Avrilisa Dralagma's butler returned to her, utterly distraught.
Without needing to say more, seeing her butler return in such a state, Avrilisa Dralagma already knew her fate.
Without waiting for her butler to speak, Avrilisa Dralagma, enraged, or rather, having already realized her ultimate outcome, couldn't help but unleash a torrent of curses.
"Those cowards of House Yaeger!"
"Do they even deserve to be high lord!? Guilliman hasn't even arrived, and they're already getting entangled with him!"
"Bastards, bastards! This family is a bunch of cowards; they have no fighting spirit, they don't know how to resist or fight back, all they know is how to surrender!"
In the eyes of Grand Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites , Avrilisa Dralagma, the current actions of House Yaeger were nothing short of betrayal.
Or rather, despite their family being so powerful, they actually surrendered directly to Guilliman.
The people of House Yaeger, in her opinion, lacked aristocratic spirit; they had no noble fighting spirit whatsoever!
If it were her, if it were her family, with such powerful military might, she would never compromise with Guilliman—son of a god, my foot!
He would merely become a plaything in the hands of their nobility!
Avrilisa Dralagma was somewhat indignant, and this already highlighted a drawback of Guilliman's past desire to have mortals govern the Imperium.
It's not wrong for mortals to govern the Imperium, but it depends on what kind of mortals govern the Imperium.
Mortals are ignorant; they are clueless and do not possess the innate knowledge passed down through genes.
They are not like the ordinary people of Zeke's Terran Dominion, who acquire a vast amount of knowledge simply by being born.
Each one of them, placed in any other ordinary civilization, could become a scientist.
They lack knowledge, and mortals are also easily misled by others, especially those who could become high lord; they possess ambitions that are difficult for even themselves to control.
Ambition is truly a good thing; it has propelled human development, making humanity the former Overlord of the galaxy, and ensuring the Imperium of Man remains the most powerful force in the galaxy, bar none.
However, beyond that, the troubles it brings are far-reaching and terrifying!
These individuals lack the superhuman wisdom and insight of a Primarch, which leads them to serve only their small houses.
The era of the Primarchs passed ten thousand years ago, and House Yaeger has not intervened in the Imperium of Man for ten thousand years.
Now, some of these high lord have completely forgotten how this Imperium has managed to sustain itself until now.
Grand Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites , Avrilisa Dralagma, rather than being unwilling to compromise with Guilliman, it would be more accurate to say she wasn't even prepared to compromise with the Emperor.
She was an extremely ambitious noble; in her view, everything should serve her family.
Avrilisa Dralagma cursed vehemently, then, after pacing back and forth, she once again called out to her butler, who had already retreated far to the side, pretending not to exist.
"You are to immediately order our family's soldiers to prepare for battle, and at the same time, issue directives in the name of the High Lords Council to all forces within the Solar System, forbidding any unit from leaving Terra or the Solar System!"
House Yaeger could no longer stand on her side, so what could she use to contend with Guilliman now?
Political means are only effective when the Imperium is intact and everyone still adheres to the rules, but that is clearly not the case now.
Guilliman's arrival signifies a change in power, so political means are meaningless at this point; what is needed is violence.
What she wanted to do was simple: mobilize the Imperial Army within the Solar System to confront Guilliman, and rely on the military power she controlled to assert her independence.
Even if Guilliman's arrival brought a large number of glorious gloriana-class battleships and more of the Imperial Navy.
"Yes," the butler turned and left after hearing Avrilisa Dralagma's command, deciding to execute his mistress's orders and relay the directive.
He slowly walked towards the door, but before he could pull it open, the door was kicked open directly, revealing 8 gold-armored guards and 8 silver-armored guards.
Is there any place on Terra that the Emperor's Custodes cannot investigate? Aside from the land of House Yaeger, which the Emperor's Custodes cannot investigate, where else could escape their scrutiny?
So, when this fellow was preparing to assert his independence with military force, the Emperor's Custodes had already sent people to call on him, and for House Yaeger, it was even simpler.
Is there any place on all of Terra that can escape House Yaeger's investigation?
Only the Emperor's Throne Room; no other place can escape House Yaeger's detection.
Now, someone dared to slander House Yaeger here, so what should be done? These Emperor's Custodes of House Yaeger were very experienced.
The Emperor's Custodes and House Yaeger's Custodes forces met on the road, and after the 8 Emperor's Custodes in charge of this operation exchanged glances, they confirmed that their objectives were consistent, leading to the current scene of both parties calling on her together.
The main door was kicked open, and such a loud noise naturally caught the attention of the Grand Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites .
Avrilisa Dralagma turned her head towards the direction of the door, and what greeted her eyes were 8 silver-white and 8 golden Emperor's Custodes appearing before her.
It's over… She remembered a legend, which said that anyone who criticized House Yaeger or intended to harm them would be annihilated by a silver Emperor's Custodes force.
This Emperor's Custodes force, whose armor was entirely silver, would eliminate anyone disrespectful to House Yaeger.
She had never cared for this legend, believing it to be nothing more than a strange tale circulated by some cowardly houses.
House Yaeger? They were merely a former Governor's family of the Segmentum Obscurus.
Moreover, they were no longer the Governors of the Segmentum Obscurus.
Perhaps they still possessed some power and political resources, but were they truly that terrifying?
And now, this legend seemed to be true?
She truly saw House Yaeger's Emperor's Custodes, and at the same time, she also saw the appearance of the Emperor's Custodes, then recalled the words she had spoken earlier.
Avrilisa Dralagma already understood her fate.
The Emperor's Custodes had already been mobilized, so there was nothing more to say.
As the Grand Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites , she still maintained her noble decorum and composure. She did not display any unseemly behavior at this moment; instead, she stood up with a calm expression.
"If I'm not mistaken, you gentlemen are here to arrest me, aren't you? Then come. The Emperor's Custodes have already been dispatched, so I presume the matter is settled. This political struggle was won by Guilliman, wasn't it?"
"I only regret that I wasn't as decisive as Guilliman. I only regret that Guilliman arrived so quickly, preventing me from making a timely response."
Avrilisa Dralagma already knew her end, so at this moment, she spoke her thoughts without reservation.
However, regarding everything she said, neither the forces dispatched by House Yaeger nor the Emperor's Custodes made any response.
They merely advanced indifferently to apprehend her, then removed her ability to speak.
This person was truly too noisy; if it weren't for her death needing to have some value and meaning, to deter other high lord, she would have died long ago.
However, to prevent her from making any inappropriate sounds when she was executed, the Emperor's Custodes still performed a "de-voicing" procedure on her.