Beginning Of Multiverse Saga-Chapter 388: Princess Natasha

What Sharky was most worried about was that the king manor was just making up an excuse to chase away unwanted guests. As such, he went around a corner, and when he saw that there was no one around him, he jumped over the courtyard wall. The courtyard wall had some defensive formations, but with his master rank cultivation, avoiding them wasn’t particularly difficult.

There were some guards patrolling the surroundings, but compared to human residences that were typically heavily guarded, the fiend races’ security was crude; it could even be considered sloppy. Even the security of a king’s manor like this couldn’t compare to that of a mid-ranked human minister’s home.

He initially planned to seize a random maid to ask about Natasha’s room, but he suddenly saw some maids rushing toward a room while carrying teacups.

Judging from their private conversations, it seemed that they were discussing Princess Natasha. Furthermore, it seemed that they hadn’t reached a conclusion even after discussing it all day.

Sharky was surprised. He quietly followed along, but he didn’t dare to get too close. Since this was a meeting of some of the Elf King Manor’s big shots, there would definitely be some powerful cultivators there.

As such, using his Shadow Phoenix powers, he goes inside, and hears what they are talking about.

"Why has Princess Natasha not returned yet? Could it be that something has happened?"

"What could possibly happen in the imperial palace?"

"It is precisely because she is in the imperial palace that something might have happened! What if the Golden Crow Crown Prince uses force against Princess Natasha? It would all be over then, no?"

"Even if nothing happened, what hour is it already? The palace gates are already about to close. If she spends the night in the imperial palace, what will those outside say about it? Princess Natasha’s reputation will be completely done for!"

The entire hall fell silent. Sharky’s expression grew grim. Natasha was in danger after all...

Just then, another voice spoke up. "Actually, if we look at it from another perspective, this might not necessarily be a bad thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it for a minute! What kind of glory and honor would it mean to become the crown princess? She will soon become the next Fiend Empress.

Countless young ladies dream of that, and yet will never be able to experience it. At that time, whether it comes to her future or the future of the entire Elf race, it will be a great result."

"Princess Natasha has already sacrificed enough for our Elf race, though. She has experienced so many difficulties in human society and rescued so many of our clansmen. And yet we are still going to ask her to make more sacrifices? Is this not too much?" someone immediately objected, and many others agreed.

Sharky felt a bit more at ease. These elves weren’t entirely lacking in conscience. There were at least some people who remembered Natasha’s sacrifice for so many years.

"How can something like that be considered a sacrifice? What kind of glory and honor would it represent to become the crown princess and future Fiend Empress?"

"Not to mention that our Elf King is currently imprisoned. We all know the reason why that happened. If Princess Natasha does not marry the crown prince, do you all have a way of saving the Elf King?"

The room fell silent. It was clear that none of them were confident in their ability to save the Elf King.

Sharky didn’t continue listening. The Elf race’s people all had their own thoughts, but he didn’t feel any such hesitation. At that moment, the top priority was clearly to save Natasha first. He quickly left the Elf Manor, heading straight toward the Fiend Imperial Palace.

---

Even though he had never been to the Fiend King Court before, the imperial palace was naturally the most grand and majestic location. It wasn’t too hard to find.

Unlike the red walls and yellow tiles of the human imperial city, the Fiend Imperial Palace was adorned in blue and gold. Practically all of the gold was even made of real gold.

Sharky cursed inwardly, Damn, these fiend races really are rich and overbearing! They actually used real gold? Aren’t they scared that ordinary people will just shave some off?

Apart from that, the Fiend Imperial Palace’s entrances were much taller and wider than the other parts, to the point that the proportions were a bit unbalanced. However, that unexpectedly added a strange sense of harmony to the place, creating an unusual sort of pressure.

Almost every single building within had many large, thick pillars. Among humans, pillars were smooth and even; in contrast, the surface of the pillars here either had jagged or wavy patterns. Many pillars even bore different kinds of carvings.

Sharky looked around for a bit, but he couldn’t help but frown. He didn’t know if it was because the sky was turning dark, but defensive formations were already being activated around the city walls. Those formations were much more profound than the ones in the Elf King Manor.

In truth, with his cultivation, it still wouldn’t have been too difficult for him to go inside. However, there was a mysterious pressure emanating from the entire palace. Sharky knew it was the aura of the Fiend Emperor.

When he thought about how the Fiend Emperor and Emperor Henry were equally famous, he didn’t dare to show the slightest bit of carelessness. If he were to be detected by the defensive formation after going in, he would be one thousand percent dead.

Even so, the formations wouldn’t be able to stop him, because he also had Shadow Phoenix power, which can not only hide his Ki and breath, but also change his face, if he required.

Using it, he changed into Ellis. That guy’s appearance was surprisingly easy to imitate; the hardest part was his pitch-black teeth. Sharky even worried about being unable to completely copy Ellis and considered painting his teeth black with charcoal.

However, when he took out a mirror, he saw that he was completely identical. He was once again amazed by the miraculousness of ’Immortal Phoenix Technique’.

"Halt!" the guards called out, stopping him. However when they saw who he was, they all bowed respectfully. "So it was Sir Director."

Sharky sighed in relief. He had been worried that Ellis might have left again after escorting the second empress back.

Now, it seemed there would be no issue. Thus, he nodded in the way Ellis had before, saying, "I’m going to see the crown prince for something."

He had chosen to change into Ellis precisely because of the man’s relationship with the crown prince. Ellis’s paternal aunt was the crown prince’s birth mother. With such a relationship, it wasn’t strange for him to visit the crown prince.

As expected, the guards didn’t feel suspicious. They stepped aside and said, "Sir Ellis, please enter."

Sharky hadn’t expected things to go that smoothly and walked directly in.

However, as soon as he stepped through the palace gates, a voice called out from behind him. "Wait!"

Sharky was alarmed. As expected, it was too early to feel happy. When he turned around, he saw a golden-armored general walk over with a group of guards.

He complained inwardly, This is bad. Even though he could impersonate Ellis, he couldn’t copy his memories! He didn’t know the guards in the palace at all.

"Sir Ellis, why did you return again?" the general asked. He had a long face, which made it look strangely narrow.

Sharky was startled. He recalled Luke’s description of the palace situation and replied, "General Badal, the crown prince needed me for something, so how could I not return?"

"The crown prince was looking for you? Why didn’t I hear about this?" the general asked. He didn’t question the way he had been addressed, meaning he was the Left Guard General Badal. He glanced outside and asked, "Hm? Why don’t I see your attendants?"

Sharky reacted quickly and said, "It’s because the matter is classified, so I didn’t bring anyone with me."

Badal didn’t press the matter when he heard how secret the subject was. After all, Ellis was closer to the crown prince than him.

He glanced at the horizon, sounding troubled as he said, "But the palace gates have already closed, and you should know the rules. Outside subjects can’t enter after the gate closes unless the Fiend Emperor or the crown prince have given the order."

Sharky protested inwardly, Where the hell am I supposed to get some written orders?

When he saw his troubled expression, Badal didn’t want to offend him and asked, "Is Sir Director’s concern urgent? If not, please return tomorrow. If it is, why don’t I immediately make a report to the crown prince for you?"

Sharky thought to himself, If you make a report to the crown prince, everything will be exposed! And yet, he had no reason to stop him. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

However, his mind moved quickly and he suddenly took out something, saying, "I don’t have a written order, but the crown prince had someone give this to me."

Badal gave the token a look, then quickly bowed and said, "So it was the crown prince’s Golden Crow Token. Sir Ellis, please!"

Sharky had gotten the token from the grandmaster who showed up to protect the Golden Crow Crown Prince after Sharky won, as an invitation to the Fiend King Court.

Of course, the grandmaster might not have had good intentions. It was most likely intended to allow the Golden Crow Crown Prince to wash away his earlier shame after Sharky came to the court.

However, they could never have expected Sharky to use it to enter the imperial palace!

Sharky had already noticed that the Golden Crow token Alina used and the one he had were different.

Later, he had learned that the one that she had was the Golden Crow Token that the Fiend Emperor issued to bring the clan leaders to the Fiend King Court, but apart from that, it didn’t have much use.

On the contrary, the token Sharky had was the Golden Crow Crown Prince’s, which was much more useful.

Sharky sighed in relief. Looks like my luck isn’t bad.

He returned Badal’s greeting, while also politely refusing the offer to help him deliver the message to the crown prince. Badal didn’t press the issue; as the head of palace security, he had a guard bring Sharky over instead.

Sharky secretly examined his surroundings along the way. He noticed that the fiend races’ imperial palace was actually quite different from the human race’s.

Along the way, he saw many fountains and all sorts of sculptures. Almost all of them were depictions of the fiend races’ different species, as if the statues were for the purpose of winning over the hearts of those races.

Sharky had no intention to just appreciate the scenery, though. He quickly used the jade badge, engraving the surrounding map into his mind. He had never been inside before, so if he had to flee in the future, he would only have a good chance if he familiarized himself with the layout.

Meanwhile, he found a chance to ask, "By the way, I heard that Princess Natasha entered the palace; is that right?"

"That’s right. Princess Natasha really is pretty, and she is very friendly. She even gave us a smile when she entered through the palace gates this morning," the guard answered with a foolish smile, seemingly still immersed in a beautiful memory from that morning.

Sharky was speechless. Friendly? He really couldn’t associate that sharp-tongued young lady with such a description.

Ever since he had arrived in the fiend race territory, however, according to the intelligence he had obtained, Natasha’s reputation among the people was quite high.

Although there is nothing between Natasha and him, still, he felt that he had some connections with her. And it was not a small connection, but more than that.

"I heard that she hadn’t left the palace yet, though?" Sharky pretended to ask carelessly.

"Right! It seems as if the crown princess candidate is going to be decided today," the guard said with an envious expression, seemingly wishing he were the crown prince.

Sharky was furious, but he didn’t dare to show it on the surface. He replied, "Oh? That makes sense, I guess. If she stays the night in the imperial palace, even if nothing happens, the outside world will believe that she’s the royal family’s woman."

"Exactly!" the guard replied. "Earlier, after Princess Natasha paid her respects to the Fiend Emperor, the palace’s imperial concubines held her back to chat with her for a while. Later, the crown prince looked for a way to keep her... Heh, the raw rice is going to be fully cooked soon!"