Chapter 213: Islinda

"Only her or others?" the droid asked.

"Only her," James said before adding, "and make her end this fast before returning to the training."

"Alright," the droid then started to execute the orders without adding any more words.

Islinda was immersed in consuming the ores when a girl entered the place and shouted by her name.

The scene this droid female saw was weird enough to her that she had to be extra careful when Islinda turned to her in her human form.

After all she saw what she was able to turn into.

"What's wrong?" Islinda asked as she was the first time seeing this female droid. "How dare you enter here without permission? Who let you inside?" the next moment Islinda turned one hundred percent against this droid, mistaking her for someone else.

"It's…" the droid stuttered before hurriedly adding, "it's the emperor, he sent for you to do an urgent mission then return."

"James?" Islinda muttered before adding, "do you have a way to call him?"

"Sure, here is my personal communicator," the droid handed her screen to her and instantly she saw the face of James smiling helplessly. "Sorry to interrupt your training, but things aren't looking that nice over here."

"What's wrong?" she sensed the nervousness in his tone and she realized something bad must have happened for him to change his mind and call out for her in such urgency.

"the droid next to you has all the necessary details, she will inform you about everything."

"Alright," Islinda closed the call before saying, "what happened?"

She started to move out and she didn't forget to close the door with her DNA print.

"It's the capital, my empress," the droid started to narrate what happened and the more she talked, the more Islinda felt enraged.

"They dared to play with my own business? Humph, lucky for me I have everything organized and nothing shall escape my reach no matter what."

This time she was so furious that she swore whoever had a role in that scheme would be punished personally by her. "Daring to tarnish my reputation, humph," she muttered to herself while waiting inside the large cruiser's deck which took her directly towards the capital.

In less than four hours she reached there. She didn't wait for her to return as she instantly issued a statement saying that she is on her way and she will deal with this matter with much seriousness.

As she was inside the deck, she kept revising all the secret documents and recordings of what happened after she moved away.

"Bingo," she muttered before laughing, "do you think I won't notice your dirty hand here? Tsk, such lousy work can't escape my eyes!"

She closed the recordings and documents before tapping her fingers on her screen. "How can I use this to cause the greatest damage then?" she thought and her mind wasn't that evil but she found a nice idea.

As she reached the capital, she didn't delay and summoned a grand meeting with all merchants.

The grand hall in the imperial palace was full to the brim with angry looking merchants who had their trust shattered in the empire.

And amidst all that, she was having a short call with Rigo who confirmed to her that everything was done as she wished.

As for James, she just asked him to watch the feedback of the meeting, and didn't answer his worries and concerns.

"Just don't let me go away for so long ever again," she said these words to him before entering the hall.

The moment she entered there, her magnified aura dissipated and everyone was attracted to her; the entire hall ushered under heavy silence all of sudden.

"I heard about what happened, and I'm really disappointed in all of you," she sat on her seat before saying those words in the small microphones around her seat.

"But my lady…" one of the merchants spoke up yet to be silenced with a signal of her hand. "Since when we mistreated you? Huh? If we wanted to steal your stuff, then we had the chance to do this a long time ago."

Her words echoed again before she sighed, "I'm really ashamed. I always brag in front of others by you. Always speak about how much united we are, how strong are the bonds of trust we all share, but unfortunately it seems my trust and confidence were misplaced."

"My lady, let me speak," another merchant raised his voice but she raised her hand to silence him again, denying his request.

"I've heard you already," she said while pointing towards a screen next to her as she added, "just watched all your complaints and threats, accusations based on false evidence… sigh, that's disappointing to the degree it became boring."

The screen lit up all of sudden before anyone else tried to speak. on the screen, a familiar face appeared. "This is the man you all accused of being the traitor, the one who sold you info out to the enemy, right?" she leisurely asked, and the entire hall thundered with agreement.

"Ok, and as you can see there, a list of all the workers I left to be entrusted with dealing with you…" she paused while the faces of her own associates appeared one after another. "yet this one is the one to be blamed, right?"

Again the hall thundered with agreeing nods and shouts.

"Tell me something," she suddenly said while tapping on her forehead, "when was the last time you saw this man working here?"

Her question landed and the bustling hall with many complaints and voices suddenly got silenced. "What? I never heard an answer yet," she said while playing with her long hair, waiting for a response.

"Ahem," one of the merchants cleared out his throat, "I think a month ago."

"A month?" she glanced at him before adding, "are you sure?"

The man hesitated, yet another merchant stood up as he said, "I saw him a couple of months ago, and that was the last time for me to meet him."

"Couple of months, has anyone seen him nearer than a month or two?" she wasn't pressured by their gazes or angry faces.

When no one replied to her, she snapped her fingers and  a man was dragged into the hall.