Chapter 550: Act 298 – The Vortex
Just as Brendel had predicted, with a slight difference, about an hour after he finished reading the letter, the same secret message arrived at Princess Grifian’s desk, quietly lying on the ebony surface.
Outside the window was the scene before the coming of the Ampere Seale storm, wind and rain obscuring the view; the gloom interwoven above the entire harbor had caused the daylight to pass, and although it was still noon, it was nearing dusk.
Occasional lightning pierced through the cloud layer, and the rumbling of thunder accompanied the stark white flashes that cast shadows of gnarled trees onto the carpet through the glass window.
“What is the situation outside?” Princess Grifian asked.
“We are surrounded inside and out; the chances of breaking through are slim, but if Your Highness decides, our knightly order will certainly fight our way out for you.” The knight who knelt on one knee was drenched, water streaming from his red cape soaked the precious carpet, but no one blamed him.
“No need for that. Please step outside and change into dry clothes, Lord Ledel,” the Half-Elf Maiden replied with a nod.
The knight expressed his gratitude and rose to leave.
“What exactly is the Sword of Earth?” She raised her head, casting her gaze towards the others in the room. “Has anyone seen it appear within our borders?”
“That…” Overwell’s expression was somewhat peculiar. “In fact, yes, and it’s one of our own.”
“Our own?” Grifian was somewhat displeased. “How come I didn’t know about this?”
“I only just learned of it, Your Highness,” Overwell quickly explained. “It was Rowse.”
“Rowse? The Rowse from Ouding? Delarl? The youngest son of Delarl, the current heir of the Ouding family, the Earl of Ouding?” The princess paused, recalling the man. “Wasn’t he sent by my father to the Southlands to search for the whereabouts of the Lionheart Sword…?” She suddenly fell silent. In just a short span of six months, the kingdom had changed, and the Lionheart Sword now lay in her hands, as if the upheaval in Erluin had happened in the blink of an eye.
“What on earth is going on?” she asked.
“Ouding is just outside. Why not let him describe it in person? Messages from outsiders may inevitably carry biases,” Overwell replied.
Grifian nodded.
After a brief wait, a pale Ouding entered the view of everyone; he had nearly lost his life during the battle at the Loop of Trade Winds but was saved by the passing great druid Andrew. Although his visible injuries had largely healed over the months, the underlying damage remained, and after a long journey, his expression appeared even more haggard.
Nonetheless, he respectfully bowed to Grifian first.
“Earl Ouding, are your injuries serious? Do you need to rest for a moment?” The Half-Elf Maiden furrowed her brows at his state. Although she had already heard about the incident involving his group at the Loop, she hadn’t expected it to be this severe.
“It’s just a minor injury, no need. Instead, the matter concerning Your Highness is more urgent,” Ouding replied. In fact, before the division among the royal factions, he had leaned toward the elder son’s side, but this faction had unwittingly shaken in the past month or two.
Every time he thought of the young man he had encountered at the Loop, he couldn’t help but remember the choice he had made back then. Thus, upon learning that the Lionheart Sword had fallen into the hands of the princess’s faction, he did not hesitate to come here directly.
“Then please describe the situation at that time,” the princess said.
Ouding nodded and began recounting the events of the battle. He was not a great storyteller, but his narration was structured and logically coherent. The adventure at the Loop of Trade Winds, which had lasted for months, shrunk to a story of less than ten minutes in his words, but even so, he clearly laid out the sequence of events.
When he finished, the room fell silent. Overwell was already aware, but Princess Grifian couldn’t help but take a soft breath, “You’re saying the sword is in that person’s hands? He is the Lord of Toniger? His name is Brendel, right?”
“Yes,” Ouding nodded, but inwardly he thought that the princess indeed knew that young man.
“Is there any chance for him to return the sword to the Lionmen?” Livwz suddenly broke the silence with a question.
Everyone couldn’t help but shake their heads. Although Master Livwz was a top court wizard in Erluin, he still lacked understanding of politics. The Sword of Earth was indeed one of the objectives of the Hallowed Temple of Earth, but it was not the true cause of this war; whether or not the Sword was present, war would inevitably happen and persist.
To take a thousand steps back, once the army mobilized, there would be no retreat.
Ouding looked at the chief wizard with some disdain. He belonged to the opposite faction and probably held bias against everyone present, except for Princess Grifian. Never had he heard of Erluin yielding its interests without war pressing it.
“Even if the Hallowed Temple agreed, the Lionmen would not. Mobilization of the army is no small matter, Master,” the princess shook her head, “Since things have transpired, we should consider what to do next.”
“What about you all?” Her gaze swept across everyone.
“We should find a way to mobilize the southern troops while clarifying our stance. Duke Vieiro has yet to make his position known. He is a sworn enemy of Count Rendener, having crossed Anlek Province, and the Temple has very little actual control over the south. We can seek his support,” Makarolo quickly answered.
“Who would command a sinking ship?” someone asked.
“No, if we still have the three territories, there would be strategic maneuvering space. The Lionmen have already taken the lead to attack, and by then the north would be caught between enemies. The Temple will not sit idly by,” Makarolo responded.
Everyone in the room fell silent, and Princess Grifian looked deeply at this cunning fox. This plan seemed far-fetched and completely unfeasible, but on second thought, it wasn’t without opportunity.
Makarolo might have figured out the intricacies; if Toniger’s forces joined with Vieiro to attack Rendener’s territory, reaching a private agreement with the royal faction, then the southern three territories would align with the princess.
Moreover, with the ambiguous stances of Karasu and Golan-Elsen, the royal faction would effectively divide Erluin between north and south. Although the lack of Anlek’s participation meant that the north would be a luxury to hope for, the current situation indicated that once Toniger’s forces and Vieiro took action, the Temple would dare not move against the royalists still positioned at Ampere Seale.
In the end, the Temple might have to compromise with the royal faction, but if that happened, Erluin could only face division.
This was a wise choice, but Earl Ouding frowned at the thought. Everyone present was intelligent; no one could easily deceive the other. Overwell and the others had their hands resting on the sword hilts, and he couldn’t help but glance at Makarolo; there was no need for such remarks to be made publicly.
Was he trying to express a stance?
This was likely the position of the Duke of Lantonrand; once the north and south divided, Anlek’s situation would become dire. It was well known that the Duke of Lantonrand had a bitter feud with Anlek.
The princess gently shook her head. “I reject this proposal. The royal faction may fail, but Erluin cannot be divided.”
Everyone’s expressions changed, with only Overwell slightly frowning. Ouding raised his head, scrutinizing the beautiful princess as if he was discovering some underlying strength within her for the first time.
“Your Highness,” Makarolo couldn’t help but remind her.
“After we are gone, there will still be those who remember the glorious banner of our predecessor, Eke. But if Erluin becomes divided, there will no longer be an opportunity for unity.” The Half-Elf Maiden’s silver eyes seemed to see through the mists of the future as she replied softly, seated there.
This was the tragedy of a small nation; Erluin’s fate was still manipulated by the Crusian. This kingdom had survived through internal unity until now, but once it split, it was likely that the Crusian would no longer grant it a chance to reunite.
The princess was clear about this point, as was everyone present; only some pretended not to know.
“Let’s discuss the current situation,” Overwell interjected.
“No need,” Grifian suddenly understood something and sighed. “You all should go out. Let me be alone for a while. Tomorrow’s noble meeting and future matters will be left to you.”
The room fell silent.
Everyone exchanged glances before nodding and exiting one by one. The last to leave was Ouding; he looked deeply at the princess, then bowed before closing the door behind him.
The footsteps grew fainter—
Once everything was completely quiet, the Half-Elf Princess stood up—she wasn’t tall, inheriting the delicate features of her elven blood, giving her a somewhat fragile appearance. She walked around the back of the chair, gripped the backrest and strained to drag it to the window.
She paused to catch her breath, leaning against the window as she stared at the view of Ampere Seale in the storm.
The world outside was murky, as if the harbor was about to be swallowed by darkness at any moment.
A long time passed.
The door behind her opened, and a voice said, “Your Highness, Lord Makarolo and the others have gone to see the Young Prince. Only Lord Overwell and Earl Ouding left together.”
Grifian bit her lip, her face pale. They were about to hold their last bet, but should she stop them? Could she bear to let Haruz go to his death alongside her? Moreover, what ability did she have to stop them?
She had anticipated this moment; the royal faction was already acting in accordance with its own will. As for whether it was still as pure as it had been at the very beginning, that remained uncertain.
She raised her head, and a flash of lightning illuminated her face in stark white. Had everything of Erluin’s ended in this moment? Her gaze was fixed on the endless darkness in the east, where she knew a new empire was growing.
Erluin would ultimately become its nourishment.
The door quietly closed once more.
But Princess Grifian seemed oblivious; she stared blankly at the scenery outside, as if trying to engrave every detail into her memory. No matter how dark it became, this was still Erluin’s territory, at least for now.
Her complexion was pale, neither joyous nor sorrowful, resembling a marionette.
“At such a time, it’s better to let it out and cry for your health,” a gentle voice said.
Grifian started in shock; her reflexes were quick, drawing a silver short sword from beneath her dress. “Clang—” With a sharp sound, the short sword clashed with a dark long sword.
The princess stepped back, finally getting a clear view of the young man wrapped entirely in a damp cloak in front of her. At the same time, Brendel let out a sigh of relief; he hadn’t expected the princess to react so quickly and nearly let her take him by surprise.
If the gap between their strengths wasn’t so vast…
But Brendel had never thought that Grifian would not hold back; instead, she gritted her teeth and decisively lunged at him. Ah! Brendel snapped back to reality; he suddenly realized that this princess was likely determined to seek death.
She wanted me to kill her! She wants me to kill her?
Has the princess gone mad? A sinking feeling enveloped Brendel, causing him to falter in his movements for a moment…
…(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it on Qidian (qidian.com) by voting for it; your support is my greatest motivation.)
