The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 195: Chapter 191 — Visit

The day passed swiftly. By night, the mansion was overflowing with gifts from all over the South. City lords, house heads, merchants, and even ordinary citizens had all sent something.

Many had blatantly sent money. Others offered relics, elixirs, attire, and congratulatory letters. One individual had even sent a statue of the Iron Father with True Justice engraved across its base.

Zephyrion spent a good portion of the day sorting through everything.

There were five elixirs in total. Three restoration elixirs of varying grades. One emotion-enhancing elixir. And finally, a mid-grade Mind Cognition Elixir.

The rest were largely useless. Zephyrion stared at the collection before releasing a quiet sigh. As expected, revealing what he truly desired would allow people to gift him appropriately.

Unfortunately, it would also reveal far too much. He would have to make do with the endless assortment of well-intentioned but ultimately useless offerings.

At the very least, he had obtained one thing he genuinely needed. Zephyrion carefully stored the Mind Cognition Elixir before retiring to his room.

He doubted it would be enough to push him into Mark Seven. Still, he wasn’t discouraged. He already knew what he would do with the mountain of gifts.

Sell them.

Then use the money to acquire more Mind Cognition Elixirs.

When Zephyrion entered his room, he found Lumi sprawled across the bed, soft snores filling the space. He shook his head. The sight reminded him of her earlier performance.

After dinner, Lumi had somehow turned Menias’ public humiliation into an entire theatrical production.

She reenacted his desperate attempt to sway the crowd, perfectly reproducing the trembling expression, frantic gestures, and increasingly panicked mannerisms. She even went as far as mimicking the moment realization struck him before dramatically throwing herself backward to recreate his corpse hitting the floor.

Then she had laughed so hard tears formed in her eyes.

Fiona had nearly doubled over laughing. Even Kaiden had failed to suppress a smile. Tobias, meanwhile, had looked as though he wasn’t entirely certain whether to laugh or be worried.

Still, it was little wonder Lumi had exhausted herself.

Zephyrion approached and gently draped a blanket over her. Then he froze, realizing what he’d just done. A sigh escaped him as he sat down nearby.

He stared at Lumi for what felt like eternity. Everything that had happened today came rushing back.

His mother’s rules had defined his entire life.

He had followed them as though they were law, afraid of even entertaining the thought of breaking them. He feared there would be consequences. Irreversible consequences. That the world itself might somehow come apart if he stepped beyond the boundaries she had set for him.

Yet he had broken one.

He had cemented his name in the minds of the entire South. He had become a political bomb. He had sent a message to the Sarakhel.

He had broken one of her rules.

And the world hadn’t ended.

...

Much later that night, Zephyrion lay atop the mansion roof, staring at the endless sea of stars above.

A quiet sense of nostalgia settled over him. He was reminded of the warm nights his mother would drag him outside to stargaze. They would talk about meaningless things. Laugh. Trace constellations across the heavens. And somehow she always found a way to turn the night into a lesson about people.

He had avoided this rooftop precisely because he didn’t want those painful memories. Yet they came anyway.

A streak of light cut across the night sky.

A shooting star.

Zephyrion remembered how excited his mother had been the first time they saw one. She had immediately ordered him to make a wish, stressing the importance of keeping it secret if he wanted it to come true.

Then she had spent the next hour trying to trick him into revealing it. Zephyrion smiled. He hadn’t told her, but moments like that were when he got to see the real her. Not the cold woman the world knew, not the calculating noble. Just his mother. Happy, cheerful, smiling.

His heart had stirred that night. So he had made a wish, hoping those moments would never end.

Zephyrion watched the shooting star disappear beyond the horizon. Then he scoffed. A shooting star granting wishes.

How stupid he’d been.

His hand tightened around the pendant hanging from his neck. He had promised his mother he would follow her rules. No matter what. Now he had broken them. He had broken their promise.

Zephyrion turned his gaze toward the endless night sky.

How was he supposed to face her now?

...

Zephyrion spent many hours brooding in silence. He had tried to sleep, but sleep refused to come.

It felt as though he had betrayed his mother somehow. As though he had chosen Lumi over her. He would never choose anyone over his mother. Yet he had ignored everything just to save Lumi.

Zephyrion shook the maddening thoughts away. He could feel the ancestor attempting to speak to him. He ignored him. Instead, he turned his attention toward something else.

His mistake.

He had brought Lumi home without truly understanding who she was. He had assumed she was merely a slave. He had assumed her past couldn’t possibly create problems for him.

The tribunal had proven exactly how wrong that assumption was.

Assume, he wasn’t supposed to assume things. True observation required one to see. To understand every possible aspect of a situation before acting.

Yet Zephyrion hadn’t done that. He had acted without seeing, and he had almost paid the price for it. As he stared blankly at the stars above, a thought slowly settled within his mind.

’See before you think.’

...

The next day, Zephyrion made a surprise visit to the Discipline Line’s headquarters.

Shaped like an inverted triangle, it was a striking structure. Sleek, dark, and imposing, it perfectly reflected the authority it wielded.

Zephyrion entered beneath countless baffled gazes. The shock only deepened when he announced who he had come to see. The attendant nearly stumbled over himself sending word upstairs.

Zephyrion sat patiently while whispers spread throughout the hall. Though the awe from yesterday’s events still lingered in their eyes, it was overshadowed almost entirely by disbelief.

After all, it was the first time the cold and indifferent Lightning Prince had ever come to visit his sister.

Soon, the High Judicar’s ward, Lina, burst through a door and hurried toward him.

”...Young Lord... the High Judicar will see you now.”

There was still a trace of disbelief in her voice. Zephyrion followed her to the lift and was taken to the highest floor. A moment later, he entered a spacious office.

Ingrid sat behind a desk buried beneath stacks of documents. Without looking up, she casually gestured toward the seat opposite her, scribbling across the paper.

Zephyrion didn’t move. ”There’s no need for that.” He said, then inclined his head slightly.

”Thank you for your help. It was invaluable.”

Ingrid froze.