A great commotion swept through the inner palace after Liams letter arrived at Cleos residence.
Among Cleos servants was a spy who reported the news to Crown Prince Calvin, and counterasures were imdiately made in response.
The nobles who supported Calvin had gathered for a eting.
They couldnt understand this developnt.
The declining Banfield house sohow managed to bounce back a little, and now theyre acting so full of themselves.
A little? Are you blind? The Banfield house of today is stronger than how they were during their golden years. Their present head is hailed as a hero of this era.
But declining an invitation from the crown prince is just too much.
All of noble society was watching in anticipation for which side Count Banfield would choose among Calvin or Linus.
However, he ended up declaring that he would back Cleo instead.
The aristocrats were sent into a frenzy at this.
Im concerned about how the families allied with the Banfield house will react to this.
Fortunately, the majority of them are composed of people who try to stay away from the court battles. I dont think theyll step in this ti either.
Do you think Cleos faction will beco a third power? The timing couldnt be worse.
Silently looking over this eting was a handso young man sporting a beard the Crown Prince Calvin himself.
He listened to the conversation of the nobles with a smile.
Well, this is puzzling. Why would he ally with Cleo of all people? Is this due to Wallaces influence? My younger brother shouldve been aware of Cleos circumstances though.
Wallaces na was suddenly brought up in the eting, which was then followed by Cedrics.
Ive heard that Prince Wallace was close to Prince Cedric of the military.
Wasnt His Highness Cedric a Major General? Another prince with the backing of Count Banfield?
Then, could that an that theyre conspiring with each other to make a new faction? It would be troubleso if other mbers of the royal family began consolidating their power.
Itd be problematic for the nobles to see other royals moving to support Cleo.
Calvin let out a sigh.
I dont want to kill too many of my siblings.
The nobles began complaining about Calvins reaction.
As the crown prince, rcy will only allow your enemies to co back with vengeance!
If youre too forgiving, your life will be forfeit, Your Highness!
We need to purge the filth from the royal family once again!
If sothing was inconvenient for them, the aristocrats wouldnt hesitate to eliminate the problem in a heartbeat.
The nobles were desperate to make Calvin the emperor.
After all, if their chosen prince beca the countrys ruler, all those here would be given important positions as a reward.
But on the other handif Calvin were to lose, they had no idea what the next emperor would do to them as punishnt for their choices.
His Highness Linus wont miss this chance. Your Highness, we need to move quickly!
Although the Empire wasnt without its own problems, when considering the current state of the neighboring countries this could the ideal ti to push for succession.
Calvin nodded at this statent.
Its such a sha. If Linus were just a bit less ambitious, then he wouldnt have forced my hand. Ill leave the details regarding this matter to you all.
In a different area of the inner palace, the second princes faction was gathering.
Giving off more of an uptight impression when compared to his older brother Linus was also the person with the second highest rights to inherit the throne.
His ambitions were intense even among the royal family.
A report from the spy stationed to Cleo says that Count Banfield has refused to swear fealty to .
The nobles were outraged when they heard this.
What?!
He had the audacity to refuse the invitation of His Highness Linus?!
Your Highness, how should we respond to this?
Linus was an ambitious individual with a face akin to a fox.
His eyes opened wide as his thoughts drifted to the Banfield house.
He chose to back not my older brother nor myself, but Cleo of all people? What are his intentions? Does this an he thinks Cleo will win the succession war?
The aristocrats fell silent at his words.
Linuss faction consisted mainly of nobles that werent accepted into the Calvins.
While so of them chose Linus with actual hopes of overturning the situation, others were simply trying to parasitize off of the prince on chance he beca emperor.
So while he had the numbers, Linuss subordinates lacked the quality of Calvins faction.
Thats one of the reasons why he reached out to the powerful Liam.
He rudely refused my invitation and chose my younger brother with poor prospects to succeed the throne instead this impertinence cant be forgiven.
The nobility understood how Linus felt, but still tried to dissuade him.
Were currently in conflict with the crown princes faction. If we start fighting with the Banfield house as well, the only one to benefit would be your older brother. Theres also the movents of the neighboring countries to consider. Itd be stupid to move rashly.
And let my enemies consolidate their power? Never. We need to move quickly.
Please heed our council, this is a turning point in the succession war!
For Linus, the Banfield house wasnt his only problem.
The movents of neighboring countries had grown chaotic, and this was his chance to exploit their mont of weakness.
Not to ntion the many other things he had planned.
I know what youre saying, but he needs to pay for what hes done. He refused my invitation and committed an act akin to spitting in my face. I cant just let this slide.
The nobles looked away.
Linus seed to be thinking about how severe the sanctions he should enforce in retaliation should be.
In that case, how are we going to punish them?
Linus smiled at this query.
Doesnt the majority of his profit co from selling rare tals? The Empire has already secured the supplies we need, so lets halt all transactions with the Banfield house imdiately. The rchants need to be sternly warned of this as well.
Wait! The Banfield houses Liam currently has the Clave and Newlands companies as contracted purveyors! They have plenty of other channels to sell off their rare tals.
But Linus was aware of this as well.
He wasnt worried.
Hes not contracted with the companies themselves, but with Elliot and Patrice two high ranking mbers within their respective businesses. The organizations themselves dont support the Banfield house. Whats important is that others among their boards of directors see them as eyesores.
In other words, they were going to have an injunction filed on them as the last nail in the coffin.
After hearing that much, the nobles had no choice but to accept.
A direct fight would hinder their struggle against Calvins faction. However
Well move if we have the leeway too, but its best to save our strength for when we fight the crown prince. His Highness Calvin is unlikely to reach out to Count Banfield again after his invitation was rejected, but leaving them alone could give them a chance to work together and corner us.
The nobles explained their point in a way Linus could accept.
Anything is fine as long as he regrets going against . The Count needs a reminder as to who he just picked a fight with.
Cheers!
We were currently at a bar.
University students often gathered here and partied every night.
The tavern was built with the youth in mind, so the majority of the custors were students.
As such, many of the gatherings here were actually mixers.
And yet and yet!
Wallace, what the hell is this?!
Seeing as how the two of us were drinking alone at the counter, I couldnt help but complain.
Wallace was practically drowning himself in alcohol.
Didnt you say thered be girls?!
When I grabbed his clothes and shook him, Wallace let out a deflated laugh.
Its over Im done for My na has been popping up in my brothers etings, and Ive been dragged into the succession war
Wallace was broken.
Even though he said thered be girls here, we were now drinking on our own in a noisy bar.
You canceled our mixer with girls for that?
I tightened my grip on Wallaces clothes, but he just gave an empty laugh in response.
When I finally let him go, he went right back to drinking again.
As if you could understand , Liam! Both my na and Cedrics were ntioned during my brothers faction etings! At this rate, Ill be killed no matter who wins!
The struggle for the throne was a matter of life or death.
If you made the wrong choice on who to side with, youd be killed after you lost.
And depending on the next emperor, the way theyd kill you would change.
But even then, execution would be a rcy.
No matter how scary actually dying was during the succession wars, the worst part was the torture that ca afterwards.
In fear of this, Wallace has been doing everything he could to avoid getting involved in this matter.
And yet here he was involved in it.
He looked kind of pitiful, so I poured him a drink.
Calm down, I wouldnt have chosen to support the third prince if I didnt think I had a chance of winning.
How so?! Choosing Cleo was practically a death sentence! He doesnt have a chance at all!
what are you saying?
When I asked that, Wallace took another swig of his drink before answering.
Cleo was originally a girl.
Huh?
Im saying that he was born a girl, but his mother declared him a man!
I couldnt help but ponder this statent.
This was a universe with highly advanced science and technology.
There was even magic here.
In such a place, did people seriously still struggle with determining a childs birth gender?
Wouldnt the truth be easy to reveal if that were the case?
its because of my fathers sick whims. Cleos mother ca from a family that originally supported a hostile faction. They were forgiven in the end, but were left struggling for quite a while.
The family Cleos mother ca from was once a powerful house.
Although the emperor had eventually pardoned them, the scars from that ti were never truly forgotten.
And so, an insidious plan for revenge began.
Theres laws in place that make it illegal to change the gender of minors, let alone babies that cant even choose for themselves, but the family had the doctor swear an oath of secrecy to hide the sexes of the children born there. Cleos mother ended up bearing three children, but they were all girls. The third one was her last chance, and if it didnt work out, then that was the end for her.
The end?
She wouldve lost her position in the inner palace. The other mothers had already given birth to boys, and with her only having daughters, Cleos mother was losing standing among them.
How bad it got couldnt be said.
But in any case, the hierarchy among the won that couldnt leave the inner palace was important.
So Cleo is actually a girl?
No, he had his gender artificially changed to male. When my father learned the truth, he laughed and said, Ill make him third in line to inherit the throne.
So whats the problem then?
So people can change their sex that easily? This universe is amazing.
Its a big problem! If this beca a viable strategy to increase ones standing, then all of my sisters would end up becoming my brothers! To stop this, my father made Cleo into a laughing stock, turning him into an example as to what would happen to those who falsified the genders of their children.
He was third in line for the throne in na only, Cleos actual position and standing were far worse than his title. Nobody respected him.
I fell into thought at this revelation.
this was a chance.
Thats great!
Huh?! Havent you been listening to ?! Theres no future to siding with Cleo!
How so? As long as hes willing to accept his position then theres no problem. Rather, Ive been looking for a guy like him.
A prince hostile to my potential foe the emperor.
Even if their relationship wasnt belligerent, it was a fact that they didnt get along well.
In conclusion, it was highly unlikely that Cleo had anything to do with my true enemy.
On the contrary, as he resented his father we had a common adversary.
That was all assuming the emperor was an enemy, though.
This would still be a lucky find either way.
Cleo was soone that I could use in the future.
Wallace, today we celebrate! Drink as much as you want!
After I asked the bar master to bring more alcohol, Wallace started drinking again.
Even if you didnt say that, I was planning to anyways!
The luxury hotel in the imperial capital where Liam was currently residing.
There was currently a knight stationed there.
His na was [Klaus Sera Monto] he was over three hundred years old, and had the appearance of soone in their thirties.
He looked older than he shouldve because he got easily stressed, but he was still a knight that served the Banfield house for several decades.
With that said, he wasnt soone that was tortured by pirates or petrified in stone.
He wasnt a knight who loved combat either, he was just a normal person.
Before eventually pledging himself to Liam, he served another noble house.
However, that family was driven to ruin, and it was only on his journey to find a new liege that he discovered the Banfield house.
For this reason, he wasnt as excessively loyal as so of the other knights were.
He was fine as long as he could fulfill his duties, but he was still just a normal guy.
Nevertheless, he was now the commander of Liams personal guard.
How did this happen?
He sighed as he said this. Recently hes been sighing more often, and while hes been doing his best to keep it in check, he just couldnt stop.
The reason was simple.
All he wanted was a stable life. Rising up the ranks didnt interest him at all.
The reason why Klaus was assigned so close to Liam was because Tia and Marie were stripped of their positions as the head and deputy knights.
Currently, those two had returned to Liams territory to hunt pirates and earn money.
And Klaus was sent here in their place.
Among Liams knights, he had a modest work ethic.
He preferred following others orders and didnt mind giving up credit on the battlefield.
Dont get him wrong, he liked his job, but hed only put in a normal amount of effort into it.
Being evaluated highly did make him happy, but only to a certain point.
As Klaus was making his way down one of the hotels corridors, he passed by so of his n.
Captain Klaus! Do we have any orders to sortie?!
We should hunt down the pirates near the imperial capital!
Lets go pick a fight with soone!
They were bloodthirsty subordinates hungry for a fight, no matter who the opponent was.
(Why are all of my subordinates battle junkies?)
The people whose lives were saved by Liam were loyal to the point of fanaticism.
Serving Liam also guaranteed the officers that they would get to fight as much as they wanted.
They were people who didnt really think about anything else thats the kind of subordinates they were.
Be prepared to receive Lord Liams orders at any mont.
The n crisply saluted to Klaus, who answered their queries calmly.
Yes, sir!
As his n left, Klaus dropped his shoulders.
I want to return to a normal knight squad
His subordinates were excellent, but they were too bloodthirsty.
As he thought about that, Klauss deputy had approached him.
Oh? Klaus, you look like hell.
Not even bothering to address her boss appropriately was a female knight, one wearing a uniform based off of Chinese clothing.
Chengshi, huh?
Her long black hair was tied up like dumplings on both sides, which then fell into twin tails down her back.
She was tall, and her supple limbs didnt seem like those a woman familiar with combat would have.
But she was definitely a knight, and one on par with heroes like Tia and Marie at that.
Her na was [Chengshi Sera Tourei].
The edges of her eyes were decorated with red eye shadow.
She was definitely beautiful, but the air around her felt like that of a savage.
Do you know when Lord Liam is returning?
Klaus couldnt help but feel that she was the most unstable of the knights he knew.
(Why does Lord Liam continue to keep such dangerous people by his side?)
Lord Liam is still out, but even when he returns you should keep your distance, Chengshi.
Klaus was always on guard around her.
The reason was obvious.
Thats too bad, and here I thought Id get a chance to challenge the rumoured School of the One-Flash.
She was aiming to fight with Liam.
There were many among Liams knights that were quick to jump to violence.
They were barbaric knights who only thought about fighting the strong.
But even among them, Chengshi was an individual with outstanding talents and capability.
Ive already told you this many tis, but turning your blade towards Lord Liam is a death sentence!
Ive been constantly proclaiming that I wanted to see his strength for so ti now, so isnt being assigned here the sa as him accepting my challenge?
Liam was the one who selected his guards.
Therefore, that was the only way she could interpret his choices.
(Just why are my subordinates so bloodthirsty?!)
Klaus cried this out in his heart.
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