Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 184 Alice's Determination
The sun rose as usual, and as the first rays of sunlight shone on the walls of the Platinum City, the behemoth began its busy day once again.

For the poor, the hardships of life make it difficult for them to maintain their attention for long periods of time; this applies to people in any situation.
Although the loud noises of the battle that came late last night were heard by almost half of the capital's residents, they only exchanged a few words before dispersing. After all, compared to their empty pockets and rumbling stomachs, no matter where the riots or battles were happening in the capital.

Today is a good day for the residents of the lower city, especially the lower-class residents living at the riverside dock. Since the riverside dock was reduced to ruins, after the meticulous handling by MI8 personnel, it was taken over by the Imperial Guard.

After the Imperial Capital Guard took over, they immediately launched a recruitment drive. As one of the most important docks in the capital, reconstruction was urgent. After setting a daily wage of 30 copper coins, the site was packed with job seekers. For these people, a daily income of 30 coins in the winter was enough to provide their wives and children with a hot meal.

Although the wages are not as high as those paid by some chambers of commerce, the advantage is that the work is stable and long-term. Given the current chaotic state of the port, it will take at least several months to get it back on track. This period of time will allow people to get through the cold winter.

Kremlin

This period was not a happy time for Alice. Her mother, who used to be incredibly kind and doting, had recently become extremely strict with her. Although she had always been very strict before, Alice felt suffocated by her newfound strictness.

The feeling was as if Queen Catherine was extremely anxious, as if there wasn't enough time and she was about to run out of time.

Ever since that day when I heard my father tell me about his relationship with Earl Kevin in his study, and then I told my mother about it when I got back to the Kremlin, I felt like my mother had become a completely different person.

Originally, he planned to go to Haven's place the next day, but on the second day, just as he climbed onto the roof of the Kremlin to ride his Odawiing to the Royal Academy, Ankut stopped him, saying that his mother was looking for him.

From then on, Alice began her endless days of training, and whenever she planned to go to the Royal Academy, she would always be stopped for various reasons.

Alice, having finished her training as usual, was sitting on a wooden stump in the training ground, lost in thought, when she suddenly saw the griffin riders whizzing by in the distance. Curious, she turned to Ancourt, who was guarding her nearby, and asked:
"Has something happened? I've been watching those griffin riders flying around all morning."

Faced with the princess's question, Ankut hesitated for a moment before truthfully describing to Alice what had happened the night before.

After hearing Ancourt's description, Alice was shocked. If Haven't stopped her father, he would have been in danger last night.

"Dufres~Lessarasiufas~~"

As Alice finished chanting her dragon magic, a huge magic circle appeared on the ground. After a flash of light, the red dragon Audavi, who was still sleeping, appeared on the playground.

Feeling the disturbance, Aodawei opened its sleepy eyes and looked over. Upon seeing that it was its human, it yawned widely at Alice and let out a low growl, as if to say, "Why did you call me out? I'm sleeping right now."

“Audawin~ Come on, take me to the Royal Academy, let’s go find Haven.”

Upon hearing Alice's words, the red dragon instantly perked up. He realized that he also missed that smelly fellow very much; he hadn't seen him for so long and he really missed him.

Thinking of this, Odawi immediately stood up, stretched like a cat, and then crouched down to wait for Alice to come up.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, your practice for today is not over yet, you cannot leave."

Hearing that she had been stopped again, Alice's eyebrows twitched involuntarily. This feeling of being restricted in every way was unbearable for the red dragon princess who had been unrestrained and free since childhood. She immediately looked at Ankut.

"Hey~~ Where I go is my own business, it's none of your concern, get out of here."

Seeing that Alice was already somewhat angry, Ancourt hesitated visibly for a moment, but after a brief pause, he continued:
“Your Highness, Her Highness Katelyn hopes that you can complete this phase of training.”

Ankut's words only made things worse, and the mere mention of her mother caused Alice to instantly become like a bird with its feathers ruffled, her whole body puffed up with anger.

"Hmph!!! Why won't Mother let me go out? If she won't let me go, I'll go anyway."

"Audaweiying! Let's go find Father."

Ankut watched Alice fly away on the red dragon and shook his head helplessly. The conversation between him and Queen Caitlin a few days ago came back to mind, but these things were obviously not something that a royal steward like himself could overstep his bounds on.

Platinum Palace
Sunlight streamed through the French windows, filling the entire study. Frederick IV, dressed in a thick woolen robe, sat languidly on the sofa, flipping through reports submitted by his subordinates. Though he ostensibly was reviewing them, his thoughts had long since wandered off elsewhere.

On the table next to it was a large bottle of life essence that emitted a bright green light, and the liquid remaining in the cup gave off a strange fragrance.

What are your thoughts on what happened a few hours ago?

Coming to his senses, Frederick IV looked at the ministers sitting opposite him. Faced with Frederick IV's question, none of them dared to speak easily. The incident had happened so suddenly that there was no time to think about some things. But after the incident was over, when everyone looked back and deduced the clues, the things revealed in the clues made people's hearts tremble when they thought about them carefully.

The entire reception room fell silent for a moment. After exchanging glances, the chief minister, Lord Pogart, finally spoke first.

"Your Majesty, then let me speak first."

After exchanging glances with the others present, Lord Pogart slowly said:

"Your Majesty, according to the information we have gathered since then, there are many things that are worth reflecting on and considering."

As the chief minister slowly spoke, everyone present felt a chill run down their spines. This confidant who had served Frederick IV for over twenty years was no benevolent man.

"Let's put aside our internal problems for now, but some more interesting things are happening externally."

For example, while His Majesty led the First Royal Construct Knights to the border docks, there were some unusual occurrences in other parts of the capital.

These places are the Eternal Sun Cathedral, the Poleka Barracks, the Ansidor Institute, the Veterans Guild, and the Jiefenghua Commercial Street…

After saying that, Pogart gave a meaningful smile, his expression carrying a hint of ambiguity, as if he were scrutinizing something.

"Of course, according to our most mainstream view, the church is the key focus we need to pay attention to."

According to the information relayed by our inside source, it seems that the Eternal Sun already knew this was going to happen, and the Church had already summoned the Holy Light Warriors in advance, but for some reason, they did not launch an attack.

Your subordinate guesses that you summoned Lord Savos and his men to stop the extraordinary werewolf, thus halting the Church's operation.

After speaking, Pogard looked at Frederick IV. As if sensing the other's gaze, Frederick IV looked back.

"Hehehe, continue, dear Pogart, don't worry about me, I'm listening."

As he spoke, Frederick IV stroked his chin and fell into deep thought again.

"Besides these, there are also some forces in the capital. I checked their recent transaction records and relationships, and there's an interesting name that's worth noting..."

The sun gradually rose, and the tea on the table had stopped steaming. Frederick IV's advisors and confidants were now experiencing complex emotions. Only after all the clues had been laid out and compiled did they realize that such a vast web had unknowingly formed.

"Alright, everyone, let's proceed as Pogarth suggests. I've always said that a temporary, lucky victory doesn't mean we're safe. As long as both sides exist, the conflict will remain hidden, so an even bigger conspiracy awaits us." Frederick IV appeared quite calm about the current situation. After all, for him, the ruler of the empire, one piece of bad news and one piece of worse news made little difference; he had to face them both anyway.

"Everyone can rest in the lobby for a bit and have lunch before returning to work."

The ministers stood up one after another to leave, and just as Pogarth also stood up to leave, Frederick IV called out to him.

"Pogart, you stay here for a moment."

After everyone had left, Frederick IV patted the chair next to him, gesturing for the latter to sit down.

"Your Majesty, is there anything else you wish to instruct us to do?"

"Was that thing retrieved?"

When Frederick IV asked him a question, a strange look flashed across Bogart's face.

"Your Majesty, the samples have been recovered, but they are far inferior to the original ones, which may prevent us from completing the task within the originally planned timeframe."

"That's it..."

Frederick IV was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke again:

"Then let Gagoll hurry up. At all costs, I just want results."

"Yes……"

Despite knowing the cost of doing so, Pogart agreed. For him, he was deeply tied to Frederick IV from the beginning, so even though the matter was tricky, he had no choice but to proceed.

"By the way, I think it's better to let someone who's completely out of the loop handle our internal matters; it might lead to different results."

At this point, Frederick IV suddenly laughed, as if he had thought of something amusing.

Bogart was a little confused when he saw Frederick IV suddenly laughing.

"An outsider? Your Majesty, you mean...?"

"Kevin has a fine son, and compared to Kevin's chivalrous manner, this little guy is much more flexible and adaptable in his approach to things."

This made Pogart even more confused, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions.

"That little guy is called Havente Hyland. He's enrolled at the Royal Academy. MI8 has specific information about him. You can take a look. He's a very interesting little guy."

At this point, Frederick IV seemed to remember something.

"By the way, you can give this little guy the task you mentioned earlier. Organize the information and give it to him. Also, you should handle this personally."

I don’t understand why Frederick IV is so fond of this White Lion heir, but as a subject, all I can do, and all I have to do, is to carry out his orders, even if I don’t understand or know them.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will compile the relevant information and provide it to Viscount Havent." (This follows the British aristocratic system, where noble offspring directly inherit their fathers' minor titles.)
Just as the two were about to say something, a voice from afar interrupted them. As the voice grew closer, Frederick IV shook his head helplessly.

“Pogart, let’s call it a day. I think I have some family matters to take care of.”

In response, Bogart wisely stood up, bowed, and prepared to leave. Just as he stepped out the door, he bumped into Alice walking towards him. Facing the princess, Bogart quickly bowed as well.

After returning a ladylike curtsy, Alice rushed into Frederick IV's arms like a charging cart.

"Father, Alice is unhappy. Mother won't let Alice leave the Kremlin and makes her practice martial arts every day. Alice feels like she's withering away."

Frederick IV stroked Alice's pale red hair with a loving expression; at that moment, the ruler of the empire was relaxed.

"Hehehehe, but Father remembers that Alice used to practice martial arts in the Kremlin every day for many years. Why can't she stand it this time?"

Stunned by Frederick IV's counter-question, Alice was momentarily at a loss for words. She could only resort to her secret weapon: her little head spinning like lightning as she frantically burrowed into Frederick IV's arms.

"Hehehe~ Alright, alright, Alice, you're a grown woman now. You can't act like you did when you were little, just like that whenever you couldn't win an argument."

Frederick IV reached out and pressed Alice's little head down, stopping her from falling, and carefully tidied his daughter's messy hair.

"Alice, your father wants to ask you a question: if the empire needs you one day, what will you do?"

When you need me?

Alice was a little confused and didn't quite understand what her father meant by asking her this question.

"Hehehe, Father was just saying. What would you do if Father suddenly died one day?"

"Father won't die!!!"

Looking at his little daughter, who seemed to have suddenly bristled, Frederick IV smiled and patted Alice on the head.

"Father said it's only hypothetical..."

Although Alice disliked this hypothetical situation very much, she still seriously considered Frederick IV's question.

"Alice will protect this country with her life, because it is what Father loves most."

Upon hearing his daughter's words, the man, who lived amidst intrigue and scheming, couldn't help but feel his eyes redden. To prevent his daughter from seeing him like this, he quickly looked up at the ceiling, and only lowered his head again after a moment.

"Hehehe~ My Alice is really my good daughter, but I still hope my Alice is happy. The burden of the empire will not fall on your shoulders."

"Now, listen to your father, go and go play with Haven!"

(End of this chapter)