After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

"You lied because you were not ordered by Arthur at all."

As he said that, Aize sneered:

"As for your true identity, if I'm not mistaken, you should be a member of the Black Hounds, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the cell, including the assassin himself, fell silent.

The Black Hounds are a group of professional assassins and spies under Auchinleck, one of the three great dukes of the kingdom.

Before, it was them who chased Heidi all the way from the royal capital to Tafia, and even went so far as to destroy Aize's house in order to suppress the princess's request for help in a place where no one knew about it.

It can be said that compared to the army that is visible outside, they who are lurking in the shadows are the main reason why Duke Auchinleck is involved in this incident.

Faced with such accusations, the assassin kept shaking his head:

"No, I don't know what you're talking about... you..."

"To tell you the truth, your identities have been exposed long ago and you've been under surveillance for a long time. Today's trap was designed specifically for you, just to lure you into it. Otherwise, how would I know your identity?"

These words made the assassin bite his lip.

After a moment, perhaps realizing that it was useless to say more, his attitude suddenly changed.

The tearful, fearful and regretful expression completely disappeared in less than half a second, replaced by an inhuman indifference and apathy.

It even seemed as if he couldn't feel the pain of his broken arm.

He said in a lifeless voice:

"Now that you know, there's nothing more to say. Just do as you please."

As a top assassin group, every member of the Black Hounds has been trained and brainwashed since childhood, so their mental state is highly inhuman.

Previously in Tafia, Aize and Villian used illusions to break down the other party's psychological defenses and directly extract information, which made things simpler.

Once one enters this state of resistance to interrogation, neither physical nor mental torture will be effective.

But it doesn’t matter.

For Aize, knowing his identity is already the greatest gain.

As for the rest, let Elena and the others play around.

It would be best if you could get some information out of it.

If they can't get the answer, just let them vent their anger, it's not a bad thing.

With this thought in mind, Aize gestured to Elena and the others, then turned and left the cell.

All sorts of sounds of beating and scolding could be heard almost from behind.

And Heidi hurried over and asked:

"Aize...you, you really already knew their identities? If so, why...no, it's nothing..."

Heidi turned her eyes away before she finished her words.

Why didn't you tell me - that's what she wanted to ask.

He didn't finish the question because the answer was obvious - Aize didn't trust himself.

Oh, come to think of it, I've done so many outrageous things before that I'm no longer worthy of Aize's trust. And unfortunately, there's a traitor in my family. How can I...

"No, it's fake."

"……well?"

Heidi looked up in surprise.

I only saw Aize smile and shrug casually:

"If I had known the Black Hound's identity and whereabouts earlier, I would have taken action long ago. Why would I leave them here until now and deal with them in such a troublesome way? Of course, I would bluff him."

"Then how did you know that?"

"Well, there are many factors involved, and it's a long story... But the important point is that I don't think Arthur would send someone to assassinate you."

Aize said this calmly.

Chapter 109 I Don’t Understand Anything

The series of events that happened, especially the statement that "Arthur wanted to assassinate herself", made Heidi, whose mental state was already not very good, extremely upset.

Therefore, Aize's unexpected remarks made her unsure how to react for a moment.

After some hesitation, he turned his gaze away and asked in a voice so low that it was almost inaudible:

"How... do you know it wasn't him?"

"It's simple. From the time the incident occurred to the time we intervened, there were over twenty days in between. If they wanted to kill you, they would have done it then. Why wait until now?"

"This……"

"Even earlier, in the year immediately following the previous king's death, you didn't possess the power of a princess, nor did you possess the status of a hero. Wouldn't it have been much easier to kill you then? But what happened? What did he do?"

Not only did he not show any malice towards Heidi, he even taught her diligently and responsibly, helping her adapt to her new identity as quickly as possible.

Afterwards, he handed over his power without reservation and willingly played the role of regent in name but assistant to the chief steward in reality.

There is no sign of selfishness at all.

Would such a person, under the current circumstances, plot to assassinate Heidi as a backup plan?

almost impossible.

These words made Heidi lower her gaze.

Not knowing what he was thinking, he nodded slowly, and the depressed expression on his face relaxed a little.

Of course, this is just a matter of fact on the issue of assassination.

Aize still has to say something unpleasant:

"Even if he didn't kill you, the crime of spreading the blood plague that resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 people is unforgivable. You..."

"Stop talking, I know."

The princess raised her head with a faint, slightly lonely smile on her face:

"When the time comes, I know what to do, don't worry."

Arthur's crime is unforgivable and cannot be redeemed by death.

Her Royal Highness the Princess was very clear about this and had no intention of pleading for him.

However, Heidi didn't know what identity and attitude she should take towards this matter.

Cutting?

hide?

Or something else?

This was one of the sources of her suffering.

These words from Aize made Heidi understand one thing - no matter what Arthur did, he was still her uncle, and he was one of the biggest contributors to shaping the Heidi of today.

Even he himself may still regard Heidi as his own relative.

So, cutting cannot be cut.

Heidi is determined to face, punish and take responsibility for his crimes as a relative, the head of the family, and the princess shaped by Arthur himself.

This is also my mission.

The moment she confirmed this, Heidi's consciousness suddenly became much clearer.

I immediately thought that Aize might have told me all this for this reason.

He raised his head and said seriously:

"Thank you."

Aize blinked and shrugged nonchalantly:

"Thank you for what?"

"A lot of things, anyway...thank you."

The princess said this in a low voice.

I also feel that this kind of atmosphere is a bit awkward for me now.

Quickly and loudly changed the subject:

"By the way, how did you know the identity of that assassin?"

"Well, I inferred it from their behavior patterns."

The participants in this incident are not just a few forces in the royal capital.

There is also an alliance of three dukes outside the royal capital, which has surrounded the city tightly.

It can be said that when it comes to the division of responsibility for pushing things to this point today, the Duke's Alliance can even share the blame with Arthur himself, who spread the plague.

Among the three dukes, Auchinleck was the most radical, and even the other two could be considered to have been more or less influenced by him.

Auchinleck's goal was to make the blood plague completely and totally out of control, and it would be best if even Heidi died in it, turning the capital into a dead city.

In this way, the bloodline of the Arte family will be completely cut off, and he can also usurp the throne more reasonably and legally without getting his hands dirty after cleaning up the situation.

To this end, he even sent out black hounds to hunt down Heidi.

The results of it?

After the pursuit failed, Aize and others entered the royal capital, which not only stabilized the situation in the royal capital, but also had the intention of resolving this incident.

And misfortunes never come alone.

Under Aize's manipulation, the other two dukes who were coerced by him are probably fighting for Brian's inheritance. No matter what the outcome of the fight is, the two dukes are bound to become more powerful.

In this case, if Auchinleck, who was dying in the royal capital, still could not gain any benefits, he would fall behind in the subsequent competition due to the decline of his relative strength.

There was no way he wasn't anxious.

It is even more impossible for him to do nothing.

So what to do?

The blood slaves would not obey his orders, so he could only start from the safe zone.

From the moment he entered the royal capital and examined various documents, Aize had discovered that the various chaotic disturbances and conflicts in the safe zone were somewhat abnormal.

It seems like someone is deliberately inciting panic.

From that time on, Aize was certain that Auchinleck's men had infiltrated and were trying to dismantle the safe zone from within, causing the situation to get out of control.

But at that time, Aize had no good way to find them out.

The priority was to stabilize the situation, appease the people, and make it impossible for them to incite.

A series of measures to appease the people are actually a secret battle between Aize and them.

Last night, the false news spread by Aize that the so-called vampires had been captured made the refugees in the safe zone more positive than ever before.

It also made the Black Hounds realize that if they didn't find a solution, they would definitely lose the competition.

Therefore, when Aize transferred the main force out of the safe zone, they would take desperate action.

"...That's pretty much it. The Black Hounds probably figured it might be a trap, but they had no choice but to act, and they ended up getting caught red-handed."

During the fishing operation, four traps were triggered.

Except for the one on Aize's side, who ran away because the assassination attempt failed, the others were caught red-handed when they were inciting the people to riot.

It can be said that it was calculated to death.

This long explanation left Heidi completely stunned, eyes wide open and mouth wide open:

"This... means that besides investigating the incident, you've also been planning this sort of thing? You've taken all of this into consideration? Even their plan to assassinate me?"

"Well, I didn't expect that. It was really accidental."