Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 354 The Devil's Surprise

The parliament of Ruen is divided into the upper house and the lower house.

Members of the House of Lords are primarily high-ranking nobles and descendants of royalty. Unlike members of the House of Commons, who are elected, the House of Lords' seats are hereditary. This, to some extent, ensures a stable succession of power, but it has also led to an increasing number of incompetent members filling positions in Parliament.

Today, the upper house has lost much of its power to the lower house, and its political standing in Loen has declined further.

However, as the stronghold of the Conservative Party in this country, it still represents the fundamental interests of the old aristocracy and competes with the House of Commons.

The Conservative Party's biggest supporter right now is Pallas Negan, the brother of the current Prime Minister, Lord Agushid Negan. He is more commonly referred to as the Duke of Negan.

Queens, West Palace.

This is the location where the House of Lords holds its regular meetings. Inside the building called Whitehall, the members of Parliament are already seated in their tiered seats according to their assigned order.

Each of them wore a long, red state robe made of deep red velvet, lined with mink, and decorated with gold lace, exuding nobility and dignity. Correspondingly, each of their faces displayed a solemn and dignified expression, as if they were constantly preoccupied with the future of the kingdom.

"Look at this bunch of good-for-nothings."

On the second-floor stands, Levi, who was monitoring the situation in the venue, muttered a mocking under his breath.

"Cons, do you see that guy who's dressed the most fancy?"

He spoke to his team, pointing to the middle of the tiered seating area. There, a nobleman stood wearing a luxurious white, curly hood and a red robe embroidered with his family crest in gold thread.

"I saw it."

The man next to him answered.

“That fellow is the Marquis of Manila. To maintain the facade of nobility, he just sold 30,000 hectares of land to cover expenses.” As a seasoned intelligence officer, Levi knew the daily lives of the nobles like the back of his hand. “Three seats behind him, the balding man, Earl Dick, is having an affair with his son’s wife; the nobleman to his left likes to abuse his servants in his villa.”

These were words that Levi would never normally say, but today, looking down at them from the second floor, for some reason, Levi suddenly felt the urge to vent.

"Oh, it seems these congressmen aren't good people at all."

The person next to him said in a slightly flippant tone.

Under normal circumstances, Reeves would definitely sense that something was wrong with "Cons." But at this moment, he seemed strange, as if a dark side of his heart had been unleashed. Instead, following the guidance of the person beside him, he continued to speak with a cold smile:

"I could talk about these guys' dirty secrets for over ten minutes straight. How come they put on a robe and start acting all high and mighty, trying to prove they're pillars of the nation?"

“Well said, Mr. Reeves, well said.”

The devil North encouraged him, a gleam of interest flashing in his cold eyes, "Anything else you want to say? I know there are some things you've been keeping to yourself for a long time, right?"

"I can't say."

"Say whatever you want, let it all out, let those arrogant fools know your anger."

North was clearly interested in this and kept hinting at it to him, hoping to use it to gain control of Reeves and obtain his soul.

Reeves' expression grew increasingly dazed, then, as if making a decision, he spoke:

“My superior, the former head of the palace guards, he actually…” “Hmm?”

The devil North suddenly uttered a soft question. He gave up questioning Levi, abruptly retreating into the shadows and closing his eyes, as if sensing something. After a moment, he opened his eyes and shook his head regretfully.

"That little girl from the Hall family has actually broken free of my control. I should have just taken action and gotten rid of her."

North thought to himself.

He stepped out of the shadows and smiled at Reeves beside him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Reeves, it seems I don't have time to hear your whole story."

Now that the little girl was out of control, the devil North had to hurry, because the church's people would likely arrive in a very short time. Before that, he'd better kill Duke Negan as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, on the first floor of Whitehall.

"We are the most important part of Loen, representing the law and virtue of this nation," Duke Negan declared eloquently from the podium. "The Conservatives should unite and fight against the House of Commons. Those forces attempting to alter the order of the kingdom are committing a complete betrayal."

The Duke of Negan was old, with a bloated belly and a weathered face. But as he stood there, under the watchful eyes of the assembled councilors, the passion buried deep within him surged forth once more. It was as if he had returned to his childhood country villa, or as if he were having a secret rendezvous with his lover.
A strange feeling lingered in his heart; the feeling of having the most important people in the country listen attentively to his speech was simply wonderful.

Strange. This is just a routine meeting, why am I so agitated?
A slight confusion arose in his mind, but it was quickly pushed aside by his enthusiasm. Duke Negan grew increasingly excited, and his words resonated with conviction.

"Woo——"

Just then, some members of parliament in the front seats began to boo in dissatisfaction.

Even the most united organization has dissenting voices, and the situation in the House of Lords is similar. These members, whether due to differing political views or bribed by certain forces, are always contradicting him.

Normally, the Duke would simply ignore the clowns' noise. But for some reason, today, after hearing their boos, a surge of anger welled up inside him.

"Please maintain order! Maintain order!"

The speaker struck the gavel and shouted.

"Your Grace, your brother is the Prime Minister, but he always chooses to compromise before the King, completely disregarding our interests!"

"Don't you find it ridiculous to say such high-sounding things?"

If the speaker hadn't reminded them, it wouldn't have been a problem. After being reminded, these people became even more aggressive, raising their voices to shout.

"Shut up!"

"You are the most ridiculous ones."

The nobles who supported Duke Negan were not to be outdone, and they started hurling insults from their seats, and the two sides immediately started arguing, with a noisy uproar filling Whitehall.

This is the parliament of Rue, and contrary to what the citizens had guessed, the members' arguments were not much more refined than the shouting in the streets.

A bunch of idiots, they only make things worse.
Duke Negan grew increasingly furious. Just then, he saw one of the smaller opposition members, overcome with rage, suddenly pull a dagger from under his robe and plunge it into the body of the person next to him!

(End of this chapter)