CHAPTER 651: THE LOOPHOLE OF THE SLAVE SEAL?

In another part of the capital city of the Doria Empire, one of the female outsiders was speaking with a man in a private, luxurious restaurant. The man was someone Aldrian recognized—Prince Hector.

Aldrian was intrigued by how this outsider had managed to get in contact with Hector in such a short time since her arrival on the continent. He also wondered what they were discussing that required a private room.

As he focused his senses and hearing, their voices finally became clear.

"Thank you for inviting me, Your Highness. Once again, I apologize if I disrupted your schedule because of me," the female outsider named Vanessa said softly.

She was a beautiful, young-looking woman with long black hair. At this moment, she wore a casual robe that emphasized the curves of her body, making her look sexy. Combined with the way she spoke and the softness of her voice, it could easily melt those who heard it. Aldrian could see from Hector’s expression that he was affected.

Hector’s face turned slightly red, and he coughed as he tried to compose himself.

"It’s nothing, Miss Vanessa. There was no schedule to be disturbed while I’m here, so you don’t have to worry," he said.

Aldrian, who had been watching the two, felt something was off, especially seeing how Hector appeared shy, almost as if he were charmed by Vanessa. This made Aldrian raise his eyebrows before a thought crossed his mind. He focused more intently on the two, and soon, he sensed something from Vanessa.

"Charm technique," he thought.

Now he understood what was going on. No wonder Hector seemed so captivated by her. If she could use a charm technique, someone like Hector would be an easy target. With her cultivation at the middle stage of the Pseudo-Immortal Foundation, she could charm anyone on this continent—anyone except Aldrian.

Aldrian stopped walking and decided to listen to their conversation. He took a nearby seat in a secluded part of the garden. As he continued to listen in, all he could hear was casual conversation. To him, the two of them seemed more like they were on a blind date, exchanging questions and answers in a relaxed manner.

After thirty minutes, their meeting finally ended, with Vanessa leaving first and Hector remaining alone in the private room, looking infatuated. Seeing this as a chance, Aldrian decided to visit Hector and make things clear. From his perspective, Hector seemed manipulated by that woman, and he did not like it. It was better to hear the clarification directly from him.

Hector, still sitting alone, was stunned when Aldrian suddenly appeared in the vacant seat Vanessa had occupied earlier. The moment he saw Aldrian’s face, he was shocked and instantly stood up.

"Your Majesty!"

"At ease, Prince Hector," Aldrian said with a smile. "I happened to see something interesting and wanted to ask you a few questions. I hope you can answer them."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I would gladly answer any of your questions," Hector replied, taking his seat again.

Aldrian nodded. "Alright then. Do you know the identity of the woman you just met? How did the two of you meet?"

Hector immediately understood who Aldrian was referring to, and he was slightly surprised that Aldrian seemed aware of their meeting. However, he didn’t question it and answered instead.

"I met Miss Vera two days ago when I accidentally ran into her while traveling by carriage. As for her origin, she said she had just come down from the northern mountains after living in seclusion. After the recent changes across the continent, she said her master instructed her to come down and blend in with the populace."

"At the time, she seemed confused and lost, and nearly collided with my carriage. As an apology, I invited her to lunch today, since I couldn’t spare time that day. That’s why we had a private lunch, Your Majesty."

Aldrian nodded in understanding, but inwardly, he smiled.

"I don’t think she accidentally crashed into your carriage," he thought.

That Vanessa must have already gathered information and learned Hector’s route. He wasn’t surprised, given her cultivation and abilities, it was entirely possible. She was clever enough to target someone like Prince Hector right away.

He didn’t know what her exact goal was, but the slave seal hadn’t reacted. That meant she wasn’t acting with harmful intent and hadn’t abused her power, since she had only used a charm technique, nothing more.

Even so, it made Aldrian uneasy. They could exploit this kind of loophole to bypass the rules of his slave seal. While Vanessa hadn’t intended harm, this kind of situation could be used to plant influence among the locals.

The people of the continent were still vulnerable to the powerful techniques used by outsiders.

Seeing that Hector was still slightly affected by the charm technique, Aldrian decided to help. He used his sound laws and erased the effect with a single clap.

Clap!

The moment the sound echoed, Hector felt something shift within him. A refreshing sensation swept over him, and it felt as though he had just emerged from a clouded state of mind.

A look of confusion crossed his face.

"Be careful, Prince Hector. That woman is from outside the continent. She might try to take advantage of you, she used a charm technique on you."

Hearing this, Hector’s eyes widened in shock.

"What?" he asked.

Aldrian then explained about the outsiders who had attempted to infiltrate the continent, and how he had caught them and turned them into slaves.

Hector was truly stunned to learn that someone like that had already blended in among their people. He slapped his forehead, feeling foolish for falling into the outsider’s trap.

"Thank you for waking me up, Your Majesty. I’m truly ashamed that I fell for her trick. I deserve punishment for potentially endangering the empire’s interests," he said, bowing deeply.

Aldrian waved his hand. "No, this was bound to happen. She’s strong, and you wouldn’t have noticed it. You don’t need to apologize, Prince Hector. In fact, I should be thanking you. Because of this, I found a loophole I need to address in the future."

Hector straightened his posture and let out a sigh.

"But it’s truly frightening, Your Majesty. We’re vulnerable to this kind of influence," he said, and Aldrian nodded.

"Then what should I do? Or rather, what should we do, Your Majesty? Should we just let her go, or take action against her?" Hector asked.

"Just let her be, you can still communicate with her normally, let her know that you’re aware of her identity. But you must be more careful, and you should inform your father so he can prepare. However, do not let the populace know about the existence of the outsiders yet. We don’t want to cause any unrest with sudden news that they are already among us," Aldrian replied.

"Consider this experience as preparation for the future, when many more outsiders arrive on the continent. There may be others who try similar tricks on you or those close to you," he added, then clapped lightly.

"Anyway, I’m done here. I’ll go first, there’s something I need to take care of."

"Ah, yes, Your Majesty. Once again, thank you."

With that, Aldrian vanished.

Left alone, Hector let out a deep sigh as he processed everything he had just learned.

"Those outsiders are already moving, trying to infiltrate this continent. I need to inform Father right away."

He stood up and quickly left the private room.

-------------------------------

After leaving the restaurant, Vanessa moved quickly to an inn and entered her room. But the moment she stepped inside, she froze in place.

Someone was already sitting in one of the chairs, calmly watching her.

It was Aldrian.

"Your Majesty." Vanessa dropped to her knees the instant she saw him.

Aldrian stared at her in silence for a moment before he finally spoke.

"What are you planning? You approached the first prince of this kingdom, and even used a charm technique on him."

The question sent a chill through her. She knew Aldrian was suspicious of her motives, even if the slave seal hadn’t reacted.

"Replying to Your Majesty, I only wanted to build a connection with someone influential on this continent as quickly as possible. I also hoped to learn more detailed information about the continent. I swear, I had no other intentions beyond that," she said hastily, hoping to clear Aldrian’s misunderstanding.

"Building a connection with someone influential, huh? Don’t you already have me as your connection?" Aldrian said, which left Vanessa speechless.

She wanted to shout that this wasn’t what she meant, but that remained only in her thoughts.

Still, she responded to Aldrian.

"Well, with all due respect, I can’t trouble Your Majesty for information every time. And your connection is... special. It’s not something I can openly reveal to the higher ups. Besides, I thought that forming ties with a local noble might bring some benefit to the Baverisk family in the future," she said, her tone slightly awkward, trying not to offend him.

"But please rest assured, Your Majesty, I have no intention of doing anything that would go against your interests."

Aldrian nodded, what she said was the truth. After a few moments of silence, which were heavy and tense for Vanessa, he finally spoke.

"You’d better not try any tricks in the future, Vanessa. I will know, even if you manage to fool the rules of the slave seal. I won’t add new rules to your seal for now, but you must be careful when using your powers from this point on. If I find you doing anything suspicious, I’ll adjust the rules to the point that you’ll be no different from a mortal without cultivation. Is that clear?"

"I understand, Your Majesty!" she replied quickly, bowing her head.

Aldrian gave a final nod.

"Good."

Then, without another word, he vanished from the room.

Vanessa remained still for a moment, then dropped to the floor as soon as she was sure he was truly gone. She could no longer sense his presence.

"What a terrifying man... He feels like he knows everything and is always watching me," she thought.

She let out a long sigh of relief as sweat rolled down her beautiful face.

"I’d better be more careful from now on... I don’t want to give him the wrong impression again."