The ministers were stunned by Dyon’s words. After all, this wasn’t protocol. Amphorae might not even be hundredth in line for such a responsibility. Although that was an exaggeration, it wasn’t too far from the truth. Concubines truly weren’t given much power, and this was doubly true with Dyon’s ignoring them for so many decades.
However, the ministers had no right to protest. Just as a few wanted to, they were reminded of Dyon’s words just yesterday, words that had become law as soon as he uttered them. He had said that all decisions during this time of war would be made through him, and only him. They were in a state of martial law, as such, Dyon could do whatever he wanted.
This was without a doubt yet another power move. It not only gave silent consent to women gaining more power in the clan, it also elevated Amphorae’s status to an all new level. Without even the words being uttered, those around already began to think the words: Queen Amphorae, even without noticing it.
There was, of course, another reason for this as well. Many here thought that Dyon bringing Amphorae here was just an empty gesture. Like duct tape to try and cover over a gaping hole. Even Amphorae couldn’t help but hide such a feeling deep within her heart. However, Dyon simply shattered all of that in one move. This was the ultimate showing of strength, a move that was nothing less than a master stroke.
Amphorae nodded, “Yes… Royal Husband.”
With how intelligent Amphorae was, how could she not see these hidden reasons? Maybe a normal woman would be jealous that her husband was taking her competition out instead of her, but Amphorae saw through all of this. In fact, it could be said that the one who would truly be jealous was Queen Luna.
Not only has Queen Luna never had such a privilege, Dyon taking her with him only proved one thing: He didn’t trust her to stay here without his supervision. While it may seem only right for a King and Queen to take diplomatic visits together, this was nothing more than a façade. It also let the other ministers rest their hearts easy… Even the Queen wasn’t safe from the label of traitor.
This worked doubly to strike fear into the hearts of those Dyon called out as well. If the Queen wasn’t safe when the King loved her so much, how could they be?
Dyon smiled, raising Amphorae’s place in his heart once again before turning his attention to the rest of the traitors. By now, there were only three left. The traitorous merchants were obviously a part of Brinsop’s network, so they were controlled with Arrays and sent off to be healed.
After doing this, Dyon also sent out half of his personal guard to re-capture those he allowed to escape. He realized and was willing to admit his mistakes. Although the plan seemed perfect, who knows what would have happened had they let Minister Brodaya escape? They could only be described as lucky for catching him, he could have very well been on the “allow to escape” list.
Eventually, Dyon probably would have realized that the fake Minister Brodaya in their hall had something off with him. After all, it was his high Perception that caught something wrong with the prisoner to begin with. However, that only happened because Dyon was closely inspecting the traitors with such a purpose. He, obviously, wasn’t inspecting the ministers so closely. At most, he judged their reactions to certain situations, but didn’t delve too deeply. After all, there were more than 50 of them. Even his Perception had limits.
In truth, Dyon thought it was risky to recapture all of those he allowed to escape. But, he had no choice. He would rather the Moon clan catch wind that something was wrong instead of allowing another Minister Brodaya to be under their nose. So, he ordered this recapture secretly.
In reality, though, Dyon was lucky once again. What he hadn’t known for sure all of this time was that Queen Luna was more than just suspicious, she was a main culprit, although even Merchant Brinsop was unaware of this – such was the caution of the Queen.
What this meant was that was any change of Queen Luna would be even more easily detectable by their enemies. And, even worse, Queen Luna herself could secretly communicate the clan’s situation herself.
That said, she did none of those things. But, even then, the fact she didn’t check in because of her guilt, was already noticed by the Moon Clan.
The reason none of this mattered at all was that the fool of a King leading the Moon Clan now actually decided to not change his battle plans at all, even knowing the likelihood that the Angel Clan was preparing.
This was why whether Dyon captured them or let a few escape meant nothing. Whether they escaped or not, the Moon clan was already aware of the situation, and were still not doing a thing. So, Dyon’s worries were baseless.
Maybe he was too blinded by his love for Luna… Such a mistake wasn’t something Dyon would ever make…
Without realizing it, he had left a large blind spot in his preparations. A mistake only a fool would make. However, he seemed to not notice at all. Maybe… He already knew the truth and was just giving his wife a chance to change her mind…