Everything will be my way!

Lanatelle had never met people like "The Dark Baron". He did not bow his head before her greatness, did not succumb to a spiritual attack, and even the torture medicine of the "A" rank torture medicine, after which any person would become obedient, also did not affect him, which means that other painful methods will also be useless.

The empress was interested in making the man bow his head to her at his will, and she found a new way of influencing: «Zosimos, you understand that with your stubbornness you show disrespect to the head of the empire, don\'t you? Such an attitude is punishable by execution by beheading. How do you plan to see your daughters if you refuse to obey me?»

«I will definitely see my girls.» – Kyon answered with calm determination. – «Your majesty, you will understand why I am so confident in myself when you find out what ability I have. Please bring a servant here and I will show you everything.» – he repeated.

The confidence of "The Dark Baron" aroused in Lanatelle a curiosity that was usually not characteristic of her. And yet she did not like the complete lack of humility on the part of Zosimos at all. She was not used to dialogue in this vein - when she has to take into account the opinion of another person. But the woman had absolutely no idea how to subdue such a fearless stubborn man. No, of course she can subdue him with the formation, but such a result will not bring her satisfaction.

{Looks like I don\'t have a choice.} – Lanatelle realized and, putting her finger to the man\'s forehead, imposed a subordinate formation of high quality on him, after that she commanded in an icy tone. – «I order you to tell me where your daughters live.»

The empress did not like the obedience of "The Dark Baron", obtained through a subordinate formation. Being a despot, she longed to achieve her goal by the usual methods: fear, horror and despair. No matter how principled the man is, he is first of all a father, which means that it will be easier to influence him through his daughters.

Kyon seemed to have the perfect chance. Just say the address! But it\'s not that simple. Let\'s say Lanatelle sends people to Eve and Leila\'s mansion, what will happen next? They will give uninvited guests slaps on the back of their heads! And it is very doubtful that the girls will be able to learn at least some information from the perfectly trained personal servants of the empress. The result will be as follows: the woman will learn about the real power of his daughters. Nothing good will come of it. But the main thing is different: he had a plan with a much greater chance of success.

«I… Won\'t… Tell you… Anything!» – Lovr said adamantly.

Lanatelle\'s eyes widened in amazement: {Didn\'t my subjugation formation work on him?!} – she tried to use it several more times, but the man showed monstrous willpower, refusing to carry out even the most harmless orders.

As far as Lanatelle knew, only people with incredible self-control were able to resist subjugating formations, especially of such a high quality. Apparently, "The Dark Baron" is just one of them. This earned him some respect in the eyes of the woman.

Finally the empress surrendered. She had to swallow her dissatisfaction. Oh, she hasn\'t felt like this in a long time. Well, okay. She\'ll have to put up with it. In the end, he himself offered to show everything.

A man in a gray mask, standing outside the door, received a telepathic order, went inside and prostrated himself before her majesty.

«Go ahead.» – Lanatelle ordered coldly, waving her hand.

The shackles restraining the man fell.

«I need a device to check the purity of the keys.» – Kyon said dryly.

Soon Lovr got what he wanted, after that he demonstratively checked the purity of the key of pure energy from the servant, purified it by 10% with Synergy, and then checked the purity again. The value has increased by 10 units.

Lanatelle\'s eyes widened in amazement: {The ability to purify keys?!}

This incredible ability can justify ruby-quality blood. To dispel doubts, the woman gave some orders to the servant and soon found out that there was no catch. His key was indeed purified by 10%.

«As you can see, I am able to purify keys up to ninety-nine percent.» – Kyon said with a sigh. He named such a number in order to interest the woman as much as possible. No point in cheating. He won\'t gain anything from it.

«Where did you get this gift from?» – Lanatelle asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

«Do you call it a gift? Ha ha… You are wrong here! So far, this ability has only given me problems. It does not allow me to purify my own keys, and trying to make money on it is like death. I lost my beloved wife because of it… I miraculously managed to escape with my daughters to Dantes. I wish I had been born without it.» – Lovr demonstrated the purity of his own keys, thereby confirming his words.

{A blessing or a curse?} – thought Lanatelle. He can\'t change his own talent, and purifying the keys to someone can turn into a disaster. Now it is clear why the blood of Zosimus is cursed. It can only bring him misfortune.

Kyon looked resolutely at the silver-haired woman: «I will purify the keys for you in exchange for fulfilling a few conditions. Are you ready to listen to them?»

Some criminal with pathetic development sets conditions for the bloody empress… Lanatelle felt out of place. She would like to refuse, but why? If she manages to get the purification without too much difficulty, then it would be foolish to dismiss such an opportunity.

«To begin with, how long will the whole process take?»

«A few days, I guess. I have never purified the keys to such powerful people. As far as I know, the spiritual sense of practitioners starting from the imperial phase is high enough. They can weaken the development of certain parts of the body, thereby removing the natural resistance of the soul, so I can handle it.» – Kyon saw no reason to delay. He needs to leave the palace as soon as possible, otherwise the absence of Dick in the order will cause unnecessary suspicion.

«Then tell me your terms.»

«First, you will remove the humiliating submission formation from my forehead. Secondly, no more torture and threats. I will not tolerate such an attitude towards myself! Believe me, if my principles are turned on to the fullest, then I will not lift a finger, even if you feed me a hundred pieces of torture medicine a day.» – Kyon promised.

Such pride of the head of the shadow megaclan did not surprise the empress. If it were otherwise, that girl wouldn\'t have made him her partner: «I heard you. What is the third condition?»

«Show me my partner… Show me Valeera!»

After a short pause, Lanatelle shook her head: «She\'s dead.»

«What?!» – Kyon felt hopeless. He couldn\'t find a single sign that the empress was lying on her impassive face, when suddenly a saving thought flashed through his head. – {She said that because she doesn\'t want me to demand her release! She is afraid that Valeera will surpass her in the coming years!} – and indeed, killing her without interrogation would be stupid, especially considering that "The Dark Baron" – the second person who knows everything about the megaclan - was sent to slaughter without being interrogated.

«Then show me her body!» – Lovr demanded to check his guess.

«It\'s out of the question.» – immediately said Lanatelle. – «It\'s been destroyed.»

And although Kyon\'s hope was partially confirmed, however, the mood was spoiled. Even if he leaves the palace, how will he save his wife? She definitely won\'t be kept in the department, like last time. It will be almost impossible to get Weber out. And he has at best a few months for a rescue operation until they get tired of torturing her.

«Name another condition.» – the empress demanded.

Kyon fell to his knees, sincerely expressing his grief: «Valeera… Did you really leave me? How so… We have been building the clan together for a whole year, but now I am alone…» – for a minute he grieved over the death of the girl, as if he did not even doubt the words of the empress, then he got up and said gloomily. – «I want to bury her!» – he planned to leave the palace halls and call Eve and Leila for help.

«You\'ll have time to do it.»

«No, I\'ll hold the funeral today!» – Lovr unshakably objected.

Lanatelle narrowed her eyes slightly: «I know about your enviable ability to escape. The powerful palace barriers are holding you back, which is why you want to leave his halls so badly, right? Do not even think about it. Don\'t make me repeat it a third time. You will bury her when you leave the palace, and only then. Your last condition is to leave, am I right?»

{Damn woman!} – Kyon complained mentally. However, he expected something like this from a person of her caliber. It is hardly possible to get out of this situation easily. And what to do next? Is it worth going straight to the last condition?

«You are absolutely right… I am rushing things. My feelings, they… Well, here is my last condition: you will allow me to use the teleportation trigram. I promise that I will leave your empire and cause no more trouble.»

Lanatelle put her palm on her heart and said an oath: «I, Lanatelle Russell, give the imperial oath that I will fulfill the three conditions you have voiced as soon as you, Zosimos, purify all the keys to ninety-nine percent for me.» – the last time she gave a similar oath to her parents was more than 150 years ago. Now this oath was given to some little man who dared to address her without due respect. Fate knows how to surprise.

«I\'m sorry, your majesty, but I need guarantees.»

«What guarantees?» – Lanatelle frowned with displeasure.

«Give me this oath in the presence of high-ranking witnesses. Five people will be enough. Also, the oath must include the condition that they will be present during my teleportation, thereby witnessing its fulfillment.»

Kyon wanted to increase the chances that the empress wouldn\'t break her vow. Yes, she is a despot who does not take into account the opinions of others, but she is also the head of the empire with the honor and dignity corresponding to her status. Being a cruel and ruthless tyrant is still okay, it\'s common for many rulers, but to be known as a liar? It is unlikely that the woman in the presence of five important people will violate the oath.

Lanatelle\'s beautiful face hardened: «Don\'t you take my oath seriously?»

«Your majesty, do not take my excessive precaution as an insult, but, spinning in the shadowy world of the capital, one cannot live long without such a habit. After all, please tell me how much will it cost to purify all the keys to ninety-nine percent? I\'m afraid this is an invaluable service! Because no one in this world is capable of it! Isn\'t a little discomfort worth my unprecedented ability?»

Lanatelle\'s silver eyes glittered dangerously as she studied the man with a long and steady gaze. Finally she spoke: «Who do you want to see?» – the woman experienced great discomfort while dealing with "The Dark Baron". He succeeded in what no one in Rosarrio would dare to dream of - to force the bloody empress to do something for himself.

«Thank you very much. So, I ask for the presence of the following five people here: chief imperial alchemist Feng Russell, chief imperial formacist Julius Russell, Rosarrio Minister of Finance Vladimir Russell, patriarch of the family of the second rank Horace Clinton and patriarch of the family of the first rank Monty Valentine.»

«Let it be your way..» – after a pause, Lanatelle replied in a steely tone.