"I can tell the High Dukes now, but if Devilia is actually the one that betrayed us, then she might leak the information, and the attack of Death Domain will be delayed. We need to catch the Black Skeleton King at all costs, but I still don't know their full strengths. All I saw was Rale being attacked,' Ryder thought as he frowned.

' It's highly possible that they brought a Death Envoy that's as strong as a High Duke with them or even more. The side of the girl had the support of Two of the Four Death Envoys from what I heard. If this is a bigger scale plan and both of them are here to make sure that nothing goes wrong, then we'll be in trouble since we can't fully trust the Character of the Vampire King.'

The Vampire King and High Duke Eston were still not here, and Ryder didn't know if the Vampire King would support Death Domain when the power balance is equal. 

'I need more help,' he thought as he continued contemplating.

He glanced at Devilia and nodded his head.

"Ah, Devilia?" he called out.

Devilia was surprised at being called out by Ryder all of a sudden. 

"Yes, Your Highness?" she responded curiously as she opened her thin lips.

"Since we're on a time constraint, how about we work proactively? Tell all the guards to stand outside the Royal Palace. As soon as High Duke Eston is here, we would need to have him use Dreimaia on them and link with them. We would need to collect the guards in one place for him to see later anyway. Let's just do it now, so there's not much time waste," Ryder said to Devilia.

Devilia was somewhat surprised as she nodded her head. 

"But Your Highness, there's still time in High Duke Eston coming here. It would not be efficient to do it now. The long wait will only make the guards more restless," Devilia told Ryder as she raised her concern.

" Don't worry. Just tell them there will be a meeting, and High Duke would be getting to know them a little in some time. I'm sure you know what to think and say. Go ahead," Ryder said as he continued budging her to leave with this excuse.

"Ah, Alright. If that's what Your Highness wants," Devilia ultimately nodded her head as she stood up.

Ryder watched her leave the Great Hall before he also stood up.

He walked closer to High Duke Mila just like last time. 

Everything happened the same way as he closed up with High Duke Mila and brought his face closer to hers. Her reactions were the same as well. The only difference was that Ryder whispered something different. Last time he whispered in her ear about leaving the Great Hall with Rale to not disturb High Duke Eston, but this time he said it merely for privacy since he didn't know if someone was listening to their conversation 

"High Duke Mila, I have something really important to talk to you about. It's something really private. Can you create a barrier around me, Rale, and yourself so that no one else would be able to spy on us? Also, make it so that no one is able to see inside the barrier as well?" Ryder whispered in her ears.

He moved back to his Throne after saying the words. There was a casual expression on his face as he moved back to the Throne as if nothing was wrong.

High Duke Mila looked at him in curiosity, wondering why he was being so cautious here. Ryder glanced in her eyes and nodded his head.

High Duke Mila also nodded her head as she waved her fingers casually. A barrier took shape, covering Ryder, Rale, and High Duke Mila inside.

"Why all this privacy? Is something wrong here?" High Duke Mila straight away asked Ryder.

Rale also looked in confusion.

"Not something, everything is wrong here," Ryder let out as he sighed. 

"No one else can head us now, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah, no one else can hear us now. You can say anything inside the barrier," High Duke Mila replied.

"I know who is behind sending the Black Skeleton King here. That person also has a spy inside the Palace, and I can't take the risk, so I made this plan to maintain my privacy," Ryder let out as he glanced back at her.

"Is that why you sent Devilia outside in such a hurry? Are you suspicious of her as well?" High Duke Mila inquired as she frowned.

"Let me be absolutely clear. There are only two people in this whole Palace that I am not suspicious about. One is you, and the other person is Rale. Other than you two, everyone else has a chance of being that spy, especially Miku and Devilia. I don't want to believe it myself, but I need to be cautious," Ryder said as he frowned.

" What is happening here? What do you know? Tell me everything," High Duke Mila let out in a grave tone. She felt like Ryder was severe, and if he was, then things were more complicated here than they seemed.

" Everything that has been happening here is a scheme of the Death Domain. The Second Crown Candidate of the Death Domain, the girl who got the Inheritance weapon of the Death Emperor, is the one behind all this," Ryder told Mila and Rale.

He didn't stop and gave them a chance to speak, though. He continued speaking.

" According to my information, many parties are involved in this scheme; someone called Master Mao from the Death Domain being one of them. From what I believe, they have already infiltrated this city. They might even be hiding inside this palace already," Ryder explained in a grave tone.

High Duke Mila and Rale both stood up. They were not scared, but the information that the Death Domain was able to infiltrate the Palace of the Duke so easily was really concerning.

"It would make sense if Devilia is involved in this scheme; otherwise, she would be just too negligent not to know what was happening in her Palace," High Duke Mila said to Ryder as she thought about it. This way, the palace of the Duke. If what Ryder was saying was true, then it was a big negligence on Devilia's part. Either that, or she was actually involved in it.

"That and a few other things, but I might be wrong at will. All I know is that there was a spy who was leaking whatever we talked about to the infiltrators. Devilia just has a high chance of being involved, but there's a good chance that she's not involved as well. I can't blame anyone, and I can't clear anyone. All I know is that the three of us are the only ones that I want to plan with that I can trust," Ryder declared.

"How do you know all this? Why didn't you say it before?" High Duke Mila inquired as she looked at him suspiciously.

" There's not enough time to discuss minor things like that. Just know that I have a few sources of my own," Ryder said, refusing to answer.

"Hah, you want to keep it a secret? Do you know how serious of a situation it can result in? This situation is one where we are under attack from the Death Domain, and you refuse to tell me anything? That's not how a leader should behave," High Duke Mila let out in annoyance as she glared at Ryder.

"High Duke Mila, Please mind your manners. Don't forget who you're talking to. His Highness has every right to do what he wants. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Don't talk like that, or it can be taken as disrespect towards the Crown, which is a crime. You should know," Rale intervened as he saw High Duke Mila getting serious.

He didn't want her to cross the limits, so he tried warning her.

Ryder was surprised that Rale was talking back to a High Duke, but it wasn't surprising. Considering the authority, it was his responsibility. As the Royal Guard commander, he had the authority to hold people accountable. Even though he was weaker than Devilia, he still couldn't be scared when it came to his responsibilities.

"High Duke Mila, I'm not here to talk about unnecessary things. As I said, this is not a time to talk about my sources to maintain their anonymity. So we should really stop wasting time. We need to do something to stop them and be one step ahead," Ryder let out as he shook his head. 

High Duke Mila was looking at him briefly before she sighed.

"Fine. What is the plan? What do you want me to do?" High Duke Mila inquired.

" The first thing I need you to do is contact High Duke Oris," Ryder told her as he smiled while folding his arms. "They scheme against me? I'll show them what a scheme is."

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