I would have liked to say that there was an epic battle between the two sides but that would have been a lie.

I was once again reminded of why people feared the Nilm Family with just how this battle played out.

I basically didn’t even get a chance to do anything as the servants basically descended upon them and struck down each of them with extreme precision.

I got to watch as their frontlines attempted to push towards the Prince, obviously aiming to take him out in return for their lives.

But both our butlers and maids appeared behind them out of nowhere and struck them down one by one before they even realised that they were moving amongst them.

Half of them fell to the floor and only because their numbers started dropping significantly did they even realise that they were already being cut down.

The mages behind them tried to support them but none of them could even cast a spell as the moment they tried, they would have their throats slit open by a servant that appeared in front of them for a moment before they disappeared.

It was either that or they would suddenly have a throwing knife embedded in the side of their necks as they clawed at their throats before toppling over.

The mages also started dropping one by one as if they were reeds being cut down and the remaining mages tried to switch their targets to the Nilm Family servants instead but that didn’t change anything.

Heck, as if to mock them, some of them ended up getting killed by a spell that one of the servants cast faster than they could.

The Prince and my girls leapt into the melee as the two sides clashed but without the support of their mages, those traitors didn’t stand a chance.

I have a feeling if the Nilm servants wanted to, they could have just wiped out the entire group before they even reached us. But they most likely knew that the prince and my girls would not be satisfied if they weren’t allowed to at least spill some blood from this group so they held back a little.

I only knew that because I saw some of the servants literally just stand in the distance watching the fight and only move when one of those traitors tried to run away and cut them down before they could even escape.

As for me... I was literally just standing at the back watching the entire fight unfold and end in less than a minute.

The manor that had been filled with the sounds of battle was suddenly embraced with silence.

Every single one of the traitors had been slaughtered and none of them had asked for mercy, though it wasn’t like we planned to show any to begin with.

I guess the people here all knew that if a member of the Royal Family busted down your door with their sword drawn, there was no mercy available to you.

Still... There was one thing I had to ask...

I approached Prince Hisami who was wiping his blade with a cloth, "I still think that it would be better to leave at least some of them alive so that you can interrogate them for more information though..."

He turned to raise an eyebrow at me, "Did you think that we are done with them, Lady Aster? We are most definitely not. We’re going to preserve their corpses and start reviving them to interrogate them in the palace. We’ll start with the head of the family and get what we know from him and revive the others if we need more information that he is unable to give."

"Eh? Isn’t that like... Really expensive though? Last I remembered, you need a substantial offering to appease Goddess Srii to cast resurrection magic without any backlash?"

He nodded, "Not to worry, Lady Aster, this isn’t the first time we’re doing this. We have our ways of doing this without angering the Goddess of Death."

Err... Ok... If you say so... Now I kind of know why these guys can just judge someone as guilty so easily and slaughter them without worry... Since if anything happens, they would just resurrect them with magic and call it a day.

That is... Assuming that whatever they are offering is enough to satisfy Srii of course.

"What are you offering for the resurrections?" I asked.

He shook his head, "I apologise, Lady Aster... But that information is a national secret so I’m afraid that I can’t disclose it even if it’s you that is asking..."

I shrugged, showing that I didn’t really mind anyway.

It would make sense that it’s a secret since people would definitely abuse it if it was common knowledge.

After that, it was just us arranging the bodies to prepare them to be transported back to the palace.

Well... Even though I said ’we’, it really was just the Nilm Family servants doing most of the work.

The prince was staring at the servants with a curious face, "When did you move so many people here, Lady Aster? I’m pretty sure our security would have at least took note of them coming into the city... Yet we had no one raising any alarms and it’s like they just materialised out of thin air... They even managed to lay an ambush here without the minister’s family realising they were here."

Ah... He thinks that they only entered the city last night or something instead of them being stationed here from the very beginning.

I smiled at him, "I’m afraid that’s a family secret, Prince Hisami. I can’t disclose them even if it’s you that’s asking."

He turned to give me a pointed look, clearly a little upset that I was basically using his own words against him.

He obviously couldn’t say anything to refute me so he just turned away as well, opting to watch the servants of my family work instead.

I have to say though, there’s at least a good two dozen of the Nilm Family servants here... Which meant that at least twenty of them had infiltrated into this city ahead of time and were stationed inside this manor alone.

What will happen to them once this is over? Do they go back to Lehcarouc Kingdom to be assigned to another task or do they remain here and act as sleeper agents?

I filed that question away to ask Katsuki later.

In the meantime...

"Should I assume that this concludes our contract?"

There was a pause from the prince before he sighed, "Let us interrogate the minister first. Once we get a confession from him and possibly any other leads he might have and confirm that this would effectively render the two groups harmless, we will acknowledge that you have completed your part of the agreement."

"Hmm... In that case, could I request to be present during your interrogation? That should not be a problem, right?"

I’m worried that they might drag their feet on this matter and maybe even lie about the information they’re getting from him just to keep me around.

It seems like he might have been thinking about doing something like that because I noticed the prince tensing up slightly before quickly relaxing, though the fact that he took a second longer to answer kind of also gave it away.

"I suppose it’s fine... But I will have to check with my parents first. There might be some National secrets that he knows which we would like for them to remain a secret within our city, if you don’t mind."

"I’m willing to compromise on that at least. Sure."

"Very well... When everything is ready, I’ll let someone notify you."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "And how long does it take for you to resurrect this guy?"

"That... Unfortunately, this is not something I can decide on so I will have to leave it to my parents."

"An estimated time at least? How long does it usually take?"

He hesitated, most likely trying to think of a number that wouldn’t be too suspicious so that I will accept it.

"I... I think with all the preparations we need to do... It might take about three days."

Tsk... That means we have to stay here for another three days? Just what are they keeping us here for?

That was when I noticed him darting his eyes in the direction of the servants for a moment and I realised what exactly he was looking for. Or... At least what I assume he’s aiming for.

He’s probably hoping that if I stay here, I would reveal the location of any other servants that we might have inside the city so that he can root them out or something.

Well... I’m afraid that I have some bad news for you, Prince Hisami... I don’t even know where they are so you’re not going to get any information from me~

But of course, I’m not going to tell him that so him and whoever he’s going to assign to watch over me can just waste their efforts for the next three days~

In the meantime... I guess I’ll just try and find something to do for the next three days.