Chapter 316: Blackmail cards.

Meanwhile, miles away from the problems of the estate, Alessa rushed to the deepest, most secluded courtyard of the Grand Elder’s hidden sanctuary.

She moved like her feet could not decide what they wanted to do; walking while running, her steps uneven, pace frantic. Each hurried stride betrayed the storm inside her chest. Her breath came in ragged bursts, and though she tried to keep her head high, tears slipped silently from her eyes.

"Father!" she cried, throwing her arms wide and leaping forward to embrace the man she had thought dead all along. The one she had been unwilling to mourn, and hopeful that he would make it back to her.

That hope had paid off.

The Grand Elder gently patted her back with a light, rhythmic thumping. "Alright, child, alright. We can celebrate our emotional reunion later. Stop crying like a baby, even Yaya is better than you."

The question of who Yaya was crossed her mind, but Alessa did not allow it to sit. She pulled back, her face instantly twisting into a deep scowl as she looked at her father. She gestured wildly at the lush garden around them, complete with a gentle waterfall.

"You let me think you were dead!" she accused, her voice echoing off the walls. "I wept! I wore black! I almost bought expensive ritual incense! I sent people to every nation to find every persimmon and bring it back so that I could bury it in your empty grave! And the whole time, you were just hiding out in your_ " She pointed her hands around, struggling to find the right term, before throwing her hands in the air. "_in your man cave!"

The Grand Elder cleared his throat, suddenly finding a speck of dust on his shirt very interesting. "It was a necessary deception! It had to look real to the world. If I had called and told you the truth, you would have stopped mourning me immediately." He gave her a deadpan look. "Let’s be honest, Alessa, you are a terrible actress. You would have given it away within an hour."

Alessa opened her mouth to argue, her face turning red, but the Grand Elder quickly held up a hand to derail her anger. "To ease your frustration, you should know that Maverick and I haven’t just been sipping good tea down here," he said smoothly. "We have been investigating the plane crash."

Alessa’s eyes instantly narrowed into sharp slits. The anger vanished, replaced by cold calculating focus. She reached into her bag and pulled out a heavy velvet pouch, handing it straight to him.

"Is this why you asked me to bring these?" she asked, eyeing him carefully. "Who actually caused the crash? Sabrina, right?"

The Grand Elder took the pouch, weighing the distinct shape of multiple digital memory cards inside his palm. He shot her a suspicious glance, raising an eyebrow. "You didn’t look at what’s on these, did you?"

Alessa threw her hands up, taking two steps back in dramatic defense. "I swear on Achilles’s precious money, I haven’t seen a single file! But considering the lengths you went to hide what’s on there, it can’t be anything good. Now stop dodging the question! Who did it?"

The Grand Elder looked her dead in the eye and spoke a single name: "Trinity."

Alessa gasped, her hand flying to her chest. "Trinity! But_ wait! Sabrina has been screaming about Trinity for days! Everyone thought she was just losing her mind from the stress!"

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day," a smooth, familiar voice chimed in.

Maverick stepped out from behind a massive stone pillar, a calm, easy smile playing on his lips.

"Maverick!" Alessa’s face lit up. She rushed over and gave him a tight, fierce hug. "Thank the heavens you’re alive!" She pulled back, a devious grin spreading across her face. "Oh, this is amazing. Elliot is going to absolutely faint when he finds out you’re back and he won’t get an easy win in the tournament!"

Maverick let out a long, weary sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Please don’t remind me of Elliot. My head hurts just thinking about his grand entrances at the competitions every year."

The Grand Elder clapped his hands together, bringing the room back to order. He quickly briefed Alessa on their strategy. "We have decided to play our cards carefully. Maverick will remain officially ’dead’ until the right moment. The big resurrection grand reveal will come at the final."

Maverick walked over to a stone table where several thick, red-stamped envelopes were laid out. "Here is the immediate plan, Alessa. You are going to take these memory cards to a secret carrier. The carrier will deliver each card directly and discreetly to an individual member of the High Council and every other influential individual in the world."

Alessa tilted her head, staring at the envelopes. "What is actually in here?"

The Grand Elder chuckled, though there was an icy edge to his laugh. "Let’s just say, deeply immoral things. Scandalous secrets, illegal deals that could overthrow companies, and private recordings that could get every single member of the High Council disgraced and banished to the wildlands."

Alessa winced. "So, everything here is blackmail material?"

"Precisely," the Grand Elder said, smiling benignly like a gentle grandfather while plotting absolute political destruction. "All the targeted individuals have to do to keep these recordings from leaking to the entire world_ is immediately withdraw their support from Trinity and the Johnson clan on a chosen day. On that day, we strike."

"Strike! as in remove her form power?" Alessa’s eyes widened.

The grand elder nodded.

No army, no Soul maidens, no rescue, no divine maiden," Alessa murmured, nodding in deep approval. "Simple, ruthless, and highly effective. I love it."

Maverick carefully placed each memory card into a designated envelope, sealed them with dark wax, and labeled them in crisp, elegant calligraphy. Once finished, he picked up the stack and handed them over to Alessa.

"Keep them safe," Maverick warned gently. "If you drop those, we will be having other problems. "

"Don’t worry," Alessa smiled, tucking the heavy envelopes securely into her bag. "I’ll make sure the delivery is smooth. I am pretty sure the longevity of our clan depends on it so I will ensure that they go into the right hands."

"Hurry." The grandfather said. "Most of these people are already in the capital so it will be easy."

With a quick nod to her father and a cheerful wave to Maverick, Alessa turned on her heel and slipped back out into the compound of the sanctuary, ready to completely dismantle the Divine Maiden’s empire without firing a single shot.