Just like Pixel had announced to so many others, certain events began to take place as arrangements were being announced by the three Dukes who had wholeheartedly given their support.
Pixel giving such a speech in front of everyone had made it clear that she did not plan on using her status as one of the main bloodline to claim the position as family head.
It was also much clearer to everyone that Felice was alive and would not only be supported by her sister but she would be approved for her position by the three Dukes.
The support and approval given by Catviper, Dogstorm and Baan was more than enough to show how much of an importance the Meridian family held to them.
It was one of the favours that Pixel had asked for in order to provide the family enough time to recover before others would be able to target or try to suppress them.
After suffering so many losses recently, the family would not be in a state that would allow them to defend themselves and maintain the past activities so they needed time to stabilise once more.
The main culprits were taken away as their fates would be decided by the three Dukes while Pixel made her way back to the Meridian family grounds.
It looked far more desolate than before she left on her first journey outside of Zou and the amount of Minks still remaining were much smaller.
The internal battles, traitors and losses had taken their toll on the family leaving it with very few loyal people left within the family.
Pixel wandered the halls looking at paintings of the past family heads until she reached the portraits of her grandfather and father who were at the end.
She gazed towards the portrait of her father for a moment before focussing her full attention on the portrait of her grandfather.
A determined look appeared in her eyes and she began to ask not looking away from the portrait. "Did you secure what I asked for?"
A black robed figure stepped out from the shadows and moved towards her before kneeling down. "Young miss Pixel, I was successful in arranging for your mother to be protected but the other task was not so easy. It was only partly successful."
Pixel nodded before asking. "What do you mean?"
The shadow guard kept his head lowered in a subservient manner as they stated. "Most Vivre Cards have been secured but I am afraid that a small amount have been destroyed by the other members of the family before I could get to them."
Pixel frowned then waved her hand to dismiss them. "I do not need you around me right now. Focus on protecting my mother."
The cloaked figure remained with their head low displaying their loyalty until Pixel gave the order then moved back towards the shadows after saluting. "Yes young miss Pixel!"
The kind of loyalty the cloaked figure who was one of the shadow guards had been shown to be very high.
It had to be known that each shadow guard in the family solely served the family heads and followed no other yet the remaining shadow guards who survived or remained in the family had already treated Pixel with such reverence.
The abilities displayed during the previous events were more than enough to make them grateful for what she had done while others had acknowledged that if she wished to do so then she would make an excellent family head.
If the three Dukes agreed to it then there would be nothing to stop her from taking up such a position despite their being a family rule in place.
It was not the first time that traditions had been broken within a noble family due to an individual possessing excellent qualities and making great achievements.
Despite Pixel handing over the position to Felice, they still saw her as a temporary placeholder and some among them would be willing to assist with whatever she asked of them so long as it did not betray the family.
What Pixel had asked for from them was for her mother to be protected but there was an equally important task that had to be completed too.
The Vivre Cards of the family were required if there was to be any hope of finding those that were captured and being sold off as slaves to unknown places in the world.
Unless the Vivre Cards remained or there was a means of gaining information on their locations, it was practically impossible to find them and think of a way of saving them.
That was the reason why the Vivre Cards needed to be secured so Pixel had ordered for them to be retrieved by the shadow guards that remained loyal to the family.
They were to infiltrate the family and take advantage of the chaos during the time that the Dukes had sent their forces to enter the family to deal with any known traitors who still sided with Milo willingly.
As they were carrying out their task, a small amount of Vivre Cards were destroyed before they could secure them.
It was unknown if they were destroyed earlier to prevent the captives from being located if there was a search party to ever form among the noble families of Zou or if they had been destroyed in a panic once they were aware that their were being taken in for their crimes.
If any evidence was destroyed then their sentence could be lessened slightly and it would be even better if no unexpected witnesses showed up.
Unfortunately for them, a large amount of the Vivre Cards had remained intact which were among those which were the most important.
Despite wanting to remove as many as possible earlier, Milo and others had ordered strictly to keep the Vivre Cards to help monitor the situation of certain individuals while also keeping those of people they needed to keep track of.
After she had been made aware of the minor details of such events that transpired, Pixel continued to walk down the halls followed by some steps leading down to a darker room with guards standing blocking the way.
Upon seeing Pixel, they stepped aside allowing her entry behind the barred door.
Once she entered, the door closed behind her and she walked towards one of the prison cells that were inside.
She stopped in front of the bars coldly looking through towards the person inside.
A slightly crazed look appeared in the eyes of the female Mink upon seeing Pixel. "Have you come to laugh at me?! Have you come to mock my pathetic state? This is nothing!"
Pixel rolled her eyes in response. "Of course.. for you to endure such treatment within the family while in isolation, I am impressed but you should have stayed that way not looking for trouble."