The Shining Star Above The Heaven
Chapter 252: Lewis’s True Face

Chapter 252: Lewis’s True Face

There is one person in the dining room who looks at Emperor Durand not with worry, but with shock instead.

"How is that possible? Didn’t he say that this poison can’t be detected by any means? Did that bastard lie?" he thought.

Lewis, the third prince, although his expression shows a slight hint of panic for the emperor, actually feels turmoil and panic for another reason. To think that the poison can be detected, and now the emperor wants to interrogate the cooks himself. However, after a few seconds, he calms his mind and maintains positive thoughts.

"Well, whatever. I already know I can’t trust those bastards entirely, so I’ll go with my own plan this time. Even if Father wants to check the cooks, he won’t find anything. I’ve already taken care of it."

Not long after, all the cooks of the imperial palace were brought to the dining room—there were 50 of them. As they were confused about why the emperor wanted to inspect them, one of the imperial guards moved forward and reported to Emperor Durand.

"This is all of them, Your Majesty. No one has left the imperial palace in the last two hours, and we have ensured that no one was missed."

"Good. You may leave," the emperor responded, which was met with a bow before the imperial guard left the dining room.

Emperor Durand looked at each of the cooks’ faces. Some appeared confused, some gazed at him with admiration, and others seemed panicked, worried that they might have done something wrong. However, he noticed one person who kept his head lowered, hiding his expression. For now, Emperor Durand chose to ignore him and addressed the group.

"You are the cooks chosen by our family, entrusted with the honor of serving the imperial household. I trust that you are already aware of this," he began.

"As your top superior, I also place my trust in you. Your position is vital to the imperial family, and I believe you all understand the significance of your responsibilities."

"However, I cannot hide my disappointment. I cannot put into words how betrayed I feel by those I trusted," Emperor Durand said, sweeping his gaze over all the cooks.

"I was just poisoned, and fortunately, the heavens granted me a chance to survive. You all understand why you are here, don’t you?"

Hearing Emperor Durand’s speech, they were all shocked. He had been poisoned? Finally, they realized the dire situation they were in. If the emperor had been poisoned, it was only natural for the cooks to be the prime suspects. Their faces turned pale as countless scenarios raced through their minds, trying to make sense of how this could have happened.

Did one of them betray the emperor? Or did someone unknowingly mix poisonous ingredients into the food or drinks? Panic overtook them all. If they were somehow found guilty of this mishap, it wouldn’t just cost them their lives— even their families could be implicated.

Observing their reactions, Emperor Durand began walking slowly in front of each cook. His piercing gaze seemed to see straight into their souls, leaving no room for secrets. He continued walking until he stopped in front of the cook standing at the edge of the line. This was the one who had kept his head lowered, Emperor Durand could sense the nervousness radiating from his body. The cook’s body trembled slightly as the emperor stopped before him.

"Head Cook Frans, raise your head. You’re the one who arranged the food my family and I just ate, correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." He raised his head and answered, though his voice was tinged with nervousness.

"You have been one of my most trusted men, serving me for nearly 15,000 years. I personally selected you from your previous establishment because of your exceptional culinary skills, and I have never doubted your integrity. So, tell me, Frans, how did poison end up in my meal?"

Frans did not answer immediately. Instead, his eyes darted around nervously, landing on Lewis for a split second. In that instant, he caught a cold, threatening stare from Lewis—a stare that warned him of dire consequences if he revealed something he wasn’t supposed to say. Lowering his head and bowing his body, Frans gritted his teeth and spoke in a trembling voice.

"I’m sorry, Your Majesty. This is my mistake for not thoroughly checking the food. I deserve punishment."

The other cooks looked at Frans with pitiful gazes. Having worked together for so long, they couldn’t help but feel sorry for him as he now seemed to be under suspicion by His Majesty. However, their desire to protect themselves kept them silent. None of them wanted to risk being misunderstood by the emperor as the one responsible for poisoning the meal.

Emperor Durand looked at Frans with an expressionless face, but inwardly, he felt a great sense of disappointment. Frans was one of his trusted men, and he knew almost everything about his personality and character. He had never seen Frans this nervous before, and there was one expression he could sense in his gaze—the expression of guilt.

He truly wanted to know why Frans felt that way. Emperor Durand seemed to be trying to escape an answer he wanted to avoid, but as both an emperor and a cultivator, he knew that unexpected situations like this were common in this world.

He could only sigh in disappointment and look at the steward.

"Lock him in the prison. I will speak to him later." The steward nodded and seemed to send a voice transmission to someone. The door to the dining room opened, revealing several imperial guards entering. They then apprehended Frans and took him away. Once they were gone, Emperor Durand continued inspecting the rest of the cooks.

But suddenly, he stopped what he was doing when he saw Hector collapse. Lorenzo, who had been standing beside him, instantly grabbed his body before he could fall to the ground.

"Hector!" Empress Claudia rushed to her son, trying to check his condition. Everyone present could see the black veins protruding from Hector’s skin. His face was twisted in incredible pain, and sweat began to drip from his forehead.

"His heartbeat and energy circulation are in chaos, and his internal organs show signs of rotting," Empress Claudia said, her eyes trembling.

"Call the physician!" Emperor Durand shouted. Then, he suddenly remembered something and quickly looked at Lorenzo and sent a voice transmission.

"Call young Aldrian here. I think he can heal Hector. If this is the same poison that I just consumed, then Hector doesn’t have much time. Go!"

Lorenzo was stunned, but he still obeyed and quickly disappeared from the room. The situation turned into panic and chaos once again. Amidst all of this, Lewis watched with a calm gaze, though inwardly, he was grinning.

"Success! Even though ’he’ told me to give that dose to the emperor, I kept a portion for Hector. If only both of them had died, there would be no one left to block my path to the throne. Aish, if only I had more of the poison, I would give it to all of them!" Lewis thought.

However, he wondered what caused the poison to fail with the emperor but succeed with Hector. Was it because the emperor is at the emperor stage? No, that "man" had said the poison was fatal even to someone at the emperor stage and could not be detected by him. Yet, in front of him, the poison had only worked on Hector, who was at the king stage, and not on both of them.

"Whatever, with this, the chance of me succeeding to the throne will significantly increase. The only obstacle may be..." Lewis then glanced at Alderia.

"No, he will not become a threat after tonight. Tomorrow will mark the new dawn of this empire." Lewis already imagined himself as the emperor.

In the midst of his daydream, Lorenzo suddenly appeared again with a solemn expression and sent a voice transmission to Emperor Durand.

"Your Majesty, before I left the palace, I received a report from my informant that the mansion where Sir Aldrian is staying was attacked by an unidentified faction."

"What? Then what are you waiting for? Go to that place and offer any help they need."

"Uhm, the thing is..."

Boom! Rumbling!

--------------------------

A few moments ago, in the underground base beneath the capital, the battle was still ongoing as numerous elemental attacks rained down on Aldrian. However, he parried or blocked them with ease. His breakthrough to the low Marquess stage had given him a significant boost in strength, and his battle sense had become much sharper.

The combined attacks of the five cultivators at the King and Emperor stages couldn’t penetrate Aldrian’s defenses, especially his space shield and swallowing space. It frustrated them, as they couldn’t unleash their strongest attacks for fear of collapsing the entire base. Aldrian was also impressed by the variety of their attacks and encountered one of the new technique attributes: poison. That particular one was quite dangerous if he didn’t have his golden energy. Now, he understood why Wei Zhi was so feared.

"Aldrian, why do you have to involve yourself in this mess?! Why forsake your own safety and your friends’ safety? I know you are strong, but what about your friends?!" Master Dan shouted as he attacked Aldrian with his artifact, throwing a large cauldron at him. Aldrian knew that if the cauldron hit him, he would be seriously injured.

However, he didn’t dodge it. Instead, he clasped his hands together and created multiple layers of space shields. The cauldron broke through a few of the shields before finally stopping and dropping to the ground with a loud boom.

"I’m afraid if you stay here, you’ll only find your friends’ corpses when you get back. That is, if you even make it out of here!"

"Oh, so you’re threatening me using my friends?"