Shadow Empire

Chapter 1037 The Quiet Replacement
Diego is preparing to flee. He has been planning this all along: leave Lapa, go into exile in the Republic of Jede, and then find an opportunity to leave Alan directly.

Not to the Federation.

He knew that once he reached the Union, he would have virtually no chance of survival. They didn't need a living exiled ruler, nor did they need this exiled ruler to form any exiled government.

All they needed was a head to appease the last remaining concerns of the people—his head, a human head.

So he won't go to the Federation; he's made up his mind to go to the Empire.

The situation in the Eastern Continent is not simple either. It has been two years since the domestic assessment, and it has not been completely eradicated.

Those rebels hid deep in the mountains and forests, and would occasionally jump out to attack nearby government offices or highways, and raid imperial government transport convoys, to show that they had not been wiped out.

The honeymoon period between the emperor and the nobles was gradually coming to an end, and a subtle atmosphere was brewing within the empire.

Going to the Empire at this time is not a good idea.

But he couldn't think of anywhere else to go besides the Empire.

He has already smuggled some of his property and collections to the Empire, where he has made arrangements to settle himself.

He has at least ten to twenty million federal sols in his collection of art, gold, and gems, which is enough for him to live very comfortably over there.

Moreover, he is the president of a country. Regardless of how backward or terrible the country is, he is still a president no matter how bad he is.

He could please His Majesty the Emperor, after all, when a president was desperate and sought refuge with him, it reflected Diego's trust and favor towards the Empire and the Emperor himself.

Now, it's time to leave.

He made one last attempt before leaving, but he knew he was powerless. He tried to use his army to fight and wipe out the rebels, but he also knew he couldn't do it.

Next, both sides' forces will be rapidly depleted on the battlefield, and once this wave of depletion is over, their demise will be imminent.

He had a deep feeling, and he knew very well that all of this was arranged by the Federals.

He and the leaders of those rebel and anti-government armed forces were just pawns on a chessboard.

Now, he's going to jump off the chessboard.

"I understand, sir..."

The butler nodded and then left.

Diego sat behind the table, smoking a cigar, with a glass of wine beside him.

He took a small sip, but the double pleasure brought by the alcohol and nicotine could not dispel his sorrow.

He stroked the table, then stood up and stroked everything around him—the bookshelves, the coffee table, even the plants in the flowerpots in the corner or anything else.

He had never found this place attractive to him before, and sometimes he even found it annoying because he always had to deal with work here that he didn't really like.

He prefers the freedom to relax and eat without constraints to working here.

But now, he feels an irreplaceable attachment to this place.

After a while, he returned to his chair, tilting his head to look at the sky outside, which was now completely bright. Once his remaining collection was delivered to the dock, he would board a boat and leave.

Over the years, as the supreme ruler of this country, he has not done nothing; he has also cultivated some forces unknown to others.

He thought he would never use these powers, not even in his lifetime, but unexpectedly, he eventually had no choice but to use them.

Fortunately, he still had a way out that no one knew about.

He has lost a lot of weight and is now easier to blend into the crowd. As long as he changes into ordinary clothes and manages to slip out of the presidential palace, those people will no longer be able to control him.

They could never have imagined that he, the president of Lapa, would run away right under their noses.

The butler in the exhibition room instructed the servants to pack up Diego's remaining artworks and then frame them with wooden frames for protection. These were indeed fine pieces, some from Alam and others from other places.

These are all items with historical value, significant research value, and economic value.

While the servants were packing the items, the butler went to a nearby lounge by himself.

Sometimes Diego would play with a piece of his collection here, and when he was done with it, he would have it returned. So the place was very quiet, and no one else would enter without permission.

There was a phone in the room. He hesitated for a moment, picked it up, and dialed a number.

"Diego is leaving; he's packing up the last of his collection..."

“He didn’t tell me where he was going. He doesn’t trust anyone except himself now, including me…”

"I know, I will... Okay, I understand."

The butler silently hung up the phone; it was a call he had made to Lance.

In fact, Lance had been trying to contact him since last year. At first, he refused, even though Lance contacted him privately and offered him many benefits.

He felt that... he was, after all, an elder of the Lavila family, and his interests were closely intertwined with those of the Lavila family.

But as the situation continued to deteriorate, Diego even began to become paranoid, sometimes staring at him with a look that made him feel somewhat afraid, or asking him some very difficult questions to answer.

He sensed that Diego was different from before.

Diego in the past was no smarter than he is now; he might have been a little dumber because he didn't need to use his brain back then.

At that time, Diego was still a bastard, a tyrant, and a dictator, but he was still quite good to the people around him.

But things are different now. With random probing happening all the time, Diego is like a deeply wounded person, starting to have some stress reactions. He even becomes suspicious of the people around him.

If the butler hadn't consistently performed in a way that satisfied Diego, he might have disappeared as well.

Living with a suspicious and tyrannical ruler, every day is a mad dash to the edge of danger.

Lance had been in contact with him, and after he couldn't stand Diego's current neurotic behavior, he agreed to talk to Lance in more detail.

Lance offered him many conditions he couldn't refuse, such as sending his children and grandchildren to live in the Federation and helping them obtain legal status there, as well as a substantial sum of money that they could squander.

Those antiques and collectibles that should have been transported to the Empire were actually transported to Lance's hands by him.

Strictly speaking, he is actually one of Lance's men, starting last year.

Now that Diego wants to run away, he's the first to object. If he really runs away, not only will Lance not get what he promised the butler, but it might also make Lance think that he did it all on purpose—

He created the illusion of defection to facilitate Diego's escape.

In that case, it might not just be him who dies, but also his family.

As the Lávila family's "household steward," he faced the same problem as the rest of the family: if Diego fell and the Lávila family's rule ended, he and his family would suffer terribly.

He didn't want the Lavila family to fall, but now Diego had become irritable and unreasonable, and it seemed that their demise was only a matter of time. He had to think about himself and his family.

Seeking refuge with Lance might be the only way for him and his family to survive in a world where all paths lead to certain death.

He put down the phone, his expression becoming calm.

He sat on the huge red sofa that had previously been reserved for Diego, and took a cigarette from the pack on the table and lit it.

In the quiet room, he smoked two cigarettes before his subordinate's voice came from outside the door, "The stuff is packed, sir."

"Sir" was how his subordinates addressed him, after all, he was the chief steward of the presidential palace and also Diego's chief steward, and his position was very extraordinary.

"Hmm..." He stood up, pushed open the door and walked out. When he saw the remaining maids who were cleaning in the room stop what they were doing and look at him, he looked at the two people standing by the door.

"You two stay with me, and everyone else can continue doing what they were doing."

The other servants bowed and lowered their heads to see the butler off before silently continuing with their own tasks.

After a while, there was a knock on the study door. Diego's somewhat scattered thoughts refocused, and he glanced in the direction of the door. "Come in!"

The door opened, and the butler walked in front, but behind him were two young men he didn't recognize.

A study is a relatively private place for anyone, and the higher the rank and status of a person, the more important the study becomes.

Even on a piece of paper they might scribble down, there could be information that could leak secrets, let alone the fact that they handle most of their work here.

Any leak of critical information can have a significant impact.

He wouldn't allow anyone to enter his study without Diego's permission, and the butler should know his habits well, after all, the butler had practically watched him grow up.

He frowned, looking at the butler with some displeasure.

Judging from their attire, they should be guards from the Presidential Palace, but he didn't seem to recognize them.

"You can't bring strangers in without my permission!" He hadn't gotten angry yet, but his tone already betrayed his hostility.

The butler still had that same humble and unassuming demeanor, but for some reason, Diego saw something on his face that he had always overlooked.

The butler remained humble as always, bowing his head and bending over as he said softly, "Sir, Mr. Lance says that you can't go anywhere, and you shouldn't go anywhere."

Diego froze, staring incredulously at the butler, his hand holding the cigar beginning to tremble.

The cigar ash that had accumulated to a certain length fell off because his hands were trembling.

"I don't know what you mean. What are you talking about?" His tone was tinged with shock and anger; he couldn't believe it was true.

The butler slowly straightened up, and only then did Diego notice that the butler was actually quite a bit taller than him.

But usually, the butler would bow his head and bend his back in front of him. Even when walking upright, he would usually walk behind him, out of his sight.

The butler was very tall, at least 1.75 meters, maybe even taller, much taller than Diego.

Sometimes people are like that; their observations only become detailed under certain circumstances and environments.

The butler walked to the other side of his desk with an air of nonchalance, as if he hadn't even noticed Diego had taken the grass. "You know what I'm talking about."

He looked down at Diego, which enraged Diego. Diego slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "You traitor!"

The butler stared at him for a while without saying anything, then said, "Take him to the attic upstairs and lock him up..."

Diego panicked, "Let me go, let me go!"

"I'll die if I stay!"

"Lance, and those rebels, they'll kill me!"

The butler simply looked him straight in the eye, just as he had before. "But after you leave, those people you're worried about will kill me."

Diego seemed to be making a final stand: "If you imprison me, the people outside will soon realize something's wrong!"

Two young men had come up behind him, lifted him off the chair, and carried him to the middle of the study.

With mixed feelings of excitement, the butler walked over and sat down in the chair that only Diego had ever sat in.

He placed his hands on the table. "You forgot, many times your signatures were actually signed by me on your behalf."

"As long as you're still here, nobody really cares whether you signed those documents or not."

"If there's a need, if it's necessary, then it will definitely be you who signs it!"

"Lock him up, I don't want to see him!"

Diego was imprisoned, and the butler quickly replaced his own people with those in important positions.

Those inside the presidential palace were not surprised by this, as Diego had been just as capricious as he had been for over a year.

One second he might think you're the person he trusts most, but the next second he might have you dragged out, simply because he suspects you might have betrayed him.

He has already done all of these things: constantly adjusting the work, constantly changing guards and bodyguards.

Therefore, no one felt anything was wrong with this replacement.

Some people in key positions are actually happy to have lost their current status and power.

At least, they no longer have to deal with the unpredictable Diego.

The government that Pedro, Ross, and many others longed to overthrow was overthrown and overthrown in just a short time.

But right now, this matter hasn't spread or been revealed, because it's not the right time yet.

(End of this chapter)