The second female lead Dual Cultivates

"You alright? You look stressed out. Maybe you should take a break" blue eyes blinked up to look at the old court advisor in front of her. He looked concerned but not overly so. That meant that the damage Neah sustained was not heavy. A good thing indeed.

"It's alright. I just lack a little sleep but I'll recover" the princess waved off the concern her royal advisor showed her. She had too much work to do anyway. The recent attacks on the villages had left a lot to be done from their side.

Not to mention, there was a lack of understanding in the ruling noble families. Most of them were too proud to allow 'normal people' to rule over and there had been too much unrest as a result. Every day there was a new report of a clash happening somewhere.

Not to mention, the worst of all - deaths. Both nobles and common people had been dying left and right too frequently to be a coincidence. And ever since Lady Clement's death, the incidents had just kept on happening.

It had been so bad that it had even reached the faraway ministers which caused them all to seek an audience with her. It had left Neha in a state of unease throughout the week while she tried to get things straight.

Not to mention, it had caused her to lose sight of Maria and her rag-tag group of friends. Neah felt guilty for that but she knew that Maria would not fault her for this. The alternative had been to let her citizens suffer.

"By Lady. Count Baron is here to seek an audience" Neah waved her hand to allow the soldier to go. Count Baron Clement was a rather new addition to their nobility and he still made Neah feel off around him. There was an aura of 'not right' around him that made Neah shudder.

"My Lady. Lord Ashura" The noble bowed down to the two and the slimy feeling came back. However, Neah had to face the Nobel with a smile on her face. She could not show her discomfort at having the other here.

Her older companion had no problem showing a sincere smile though. Lord Ashura had taken Baron Clement under his wing and Neha could not figure out why he had done that. The noble was 'highly resourceful' and would aid their master. But all Neha could see was a snake, looking to backstab them.

"How did the negotiations go? Did you get them?" The eldest asked with an eager voice. Neah felt her curiosity peak at the question but she contained herself.

She had known that the old man had finally decided to contact Albest. The only kingdom with technology advanced enough to teach the node down and the one still on speaking terms with them.

"Of course. Then sent one of their nobilities to find the node for us. All we have to do now is to wait" the noble sounded confident which made Neah relax. At least he had done something right and soon they would have this node in their possession. Then they could finally settle things.

Maybe it would provide Neha with enough resources to go after Maria as well. She had not seen the other ever since the train incident and even the news about the oracle was getting scarce. The last Neah had heard, they had headed to the Grand Canyon but never made it there.

"I see. This is great news indeed" Neha agreed. Once they had the node in their possession, she could finally dedicate their resources to finding Maria. There was no way to avoid her either.

Not that Maria was not trying to do that already. She had already dedicated quite a good amount of the task force to find Maria and even the key bearer for the node. It would be necessary if they wanted to enter the node.

But for now, simply having it in their possession would be a great idea. It would allow them to make sure no one else gets their hand on it. They already had Jamaica's node on their side. It had been unfortunate what happened but it had yielded a profit for their side.

But before anything else can be said, the whole world shook beneath their feet. It was a different kind of shaking than the natural earthquake's shaking. This one held purpose and destruction.

And it was long. Far longer than any other they had faced before and it even caused the magical protection in the royal castle to shake. If this continued then there was a real chance for the royal castle to topple over.

"This is the node. Someone dared disturb it. we can finally track it now" Ashura sounded amazed rather than worried at the prospect. He was only interested in the personal gain he and his master could get from this while Neah felt worried.

"Y-Your highness. The lower areas are beginning to collapse under the fissure" a soldier made his way toward their group on shaky legs. It must have been difficult to move with all this shaking and Neah quickly moved to help him stand back.

It allowed her a direct view of the lower lands of the area where the buildings had started to collapse on top of one another. A lot of people would have been squished under the rubble which made it an emergency.

"Send emergency rescue squads as soon as you can. Send them to the most vulnerable areas and set up relief camps in open spaces" Neah commanded as she watched the soldiers complying with her demands.

But that was not enough for her. She had to personally look over things or she won't feel satisfied with her efforts. And since everyone else knew how stupidly devoted Neah was, they did not stop her from leaving to help.

"So, are you not going to harvest souls today, Baron? It should be the perfect opportunity for you" Ashura asked in a light voice. But Lord Clement did not make any move to show that he had heard.

But they both knew Baron Clement had heard and was now considering his options. It was a perfect opportunity to power up Prince Noah's soul and no one would be able to question him either. The deaths could be accounted for as a result of this earthquake.

"No. Not this time since she's too close. I can't let my secrets out just yet" the noble said as he gestured to the wall where Howl had hidden. Since he knew she was there, he had taken extra precautions to safeguard himself.

"My lord your orders" one of his soldiers ran toward him and he knew it was about time to start acting.