Chapter 265 - Long life to Nathan and Chloe

  Hugo Riverclimb:

  After some time, tired of beating them, Margaery finally sat down in a chair. The state of the nobles was deplorable, their clothes soaked with blood, their bodies trembling with pain and fear. Some could barely keep their heads up, but Margaery's gaze, cold aless, forced them to stay scious.

  "I am a woman of my word," she said, her voice sharp like a bde. "I promised I would let you leave alive... I just didn't specify which of you would leave." Her eyes gleamed with malice, a cruel smile pying on her lips. "So, keep talking. And remember: if you omit anything, one of you will certainly give the others away to save yourselves, and theh will be guaranteed."

  The nobles, pletely defeated, began to stammer through sobs. One by ohey reted how Nikous Wolves had facilitated their schemes to amass wealth, using underworld es to expand their businesses and solidate their power. They described their luxurious lives, where opulent bas and ereasures shielded them from the suffering of others.

  "Money..." Margaery murmured, her expression twisting in disdain. "All of this... for money and power." She ughed bitterly, shaking her head. "You're pathetic. You have more than you need, yet you still bow to your basest desires." Her voice carried a tone of absolute pt, each word weighing like iron on the hearts of the nobles.

  She leaned forward, looking directly at them. "Keep going. I want every detail, from the first filthy steps you took up until now." Her presenihe room, making it impossible for the o look away or interrupt their fessions.

  As they began to ret the pns to spire against Nathan, something shifted in the air. The atmosphere grew heavier, suffog, as if the castle itself was holding its breath. The heat began to rise rapidly, beads of sweat running down the nobles' already bloodstained foreheads. It was impossible to ighe red dragon nearby was starting to show signs of irritation.

  The dragon narrowed its eyes, its pupils glowing like living fmes. A gust of heat emanated from its breath, making the stone floor crackle.

  "You are the noble families the kingdom chose. You are informants in my nds. You are spies. Should I allow you to stay alive?" she asked in an icy voice. They all nodded vigorously, too terrified to stop.

  "There is no more diplomaow, only my dictatorship exists in this duchy. You will help me fix the mess you made," Margaery said, walking toward the prostrated nobles. "You will help me resolve this crisis you financed. You will i a good portion of your fortune fixing and improving these nds. I do not want to see a single homeless person, not one unemployed peasant, and I do not want to see a single criminal. I will know everything you say when the kingdom's intermediaries tact you. Screw diplomaow I am interfering in your nds because these nds belong to my family."

  The nobles remained silent, terrified.

  "Is anyone against my decision?" she asked.

  "No!" they answered together, in unison.

  "I want all and any evidence of your involvement," Margaery tinued. "You will go to the kingdom and fess your crime."

  The nobles exged hesitant looks.

  "But we will be killed..." one of them stammered, trembling.

  "Did I allow you to speak?" Margaery asked, sharply, making him fall to the ground again and beg for fiveness.

  "You will fess the crime you itted in my nds, finang the underworld. Your involvement in the crime of attempting to assassinate a superior noble... they don't o know that. The punishment you will receive may be the loss of your political position, but the kingdom will try to make a deal with me so you keep your positions and pay for the crime with mohis way, they won't lose the loyal families who have served them for decades, and I will give my fiveness while pretending to be relut and accepting the money," Margaery expined, her gaze cold. "Any doubts?"

  The nobles remained silent, terrified.

  "I want to know if there are any doubts!" she repeated, now irritated.

  "But why? You have the ce to rid us from your duchy... or kill us," t Laurence asked, fused.

  She smiled, staring at him coldly. "Because your lives are mine now. You will no longer be the kingdom's spies, you will be mine. I will trol you now," she replied firmly. "That's how it will work. It will be me spying on them."

  Margaery sat in the chair, her posture imposing, like a true queen trolling the fate of these men.

  "The story will be that Nikous Wolves vinced you to sabotage my nds and try to break off my daughter's e. You acted out of greed, encing crimes in the hope of seg her e, aiming to restore the agreement to divide my nds for exploitation, which was made with the kingdom years ago. However, it was Nikous Wolves who took the initiative for the assassination. Using the underworld's money and his access to you, he secretly mastermihe attempt on Nathan's life," Margaery expined, her voice dark and steady.

  She tio detail the piculously: "As we didn’t report the first attempt on Nathan's life to the kingdom, we’ll say he was on the same ship as Chloe but was injured in the assassin mage's attack. Chloe protected him, which led to the serious injuries she suffered."

  The nobles' expressions wavered between fear and hope as she outlihe narrative they would follow. "When they learned of the attad suspis were raised by me, you, as 'brave heroes,' questioned Nikous Wolves and, upon disc the truth, were shocked. As the 'heroes' you are, you decided to go to the kingdom and fess all your underworld crimes, even knowing the risk of losing your positions and fortunes. All to help the kingdom and avoid a direct frontation with me."

  Margaery tinued, never breaking her cold gaze at the terrified nobles. "Nikous Wolves, upon learning you disagreed with him, decided to silence you. He betrayed you during a great battle between your armies that took pe dawn. You fought bravely for the nobility, and many perished for the sake of the duchy. In the end, the few survivors went to the kingdom to report the chaos caused by Nikous Wolves."

  She finished her expnation with a cold aermined voice: "That will be your story."

  "In the end, the kingdom won't have much choice. They will try to tain the crisis in a way that still keeps their pieces in py. I will immediately accuse you of attempting to silenikous Wolves to cover up your involvement. The kingdom, in turn, will try to protect their pieces while iating a punishment agreement, after all, the 'culprit' will already be dead. You itted the crime of attag a member of the politiobility when you killed Nikous Wolves, but you will hand over the evidence, and everything will be treated as 'self-defehings will have to go this way. I will remain opposed to your presen my duchy while the kingdom will tio try to protect its spies," Margaery said coldly.

  The nobles, pletely terrified, began revealing everything they knew. In their desperate fessions, they admitted how they had orchestrated every detail of the pn and, more importantly, how they had kept incriminating evidence, fearirayals among themselves. Instead of destroying it, as inally pnned, each of them had kept their own evidence as leverage against the others.

  "I accept the terms, I will do whatever you say!" one of the nobles cried, falling to the ground and pressing his forehead against the stone.

  "Me too! Long live Lady Margaery!" said t Laurence.

  Margaery watched them with a look of pure pt, letting the silence weigh for a moment. Then, with a cold smile, she asked, "Doesn’t seem ving to me. And you, Cyl, what do you think?"

  The dragon lifted its massive head and roared with devastating force, unleashing fmes into the air. The intense heat made the air suffog, and the nobles paled even further.

  “I swear! I’ll do everything as you and!” another shouted desperately, as they all prostrated themselves to the ground in unison, their voices blending in pleas for mercy.

  Margaery raised an eyebrow, clearly ued in their pleas. She g Katherine, who remained unmoved beside her. “Did it vince you, Katie?” she asked, with an ironie.

  “No.” Katherine answered ftly, her voice as cold as ice.

  The urheir gaze toward Katherierror etched across their faces. “Please! I beg you, I’ll serve ihing you and!” one cried, his voice hoarse from pleading.

  “I and you to die.” Katherine said, her voice eerily calm, her expression unged.

  The silehat followed was like a kting through the air. The nobles exged gnces, uo hide the despair that ed them.

  “Then you won't do everything, will you?” Katherine remarked, her voice ced with pt. Cyl snorted loudly, and the pressure in the air increased, as if death itself were about to desd upon them.

  Desperate cries for mercy echoed through the pce. Some were banging their heads on the ground, others were g openly, and their voices mixed into a symphony of absolute panic.

  Margaery sighed, looking at Katherine. “Calm down, Katie. I want vengeaoo, but vengeance doesn’t always have to be through death. Now, they are our puppets.” She turo t Laurence, who was still trembling, and grabbed his hair, f him to look at her.

  “I want many expensive gifts for Nathan and Chloe’s wedding. Will they receive them?” she asked, with a ess that only made the situation more terrifying.

  “Of course! Anything! Whatever you want!” he replied, almost shouting, as tears streamed down his face.

  “Good.” Margaery released him with a shove and walked back to Katherine. “Now let’s test if they’ve learned quickly.” She looked at the nobles with a ruthless gaze. “Long life to whom?”

  The nobles hesitated, exging terrified gnces, as if making a mistake would sign their owh sentences.

  “Long life to Nathan and Chloe.” Margaery said calmly, but with a tohat left no room for doubt.

  The nobles immediately got up, only to fall to their knees again, trying to show the most absolute submission.

  “Long life to Nathan and Chloe!” they shouted in unison. “Long life to Nathan and Chloe!”