After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

No matter from which aspect, Sheen is a fairly enlightened lord.

It goes without saying that he himself would not arrest people indiscriminately. The low crime rate brought about by the proper management of the territory also kept the cells relatively empty for a long time.

It was in stark contrast to the hellish scene Heidi had seen before.

At this moment, there was only one prisoner in the cell.

However, because of this one prisoner, the cell was extremely heavily guarded.

Because this prisoner is——

"It's been a long time since we last met, Duke. How have you been lately?"

Aize went straight to the innermost part of the dungeon and greeted the only prisoner who was held by dozens of guards with a smile.

Hearing Aize's voice, the figure curled up in the corner slowly stood up, turned around, and looked at Aize with frightened and tired eyes.

Brian, one of the four former dukes of the kingdom, was also the culprit of the Tafia incident a month ago.

I have been locked up here since that day, and it has been more than a month now.

Over the past month, his face, which was once greasy and shiny, has become extremely thin and haggard, as if he had aged more than ten years in an instant.

Heidi didn't even recognize it at first.

In response to Aize's greeting, he was stunned for a moment, then immediately rushed over, grabbed the cell bars with his dry knuckles, and shook them hard.

Almost hysterically said:

"Your Highness? Why are you here... I understand. You are here to judge me, right?"

In his state, which was no longer in human form, his dry eyeballs could not help but shine when he saw Heidi coming.

It's kind of disgusting to look at.

Before Heidi could think of how to answer, Brian had already taken the lead and fell to his knees with a thud.

He pounded his skull-like, bony head against the ground repeatedly.

"Your Highness! I plead guilty! I know my guilt! I beg you to be magnanimous and spare my life for the sake of my past contributions! Please! Please!"

After doing those things, he still has the nerve to say such things.

Apart from anything else, the thickness of his skin is truly astonishing.

Heidi, at a loss for what to do, looked at Aize.

And Aize just shrugged and shook his head:

"I'm afraid you might misunderstand me, but I'll be honest. Neither I nor Sheen abused this guy. He tortured himself into this state. Perhaps he wanted to make himself look more legitimate?"

At first, after learning that his plan had failed, Brian went crazy for several days.

After slowly recovering from his madness, Brian, realizing his condition, began to mutilate himself and go on a hunger strike.

Maybe he wanted to make himself look more miserable.

So that in the future public trial, he can gain some sympathy and get a lighter sentence.

Who would have thought that after more than a month there was no news of the verdict, but instead he had tortured himself so badly that he was recently hesitating whether to continue these performances.

Just then, Heidi arrived.

Then of course I have to use all my strength to give a good performance.

As Brian spoke, he banged his head against the ground even harder, tears streaming down his face. He spoke with increasing intensity:

"Please, please! Considering my many brave battles following the late king, I am willing to give up my title and become a commoner. Please spare my life! Please..."

If I had to find a word to describe this scene, it would probably be "unbearable to watch."

If it were Heidi a month ago, she would probably just turn her eyes away in disgust and let it fend for itself.

But now, watching this performance, Her Royal Highness felt inexplicably sad.

In the past, he had abandoned his dignity and loyalty for the sake of his title, abandoning everything he had sworn allegiance to, just wanting to go one step further.

What now?

In order to survive, he had to willingly give up the title he had earned by giving up everything.

So, what on earth is the purpose of his life till now?

Why do those other nobles still live with so-called noble titles?

Heidi couldn't answer this question.

Perhaps even the nobles themselves could not answer this question.

She sighed softly, looked at Aize and asked:

"What are you going to do with him?"

After looking at Brian for a while, Aize said:

"It's hard to explain in a few words, but anyway, this guy was able to create conditions favorable to the capital's actions. But you, don't you have any ideas about how to deal with him?"

Out of the minimum respect for Princess Heidi's identity, Aize still asked her this question.

Heidi had suffered a lot because of this guy. If she had made the decision a month ago, she would probably have taken action herself and cut the traitor into pieces.

But now, it's different.

Although she still hated him, Heidi knew that now was not the time to vent her personal vendetta.

Not to mention that I am currently in a dependent position and am not qualified to make any decisions.

Then he shook his head:

"No, do with it as you please."

"it is good."

Aize nodded, stood up, and nodded to the guards on the side:

"Open the cell door and take him out."

Brian subconsciously thought that his death was imminent, and was instantly frightened to the point of peeing and shitting, and collapsed to the ground.

He didn't care about Heidi anymore, he turned his target and kowtowed to Aize again:

"Lord Aize, my brave lord! Please be magnanimous! Please spare me! I will do my utmost to contribute to Lord Aize's cause in the future..."

"What are you arguing about!?"

Aize interrupted the other party's plea for mercy with a look of disgust.

Then, he smiled meaningfully and said slowly:

"Aren't we just going to let you out now? What's the rush?"

"……well?"

Brian raised his head and looked at Aize with disbelief in his eyes.

Chapter 52 Want to get rid of me? It's not that easy~

So, with a confused look on his face, Brian, who was already as thin as a stick, was dragged out of the cell where he had been staying for more than a month.

After a lot of trouble and changing into a fairly decent set of clothes, he was stuffed into a carriage and taken to his own territory by a coachman.

With this, the final preparations for departure to the royal capital were completed.

After doing all this, Aize and others returned to the house, waiting to rest for a night before setting off the next day.

Ever since the assassination, my mood has been at a low point. In the end, I didn't say much and went straight back to the real guest room.

Villian, who still had some things to do, came to the study, picked up a pen and paper and started writing something.

Aize came forward curiously:

"what are you doing?"

"Regarding the Magic Academy, I previously distributed the trial teaching materials to several future students. I asked them to try practicing them themselves and then give me feedback."

As she spoke, Miss Witch waved her hand.

As a faint light flickered between the paper and pen on the table, several other unused pens seemed to have come to life and began to write automatically.

The efficiency instantly increased several times without much extra effort.

Aize looked at it with a bit of envy.

"I've already received your feedback, and I'd like to take this opportunity to make some improvements so that the academy can open straight away when we return from the capital."

Villian is extremely concerned about the affairs of the academy.

Although she would complete anything Aize asked her to do perfectly.

But this time, there is obviously more personal emotion involved.

Aize could roughly guess what it was.

In the past, when she was still a great witch, in order to integrate herself into the witch society, she tried hard to pass on her brilliant ideas to other witches.

But it was not accepted.

Instead, they were further ostracized because of some behaviors that were considered to be disrespectful to their teachers and ancestors.

This time, there will be no such problems.

This time, with Aize's guarantee, she can start over in this regard and give full play to her ideas.

That's why Villian is so active.

Looking at her excited look, Aize sighed softly, sat down on a chair beside her, and watched her busying around quietly.

You know, usually you are the one being looked at.

It's quite interesting to switch sides occasionally.

After watching Villian working for a while and thinking for a while, Aize said:

"How about you not go this time?"

"……what?"

The moment these words came out, the pens in Villian's hand, along with the ones that were writing automatically beside her, all stopped in mid-air.

The look he gave Aize also became sharp.

Aize shrugged and continued:

"Although the situation in the capital is dire, I already have an idea of what's going on. It doesn't really matter if you don't go. Why not stay in Tafia and focus on the academy? Isn't that a good idea?"

There was actually another reason why Aize didn't want Violet to go, but he didn't say it out loud.

Blood plague.

To put it bluntly, the blood plague is a fantasy version of Resident Evil.

Blood slaves are not much different from zombies except that they can climb walls and fly.

It is foreseeable that the current situation inside the royal capital must be extremely bloody and miserable.

To put it bluntly, it's disgusting, embarrassing, and can easily give you nightmares.

For those participating in this operation, mental preparation is even more important than material and physical preparation.

Aize did not doubt Villian's mental strength.

But if you can avoid watching it, try not to. Stay at home and do something meaningful that you enjoy. Isn't that better than watching those bloody and noisy things?

If he expressed this excessive worry directly, it would probably be pushed back immediately, so Aize has been looking for the right opportunity to express it.

After hearing this, Villian, as expected, frowned slightly after a brief silence, as if pondering the meaning of Aize's words.

Then, he bit the pen, gave a meaningful smirk, and said:

"What? Do you think I'm in the way?"

"What?"