Supreme Monarch

 At the Demon Lord's question, the Minister of internal affairs stood up from his seat despite not being asked to do so.

"Yes, your Grace. Though we're not too sure about the entirety of the report, about seven-tenths of those within the court believe this to be a ploy of the Great Five to hinder our relationship with the Darknar family. About a tenth of us believe that it was done solely by the Heartrail Family in collaboration with the Korver family. The rest of us believe this was simply the work of Numbers." 

 Keyrille remained silent for a moment, her expression remained the same as she let out a slightly frustrated sigh and spoke.

"Hmm, so you do believe our very own nobles are capable of doing such a thing."

 "No your Grace, I didn't mean to—"

 The words of the Elder were cut short by a simple wave from the Demon Lord as she contemplated his response.

"Your Grace, I believe that this was the manipulation of the Great Five to be much more likely than a pair of uninspired nobles being foolish enough to attempt a kidnapping of an envoy. If anything, they might've been mind controlled as the head of the Heartrail family is considered to be incredibly weak."

"Really? Mind control on our soil, that would not be possible, I believe the emissary is skilled enough to notice someone being mind controlled anywhere near her, stop thinking like a weakling."

The minister of war and defense asserted the impractical nature of the Minister of internal affairs assessment. His expression was of irritation by the other's intent of denying the obvious. 

"It can't be mind control, if anything, it's more likely we've been betrayed by the two families and this was their offering to cut off from the Floato region and become part of the neighboring regions."

"Are you saying that our investigations were inept?"

"I did not say that at all."

"But you implied it—"

"Minister of information, minister of war, please calm down. We do not have time for this."

The two lowered their heads upon hearing the Demon Lord speak.

The minister of war continued to speak to a now silent room.

"But, I have no doubt the Heartrail family were considering betraying us as they are the only family on the verge of collapse after suffering the most from their territory being in the forefront of the war and losing their most promising heir."

 Everyone here knows of the devastating results the last battle had incurred, most of the lower-ranked noble families had lost their heirs and promising soldiers in that battle and even the Demon Lord had lost her firstborn. 

 However, to most of the nobles present here, that was definitely not enough reason to betray the Jaxith family and the most likely explanation for this was the presence of the secret organization called Numbers. 

Everything made sense once they considered the presence of such an unknown variable in the equation, perhaps they had been blackmailed using one means or another. 

"Reynald, though not much time has passed, how much progress have you made on your investigations?" 

Keyrille chose to ignore the murmurs in the room and turned to the seat next to hers and asked:

"Well mother, after going through what was left of the Heartrail mansions, we did not find anything that led us to believe they were being mind controlled or blackmailed."

The courtiers all had expressions of disbelief on their faces as they stared at him, but Reynald ignored their expressions and continued. 

"...Well, the existence of the underground structure connected to the tunnels proves they have been in collaboration with the secret organization known as Numbers for years now. We believe they may have been the ones to aid the organization in setting up their operation in our city." 

 As Reynald spoke, the holographic image in the center of the table constantly changed to reflect his words, displaying any images to represent his report. 

"Is that so? What makes you believe that's the case, isn't it possible that that structure was already existing underneath their estate?"

"The underground structure has been confirmed to only be a decade old and the presence of slaves in the cells shows their dealing with Numbers as we've confirmed the Dark Order does not deal in slave trades."

The courtiers began to speak. "All that just for some slaves, that doesn't sound right.", "Is the Heartrail family even capable of such a thing?", "This is not adding up.", "Sounds more like the Great Fives Ploy to me." "I'm not sure they have the financial capabilities to do all that, much less back the ventures of a secret organization."

In the midst of this, the one to speak up and silenced the noise was a female Elder, who appeared to be pretty miffed.

"Your Grace, this is ridiculous. I fail to see why a noble will associate with a criminal organization for mere slaves. This has got to be the manipulation of the Great Five or even the Darknar family themselves, for all we know, they could've planned this to intimidate us into becoming their vassals."

 The air reverberated with resounding gasps.

"I concur. We know nothing about this new Darknar family, who is to say they aren't the type that to nonchalantly use grand spells like Domination on a national level? For example — was that Viscount being controlled using [Dominate]? Or perhaps some mental cues were placed ahead of time."

The phrase "I see" could be heard throughout the room. Reynald couldn't help but feel regret for leaking that particular piece of information after hearing the accusations the Elders made in the second half of rhetoric.

"I'm afraid I'll have to disagree, the Darknar family has only just been founded a few weeks ago while the Heartrail family has been in Kahoot with Numbers for almost a decade now. If anything, the Viscount was guilty of multiple crimes already besides this one."

Reynald had no intention of backing off now, he could no longer turn a blind eye to the Elder's gross negligence while their family was currently on the brink of extinction. 

 The Elders' expressions changed at Reynalds words as they began to voice their objection when a single voice silenced them. 

"Very well. Summon the Earl of the Korver house. Investigate his connection in all this and find anyone connected to Numbers and arrest them."

 Hearing the Demon Lord's orders, Reynald thought it was a bit naive. They did not have the resources or time for a proper investigation and they needed to deal with the biggest issues on the ground as quickly as possible. 

 "Your Grace. Even if we find a connection between the Earl and the Viscount, we've already allowed an emissary from a Great Family to be kidnapped under our noses. I'm afraid even offering the head of the Earl isn't enough to appease them."

"What are you talking about?"

 "I am simply calling light to the reason why we had called the meeting in the first place. We need to agree on how to deal with the emissary." 

 "So what is your suggestion? Or do you plan on passing judgment on the Earl without gathering all the necessary information? Is that how the heir to the throne should act?"

Reynald licked his lips and replied,

"My answer remains the same regardless of what anyone may say. I believe that we must avoid angering the Darknar family even more. They are a wildcard that cannot be predicted so I believe treading on the side of caution would be best."

 Reynald did not permit any interjection as he spoke to his mother directly. 

"I understand your worries. However, we cannot lose sight of our way and must follow the necessary process. We do not conform to the rules of any that is not the Demon King."

 Reynald was stumped. This was the same roadblock he had encountered multiple times now whenever he would bring up topics like this, no matter what he says his mother simply refuses to see the bigger picture.

 He was once again on the verge of giving up when,

"...Your Grace. Your servant supports the young Prince's proposal too."

The one to agree with him was the head of foreign affairs, but he was about to add to Reynald's proposal,

"Your Grace, your servant understands your desire to protect all who fall under the rule of the Jaxith family, but we no longer have the strength and resources to accomplish such a task anymore. So if power is all we need, why don't we just — become a vassal family of the Darknar family? A proper negotiation might even grant us the status of, a branch family."

 Almost immediately, the entire room broke into chaos with many spewing words of insults and profanities at the minister. This was the usual resistance whenever the talks of vassalage came up. 

Faced with a suggestion that had branded the suggester a traitor, his mother gradually let out a smile.

"That, I'm sorry, that will be difficult. That would be akin to betraying the loyalty of generations of people who had served so brilliantly under the Demon King. It would go against a millennial of servitude. I apologize to you, Marquis. Thank you for your suggestion."

"Your servant did not deserve that apology."

Reynald saw that they were communicating on a deeper level through their gazes and felt a sense of newfound admiration for his mother despite not agreeing with her answer. 

 Plus the fact that she had been able to answer his question without dismissing his suggestion was a sign of a true leader and a loyal subject. Would he be able to have courtiers who were as loyal as the Marquess?

 He did not think so, after all, he had failed to protect the only noble that was loyal to him so how could he expect so much? Reynald shook his head to dismiss such a depressing thought from his mind. If his mother was still against the idea of vassalage, he needed to come up with a way to appease the diplomatic Leader. 

For now, it was a necessity for them to pin all responsibilities on that Earl. Although his role in this was yet to be confirmed, given that the emissary had gone missing in his estate, to begin with, was a sign of negligence and weaknesses. 

 Even if he had nothing to do with it, as an Earl of the Floato Region, he held a responsibility to ensure the safety of his guests and should be held accountable for any such mishaps. 

However, Reynald couldn't think of a way to pin all responsibilities on him. If he allowed the investigation to go on and it was discovered that the Earl was innocent, he was sure his mother would not allow him to be made a scapegoat. 

'Damn, why did she have to be so stubborn in times like this.'

 Reynald couldn't think of the perfect solution to their current predicament, he was sure if it was his sister, she would've been able to come up with the perfect argument to convince their mother but unfortunately, she was not qualified to be present in court meetings.

Reynald cursed in his heart. What was the best way to handle this to achieve the outcome he desired?

At that moment, the sound of aggressive door knocks could be heard.

Reynald gulped. 

 To interrupt such a meeting of the most powerful and influential demons in this region especially after the guards had been explicitly warned not to disturb them, only meant one thing. 

 The information was incredibly urgent and urgent generally meant bad news.

Reynald, as their representative, gave his approval to let them in. A knight hurriedly entered the room, just as he had expected.

"The General of Lightning, Lady Rain Darknar, has requested an audience with Your Grace!"

 The term requested was being used rather loosely here as they had tried to get an audience with her for days now but she had declined and was now demanding one by coming straight here instead of sending a message. 

 Perhaps she has needed to communicate the situation with her Demon Lord and has now received his decision. This meant, whatever she was to say to them now, came directly from the Demon Lord of the Darknar family himself. 

"Grant her an audience. Prepare the throne room for an appropriate reception immediately."

"Yes, your Grace!"

The knight left the room upon hearing his mother's orders.

"Everyone, I apologize but can you all switch to more formal attire and gather in the throne room?"

Upon hearing their Ruler's request, the courtiers including Reynald, lowered their heads.

 "Yes, your Grace!"