, he had lost a great source of strength, leaving his faction weaker than ever.

He had also lost many connections that the devils seemed to have built for so long with some hidden powers, and this hindered their operations. There was also the potential that someone might discover their connection because of the strange lightning strikes, the cause of which he still did not know. And beyond that, there were other matters weighing on his concern.

He was already too deeply involved with the devils for it to be possible to wash his hands clean. He knew that even the imperial family already suspected him of having ties with the devils, but since they had not found anything yet, they had not made a move.

However, he knew that once they discovered proof of his involvement with the devils, they would not hold back and would attack him. No matter how strong the populace's support for him and his faction might be, once it was revealed that he had worked with the devils, all of that would be for nothing.

With the devils gone, it did not mean proof could not be found. Their traces were everywhere because of those strange heavenly lightning strikes, and the imperial family was already investigating the sites. They seemed to already know about the presence of the devils in many parts of the empire.

It was only a matter of time before he was found out, and because of that he decided to act more openly, even desperately. With the support of the populace and the strength of his faction, he even tried to incite rebellion in many parts of the empire to force the empress to abdicate.

This was his last chance.

But then another challenge appeared. The imperial family had brought outside influence into their struggle, and it was the strongest factor that could overturn the result overnight. The imperial family had actually convinced Aldrian the Great to send someone as important as his fiancée to this empire.

This infuriated him deeply, and he wanted to lash out, but he knew that would not solve the dire situation they were in. What he needed now was a way to turn the situation around.

"What are we supposed to do, Lord Freindor? We will end up on the execution platform if things do not change," one of his supporters asked. But Freindor did not answer immediately. He only frowned, thinking hard about how to escape this crisis, when his eyes suddenly widened in realization. Seeing his expression, the others knew that the Grand Duke had found an idea.

Grand Duke Freindor finally showed a smile as he spoke.

"I think we could take advantage of the current situation. Maybe the visit from Aldrian the Great's fiancée could be a blessing in disguise for us."

The others looked at the Grand Duke in confusion, and one of them asked, "Do you have a plan in mind, Lord Freindor?"

The Grand Duke kept his smile and met their gazes. "Let's kill her. Kill Aldrian the Great's fiancée."

At once, all of them widened their eyes in shock and horror. Kill Aldrian the Great's fiancée? Was Grand Duke Freindor out of his mind?

"Are you serious, my lord?"

Freindor did not change his expression. "I am entirely serious. I know what you are thinking after hearing my words, but listen to me first. If this works, perhaps we will not have to remove the imperial family ourselves."

The others were not entirely convinced and looked at him with doubt, but the Grand Duke continued.

"Do you know what would happen if Aldrian the Great's fiancée were killed inside the imperial palace? You must already be able to imagine what would follow."

One of them still frowned. "I know. Aldrian the Great might hold the imperial family accountable, and the people's image of the imperial family will only get worse because they will be seen as failing to keep her safe. It would cause an uproar across the empire and even the world because this would be a huge incident," he said.

"However, we would also be implicated and could be dragged into hell by Aldrian the Great himself. He must know that we and the imperial family are at odds, and he would include us on the suspect list if his fiancée were killed, because I believe he suspects it could be our machination as well."

The Grand Duke nodded, and then his eyes glinted. "I know that. That is why I will make sure the imperial family is the only one that takes the brunt of Aldrian the Great's fury. Let them burn, and we can watch and reap the results later. Here is what I have in mind…" He then explained his plan to the others, and when he finished, their expressions eased, although some doubts remained in their hearts.

The plan the Grand Duke had devised was the only thing that might turn the situation around, so after much consideration they agreed.

"All right then. Let us use this plan," Grand Duke Freindor said with a smile.