Stop Hypnotizing Me, Antagonist Princess!

"..."

Lynn certainly knew this wasn't everything, so he quietly awaited what was to come next.

"Of course, it is only a temporary exclusion." Councilman Blake coughed, "At the moment your suspicion has not been completely cleared, so after leaving the Punisher Prison, without special reasons, you are not permitted to leave Glostit. Your daily activities are also confined to the western area of Upper City, and every Sunday evening, you need to report back to the headquarters of the Punishers."

This condition was somewhat excessive, but it was still within Lynn's range of acceptance.

Perhaps the bigger ones were still to come.

With that thought, he silently waited.

After confirming that Lynn was aware of this condition, Councilman Blake flipped through his notebook a few pages, "Then there's the second point."

"After returning to the Imperial Capital, His Majesty entrusted the Punishers to the Third Prince, which I assume you already knew."

Lynn nodded silently, not speaking.

"And from what the council had received in reports, the Third Prince did not inquire into the specific affairs inside the Punishers, and instead, the entire organization was linked to your name."

"That is to say, currently you are the acting leader of the Punishers."

This was something Lynn was also well aware of.

It was not that Ivyst was shirking responsibility or setting him up, but he had not expected that these people would use this point as an angle for attack.

After all, he had just returned to the Imperial Capital two days ago, and normally there would be a process of receiving and settling in. It was indeed a bit too much of an excessive difficulty posed by the Imperial Council.

Of course, if it were just this, Lynn would actually have been able to accept it.

Without pausing, Councilman Blake continued, "As the leader of the Punishers, knowing about the limb connector cases, you not only did not promptly lead your subordinates in the Punishers to investigate, but you also had time to attend Princess Hillena's dinner party, even allowing the thirty-sixth case to occur, which caused an extremely adverse impact among the citizens."

"This is a serious dereliction of duty."

"The council is very angry, deciding to apply a minor punishment to you as a precautionary measure."

"Firstly, a fine of fifty thousand Gold Coins is imposed on Lynn Bartleion, with the funds being used to placate the families and descendants of those who died at the hands of the limb connectors; secondly, a sentence of three weeks of obligatory labor..."

As one punishment after another was voiced by Councilman Blake, Lynn's brows gradually furrowed.

Not because these punishments were excessively burdensome.

But because... not a single one hit the mark, even making him feel a bit baffled!

The Imperial Council had lost their minds to think that a fine of fifty thousand and some nonsense obligatory labor would have a bone-crushing impact on him.

This was too strange.

A moment later, as Councilman Blake slowly stated the last inconsequential punishment, it seemed the topic came to an end.

"...The above are the council's disciplinary actions against your misconduct this time. I hope that you will promptly take control of the Punishers and solve the case soon, fulfilling the expectations of His Majesty and the people."

The atmosphere immediately sank into silence.

After who knows how long, Lynn slowly raised his head, "Then? Besides these punishments, is there nothing else you want to tell me?"

He had thought as Tiya had said, that he would face difficulties imposed by the Imperial Council, being ordered to solve the case within three days.

He had not expected that the other party would never mention this matter.

At this moment, his expression was icy cold.

At this point, how could Lynn not guess what was really happening?

He glanced towards Ivyst Laurent Alexini, who was standing behind Councilman Blake, trying to get a response from her.

However, she only smiled lightly, appearing entirely unconcerned.

Lynn clenched his fists tightly, a shadow of darkness emerging in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the words of Councilman Blake reached his ears.

"Do you feel that, the leniency of the council's punishments, exceeds your expectations?" he gently closed the notebook in his hand and put it back into his pocket, "Yes, indeed it does."

"However, it's not that your deeds in Orn City were equal in merit and demerit; rather, someone paid the price for you."

"This price also includes the atrocities you committed against the Mosgla family in the Council Hall that night."

"Lynn Bartleion, this is the Imperial City of Grossting, not the frontier."

"Sometimes, one must learn humility."

With that, Councilman Blake finally revealed his first smile of the day.

At this moment, the fangs from the Cortes Family and the Imperial Council had finally shown themselves.

...

Lynn remained silent, bowing his head.

It seemed Ivyst didn't want to see Lynn struggle with this; she opened her mouth to speak, "You..."

However, before she could finish, Lynn's chilling gaze forced the words back down her throat.

Then, suppressing the emotions surging in his chest, he asked, "So, what's the price?"

Hearing this, Councilman Blake smiled slightly: "A commission."

"A commission… related to the Helius Mausoleum."
Stay tuned with My Virtual Library Empire

"Due to the unique nature of this mausoleum, some scholars suggest treating it as a whole like a High-Sequence Sealed Item for containment. As a result, after a unanimous vote by the Imperial Council, it was decided to entrust Princess Ivyst to address this matter."

"And Her Highness... agreed to this proposal yesterday."

As Councilman Blake's calm words slowly fell, Lynn felt as if the words "Helius Mausoleum" echoed continuously in his mind, his blood seemingly drop by drop losing its warmth.

At the same time, an electronic alert sound suddenly rang in his ears.

[S-level character "Ivyst Laurent Alexini"'s plot deviation has been reduced to 10.07%.]

...

After the questioning, everyone left the room.

Unexpectedly, the first to leave the interrogation room was Lynn, walking ahead of everyone else, head still bowed, his thoughts unknown.

Eleanor, following behind, felt a bit worried and subconsciously wanted to call out to him.

However, Ivyst stopped her.

Shaking her head, the Princess hurried to Lynn's side, and then gently took his warm palm.

"Today's the day you get out of prison, try to be a bit happier."

While scraping Lynn's palm with her pinky finger, Ivyst unusually took the initiative to comfort him.

Usually, it would be him who consoled her.

Because Ivyst knew that her actions might anger Lynn.

However, this action not only had no effect but even ignited the rage in his heart.

The next second, Lynn, disregarding the onlookers, tightly grasped Ivyst's slender, fair hand and swiftly walked towards a side corridor.

"Slow down... you're hurting me!"

Ivyst slightly frowned, raising her voice a bit.

Yet Lynn was oblivious to this.

Finally, when they reached a secluded spot, he could no longer suppress the emotions churning inside him, and with the hand holding Ivyst's, he forcefully pressed it against the wall.

At this moment, his eyes were filled with unprecedented gloom and anger.

"Ivyst... I'm very disappointed in you."

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