𝗈𝒱𝐞𝗅xt.𝗇𝓔t
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While both Emilia and Noelle were confident in being able to deal with whatever trouble Gildroy ended up causing by messing up his ‘instructions’, they still made sure to keep a close eye on his movements.
After all, one had to be extra cautious when in enemy territory. And even with her strength and abilities being greatly boosted now, Emilia wasn’t stupid enough to believe herself to be invincible.
“He’s not doing anything strange yet, is he?”
Noelle hummed. “Maybe he’s worried that we’ll do something to his wife and son if we discover something wrong with his behavior.”
Of course, the child in question had already been arranged to be sent off to his real mother waiting for him back in Blue Dawn, while Dolores was kept in a medically suspended sleep for now.
Even if the man never realized it, the fact that Emilia had more or less exposed her secret to his eyes made him no better than a dead man walking as far as Noelle was concerned.
Whether Emilia considered him a threat or not, the gray-haired girl was never one to take chances when they were so easily avoidable.
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Over the next few days, the elders of the Nightingale clan slowly became aware of something extremely disturbing.
They’d naturally long since known that Noelle had allowed her ‘father’ to leave confinement after some unknown punishment, but they never really thought much about it.
After all, the only concerning thing about that family drama was the strength and status of everyone involved. And with Noelle being so ridiculously strong while also having the backing of the White Deer, they never thought either of her ‘parents’ could make much trouble even if they had their faces rubbed into the ground.
The elders were confident that as long as they turned a blind eye to everything not brought to their attention by Noelle herself, the girl would soon finish venting her frustrations and calm down, and then they could start leading the Nightingale clan together to new heights!
Unfortunately, they soon realized how very, very wrong they had been.
Gildroy’s nature seemed to have become completely unpredictable after he assaulted his ex-wife. Not only did he not try to lay low after being ‘bailed out’ by his daughter, but the man even dared to try killing both his wife and son that very same day.
It was as if he was begging everyone to label him a lunatic!
Of course, the elders could care less about the man’s reputation. But what made them really furious was the fact that the man started doing everything he could to rally people to his side as the de facto clan leader.
And to make matters worse, the eldest daughter of the current main branch, the man’s ex-wife, also seemed to have copied his idea!
Even if their reputation had recently started crumbling, the elders knew that the previously established prestige of these two top combatants was not a joke.
As soon as they noticed things could be going south if they remained silent, the elders immediately rushed to Noelle’s side to ‘advise’ her.
Of course, given how everything was going exactly according to their plan, the gray-haired girl only responded to them with an unconcerned smile. “Let them do as they want. As long as they don’t disobey our instructions directly, there is no rule within the clan saying that the clan members cannot pick someone to obey on their own, right?”
Not daring to refute her words, the elders could only stare back at her speechlessly while wondering if she had a screw loose.
It was true that the people who decided to follow either Gildroy or his ex-wife, Narcissa, were still going to obey the instructions of the elders, and Noelle by extension, but that was only for now!
Once either of those two idiots amassed enough strength and support, how could they be sure things will remain the same?
Of course, considering the circumstances, the elders could only back down and allow Noelle to do as she pleased, though it didn’t stop them from criticizing her in private.
“How can she be so stupid as to let mushy feelings cloud her judgment like that?!”
Though some of the elders were more optimistic. “Well, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It shows that despite her grudge, the girl cares deeply about her biological parents. At the very least, she can’t be ruthless.”
Of course, what mattered to them was not her filial piety, but the loyalty she would feel towards the Nightingale clan by extension.
“But we can’t really let those two gather any more support. They’ve already recruited nearly a fifth of the clan!”
The grand elder thought about it seriously for a while before nodding hesitantly. “In that case, let’s start taking a few countermeasures—”
“Wait!”
Although the grand elder was annoyed by the interruption, he knew that his position was no longer as high in everyone’s hearts as it used to be, so he could only give the interrupting elder an unwilling nod. “What is it?”
The man coughed. “I-It’s like this… I was thinking, so far we have been allowing Noelle to do whatever she wanted, right?”
Everyone else nodded, making him more confident. “So think about it for a moment… if something, anything, goes wrong… whose fault would it be?”
Some people quickly shook their heads in denial.
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is if it hurts the clan.”
“We can’t just sit by and do nothing.”
“That’s right!”
The elder who brought up the point coughed. “T-That’s not what I meant! Think about it some more, who was it who sent Noelle here to play around?!”
Everyone suddenly paused, and when they came back to their senses, a strange glint shone in their eyes.
“It was Empress Emilia, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right… since she sent that girl here to play around, and she wants to make use of us in the end… isn’t it a given that she deals with all the aftermath on her own?”
Although no one liked to admit it, Emilia’s reputation of being able to make even the most unlikely situations turn in her favor was already deeply rooted in their minds.
“If it’s her taking care of things for us… do we really have to worry?”
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