After leaving Queen Laura's wing, "Hintel" did not head directly to his craft; instead, he took a secret passage leading to the back offices of the King's advisors. There, behind a heavy wooden door, waited Permes, King Ragos's chief advisor and the man the King trusted more than himself.
Hintel entered, but this time his tone was different, and he introduced himself to Permes by another name: "Union."
Permes (anxiously):
"Union! You're late. Did you succeed in infiltrating the Queen's council? What is that viper plotting with her imprisoned son?"
Union/Hintel (in a cold, steady voice):
"It's worse than you imagine, Lord Permes. Queen Laura has completely lost her mind. She has conspired with the guard commanders loyal to her to assassinate King Ragos in the midst of the coming chaos. She intends to install Peonil immediately and revoke the peace treaty."
Permes (striking the table in terror):
"Assassination? Has her audacity reached such heights? The King is trying to save their lineage, and they are trying to cut off his head! We must warn Ragos immediately; we must take the coup to the Queen's court before it begins."
Union (approaching Permes with a sinister smile):
"My advice to you, Permes... do nothing for now. Let her begin her move, and when the conspiracy is exposed, we will eliminate both Laura and Peonil under the pretext of 'protecting the throne.' This way, you will rid yourself of the opposition forever, and the reign will be secured for Ragos... or whoever succeeds him."
Permes: "You are a mastermind, Union. Without your information, I would be searching for my head in the city alleys right now. Go now, stay close to her, and report every move to me."
"Union" exited the palace, heading toward the landing balcony where his silent black craft awaited. He climbed inside and sealed the pressurized doors, which completely isolated all sound from the outside world.
He sat in the pilot's seat and took a deep breath. He placed his hand on the thin glass mask covering his eyes and slowly removed it, then shed the long coat to reveal a majestic military uniform adorned with medals beneath—the uniform of General Cassio.
But the surprise did not end there. "Cassio" looked into the mirror and began a low laugh that turned into a hysterical cackle, as his facial features began to shift and transform through the "tissue-altering" technology he possessed.
Ajax (talking to himself as he wiped his face):
"What fools... Laura thinks I will give her the throne, and Permes thinks I am protecting his old King. They do not know that I am lighting the fire on both ends of the garment so that the body in the middle burns."
Ajax grabbed an encrypted communication device, and a map of "Aetheria" appeared before him, flashing with red dots representing the positions of the Liberation Army and the companions, and blue dots representing the Royal Guard.
Ajax: "I have planted the seeds of doubt everywhere. Laura will kill Ragos, Permes will wipe out Laura, and Kayan's army will destroy the palace... and in the end, when everyone falls from exhaustion and bleeding, I will emerge with my own private army to seize the 'Black Heart Stone' and turn it into a merciless weapon. Crystallis was just the beginning; Aetheria is the great laboratory."
He looked at a small blue feather sitting on his desk in the craft—a feather from the Blue Bird that had been killed.
Ajax: "Even this poor bird served my plan more than it served its masters. With its death, the companions lost their compass, and by its trail, they will be led into my final trap."
He started the craft's engines and took off into the darkness of dawn, leaving the palace behind him seething with a conspiracy whose players did not realize they were all merely chess pieces in the hand of the man who betrayed "Crystallis" before—and who is now on the verge of annihilating "Aetheria" entirely.