Demon King, you just need to conquer, and your husband will come up with the solution.

I just smelled a familiar scent from Mr. Irons, but after careful observation, I found that it didn’t seem to be there... Maybe I’ve been a little overly sensitive recently~"

Margaret curled her lips in indignation. Cassia's action just now was really stepping on her minefield, so now she couldn't give Cassia a good look at all.

Fortunately, Garcia had no way of reading people's faces, so even if Margaret made a face, Garcia would not notice.

"Hmph... Cassia, you better tell me what you want to tell me when you come to the Demon King's Castle."

"Okay, Lady Margaret, it's Queen Catalina of Blackwater City. After settling in Blackwater City for a few days, she is now making moves again."

Chapter 59: Katrina's Sister, Dorothy

Catalina has been in Blackwater City for almost a week, during which time she has felt the vitality of this city governed by Ains.

Without the various official duties in the royal capital, this trip to Blackwater City can be regarded as a vacation for Katarina.

Her favorite thing to do was to sit on the balcony of the Governor's Mansion, drinking tea and looking down at the lives of her people in this border town.

Like this, she could watch it all day long without getting tired of it.

Although it is a border town, it has a more lively dynamic than the capital...

Ah, the capital used to be as vibrant as Blackwater City is now, but since Ains left, that place has become more and more depressing...

Although the bigger reason for this is because of herself, if you ask Catalina whether she regrets it, she will say without hesitation that she does not regret it.

Just as Catalina finished her tea and was about to get another refill, Minerva quickly walked behind Catalina and said, "The Queen, Grand Duke Longkui, and the Princess are here."

"Hmm..." Catalina nodded, put down the teapot that had not yet been poured out of the teapot, stood up and walked towards the reception hall of the Governor's Palace.

At this moment, in the reception hall, an old man with a face as hard and sharp as if cut by a knife was sitting in his seat with his eyes closed.

In addition to his fierce facial features, the most iconic feature of the old man is probably the black eye patch covering one eye. This one-eyed old man is the ninth-level strongman that Catalina is waiting for, Grand Duke Long Ku, Frederick.

Frederick did not come alone. There was another young girl, even a little boy, sitting in the hall. The girl had long silver-white hair similar to Catalina's, and her face was also quite cold, just like Catalina's.

Frederick was the first to notice Catalina's arrival. He opened his one eye, turned his head, and greeted her in his deep voice, "Your Majesty, long time no see."

"Likewise, Lord Ryuku, thank you for coming all this way this time. You may have to face the Queen of Blackthorn soon."

Frederick waved his hand calmly and said, "It's okay. I'm originally from the Duolun Empire, so I won't turn a blind eye to the Queen's request. What's more, I also want to see what the gap is between me and the legendary Demon King, both of whom are ninth-level."

Frederick Gonzalez, one of the few ninth-level strongmen still in existence in the human empire, was once the Grand Duke of the Duolun Empire.

After reaching the ninth level, at the request of God's commandment, Frederick became a free man without statehood and was restricted from participating in disputes between human empires.

Of course, as a former Duolun native, Grand Duke Long Ku would still accept some requests from the Duolun royal family.

Although he cannot participate in the Duolun Empire's foreign wars, the divine commandments do not stipulate that ninth-level strongmen cannot participate in the attack on the Demon Realm.

Therefore, when deciding to go to the Demon King's Castle to recapture Ains, the first helper Katarina thought of was Frederick.

Frederick agreed to this request without any hesitation. On the one hand, he admired the new iron-fisted empress very much. On the other hand, he was also very interested in the Demon Realm.

Especially the dragon clan among them.

Just look at Frederick's title and you will know, Grand Duke Ryugu. A big part of the reason why he was able to reach the ninth level was that he once ate a flying dragon as blood food.

Frederick really hopes that he can eat another dragon to advance to another level, but dragons are legendary creatures in the human continent and their existence is hard to come by.

After years of fruitless searching, Frederick began to think about the magic dragon clan, although the dragon clan and the magic dragon can be said to be incompatible and the contradictions are huge.

But the two did split from the same ancestor. The dragon clan cannot be found, but the magic dragon clan is quite easy to find. After all, everyone knows that there is a gathering place of magic dragons in the Demon Realm.

However, if Frederick really went into the Demon Realm alone and went to the gathering place of the Demon Dragons to kill and eat a dragon, he could go, but whether he could come back... that was not certain.

It just so happened that Katarina was also aiming at the Demon Realm this time, and Frederick was also thinking about whether he could take advantage of this opportunity to kill a dragon and strengthen himself.

After some greetings, Catalina looked at the girl who was standing behind Frederick and remained silent, with a complicated look in the corner of her eyes.

"Dorothy, won't you say hello to me?"

In response to Catalina's question, Dorothy looked up at Catalina, but what her eyes revealed was not respect or admiration for the Queen, but... indignation.

However, despite her indignation, Dorothy still bowed and said, "Your Highness, Her Majesty."

But this is not the kind of greeting Catalina wants...

"You know I don't want to hear this..."

Hearing this, Dorothy no longer hid her anger and retorted: "What do you want to hear? Do you still want me to call you sister? I recognize you, but will you, a heartless woman, recognize me?"

"..."

Faced with Dorothy's questioning, Catalina also fell silent.

Dorothy was her half-sister. Because she lost her mother at a young age, she was raised by Catalina's mother since childhood, so the two had a very deep relationship.

However... after the great purge of the imperial court five years ago and after I banished Ains to Blackwater City, this deep relationship was broken...

From then on, Dorothy never called her sister again. The cold war between the sisters lasted for so many years and there was no sign of it fading.

As for why she asked Dorothy to come to Blackwater City, it was naturally to deal with Mary Bell. Catalina thought of many candidates who could exploit Mary Bell's knowledge, and finally chose Dorothy.

Catalina did not trust Mary. She would not trust any traitor, so she made sure that those who came to Mary to learn knowledge would not be bewitched or misled by her during the learning process.

Dorothy fits this description perfectly, because Catalina is well aware of her sister's admiration and longing for Irons, as well as some...special feelings.

With these as a foundation, it is absolutely impossible for Dorothy to have any good feelings towards Mary, who had stabbed Irons in the back... just like she treated herself.

Moreover, although Dorothy is extremely incompatible with him now, after all, she is still a pure member of the Doron royal family. Even if she really goes astray and rebels against him, or even if she succeeds in sending himself to the guillotine.

This is a blessing for Duolun, because the kingdom will welcome a new empress who is younger and more capable than herself.

Of course, this possibility is very small.

Catalina tried to reach out and touch Dorothy, but she slapped her hand away.

Feeling Dorothy's rejection of herself, Catalina could only close her eyes and let out a long sigh, saying: "Huh... Dorothy, don't you admire Ains very much? It just so happens that I have found a teacher for you. She once studied under Ains for many years..."

"And betrayed him like you did? You really know how to find a teacher for me..."

Dorothy's tone was quite unkind, and the aggression in her eyes had never subsided. If it were anyone else, Catalina might have sent them to the guillotine without hesitation, but for Dorothy...she couldn't do that.

"Dorothy, I didn't betray Irons..."

"Oh?" Dorothy couldn't help but sneer when she heard this, and asked back: "You mean Irons betrayed you?"

"..."

"Don't lie to yourself, sister... Irons has never betrayed you. He has given you all his loyalty. You know clearly that General Javier's conspiracy has nothing to do with Irons!

But you still let Irons carry out the Great Purge, forcing him to personally kill those ministers who were closely related to him and General Javier, and he did it to prove himself!

But even so, you still suspected Ains, sidelined him, and secretly exiled him to Blackwater City!

That night five years ago, only one of you two betrayed me, but that person was definitely not Irons!"

Chapter 60: Open the Door! Orville Court

"That's enough, Dorothy. We don't need to talk about private matters between sisters here!"

Catalina interrupted Dorothy loudly, her chest heaving with excitement, and she looked at Dorothy with complicated eyes.

But the look Dorothy gave her was very simple.

The quarrel between the two sisters left Grand Duke Ryugu and Minerva, who were watching from the sidelines, silent. Dorothy's angry words revealed the truth about the much-hated purge five years ago.

Looking at Dorothy who shut her mouth because of her scolding, Catalina felt angry and helpless.

Perhaps, I really shouldn't talk to Dorothy. In the past few years, the conversations between them basically ended in quarrels. This time, because Grand Duke Ryuku was watching, it was considered a relatively minor one.

She took a deep breath and ordered Minerva, who had been standing by, "Minerva, take Dorothy to see Mary Belle."

"Yes, Queen."

Minerva nodded, then walked to Dorothy and said with a hint of request: "Princess, please follow me..."

"……Um."

It seemed that Dorothy didn't want to stay with her sister any longer. She nodded lightly and even walked towards the door of the hall before Minerva.

The unpleasant encounter between the sisters left only Catalina and Grand Duke Ryuku in the hall.

The Queen said to Frederick apologetically, "I'm sorry for embarrassing you, Grand Duke Long Ku."

"It doesn't matter."

This quarrel between the sisters actually gave Grand Duke Long Ku a good show. After being asked by God to become a free man, he had not been in Duolun for many years to avoid suspicion, so he did not know much about the affairs of Duolun's capital.

When he heard about the great purge in the royal capital, he was still worried about whether Doron would face political instability. Fortunately, Catalina quickly stabilized the situation and prevented it from escalating, so Grand Duke Ryuku no longer paid much attention to it.

But now it seems... the things behind this purge are much more sinister than I thought.

Of course, Frederick was not a gossipy person, and he had no interest in digging into the matter. Catalina obviously did not want to mention the matter, and he would not rely on his own strength to ask about it.

So, he stepped forward and told Catalina something else to change the subject: "Your Majesty, when I came to Duolun this time, I just happened to learn about another thing."

"Oh? What happened?"

"It seems that the judges of the Inquisition recently entered Duolun directly under the pretext of tracking down cultists."

"Inquisitor? Tsk...those hooligans..."

If there is a violent organization in the entire human empire that is the most special and domineering, everyone will mention the Inquisition without hesitation.

There is only one tribunal, and that is the Orville Tribunal of the Kingdom of God, Orville.

Although it is called the Kingdom of God, the area of ​​Orville is at best just that of a city.

It is the holy land of all believers and their Garden of Eden. Every year, countless believers travel thousands of miles to Orwell to worship, just to feel the glory of the Triune God.

Of course, this city is definitely the safest city in the entire human continent, without a doubt, because it is the starting point for the Trinity God to descend into the world and spread His grace, and it is protected by the gods.

Thousands of years ago, there was a powerful demon king who killed all the brave men on his horse. He led the demon army all the way to the north and was almost invincible. Most of the territory of the human empire was conquered by him.

However, this conquest process finally stopped at the attack on Orville, because at that moment, the gods took action and struck down a divine punishment, and the almost invincible demon king immediately fell to the ground seriously injured and unable to get up again.

After this battle, the war between humans and demons took a turn, and the lands occupied by the demons were recaptured one by one. The importance of Orwell in the human continent became indisputable.

As for the Orville Inquisition, this violent institution was originally established to protect the Kingdom of God from invasion by other forces.

However, after the Battle of Orville, no country dared to cause trouble for Orville anymore.

Well, since you guys don't want to come over, we'll go over there.

Since then, the most rampant violent organization in the entire human continent was born. This group of judges from the Inquisition can move freely in and out of various countries without giving any notice, under the pretext of investigating pagans.

What? You don't agree? It's useless if you disagree! The will of the Kingdom of God is supreme, and all of you ordinary empires have to stand aside! Open the door! Orville Inquisition!

Each empire has a headache with these guys. It seems that because they are used to being unscrupulous, these inquisitors are all arrogant, so conflicts with local people in their country often occur.

Should we stand on the side of our own people and uphold justice for the masses, or should we turn a blind eye out of the majesty of the Kingdom of God?

Generally speaking, most emperors would choose the latter.

This will only further embolden the Orville Tribunal's arrogance.

Hearing that these troublesome guys had actually arrived in the territory of the Duolun Empire, Catalina's already not-so-good-looking expression became even darker.

"Tsk, those troublesome guys... I can only say that I hope they are really here for the cultists and not to cause trouble..."

"Well... I heard that the judge who came to the Duolun Empire this time is Giovanna Sandrelli. She is one of the more easy-to-talk judges in the court. She should be here to do serious business."

"Easy to talk to?" Catalina snorted coldly, "Hmph, if they are really easy to talk to, they should greet me, the queen, first."

At the same time, Minerva led Dorothy to Mary's current residence. On the way, Minerva looked at Dorothy, who was frowning and sulking, and comforted her: "Princess, you really don't need to be so angry with the Queen..."

Dorothy responded unhappily: "Be angry with her? I don't want to be angry with her, but she always appears in front of me."

"...Alas...Princess, I think the Queen still regrets what happened five years ago. The purpose of inviting Grand Duke Ryugu this time is to bring Mr. Ains back to the capital..."

Minerva's words made Dorothy's eyes light up at first, but then she seemed to have thought of something, and the bright eyes quickly dimmed.

"Hehe... If she really wanted to bring Mr. Ains back to the capital, she would have had plenty of opportunities in five years. Why did she wait until now, when Ains was abducted to the Demon King's Castle, to take action?

In the final analysis, isn't she still refusing to admit that she did something wrong? She hopes that after rescuing Ains, she can take the initiative and hope that Ains will be grateful to her again. Haha, who is she trying to fool with this little trick? "

Dorothy's words made Minerva feel embarrassed, but she had to admit... Dorothy really knew her sister very well.

"Princess, putting all this aside, it's a good thing that Mr. Ains can return to the capital. Don't you miss him all the time?"

"Good thing? What good thing? Letting Irons return to Katarina, do you really think it is a good thing for Irons? If possible... I hope Irons can refuse to come back..."

"..."