Path To Godhood Begins With Marrying Wife And Gaining SSS Rank Skill Chapter 828:Take The Gold

Ethan stared at the woman who maintained a resolute face.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked with a serious expression.

Elena gave Ethan a brief glance and nodded.

"Yes."

"I don't want to live in Blanks, nor do I want to be tied to your family. Freed, I don't want to be tied down by anything again." Elena added her thoughts as she looked at Ethan with a calm but determined expression.

Though she had given herself for a momentary pleasure she knew where to put the limit.

Ethan stared at her for a moment and sighed.

'Such decisiveness...'

'Not that anyone can be the Crown Princess.'

For the past few days, Ethan had tried to bring Elena under his wing but she refused it outright.

She knew when to stop and still maintained the sense of propriety.

Ethan got up and placed a crystal ball before her. The crystal ball gave off a faint glow as it rested on the table.

"Keep it. If you require anything, you can contact me with this."

Ethan then gave her a last look before turning around and walking out, leaving Elena alone. She watched his back disappear from her sight and bit her lips slightly.

'If only I wasn't the Crown Princess.'

She regretted that choice, but sadly, that was the only thing she could do.

...…

Ethan got back swiftly. After days of intense pressure, having a few moments of fun to relieve himself felt surreal. The peaceful time he had spent with Elena had allowed him to relax for a while, but the moment he returned, the weight of everything waiting for him came back.

On getting back, he immediately contacted the Black Thorns to learn about the current situation. As soon as he got the report, he stood there dazed and bewildered. There was so much information that it took him a moment to process everything.

"Sir Ethan, we have found an enormous amount of gold in the main vault of the Ambrose Family," one of the Black Thorns reported as he stood before Ethan with a serious expression. "It was filled with gold to the brim, and the counting is still not finished."

Ethan's eyebrows rose slightly.

"However, we weren't able to find the artifacts and other treasures," the man continued. "We searched the vault thoroughly, but there was nothing like that inside."

Ethan nodded slightly and motioned for him to continue.

"The other members of the Black Thorns have gone to destroy the sites of the Devine Family. After being tortured, a few people gave away the locations they knew about, and our Black Thorns raided those places."

The man paused for a moment before continuing.

"There were still people out there researching in those places. Our teams found and killed them, but it has been noticed that a few of them managed to sneak out."

Ethan listened to all of it calmly. His expression remained unchanged as he absorbed every piece of information. After a moment, he looked at the man and asked,

"What are the casualties?"

The man reporting froze for a moment. His fingers tightened slightly before he lowered his head and bowed down.

"72 people have been killed so far."

Ethan closed his eyes on hearing this. His expression remained calm, but his fingers slowly tightened at his side.

Seventy-two.

Those weren't just numbers to him. Every one of them had been trained by the Black Thorns and had followed his orders into dangerous places. Losing so many people in such a short period was something Ethan couldn't simply ignore.

For a few moments, he remained silent.

Ethan pressed his forehead and spoke, "Compensate all their families if they have any. If not, give them a peaceful resting place."

"Those who have partaken in the mission, give them a bonus and a few days' break. Tell them to enjoy themselves however they want as long as they don't bring this disobedience back with them."

The man nodded and asked, "Also, Lady Rina has sent a query asking about what to do with the gold."

"The Empress must be coveting it for sure."

Ethan thought for a moment as he tapped his fingers on the table. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"Take some of the gold. Don't make it obvious like an empty portion. For each location, take around 10 to 20% of gold."

Blanks had been economically sufficient, but since the war, the money flowing into Blanks had been decreasing by a huge margin.

Also, they had paid a huge sum of money to Arcadia for compensation.

If things went on like this, there might be a trade deficit later on. But this money might be able to cover up things.

"My Lord, but what if Her Majesty catches wind?" he asked cautiously.

Hiding everything from her wouldn't be that easy. The man knew that the Empress had her own people and sources of information, so keeping such a huge amount of gold hidden would not be simple.

"It won't be, but shouldn't we get a cut too?" Ethan smiled back.

You Emperors are all gonna fill your pockets, but your subordinate can't, huh?

However, knowing Ophelia, she was quite decent and bearing. She didn't look like someone who would engage in petty politics. Ethan didn't think she would make a big issue out of it, especially when Blanks had also suffered losses and expenses during the war.

"Report them and ask them to finish the task quickly. Also, send back the things recovered from the raids. I want to take a look."

"Yes, My Lord."

The man bowed deeply before turning around and leaving the room. Ethan remained seated for a moment and looked at the table, his fingers still tapping lightly against its surface. There were still many things that needed to be dealt with, and the aftermath of the war was far from over.

...….

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