Annan was not sure how much of his advice Albert actually took to heart.
But at least he nodded, indicating that he would consider it seriously.
However, as Prince Albert had said... in the Kingdom of Noah, even if he was willing to communicate with Nicholas, Nicholas might not be willing to communicate with him.
With the Rotful Church being expelled and imprisoned, the third Prince would inevitably suffer a heavy blow—yet the Eldest Princess, who had been suppressed by the Rotful Church, would gain an even more significant advantage. Furthermore, with the King’s health deteriorating... as ti went on, more and more officials and nobles would shift their allegiance to the Eldest Princess.
The Eldest Princess was originally appointed by the King as the heir to the throne.
The balance of power that had erged from the conflict between the Eldest Princess and the third Prince would collapse instantly.
In such a situation, if the third Prince tried to cling to life, he could only seek an alliance with him to have any chance of opposing the Eldest Princess.
Of course, Albert would definitely not be willing to form an alliance with him. Because he also knew that the third Prince’s previous plans for sacrifice involved not only the old King and the Eldest Princess but also him, an unremarkable, low-profile prince.
But whether the Eldest Princess would believe it... that was far from certain.
For the Eldest Princess, with her military background, whether it was the Silver Baron Church or the Rotful Church, both were threats to the Kingdom of Noah, unstable elents—outsiders who planned to seize power of the kingdom.
To her, the third Prince, who was close to the Rotful Church, and the fourth Prince, who was close to the Silver Baron Church, were both enemies to be eliminated and suppressed. And compared to the completely powerless third Prince, Albert’s presence beca even more pronounced.
So for Albert, after the fall of the Rotful Church, he fell into a desperate situation—both other royal heirs, who had not bothered with him before, now held hostility towards him... trying to kill him.
And when the Rotful Church treated him as a puppet to manipulate at will, he was able to live safely, acting as a lubricant in the situation.
If it were before, Albert could completely give up the relationship with the Silver Baron Church and fully turn to the Eldest Princess, completely lowering his posture, and simply begging for survival—yes, given Albert’s lazy, non-confrontational, mild fearful nature, he indeed could do such a thing.
But now the situation was different.
Albert learned that the only Curse Binding on his daughter Kafney was the inheritance of the throne...
Even Albert, with little understanding of the Transcendent world, knew that violating a Curse Binding would cause great harm to a Transcendent. It could even possibly lead to death.
Yet even so, he still did not resolve to set his heart on seizing the throne.
He just planned to "go back and see first."
So he did not completely sever ties with the Silver Baron Church, nor did he fully side with it.
But upon learning that Annan needed to go to the Royal Capital at the end of spring,
he made a sowhat bold move—
He wanted to leave Kafney temporarily at Roth Fort and return to see the situation for himself.
"I’m not sure if the expulsion of the Rotful Church would result in an imdiate arrest under the divine sign, or if it would need to be done one by one,"
Albert sighed at that mont and said to Annan with so sorrow, "If it’s the latter, I have every reason to believe... that we can’t capture all the Rotful believers. We can only prioritize controlling those high-ranking Rotful believers."
For example, his wife.
It was only now that Albert realized why, after so many years of marriage, he only had Kafney as a child, not even an illegitimate child...
He could even guess when his wife started worshiping Rotful.
Four and five years after the birth of Kafney, his wife had been pregnant twice, but had miscarriages both tis under the ticulous care of the royal family, and no reason could be found. Now the answer seed clear... the fundantal reason was his wife herself.
After that, his wife never got pregnant again. And because of his guilt and reluctance, he did not attempt to remarry another wife.
"But I’m afraid they’ll guess that this has sothing to do with —I can almost be sure of it."
Albert sighed, "If I’m careful, I can definitely save myself. If it cos to it, I just won’t leave the church in the Royal Capital... but it’s different for Kafney.
"Besides the Rotful Church keeping an eye on her, those from the Hers faction are also watching her. I might not have the energy to protect her in the Royal Capital..."
When he said this, he covertly glanced at Bishop Daryl.
Although Bishop Daryl’s actions were subtle, Albert noticed Daryl’s reverence for Annan. But he was smart and never spoke of it openly.
Leaving Kafney in Roth Fort for a few months was also a helpless choice for him.
To be honest, leaving his beautiful daughter alone in a foreign land, he was not very reassured...
After all, she was his only daughter.
But if he stayed here and did not fight for the throne, Kafney would probably die; if he decided to go back and fight for the throne, leaving Kafney in the Royal Capital would most likely still result in her death.
She had only this one way out.
Staying in Roth Fort was the safest choice.
The identity of Bishop Daryl was very mysterious, but Albert knew that he was even acquainted with his grandfather—the previous King of Noah.
This revealed that Bishop Daryl’s real age was significant, far exceeding the life limit of ordinary people... and yet he was not a Transcendent. But this "middle-aged man" appeared to be only in his forties.
However, this "middle-aged man" was able to summon the Silver Baron himself.
Yet even soone like him showed utmost respect and courtesy towards Annan.
Furthermore, considering Annan’s true identity...
The act of leaving Kafney here by Albert was, in fact, a well-considered move.
If he could seize the throne, then the friendship that Kafney was forming with Annan at this mont would beco the foundation for a peaceful relationship between the two nations once Annan inherited the title of Duke.
This differed from the current King’s aggressive policies and the Eldest Princess’s insistence on a strong hand.
Albert, who was more in touch with the common folk, deeply understood that the people of Noah did not like war; they cherished peace.
What was more critical is that during the years following peace, their lives had improved rapidly... This instinctively made them averse to war.
This was undoubtedly a good thing for the developnt of the nation.
And the concept of his father to unify the five countries and rebuild the Great Barrier was naturally also a good idea...
But the problem lay in the fact that.
Compared with the densely populated underworld federation, where daylight is rare, the people of Winter who are accustod to the long, cold frosts of The North Lands, the United Kingdom where the people are hardened by rampant piracy, and The Holy Nation with the most advanced technology.
Apart from the most fertile lands and richest tal ore reserves, what other advantages does the Noah Kingdom have?
What does he have to compete with them?
Will this not make others realize that Noah is but a weak and plump sheep?
Albert deeply knew to not get angry easily.
Once he beca angry, he would try to use his true power. Only then would the enemies who previously feared him realize that his true strength was actually limited.
Uniting the five countries was not completely impossible. The act itself was aningful.
However, this war should never be initiated by the people of Noah—
Otherwise, they, occupying the best position, might just end up being surrounded and attacked.
The old King was indeed a noble man.
He only thought about rebuilding the Great Barrier... but forgot about the greed of others.
And currently, only the Duchy of Winter, the Noah Kingdom, and the United Kingdom needed the protection of the Great Barrier.
The Underworld has already adapted to life in the Underworld—And the Mist cannot penetrate deep underground.
As for The Holy Nation...
The Holy Nation has permanently solved the Mist problem.
They built countless Towers of Heaven that soar into the clouds—constructing their cities in the sky.
They too have barriers, but their purpose is to purify the air high above, allowing their residents to survive in the heavens.
Yes, the Mist is not infinite. It has a limit to its height.
The Underworld chose to flee downwards, The Holy Nation chose to escape upwards... The problem is, they both succeeded.
Even if the Mist completely buried the surface world, it would have nothing to do with them.
Therefore, they would never support the unification of the five countries.
The Noah Kingdom has not yet suffered invasion by The Holy Nation, simply because The Holy Nation is at the far east and they at the far west, spanning the entire Aesirland continent.
...and because The Holy Nation doesn’t have the resources to build another set of floating islands.
They look down on the people of Noah—indeed, they look down on all other surface dwellers, that’s all.
Albert was not foolish, on the contrary, he was quite intelligent.
But at the sa ti, he was lazy and sowhat cowardly. He knew well that with his temperant, he was not suited to be a king...
However.
—Kafney was different from him.
"Will she be the future Queen of Noah..."
After Albert left, Annan, gazing at Kafney who was clutching his sleeve, reflected deeply.
It didn’t feel quite right...
But as things were wrapping up here.
Annan knew what he should do first:
Yes, he should distribute rewards to the players who "participated in the main questline."
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