<h4>Chapter 414 C414. The Stringmaster</h4>


    Though Bam had escorted Athena to the throne room as her personal guard and retainer, Athena told him to wait in her room so he just watched as Reynald and Athena left in the opposite direction.


    The two walked shoulder to shoulder through the corridors.


    "So, Athena. You acted rather strange earlier when Lady Rain was speaking. Was there something wrong with what was happening?"


    "Strange?" Athena tilted her head in response as she smiled and continued; "I don''t believe I know what you are referring to. Could it be that you were daydreaming during an important meeting such as that?"


    "..."


    Reynald stared at Athena with his eyes wide open for a second, to which Athena responded with a smile as if nothing had just happened.


    ''This girl''s such a pain to deal with.''


    Reynald sighed inwardly as he adjusted his posture and continued walking as he responded to his sister.


    "That doesn''t sound like what I would do. If anything, that sounds more like what you would do, dear sister."


    "Um—"


    Athena ced her index finger below her chin and tilted her head towards the side. Reynald saw what she was doing and intentionally sighed heavily. His hands moved like lightning as they struck the top of Athena''s head with a thud.


    "What do you get out of acting cute in front of your brother? Go act for Bam instead, he''s the gullible one."


    "Oww..., Elder brother, that was mean of you. Well, I guess I''ll try this with Bam next. Shouldn''t you be more excited, getting the elders to ept vassge was one of your goals wasn''t it? Now they can no longer stand in your way."


    "You say that like I was trying to get rid of them from the beginning. I wanted the family to be vassals of the Darknar family not because I wanted us to be servants that badly, but because it was the best way for our continued existence. Even I did not expect this oue."


    "I see... Well, I also did not expect this oue. I suppose not knowing anything about the Darknar family was the cause of this... fufufu... It''s no wonder the Great Five are at a loss on what to do about them."


    Athena chuckled but her expression did not change. Reynald stole a nce at her but could not tell her feelings on the matter through her expressions alone.


    Even now, he found it difficult to understand what his sister was thinking.


    "By the way, what happened to your other guard, he''s usually not too far behind the kid?"


    Deeming the topic had ran it''s course, Rey ald quickly cha ged the subject as hemented on a prior observation.


    "Unfortunately he''s yet to return from the mission a few days ago and any attempt to contact him has failed. I also can''t locate him anywhere within the city with magic, I''m afraid the worst must have happened.''


    "Is that so? We''ve sent the knights to thoroughly search through all the locations rting to this incident and his body was not reported found. Perhaps he chased after a high-ranking criminal elite and can''t afford to lose them."


    "You''re more optimistic than I thought you''d be, Elder brother. Perhaps I should strive to be more like you after all."


    "What do you mean after all?"


    "Ah, no reason, hehe."


    Reynald felt his head hurt the more he tried to understand his sister so he simply ignored her taunts as they reached the entrance to their mother''s room, where the Captain of the Knights stood watch.


    After both of them had entered their mother''s room, they saw her seated on her bed sweating profusely as a maid wiped her back with cold towels, several empty bottles of Mana recovering potionsid on the ground.


    "I''m sorry, Reynald, Athena, it seems my time is almost here. However, there is still something I must do before that. I had hoped to restore this family to what it once was before I went but I may have made it a lot worse instead. I hope after this is all over, you will both understand my decisions until now."


    The two of them looked at each other without saying a word. This was to be expected after all, their mother was already more than a thousand years old without being a Demigod, but due to the war, she had been forced to expend most of her energytely just to maintain the appearance of her former glory.


    Thest straw was suppressing the Elders earlier with everything she had. If it wasn''t for her presence, Reynald was sure the throne room would''ve been stained with the blood of the elders who would''ve foolishly attempted to kill the emissary.


    He didn''t think that undead rogue could hold back and the entire Jaxith family would''ve been in ruins.


    With that in mind, it was even a miracle his mother was still able to talk at this point, she must already be pushing herself with sheer will and determination at this point.


    "Now then, before the trials begin, I''ll tell both of you what our family''s treasured secret is, listen well."


    ????????


    An hourter, Reynald and his mother returned to the original meeting room where the remaining elders and minister awaited the arrival of their Demon Lord.


    Athena on the other hand, was assigned a task and asked to return to her chambers for now. She watched her brother and mother enter the meeting room as the doors shut behind them.


    After which, she slowly walked back to her chambers, her charming expression from earlier nowhere to be seen. After not hearing back from ne for days now, she urately surmised that he must''ve been killed already.


    Although she had not been able to narrow down the suspect any further. There weren''t that many people in this region that would be capable of capturing ne much less kill him and she didn''t believe he would allow himself to be captured no matter what.


    While she didn''t think the emissary would engage ne in battle, if he had encountered that undead that had escorted her earlier then she wasn''t sure if he would survive.


    There was also the possibility that he was killed by the members of Numbers but ording to her personal information, there should be no one in that base capable of that.


    Athena smiled. She knew exactly why Citrus had assigned ne to assist her, it was mostly to keep her in line and monitor her actions closely.


    With him around, she had been heavily more restricted than she had been as a Princess. His presence alone had caused her to dy ns for months now but even then, everythings had gone smoothly.


    That''s right. Everything up to this point was moving as she had nned.


    She had been the one to insist on sending an invitation to more obscure families like the Heartrail family and personally made sure an invite was sent to both the Korver family and the Heartrails.


    After all, Athena had more dirt on the nobles of this region than any foreign secret organizationbined with the Dark Order itself. She understood the personality of every single noble demon in the region and knew exactly what would happen when Arminid eyes on the emissary.


    She was already aware of the presence of Numbers and knew about the existence of that list. She knew Citrus would also be aware of it and for her ns to seed, she would need to get rid of it.


    She fully expected her to send ne who had ess to the base at the time, to retrieve the list or destroy it and Athena was counting on the emissary or her attendants to get to it first.


    She had even prepared a second list with even more detailed information based on her knowledge in case ne had somehow seeded and escaped the emissary.


    Pretending to be surprised in the throne room earlier was the easy part. She couldn''t even believe just how well her ns had worked out so far. It was even as though the emissary was actively participating in her ns.


    Athena smiled as she approached the entrance to her chambers, where Bam was standing, waiting for her return like a cute little puppy.


    "Ah... Bam, I asked you to wait for me inside my room. Have you been standing here the whole time?"


    "Of course mydy, I can''t enter mydy''s room while she''s not in it."


    That doesn''t even make any sense. Oh well, let''s go in, I have a task for you."


    "Yes."


    Bam then hurriedly moved to open the doors for his mistress as she walked behind him and entered her chambers. Soon, a maid came in to help her change back into her casual gown and another prepared some tea and snacks for her.


    After changing to something morefortable, she teased Bam a little by asking forpliments on how the dress was on her, a question that had turned the poor boy''s face bright red.


    Athena chuckled gently as she took her seat before taking a sip from her freshly poured cup of tea and spoke.


    "Hey Bam, I need you to assist the Captain of the Knights with the investigations of the detaoned nobles. Can you please do that for me?"


    Athena pursed her lips and tilted her head gently to the side as she asked cutely. Bam''s heart skipped several beats as he immediately answered.


    "O-of course. I am your servant, there is no need to ask for my decisions, your wish is mymand."


    "There''s no way I can do that. You''re very precious to me don''t you know."


    At this point, Bam''s mind had gone nk as he hurriedly stood up and rushed out of the room, causing Athena to giggle gently before taking another sip from her drink. She then dismissed the maids from her room and locked the door.


    A few momentster, Athena walked over to the drawer of her delicates and pulled out a small storage box from underneath her undies, her expression currentlycking any emotions as the clothes on her body slowly started to disintegrate, revealing her smooth silky skin and her oddly eroted underwear.


    Soon even the underwear covering her most private parts slowly disappeared, revealing the near-perfect body of the 5th princess in all its glory as she released the exception on the storage box and pulled out the only item within it.


    Any man witnessing this scene right now might''ve been too distracted by the perkiness of her breasts and firmness of her exposed butt that they might''ve missed the strange runic symbol moving spirally on her chest as it slowly got bigger and her body gently trembled.


    Athena then gently returned to her bed with a slightly blushed expression as sheid on the bed stillpletely naked, cing the item on top of the spiraling runes on her chest.


    As the time slowly passed the item gently vibrated as it began to sink into her very skin as it released light pulse throughout her body before epletely sinking into her chest.


    "Ahhh.... With this, all my preparations isplete. They should be here very soon, I almost can''t wait."


    With the Jaxith family now thrown into chaos by the sudden revtion of this list, the stage has finally been set her to make her move.


    Athena spoke as her right hand then gently moved to massage the slowly disappearing mark on her chest, the slightest touch sending shockwave throughout her now incredibly sensitive body.


    A soft moan escaped her lips as her body tremvled, her left hand subconsciously moving in-between her legs and her right hand gently squeezed her right breast before letting out a series of erotic moans as she lightly bit her lips to hold herself back.


    "I hate this body."