766 Still Alive?
While Eliza's and her henchmen were preparing to invade Baymard's prison, yet another person was thinking of Baymard too.
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--The Capital City, The Empire Of Yodan--
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Maclaine sat in his office and quickly went over a few documents here and there.
Since Sirius had gone out on official business, he, as Yodan's King-father, had to overlook some things until King Sirius was back.
'Knock! Knock! Knock!'
"King-father, It is I, Randolf."
Maclaine dropped his pen and looked at the iron door.
Soon, a young knight rushed towards him with several newspapers in his hands.
Maclaine looked at them and smiled.
Once a week, he would buy several stacks of newspapers for himself because they truly fascinated him.
Merchants sold Baymardian newspapers which had both local and international news on it too, with tiny pictures here and there throughout the 40-page newspapers.
It was truly a wonder and a treasure to those in power because the news they got from here was powerful.
It wasn't just Maclaine who bought them, as several nobles in Yodan and other empires focused their attention there too.
Yes!
These newspapers reported old news of several months ago.
But so what?
These newspapers were godly artifacts to many.
In truth, some of the news was new to them... especially Maclaine.
He learnt about things that happened in all the empires, not just Yodan.
And what truly surprised him was that these Baymardians reported murder, rape and other cases.
Reportedly telling the civilians and peasants to stay away from these criminals if they ever saw them.
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The newspapers hardly reported any nobles, as it focused on psychopaths who were only out to slaughter their way through villages and towns for fear of getting caught.
Of course, some civilians who saw this news quickly spread the word and paid attention to how these criminals looked.
No matter where these serial killers went, many now knew their faces.
There was also news about some Temple of Adonis in an entirely different continent which made Maclaine's eyeballs almost fall out.
There was even a picture of the temple's leader, as well as a detailed list of their beliefs and crimes.
Of course, the newspaper had strongly opposed their beliefs, making everyone also believe that this temple was ridiculous as well.
Again, there was a section talking about how people with disabilities got cured.
The newspaper went all in, convincing people to stop being so wicked to the sick.
For sure, product advertisements were there too, which made many want to buy these goods too.
Again there was more in health, safety, job listings, new policies and so on.
What made Maclaine in awe was how these Baymardian newspapers knew that some villages and towns here in his own empire had been slaughtered by bandits, cultists and whatnot.
What was even more shocking was that these Baymardians reported murder cases
At first, he didn't believe them.
But every time he sent people to verify these claims, the results were astonishing.
Did these Baymardians have spies in every city, town and village within the Pyno continent?
That was just impossible!
Even a ruler, would it be able to do that because there were hundreds of thousands of them in just one empire.
That's why sometimes, they didn't even know what areas were suffering within their empires... talk less about knowing the situation within other empires.
So the thought of these Baymardians having so many spies was outrageous.
And even if they did, how was the news relayed back this fast?
The whole thing left Maclaine very confused and intrigued about Baymard.
It was just that he had never been there before because of this busy schedule.
Of course, he knew he would go there.
But not now.
All in all, everyone quickly took the sayings in the newspapers as if they were the Gospel... especially those who had investigated these events.
They could only bow to Baymard at this point for its quick Info skills.
Even their empires couldn't get this much information in such a short period.
And the key is that no newspaper is the same.
Some might give updates on a particular situation.
But none were the same.
That alone meant that their intelligence collecting group was frightening!
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"King-Father, the royal merchant sent 4 newspapers today."
"Great!
Give them to me."
Maclaine held his babies delicately while pushing his reports away.
"You may go now."
"Yes, King-Father."
The knight bowed and walked away.
'Bam!'
The moment the door closed, Maclaine hastily
Maclaine took out his scissors and snipped the strings holding all 4 newspapers together.
As usual, he had to pick up the best amongst them and read that one before going to the next.
So with that in mind, he took the first one, briefly flipped through the titles and picked the next newspaper again.
He did so until he reached the last one.
And on the 3rd page, his fingers paused.
He looked at the figure in the picture and stood up in shock.
'Bubuum! Bubuum!'
Maclaine gripped his heart painfully.
His tyrannical heartbeat somehow echoed in his ears, as regret swelled up inside of him.
He caressed the picture and sighed.
Would she forgive him?
Maclaine looked out the window seemingly lost in thought.
As for the woman in the picture, she was none other than Mother Winnie, his ex-wife who he drove away years back.
He also disowned her children too, and all this time, he had never bothered about where they were.
So seeing her brought a wave of memories that he wished he never remembered.
She has driven away because several people claimed to have seen her with a man in her courtyard.
Again, there was incriminating evidence that proved her guilty.
And when she was questioned, she neither begged nor cried.
She just stood there saying things like: 'believe what you want to believe'.
The damn woman didn't even bother to deny or confirm anything.
Which only infuriated him more and more.
Also, if he still kept her as his wife, then he would be a laughing stock amongst his people.
How can a king such as himself wear a green hat?
No way!
That's why he broke off their marriage.
It was only after a year and a half that he knew she was innocent.
Sirius personally came to the Capital, investigated and confirmed that she was indeed innocent.
But the real culprit who caused everything was still unknown to him. (Of course, Sirius didn't tell him that it was his 1st wife, queen Ivy).
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Maclaine was very regretful over what he had done.
But he quickly got over it.
After all, he had 6 wives who gave him 24 children.
So why should he be too hung up on it?
Amongst his children, he only cared about his first 5 sons and his first 5 daughters too
And the children he had disowned were the 9th and 17th child who he spoke to at most 5 times since their birth.
They weren't competing for the throne, and they weren't engaged to other princes from other empires or major nobles.
So what use was it for him to know so many children?
He was a very busy man and had no time for them.
So he focused on the first 5 princes and princesses.
With 24 children in total, he didn't even know some of their names.
Such is the life of a harem ruler.
Seeing mother Winnie's picture made him nostalgic.
It seems that she was doing quite well in Baymard.
Maclaine gripped the newspaper and decided to take a trip there as soon as possible.
At first, he thought he could wait before visiting.
But after reading about Winnie, he decided to go.
Of course, Maclaine wasn't the only one who was shocked.
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--somewhere in Maclaine's estate--
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'Crash!'
"How is this b**ch still alive?
Gather some head and send them over right away.
I want her dead!"
"Yes, mistress!"
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--in another corner in Maclaine's estate--
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"Hahahahhahahahahahah!
Wretch!
So this was your plan all along.
You've been gathering forces in the dark in attempts to deal with me right?
Not a chance!
I will never give you a chance to seek revenge.
Pollo!
You know what to do."
"Yes, mistress.
It shall be done."
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--Another corner in the same estate--
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"Why are the heaven's so unfair?
Why is she living better than I am?
No!
If I'm in this hell then she too has to join me as well.
I want her dead.
Dead! Dead! Dead!
You all have to kill her for me.
Go now!"
"Yes, mistress."
"_"
A storm was once again gearing towards Baymard.
And just like that, several days went by in a flash.
Landon smiled calmly before warping out of his office.
Now, it was time for his mission to officially begin.
