"The situation this year remains grim. Since the Grand Duchess was assassinated, a violent storm has swept through the capital of Oxiulia, and unfortunately, it's us, the ordinary folks, who suffer the most."

"I really can't understand what the assassin was after. The Grand Duchess of Oxiulia was always known for her bold and righteous manner, and it's not like she had any known enemies."

"These are minor matters. Ultimately, it's because the Underwater Abyss Port was sealed. The economies of several countries, led by Oxiulia, are inevitably collapsing."

"That's what I'm saying, why can't they call on some Demigods to defeat the Society?"

"Easy for you to say—you think the current large Societies are still just five or six as before? Since losing contact with Layer Abyss, they've at least doubled! Not only that, they've even seen the emergence of so-called extra-large Societies called... Reidori, which is so big that even in our Border Abyss, it's considered a colossal entity."

"Sigh, bad luck this year. Oxiulia has ended up this way; in the past, we could go to the Layer Abyss for work, but now we can only go up the mountains for farming."

"Count your blessings, at least the Society hasn't extended its claws over here yet..."

Drip!

Lady Moxiu Bosiwal Merton gently closed the car window, turned, and smiled slightly at Doctor Jin Jielie, saying:

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Doctor Jin Jielie."

"No, it's nothing, these are just rumors."

Doctor Jin Jielie quickly responded:

"The Duke's assassination is bound to bring some turmoil, and as the sole guardian of the Crown Prince, you naturally have the duty and authority to manage this country well."

"Grand Duchess Obyliana—who was also my sister—was attacked by unidentified assailants, leaving behind only the child in her womb. The entire economy of Oxiulia was already declining, and I must employ some drastic measures to find the criminal. Otherwise, Society may remain in long-term turmoil."

After Lady Merton finished speaking, she changed the subject:

"However, that was merely diplomatic talk. Doctor Jin, you were my late sister's most trusted physician. During her pregnancy, did you find anything unusual?"

"From the autopsy results, there were traces suggesting the Duke was possibly poisoned before her death, but perhaps due to her robust health or the child in her womb, the toxins seemingly did not cause any damage."

Doctor Jin Jielie said:

"But more likely, the target might have been the child in her womb—the Crown Prince, Your Highness."

"Really? It seems their intentions were clear; they wanted to cause Obyliana to miscarry. The plan failed, so they resorted to silencing her."

Lady Merton pondered for a moment and said:

"Loss of Power Without Heir."

Influenced by the Four Great Narrative Consortium, a small country like Oxiulia, with its population of less than three million, is not recognized as a major power. To manage these small countries, the 'Crimson Blood Alliance' began to promote this principle.

The so-called loss of power without an heir means that in Border Abyss, any prince without a direct heir to the throne is directly incorporated under the dominion of the Narrative Civilization, prohibiting a prince from choosing an heir in the absence of an heir.

For the Narrative Civilization in Border Abyss, the population is always more important than the land. However, the methods of the Alliance are unlike ordinary narrative civilizations that quickly establish an Inherent Time Domain to assimilate all territories into one spacetime.

On the contrary, they use very intricate vassal systems to transform former independent Kingdoms and Duchies into individual autonomous regions, gradually assimilating them by applying cultural influence.

In this light, the Alliance is the most likely to act, which also makes it the least likely to commit the assassination of the Duke.

This approach maintains the Alliance's influence over other civilizations without requiring them to exhaust their resources in trying to establish an inherent time domain.

"...The Narrative Civilization isn't foolish; they wouldn't carry out such an obvious act—besides, if they truly wanted the land of Oxiulia, they could easily send a Demigod over. There would be no need to hide, committing murder and arson, blatantly revealing themselves."

Lady Merton lightly held her forehead:

"Even though there is a suspect, it's not very reliable... Is there any other useful information?"

"There's one thing that's quite puzzling."

Doctor Jin Jielie said:

"According to past examinations, the Grand Duchess was supposed to be carrying twins, but at the scene, only one Crown Prince was found..."

"Is that so?" Lady Merton was taken aback, "Why am I only hearing this now?"

"I only recently became aware of it because there was just one Crown Prince left, so I subconsciously assumed the other had already..."

"Hmm, I understand. Indeed, I can't blame you for this."

Lady Merton gently rubbed her nose, thought for a moment, and asked:

"Does anyone else know about this?"

"I've already destroyed the relevant materials," Doctor Jin Jielie said promptly. "You can rest assured, ma'am; aside from you and me, no one will know about the Second Prince."

"Very good, as expected of the physician my sister trusted."

Lady Merton gave Doctor Jin Jielie an appreciative look:

"Right now, I have not yet fully stabilized the political situation, and the environment in Oxiulia is utterly chaotic. At this moment, if someone leaks information about another Crown Prince, regardless of the circumstances, we cannot afford it."

"That may be the case, but ma'am..." Doctor Jin Jielie hesitated to speak further.

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