Work Prophet
Chapter 474 - 92 Lion Heart Castle

Chapter 474: Chapter 92 Lion Heart Castle

Ireya summoned her Guard Captain and found the people who had been on night watch and patrolling outside the previous night.

However, no one had noticed any uninvited guests approaching her tent, naturally, no one knew where the wooden sculpture had come from.

After a while, Wild and others also came over.

Treger had visited many places to rid himself of a curse and had dealt with many religious sects, he recognized the carving on the wood sculpture at a glance and blurted out,

"This is the Life Goddess Valria."

The Lady had already had some suspicions, and now her guess was confirmed by Treger, she said solemnly,

"It seems this is the welcome gift from the Priest of Cornelia."

"This is my negligence," Thomas said seriously, "I will increase the manpower to ensure your safety, such incidents will not occur again."

Miss Rabbit nodded her head, noticing that Treger next to her seemed hesitant to speak, thus she asked, "Is there anything else you would like to say?"

"Although the Priest of Cornelia was not able to rid me of the curse like Prophet Merlin, she is also a truly capable person, and there are many extraordinary people in the Life Church.

"They have had the life force within their bloodlines activated by the Priest of Cornelia. They can accomplish many unimaginable things. So, please ensure that you and Prophet Merlin do not underestimate them," Treger said with a serious expression.

"I know, and I have already met one of them."

The Lady took the Life Church very seriously, after all, a single Greta who could control rats had once caused great chaos in the western realms.

And according to Greta, she was not the only one within the Life Church who possessed special abilities.

Indeed, the Rat Girl had mentioned before an assassin who walked softly and was skilled in swordsmanship.

Could it be that last night it was that person who sneaked into the tent and placed the wooden sculpture under her pillow?

What if, instead of a wooden sculpture, he had been holding a dagger in his hand at that time?

A chill surged through the Lady’s heart at this thought.

No, this matter couldn’t just be left to Thomas and his men, especially since they were dealing with no ordinary people. They still needed to consult Li Yu for a solution.

During the upcoming martial arts tournament, they would still be staying in the city for several more days, and Miss Rabbit did not want to sleep in fear every night.

With this little incident, everyone on the journey had become more vigilant.

Especially Thomas, who was responsible for the safety of Ireya on this journey, felt very guilty about such an oversight occurring even before entering the Royal Capital; the Guard Captain took it upon himself to personally stand guard by the Lady’s side, not leaving the young girl’s side at all.

However, the mysterious person who had placed the wooden sculpture under the Lady’s pillow did not appear again after that.

Two days later, the group finally reached their destination — Lion Heart Castle.

The town’s predecessor was a fortress belonging to the Vespasian family. Alessandro ordered the construction of the Royal Capital here, despite numerous objections.

The main concern was that the area was surrounded by plains, offering broad views and no natural defenses. Should enemies approach from Elk Valley or cross the Three Sons River, they could easily press forward directly to the Royal Capital.

However, the Furious Lion ultimately overruled all objections and established the Royal Capital here.

Some speculated it was the Emperor’s way of commemorating his first victorious battle; others thought Alessandro wanted to keep a watchful eye on the unruly southern lords. The womenfolk said it was because the Queen didn’t want to stray too far from her homeland...

In any case, the Empire’s Royal Capital was established there.

At that time, Lion Heart Castle was actually less than one-tenth of its current size. Alessandro, not fond of extravagance, had only slightly renovated the original castle and built a circle of walls around it.

As the greatest king in the history of the Bratis Continent, the Furious Lion spent most of his life on military campaigns and probably didn’t care too much about how his own house looked.

However, his descendants clearly did not feel the same way. After Alessandro’s death, Lion Heart Castle underwent more than thirty expansions, both large and small.

The largest of these expansions took place under the rule of Alessandro’s great-grandson, known as the tyrant Byron I. He employed over six thousand craftsmen and spent thirteen years not only quintupling the original area of Lion Heart Castle.

He also constructed the most luxurious palace on the continent for himself, with floors paved in gold, walls encrusted with gems for illumination, and a throne assembled from dragon bones and the tailbone of a giant sea beast, towering three to four humans in height and exuding formidable authority.

It was said that those with guilt in their hearts would tremble and become speechless merely standing before this throne.

Byron I had even intended to build a sky garden for his most beloved younger daughter, but unfortunately, he was deposed by his own son, allied with the Prime Minister and the Imperial Conference, just as construction began.

The most luxurious palace on the continent was partially demolished, the golden floors were gone, and the gem-studded walls were nowhere to be seen, yet that Skeleton Throne was preserved.

Along with the expanded Lion Heart Castle, it became one of the few valuable legacies left by the tyrant.

With Byron I’s example before them, his descendants were somewhat more restrained, although the renovation and expansion of Lion Heart Castle never ceased, they were kept to a relatively moderate level.

Moreover, located on the plains, Lion Heart Castle, from a military standpoint, was certainly not safe, but the roads leading in all directions also made it easy to continuously gather resources from across the Empire to this city, enabling it to develop at a terrifying pace.

Today’s Lion Heart Castle, after persistent development by generations of the Vespasian family, has truly become a formidable city.

The outer walls of the city are uniformly built from white Giant Stone brought from the south, embellished with red sandstone creating the Imperial Family’s emblem, and the thickest part of the curtain wall reaches a stunning seven meters.

It features six gates, each equipped with an iron portcullis.

Now, Ireya stood beneath the Lion Gate, looking up at the towering city towers, slightly lost in thought.

Ferdinand was also silent beside her, and both were leaving the West for the first time. Before this, the largest town they had seen was Rock Snow City.

On their way here, they had passed through Golden Valley and were amazed by the magnificent castles built by the nobles there.

But compared to the majestic and imposing city before them, those towns seemed no different from small villages; even Lady could not think of the right words to describe it.

She and Ferdinand exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.