Cloud Thinking

Chapter 241 Meeting

The meeting was held on the fifth floor of the main building. The entire floor was a conference hall, with participants arranged in three circles inside and outside the hall.

The closer you are to the inner circle, the higher your status and the more say you have, while people in the outer circle are more likely to just be quiet listeners.

Judith's family status is obviously higher, and he was arranged to be in the inner circle, the youngest in the inner circle.

As his personal bodyguard, Mi Rang was supposed to go in with him, but he was stopped at the door and was told that the content of the meeting was top secret and he was not qualified to attend.

Of course he couldn't stand his temper at all, but Judith gave him a look and he angrily admitted it.

"Since you won't let me go in to protect him, then at least let him carry a wand. Who knows what you are meeting for? If something happens to my young master, you won't be able to bear the consequences!" Mi Rang shouted.

All participants were required to surrender their weapons before entering, and Judith was no exception, but this rule was obviously aimed at those guys in the outer circle to prevent them from causing trouble.

How could a truly powerful guy allow himself to be exposed to danger?

The guards exchanged glances with each other, and after confirming that Judith was a participant in the inner circle, they acquiesced to Mi Rang's action of handing the wand to Judith, and allowed him to enter the conference hall with the weapon.

Alfie was sitting opposite Judith, and when he saw him sit down, he just smiled at him from a distance.

At this moment, Judith suddenly remembered Alfie's previous courtesy, and finally hinted that they could go upstairs to rest. Soon after, Helia broke into Donaldson's room...

Connecting all these things together, Judith immediately guessed her relationship with Alfie. He didn't expect that Alfie was also on Helia's side. No wonder Helia knew the location and time of the meeting.

He curled his lips into a smile, and stroked the wand in his pocket with his hand.

At this moment, everyone took off their masks. After all, those who could attend the meeting were more or less important figures in the family and had some reputation outside. They knew each other, so there was no point in hiding any more.

The person who chaired this meeting was the current head of the Molabi family - Rodan Molabi. He looked to be nearly 70 or 80 years old. The flesh on his face was sagging, and his sparse gray hair could not hide his wrinkled head. His hunched body and the limp he walked with were the perfect embodiment of the word "senile".

Even so, he still sat firmly in the chair of the head of the family, and even said that his sons did not live to see him die, and passed away first.

It can be seen that he is an old man with extraordinary means.

He was helped to sit on the obviously more luxurious high chair at the inner circle of the round table. His eagle-like eyes quickly swept over everyone present, and his drooping mouth made him look particularly serious and sinister.

It was not known whether it was an illusion or not, but Judith felt that Roden's gaze paused at her for a moment. Although he was somewhat worried in his heart, he did not show it on his face.

"I think everyone knows why we are gathered here." Roden spoke, his voice hoarse and unclear, because he had only a few teeth left in his mouth.

"My grandnephew Dorado was publicly executed by the princess of the empire, and we were also accused of the unwarranted crime of assassinating the royal family. His Majesty Claude's punishment also made their attitude clear."

"The royal family no longer intends to maintain peaceful and friendly relations with the Magic Association and us."

"It's time for us to prepare for war or peace, and what to do."

After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Alfie. Among the people present, he had the highest status in the Magic Association. In a sense, his presence this time also represented the wishes of the Magic Association.

Alfie told the truth as he knew it: "Grand Senator Agres went to see His Majesty Claude, but the talks failed. After he came back, he got angry and smashed a lot of things, including the treasures that Claude had given him before."

"It looks like their relationship is bad, but who knows if it's just for show?"

The middle-aged man sitting next to Alfie said after listening, "Now that everything is stable both inside and outside, and he has a daughter who is a gifted magician, it is understandable that Claude wants to take action against the association."

"After all, this thorn has always been in his heart. Don't forget that he was once a magician, and his talent is no less than Madeline's."

"So what should we do now? Start with Helia?" someone else asked.

Some people supported it. After all, this matter was originally instigated by Helia. Even if Claude might have hinted at it, since she dared to do it, she should be prepared to be made a target.

Some people were against it, thinking that given Claude's love for Helia, if they really harmed Helia, the emperor's wrath would be something that not everyone could bear. They wouldn't gain any benefit from it, so why bother doing such a loss-making business?

After several rounds of arguments, Roden suddenly looked at Judith. The cold gaze made him feel uncomfortable. "Judith, what do you think?"

His voice was not loud, but the people who had been arguing suddenly became strangely quiet and turned their eyes to Judith.

Whether it was a deliberate test or something else, he now put on the attitude of an elder and pretended to be concerned, "If I remember correctly, you and Her Highness Helia were classmates at Carter's College before. Based on your understanding of her, what do you think we should do next?"

Judith lowered her eyes to avoid his gaze, pretending to be in deep thought. After a moment, she replied, "I think we need to first determine the attitude of the Magic Association."

"The power of the noble families is too dispersed, and we are only united because of our own interests. There is no guarantee that there will not be traitors among us."

"If the Magic Association stands with us, we can let them take the lead and find out the intentions and strength of the royal family. We can also use the association to unite as one and face the outside world together."

"These are just some of my humble opinions. Sorry for making fun of me."

Roden smiled and clapped his hands. The wrinkles on his face were slightly smoothed out by his smile. He looked as if he was pleased with the younger generation, but the coldness in his eyes had not dissipated at all, making it difficult to guess what he was thinking.

"I think what you said makes sense. We really need to confirm the attitude of the Magic Association, lest the knife we ​​have raised is pointed at ourselves in the end," he said.

"Not really. The association is now basically staffed by people from aristocratic families. Without the support of the aristocratic families, it will probably be destroyed in no time. Why should we be so afraid?" Some people disagreed with Judith's idea and refuted.

"It's true that everyone in the association is from aristocratic families." Alfie took over his words, "But who says that these people are necessarily loyal to the aristocratic families?"

It was really strange for him to say this, he himself was a chess piece planted by the noble family in the association. Now he said so bluntly that the people of the noble family in the association betrayed the noble family, so everyone would inevitably suspect him.

What about himself? Has he betrayed? And whose side is he standing on when he says these words?

"So what do you mean?" Roden asked.

Alfie sighed, somewhat helplessly and speechlessly, "What I mean is, there is no need to keep staring at Agles. Although he is a great elder, can he really control the entire association by himself?"

"There are many forces within the association. People's hearts are hidden. Who knows what others are thinking? As long as the benefits are big enough, what can't be betrayed?"

"Even if we find out Aguiles' attitude, he alone cannot represent the association. Even if he stands with us against the royal family, won't his subordinates stab us in the back?"

"Then we will just ignore the Magic Association?" someone said.

"It's a mess, just drink it while it's hot, why bother with anything else?" Alfie sneered.

"You are the pawns in your own hands. Don't you know that the internal forces of the association are checks and balances. No matter which party takes action, it will always hurt the interests of the other party."

"Don't let the enemy remain undefeated and we end up fighting among ourselves to the death. That would be a joke."

This is true. Although the noble families seem united on the surface, they all have their own interests. Who dares to say that their family has not tried to expand its influence within the association for the sake of profit? Who dares to say that they have not taken advantage of the association's cover to take action against other families?

It is simply impossible to expect the association to completely obey the Yu family. Everyone has selfish desires. Who doesn't want to be the leader?

The aristocratic families themselves couldn't figure out what was going on, let alone the Unified Association.

At this point, half an hour had passed, but the group of people still hadn't come to a conclusion. At this rate, they might not be able to come to any conclusion the entire night.

"Okay, stop arguing and don't forget why we are gathered here." Roden spoke at the right time to stop the verbal fight that was about to begin.

"Alfie has a point, but Judith is also right. The issue of the Magic Association's position cannot be resolved in a short time, so let's not discuss it for now."

"Now, let's talk about Helia killing Dorado."

"We must fight back. There's no reason to let the Royal Family trample on us and then have to accept it with a smile on our face. Our retreat will only make the enemy more aggressive."

"But there are also some rules for how to fight back. If we can cause chaos in the royal family and make Claude lose interest in us, we might be able to take advantage of the situation and make a move."

"Helia is now an open target. If we touch her, it means that the wizarding world will confront the royal family. We won't gain much from it."

"But if I remember correctly, the royal family now has a princess and a prince. The prince is young and can't be of much use for the time being, but the Hoffman family behind him is very ambitious."

"As for Princess Starley, she is about the same age as Helia. Although she is the elder sister, she has always been suppressed by Helia, right?"

"And Claude's attitude towards her can only be described as average. It doesn't seem like he cherishes her that much. But Helia really cherishes her as a sister and loves her very much."

"If we can get Stella to turn against us, she will become a sharp blade stabbing the royal family..."

Others began to discuss in low voices, analyzing the feasibility of Roden's plan, but after a while, most people expressed their support.

Judith felt the slightly warm wand in her hand and sighed inconspicuously.

He was not stupid. He had no relationship with the Murabi family at all and their contacts were very rare. Now Roden paid special attention to him, which clearly showed that he knew Helia was by his side.

He said this now, probably to anger Helia and force her to show up.

……

The Imperial Palace, the Executive Hall—

"You want to go to Abraham College to study magic?" Claude raised his eyes to look at Stella who was standing not far away, and looked her up and down with a not-so-gentle gaze, as if she was not a person, but a commodity to be appraised.

Starley nodded and said firmly, "Your Majesty, I have asked someone to test it in advance, and it turns out that I am a water magician."

"The relationship between the magic world and the royal family is not good right now. I will be used as a target and a pawn to enter Abraham College and investigate the manipulations of the Magic Association and the noble families. This will also provide you with some reasonable reasons to take action against them later."

Of course, Starley knew that Helia had committed the assassination in public and was put in solitary confinement. Although she was very worried about Helia, she knew that Helia must have her own reasons for doing so.

Moreover, taking advantage of this opportunity, she also thought of reasons that could convince Claude. Opportunities are rare and will never come back again. She didn't want to wait any longer.

Because of what Starley said, Claude had to re-evaluate this imperial princess who showed up unexpectedly. Admittedly, he didn't have much affection for Starley, but he kept her only because of past promises and Helia's request.

Moreover, his original plan was to let Stella replace Helia as the object of the imperial marriage, allowing her to enjoy the glory and wealth in the royal family for a period of time, and then send her away.

But now Stari said that she also wanted to learn magic and enter Abraham College to work for him, which was a bit beyond his expectations.

Was it Helia's order? To save Stella from being sent to marry?

If so, they think too highly of themselves.

"The empire already has a very talented magician princess. I don't think we need another one." Claude rejected Stella's request.

However, what Starley said did make him a little excited. Now Helia took the initiative to provoke conflicts with the Magic Association and the magic families, and Abraham College was not completely submissive to his sword. If a war really broke out, Eric's Magic Knights and the magicians under his command would be unable to resist.

But he originally wanted to let Helia do this. Since she chose to become a magician, she must shoulder this responsibility.

However, Helia is now busy dealing with the affairs of the Knights Templar, and she also has her own plans. She cannot spare the time to deal with these matters in a short period of time, so she can only put them off again and again.

But Claude is not impatient. He is still young and has the energy to protect Helia and Eric and the empire from the storm before they grow up completely.