The Villainess Does it With Class.《BOOK 2》

chapter 296

"..."

"Then I'm leaving as well," he said, nodding at us before turning to leave.

"Bye, brother~" I called after him.

After the scene was cleared, the slightly awkward atmosphere lightened.

Bea suddenly snorted.

"That guy has not changed even a bit," she remarked.

The corner of my lips quivered as I tried to stifle my smile.

Indeed…

—----**

Hushed voices immediately ceased as the emperor entered the room. All of the people present stood up to greet him and until he took the topmost seat, they remained firm in their feet.

Mikhail gestured for them to sit down, and they did, with solemn faces. Two sides of the table separated two factions. Normally, the tension should be high between them but at this moment, these vassals do not have the usual attitude against one another. The tension is there, but for other reasons.

The prime minister, Marquis Leon, sat on His Majesty's left side while Prince Ezekiel took the right. After everyone settled down, Leon cleared his throat and started the meeting.

His eyes landed on every face on the table, "All of you must have read the report about the many disappearances that had occurred these past few weeks. And to the empire, this is alarming."

His clear voice was particularly loud due to the silence, hitting all the strings on each of everyone's hearts.

Nobody wanted to speak as they worriedly contemplated.

"Numerous people from villages and even the cities, mostly ladies from small families, had gone missing. And while everyone did their duty and informed the palace, some of you are not completely honest." Leon sharply glanced at four people in particular who flinched and paled under his pressure.

Duke Reichen rubbed his forehead, the lines in his face were obvious that day.

"The numbers from last week are already distressing. With no explanation and culprits in our hands, these missing people's cases would be unresolvable," Emperor Mikhail stated.

There was a hushed murmur to the table againWhat are we going to do about this, your majesty?" Duke Reichen echoed everyone else's unspoken question.

"No doubt, these are a case of human trafficking," Duke Vinea hinted.

"There are still such things in this day and age?" One of the counts cried out.

Another duke snorted in derision, "Why not? Slavery still exists somewhere. It would not be impossible that under the eyes of the empire, certain things are still being practiced," he insinuated.

"Preposterous!" A few voices loudly protested.

"Slavery and human trafficking had been abolished for decades now, who would do such illegal things and sully the honor of our great empire?"

There was another round of discordant voices that were getting louder as the argument continued. Half of the lords on the table took turns throwing their opinions until Leon cleared his throat.

"Watch your tones in front of His Majesty."

They all immediately shut their mouths.

"Your majesty, we have scoured our lands to look for clues and even their corpses cannot be found. What does this mean?"

Count Riviere rubbed his mustache in thought.

"It would be also impossible for them to escape from the borders because of the permits. So how is it that they are still nowhere to be found?"

Leon's face turned grim.

"That is not the worst of it…"

"There is still more?" Gasped the few.

Leon glanced at Ezekiel who was silently observing each and everyone from the get-go. His usual smile was gone, making him look somber.

"According to my investigation, these cases of disappearance are not recent. There are already reports of missing people for years now," he said.

"What?"

"How can that be?"

There are a few more concerning cries from the others that were drowned out. With Ezekiel's gesture, two attendants from the side stepped forward and dropped two stacks of documents on the table.

"These people right here have been gone for five years, while these are ten," he pointed to each of them respectively under the surprised gazes of everyone.

The emperor, who had been silent all this time, finally opened his mouth.

"I believe that this is not just a normal case of human trafficking."