Chapter 1267: Chapter 1267

"In that case, this mountain could serve as a very secluded base, couldn't it?"

Jenkins pondered for a moment before the model of the ice palace he kept in his bedroom came to mind. An idea suddenly struck him. He asked Alexia to wait, then spent twenty minutes flying back to Dolores's estate and returning. With a face alight with excitement, he cradled the palace model as they soared into the sky together.

Several flashes of sword light sliced through the air, shearing off the top half of the towering peak and leaving behind a vast, semicircular platform. Alexia flicked her fingers, sending waves of blue light sweeping across the surface, polishing it to a perfect smoothness.

He channeled the spirit from his body into the palace, which began to shimmer with an icy blue light.

With a gentle push, Jenkins tossed the palace toward the platform below. It descended smoothly, growing larger and larger as it fell.

As the palace landed on the platform with a deep rumble, its main spire, glittering in the sunset, rose to nearly the same height as the remaining half of the mountain peak.

But it wasn't over. Once it had settled completely, the palace began to radiate its influence outward. An ice staircase materialized, clinging to the mountainside as it extended from the grand plaza down to the tunnel entrance at the base.

On one side of the main tower, a thick slab of ice extended from a fourth-floor terrace like a landing platform, and it was there that Jenkins and Alexia touched down.

A joyful cry echoed from the unicorn.

Jenkins tapped his forehead. With a sweep of his right hand, four chess pieces forged from Sin Coins materialized before him. He waved his hand again, and the four pieces dropped onto the ice. A flash of blue light later, a swordsman, a knight, an astrologer, and a cleric appeared, bowing their heads and kneeling before Jenkins.

"What do you think of this place, Alexia?"

he asked excitedly. He could feel that simply standing in the palace enhanced his own power over ice. Acting on impulse, he gave a casual wave of his hand. Snow from the mountain peak swirled toward them as if caught in a whirlwind, dancing in the air before finally solidifying into a banner on the side of the platform. Emblazoned upon it was the Williams family crest—the very coat of arms Jenkins had received upon his enfeoffment.

"It's quite impressive."

Alexia gazed at the translucent ice beneath her feet, as if examining the palace's very composition. After a moment's thought, she lifted the hem of her dress and stomped her foot sharply. A deep blue light instantly shot across the surface, momentarily illuminating the entire structure. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novｅlfire.net

"I've examined its structure. The interior space seems even larger than its external dimensions would suggest. This is certainly a fine location. What do you intend to use it for?"

He started to answer excitedly, but trailed off mid-sentence, realizing he didn't actually know. His only goal had been to find a suitable place for the palace. Now that he had, he was at a loss for what to do with it.

"Maybe... it could serve as a storeroom for Dolores? It's not exactly close to the city of Ruen, but a carriage could probably make the journey..."

"This place has far more strategic value than a simple storeroom."

the petite woman chided, and Jenkins understood immediately.

"Oh, you're right! Not only do we have hundreds of snowmen for servants, but we also have the four ice pieces as guards. And since we have a direct line of sight to Ruen, if anything else goes wrong in the city, we can launch a long-range assault from right here! We could blow up the entire city, and no one would be able to touch us! So... should we go get some steam cannons?"

"Oh, Jenkins, what on earth are you thinking?"

Alexia pressed a hand to her forehead. She had a better idea.

In any case, the castle had now found its home. Although only Jenkins could control it and the servants within, and only he could shrink it back into a model, Alexia asserted that as long as this fortress existed, Dolores was essentially invincible.

She had hoped Jenkins might give them a tour of the palace that evening, but he had to attend the Corpse Gentleman's gathering on Tuesday night, so that would have to wait.

Upon returning to the estate, they ran into Dolores, who had just arrived herself. The three of them had dinner together before Jenkins departed for Nolan. Once he was gone, the princess furtively produced several sheets of paper and handed them to Alexia.

"Tutor, your guess was correct. I looked into Jen..."

She decided to change how she addressed him, dropping the formal "Mr. Williams."

"I looked into the ancestral home Jenkins mentioned—the one his father came from before moving to Nolan. I found people who still remembered the family, and I discovered that his great-grandfather was indeed an illegitimate son of the royal family. Tutor, doesn't that mean that once the Queen of the Fidektri Kingdom passes away, the Williams family, as the sole heirs to the royal bloodline, will almost certainly produce a king?"

Her face was flushed with excitement, her mind racing with possibilities. Behind her, Julia's expression was even more peculiar as she struggled to contain her own thrilled anticipation.

Alexia examined the papers. In addition to the report, they included a family tree for the royal House of Middleton. Unlike the Stuarts, the Middletons had never been a large family. Still, to rule out the possibility of other illegitimate children, Dolores had done a great deal of extra research.

"Oh, Tutor, one more thing. Last week, Jenkins gave me a list from that demigod diviner in Nolan. He said one of his relatives might be on it. I looked into it, and the fifth name is our target. But this woman..."

She prompted Alexia to turn to the appendix on the final page. There, Alexia saw a familiar name. She had never met the person herself, but Jenkins had mentioned her before.

"What a coincidence."

She frowned, thinking for a moment, then instructed:

"Don't tell Jenkins anything that's on this paper, not yet. We still don't know what the Inherited Sage Church is planning. It's better to tell him nothing than to let his imagination run wild. The timing isn't right. I think I understand now why no one who knew about the Williams family's history was willing to tell him. They were right to keep silent. Everything is still uncertain, but for Jenkins's sake, and for the sake of peace, we need to take extra steps to ensure things unfold the way we want them to."