Immortal Kingdoms

Juvia had a trace of pity in her eyes, sighing, "Isn't this enough proof that Ghost Face being my lord's subordinate is an open secret? Doesn't this scene seem rather too familiar to you all?"

Everyone who was watching with interest suddenly froze at this realization.

'Yeah, isn't this type of illogical argument something that erupts everywhere in the wake of this Ghost Face?' Thinking that Ghost Face was someone directly reporting information to Leonardo, their hearts went cold.

"Are you trying to say that Ghost Face has pawns in the Arcadian Church?" Adrian sucked in a deep breath, this time asking Juvia since he knew that Leonardo wouldn't even bother responding to him.

Juvia looked at Leonardo who gave her a silent nod.

Juvia smiled, "My lord is wise and brilliant. Ghost Face has no pawns in the Arcadian Church, but he is a pawn in and of itself. My lord already planted Ghost Face in the ranks of House Erudite the same night the various factions gathered on the Sylvian Mountain Peak under House Erudite's invitation, and he is now camouflaging as a 'middle-man' between their young priest and Ghost Face…"

Juvia's words sent shivers down the old man's spine.

Was this to say that Leonardo could foresee House Erudite's intentions to get involved in the political world from this far back? To actually use this invitation to plant a seed in the ranks of the Arcadian Church.

"Ara~ hubby, does that mean this kid did something amazing? It's so rare to see old Adrian acting as if he had just lost a match of chess!"The female beastkin was intrigued, her golden eyes sweeping over the frozen and stiff expressions of the other two couples, her ears twitching.

Calp! Clap! Clap! Clap!

"Haha, I see now. No wonder you said that when you've cornered a desperate opponent, and you're already certain of your inevitable victory, then leaving them with a bit of false hope is also a strategy!" Ingrid laughed softly while clapping her hands, no longer playing neutral and impartial. "You've actually dipped your hands in the matters of such an ancient force while leaving the entire world unaware! Truly frightening!"

"Sigh… That little trick you played on that girl Azalea, the seven vassals, and the three ruling powers did catch my eye a little. But this… This chess piece, sigh… I'm really growing old." Adrian deflated back into his seat, somewhat at a loss for words.

"Don't feel so upset, my lord's foresight is something so out of this world. On that same evening, he told me that the game had already started and that the rules were already set. Knowing back then and knowing now makes no difference, as the players have yet to deal their cards on the table."

"You mean?" The female human next to Adrian, while consoling him, raised an eyebrow. Juvia nodded, "Indeed, my lord said and I quote, House Erudite is driven by their blind faith while the Elven Royal Family is driven by their blind sense of nobility. They are both easily manipulated forces due to their one-dimensional natures."

Taking a deep breath while ignoring the sharp gazes from the two elves, Juvia smiled, "Irrational powers like faith and love may be blind, but no one can deny the strength hidden deep within this senseless devotion. After what this planet had just experienced, this blind faith will only increase, and this wave of blind faith induced by anger, despair, fear, and helplessness will allow House Erudite to slowly transition into the political world. As my lord has said, the rules for the game were set the moment the Elves and Xavier chose to join hands, and Xavier was never a key player, to begin with."

…

"He really said such a thing?" The beastkin man was astonished, thinking that this description of the elves and religious fanatics was ridiculously accurate. "What did he say about the humans and us beastkin then?"

Juvia pondered for a bit to remember the exact words and answered, "Humans don't care about disgrace and face, they're profit driven. As long as the gains exceed the losses, they can toss face aside, and vice versa…"

The two humans and Ingrid had weird expressions when they looked at Leonardo.

Did he seriously degrade himself so openly like that? Then again, they can't argue that what he said was wrong. This was also Ingrid's first impression, but she quickly remembered that Leonardo wasn't typically a human on genetic levels, only that he was extremely close to one in physiology.

"Oh? Then what about my beastkin?" The man grew even more interested.

Juvia smiled faintly, "You guys wouldn't go out of your way, getting involved with major conflicts unprovoked… And that's all he said."

The man stared blankly for a moment as that was the same as not taking the beastkin race into consideration in this major political conflict. However, thinking that politics would be too much of a headache anyway, and he would most definitely avoid getting involved unless he was dragged into it, he silently nodded to himself with a serious expression.

"This kid is very smart," was his only comment.

'You're just too simple-minded, and it's an open secret!' This was the thought of everyone else in response.

"This brings us back," Juvia then smiled brilliantly as she looked at the female beastkin, "How are you going to compensate my lord for exposing one of his life and death-related secrets? You know, to a warrior, this kind of secret being exposed is a very… very serious matter."

The female beastkin chuckled awkwardly before licking the back of her hand, sticking out her tongue, "You can talk to the Chairman about that ara!~" Then, she acted deaf and mute, hiding her her husband's chest.

Juvia laughed softly, looking at the Chairman.

She didn't know about the relationship between the Chairman and Leonardo, so although she was smiling, her eyes were glinting sharply in preparation to retaliate in any shape or form.

Unexpectedly to everyone present, Ingrid smiled faintly and said, "Oh my, life-and-death, huh? That's quite troublesome as we can't put a price tag on the life of someone with his status now, can we?" Ingrid tilted her head to the side, tightly closing her eyes as though pondering something.

"How about this, I will invest in 49% of your property by paying with 10% of my personal shares in this company, would that be enough?"

"How can this be?!" Adrian almost jumped, "Each of us has only 5% of the shares despite all of our contributions, yet he gets a full 10% to himself?" Adrian instinctively rejected the idea without giving the matter some deep thought, even his wife was too late to stop him from jumping to his feet.

"That brat's assessment of humans is astonishingly accurate… Old Adrian, don't you care about your old face anymore? Actually jumping out just like that?" The male beastkin almost laughed out loud, only now did Adrian reflect on his uncouth behavior.

Ingrid didn't mind, responding, "Each couple here has an individual 5%, together rounding up to 10% assets for as long as you didn't leave the organization. Hence, as long as you and your significant other see eye to eye, you are not inferior one bit to him be it in terms of influence and position,"

It almost seemed as though Ingrid was using Leonardo to make sure these people never betrayed the trust of their partners, and by extension, her trust as well. Adrian's reaction proved Leonardo's philosophy, which made her even more pleased with this decision she made.

"Furthermore," she continued, "Although 49% from an overall 1% seems so insignificant, negligible even, what if his 1% blooms into 100% in the future? Wouldn't our Tesla's be under one and above all else in the Forbidden Domain? Then again, do you think our Esteemed Guest will stick here forever? Once he leaves, who will inherit this Forbidden Domain?"

"Since none of you actually lost anything, just treat it as my personal investment in our Esteemed Guest, but we will simply declare to the public that Tesla's invested in 49% of his shares, while the specifics of the deal are to be kept a secret. Let them keep guessing at the bottom line of our support, oblivious to the fact that he has already joined the echelons of our board of directors. This way, the Arcadian Church won't have the patience to slowly boil this frog, ultimately alerting everyone to the unusual temperatures of these deep waters." Ingrid spoke in a fluid motion as though blowing a harmonious flute, her smile growing increasingly bright, "Wouldn't this be to your liking, Esteemed Guest?"