Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Dark Realm, Owlape Territory, Moonpraise Capital, Mulias Royal Palace, Royal Cabinet

While the ministers argued, Her Highness, the Empyrean Queen, went through the documents that the Grand Vizier had shared with them.

The more she read about the exploits of the non-native Demon Merchant from the backwaters of the Myriad Realm, the more impressed she became. She couldn’t believe that someone could achieve so much in so little time with no proper background, especially a mere Demon Merchant, and a non-native one at that.

Nobody minded the ancient civilizations across the Myriad Realm joining the Demon Merchant Code. Actually, they welcomed it. Like, for example, Azorheim. But when it came to individuals from backwater, primitive worlds, they gave a bad name to all the Demon and Devil Merchants out there. But occasionally, they got to see such examples, justifying the Demon Merchant Code’s decision to invite non-natives too.

“Dalton Wyatt,” the Empyrean Queen muttered the name. Was it her intuition or something else? She felt that they were connected somehow.

‘Was it through the True Evil Devil Merchant?’ she wondered, only to shake her head, trying hard to understand why this Demon Merchant awakened such a feeling in her.

She was the Empyrean Queen of the Owlapes, her swiftness was unparalleled in the whole of the Myriad Realm, yet when she learned more about this mere Demon Merchant, deep within her there was an unclear echo. No matter how hard she tried to hear it, she couldn’t understand what it was trying to say to her.

Unable to come to a conclusion, she looked at the bickering ministers and yelled, “Silence.”

As her voice spread across the room, each and every Owlape present immediately went quiet, bowing their heads and staring at the blue floor.

“Did you figure out something, love?” His Highness, the Empyrean, asked, trusting her eerily accurate intuition.

“No, honey, not yet. I just hope it’s nothing,” Her Highness said. Then, looking at the ministers, she added, “There is no point in discussing what should have been done and how. It has already been done. Stop finding faults or trying to flatter yourself.

“There never has been a leader among the True Evils. Even when we tried to invade their realm on a large scale, they only came together as if attending a fun party. Thousands, millions of our kin and allies died that day, but for them, it was nothing but a big jamboree. They were able to do us such harm and loss even though they had no set goal and most of the time ended up fighting among themselves.

“Now there is a True Evil capable of becoming the leader of their race out there somewhere in the Myriad Realm. I don’t know why it left its realm or how even the thought of leaving its realm crossed its mind. I just know that this True Evil is a testament to the fact that the True Evils can be both strong and smart. A few more of them, and the threat will not just be limited to the Realm of True Evil like back then but will come to our homes, knocking on our doors. We need to find that True Evil and understand what is going on and why it is different from those before it.

“God forbid, it creates an army of True Evil Devil Merchants. Then, considering what we did to them… those things are vindictive and don’t know defeat, only death. This concerns the future of the Owlape race. So, stop concerning yourself with credit and start doing your jobs. Otherwise, heads will roll, starting with each one of you in this room.”

Her Highness’s gaze glanced at each of the ministers still holding their heads down while the feathers on their backs trembled as her divine sense came crashing down on them.

If not for her husband’s support, these cowardly bastards would never be able to get in her way of doing whatever it took to find her son.

She didn’t blame her husband. He wasn’t just responsible for her and her son, but for the entire Owlape race, so he couldn’t act on his emotions like she did. She blamed these greedy cabinet ministers who didn’t understand the inner turmoil of their Highness and gave him reason to act on his emotions. Instead, they were using the very laws to block the path of their husband and wife from finding their son, the Owlape Crown Prince.

Yep, Her Highness, the Empyrean Queen, was also planning how to use this incident to help find her son. She was guilty of the same thing she accused the ministers of earlier.

“After the hearing, invite the Demon Merchant to the palace. I want to personally meet him and clear up a few things. Try to give him the feeling that we Owlapes have a place for a talented Demon Merchant like himself,” Her Highness ordered the Grand Vizier, having figured that the Demon Merchant was capable of getting out of the hearing safely if everything she read about him was true.

The Grand Vizier didn’t immediately agree to Her Highness like his previous self. Instead, he looked at His Highness for his opinion, causing Her Highness to frown.

With her authority as the Empyrean Queen, she could behead all the ministers, but not if His Highness opposed it. Having figured that, the ministers had been undermining her at every turn.

Previously, they didn’t dare to pull such a stunt, knowing His Highness’s love for her and out of fear of her son. But now they were openly undermining her, that too using her husband, who still loved her dearly.

What’s changed?

Nothing seemed to have changed from then and now, but she clearly felt that there was a change in the political wind of the Owlape Empire.

It’s not just her; her husband also seemed to have felt it.

He walked towards the exit without answering the Grand Vizier, leaving behind the words, “Love, you take over for a while. I will go cash in on a favour with an old friend of mine.”

This move of their Empyrean instantly caused the feathers on the bodies of the ministers, especially the Grand Vizier, to tremble subtly.

Their Empyrean just gave the Empyrean Queen free reign over the Owlape Empire.

Novel Raider: The First Fiction Summoner