Chapter 825: Act 6 – Wizard, Dragon, and Empire III
“Brendel, do you remember when we just returned to Duke Toniger and I asked you to keep our whereabouts confidential and not disclose it to anyone?” In the smoky room, Veronika spoke first. Brendel nodded; indeed, that was the case, so Princess Grifian had to wait until Freya arrived at Varlanden to know their safe news. Injured Nemeses and members of the Broken Blade Knight Corps were also settled in Schafflund, while the Kehua sisters had gone to Valhalla. Meanwhile, Medisa and Himelam’s activities were mostly confined to within the castle. Although they did meet with the servants inside the castle and Charles’s apprentices, in fact, these people generally did not leave the castle outside of festive celebrations. Antinna had also issued a strict order that, at least before the Harvest Festival, no information should be leaked.
On the princess’s side, although doing so seemed somewhat unkind for an elder sister who was concerned for her younger brother’s safety, when Veronika advised him, her expression was very serious, which was why he reluctantly agreed. Seeing Veronika’s anxious expression, he was slightly taken aback, wondering if there had been a leak.
The issue could only arise from the Shepherd’s Inn. However, the innkeeper was an old subordinate of the Bronzesteeldragon, a veteran from the November War, with absolutely reliable origins, and it was unlikely that he could be bribed. It could be that the young members of the Broken Blade Knight Corps were seen by someone with ulterior motives, but the chance of that was too small. Nowadays, Griss was a commercial port, with many merchants coming and going, a large portion of whom were Crusian, making a few young men here quite inconspicuous, especially since they weren’t in military uniforms.
Brendel thought about it and ultimately decided to wait for Veronika to speak.
Antinna stood behind him without interjecting, her eyelashes lowered, hiding the dark gleam in her eyes as she was deep in thought. Smoke was rising in the room, forming shapes of mountains or monsters. Marshal Mangolov puffed on his pipe, its dark red glow flickering. With one hand propping the pipe’s elbow on his knee, the other pressed against his thigh, adorned in a coat, he was intently staring at the parchment map on the low table, as if it concealed some treasure.
Veronika forced a smile and continued, “Do you want to know the reason?”
Brendel shook his head, “I’m not in the habit of prying into others’ secrets, but I know this matter is very important to you, and to me, it is but a small effort. Therefore, I’m willing to assist.”
“Thank you, Brendel.” Veronika nodded, looking at him with some appreciation.
At this moment, Mangolov knocked the pipe against the edge of the table and finally raised his head. He examined Brendel with his remaining left eye, and oddly, Brendel did not see the typical arrogance of a Crusian that one would expect in that sharp gaze. Instead, it felt as if a general was assessing a soldier.
“You’re good, Count, you haven’t brought shame to your grandfather.” Mangolov said in the Bunker dialect of Crusian. He was born in the northern region of the Four Realms, embodying the wildness of northern Crusian. However, this stout old soldier only offered that remark as if he merely lifted his head for that one inconsequential statement before biting back down on his pipe, with no further elaboration.
Brendel was almost taken aback; after all, he knew that a year from now, Mangolov would become the commander of the Crusian army, succeeding the position once held by his grandfather as the commander of the allied forces. His political power within the empire would be second only to the Empress, ranking nearly on par with the supreme being of the Temple of Fire.
“Brendel, we actually wish for Rainwright to continue staying in your territory, and not to disclose this news publicly.” Veronika hesitated for a long moment before finally speaking with difficulty, “What I mean is, you best let the outside world think he has already died. Do you understand what I mean?”
Brendel was stunned.
Court intrigue. That term naturally surfaced in his mind, and a series of plots and disputes instantly replayed in his head several times. He first thought of the explosive event and how other heirs in the empire might be restless after it; after all, from the external perspective, it seemed improbable that anyone could survive that kind of explosion. However, shouldn’t they quickly announce that the Crown Prince was still alive? What was Veronika planning?
Could it be that another person was being supported by the military, intending to trap the Crusian Crown Prince forever in Duke Toniger? That thought was far too dangerous; Brendel broke into a cold sweat. However, he observed that Rainwright’s expression did not seem to confirm this. If that were the case, wouldn’t the Crown Prince have already been placed under house arrest?
He looked at the female commander with suspicion.
Veronika exchanged a glance with Mangolov, her expression seeming very troubled, but he firmly nodded to her after putting down his pipe, puffing out a smoke ring.
“We suspect Her Majesty the Empress wants to kill her son.” The female commander finally spoke.
“What!” Brendel and Antinna exclaimed in unison.
The two exchanged glances, both appearing shocked at what they saw in each other’s eyes.
Antinna appeared incredulous, instinctively suspecting it was a conspiracy. She stood frozen. However, Brendel managed to remain much calmer. He took a slight breath, forcing himself to ask, “What’s the reason?”
Brendel’s calm demeanor caused Veronika to regard him more favorably. She replied, “You both should sit down, and I’ll slowly explain the background of this matter.” Brendel nodded and guided Antinna to sit across from him on the sofa. Mangolov continued to smoke his pipe, while Veronika took a moment to gather her thoughts before beginning to recount the origins and developments of the situation. “This matter begins with the political environment of the empire. Our situation is different from Erluin. Over the past thousand years, the main issue the empire has faced has always been the conflict between royal authority and ecclesiastical power.” She spoke in a calm and steady voice, her eyes shimmering with a faint green light hidden behind a layer of smoke. Her fingers were interlocked, resting upon her chest, but the parts of reality she referenced sounded rather familiar to Brendel.
The Crusians established their nation under King Gilt, similar to how the late King Eke established Erluin. Gilt, one of the four sages, left behind a belief for the Crusians and used it as a doctrine to establish the Temple of Fire. After Gilt died, no such exceptional monarch rose among the Crusians. Throughout subsequent history, political and religious powers began to gradually separate, and it was from this moment that the seeds of conflict between ecclesiastical and royal authority were sown.
For a thousand years after, the struggle between the two authorities never ceased. Unfortunately, the leaders of the Temple of Fire were mostly wise figures, which meant the empire never fragmented due to these struggles. Instead, the royal and ecclesiastical powers rose and fell, creating a historical pattern. Amidst this overarching historical current, the empire gradually separated into several traditional factions. One was the representation of ecclesiastical interests in the secular world, with the Cecil family being a prime example. Williams, whom he had killed, hailed from this family. It could be stated that most members of the Holy Order and the Cardinal College of the Temple of Fire originate from these factions.
The second faction is the so-called royalists. While the empire maintained a high degree of centralization, two of the only three duchies maintained a staunchly royalist faction closely allied with the royal family, with the Kirk family of the Leaf Kingdom as a representative. The Duke of Kirk had intermarried for generations with the royal family, and nearly all members possessed half the bloodline of the Crusian royal family, making them nearly indistinguishable from the royal family’s fortunes. Brendel had previously encountered Faina from this family at the Loop of Trade Winds.
The third faction is the military faction. The Crusians value martial prowess; noble soldiers enjoy a high status. The four legion leaders of the empire come from three prominent northern noble families. In Crusian, northern nobility is nearly synonymous with military nobility. Because of years of warfare against the empire’s main enemy, the Hazell, outstanding military leaders emerge from regions north of Bunker. In fact, many key commanders in the army predominantly hail from prominent northern noble families represented by Eshreiko, Neiger, and Nona. Military nobility tends to lean towards the royalists, with the exception of the navy. The imperial navy mainly comes from wealthy southern regions, and these affluent youths typically attended ecclesiastical schools with higher education, being the most steadfast supporters of the Temple of Fire.
The three factions struggle among themselves, and affairs within and outside the empire revolve around this, but starting about a hundred and fifty years ago, after the demise of the devout Ren, ecclesiastical power began to decline. A hundred years ago, the then-highest authority of the empire, with the help of Chancellor Nidwen, re-centralized power under the crown, and it would have been a new cycle; until the ascension of the Silver Empress, who herself was a rather rare emperor in the history of the empire – she despised the Kirk family from her mother’s side and lacked trust in the royalists, yet she simultaneously detested the ecclesiastical faction. She played with political cunning in court, supporting the now-prominent Palute family to suppress the other two factions. However, in fact, she did not perform well in this game. The current chief priest of the Temple of Fire, Varla, recognized the Empress’s stubbornness and hard-headedness in her character and chose to cede and compromise proactively. However, during Constance’s reign, she almost offended virtually all noble factions, ultimately meeting an unfortunate end in her later years. After Rainwright’s accession, she was quickly forgotten by the world, as if she had not met a good end.
However, this Empress created a miracle, reigning in the midst of nearly universal animosity for almost forty years, and during her four-decade rule, she had almost turned the empire’s center of power into a one-woman show.
The so-called Iron-Blooded Empress certainly earned her name.
“Her Majesty has gone mad,” Veronika sighed, “She has commanded people to draw a map of the entire continent in her room, and has openly expressed in private occasions more than once that her goal is to unify all of Vaunte. The Crusians have been steadily expanding their military for almost a decade now, leading us to suspect that Her Majesty intends to launch a full-scale war under the pretense of a holy war.”
“That’s impossible. You suspect she would kill her own son just because of this?” Brendel shook his head, finding it implausible.
“Of course not, under her current health situation, her rule would last at most another two or three years. But in that time, do you think it’s possible for her to unify Vaunte?”
“So you suspect she would become infatuated and not let go, but is her health condition even allowing for that?” Brendel inquired skeptically, as he remembered the Silver Empress’s abdication two years later.
“Brendel, I said ‘originally,’ but Her Majesty is becoming younger by the day. Her health and energy are returning to their peak. She had an extraordinary experience in her youth, and ever since then, her appearance has been fixed at fifteen years old. However, that only affected her appearance. This time, it seems she has genuinely rejuvenated from the inside out.”
Brendel’s first reaction was that this couldn’t be true. In the world of Vaunte, mortals could extend their lifespan after encountering the laws, like the sages who lived for hundreds of years. However, he had never heard of anyone returning to their youth. Even a fountain of youth merely reverted one’s appearance, and reversing the aging process entirely would breach the fundamental laws.
Veronika smiled wryly, “I knew you wouldn’t believe it, but it’s true. Mangolov wouldn’t lie to me, and Rainwright is also the heir selected by our military. We are in this together.”
Brendel fell silent for a moment before speaking, “So this became her reason for wanting Rainwright to no longer exist in the empire?”
Veronika nodded and revealed a secret: “As a compromise with the Temple of Fire, Her Majesty had once secretly exchanged a verbal agreement with Varla to pass the throne to the firstborn heir in fifteen years. And with the year of praying to the fire’s fifteen years approaching, there’s only a year and a half left.”
“In that case, wouldn’t the Temple of Fire not allow her to act recklessly?”
The female commander, upon hearing Brendel mention the Temple, could not help but feel some emotion. She said, “It’s not that simple, Brendel. In fact, Varla chose to yield back then because Her Majesty had the support of the dragon clan.”
“The dragon clan?” Brendel was stunned, as this was the first time he had heard of this secret. He looked up at the two; Veronika appeared resigned, while Mangolov continued to smoke his pipe, until the dark red glow in the pipe gradually dimmed. He put down the pipe and took out a box of tobacco, seemingly engrossed in fulfilling his smoking habit, paying no attention to the fate of the empire. Their demeanor did not look like they were deceiving him.
Veronika nodded, “We don’t know the specifics, but the dragon clan indeed owes Her Majesty a favor, seemingly related to her gaining an eternal youthful appearance.” She paused, feeling a bit troubled, and continued, “Although it’s somewhat offensive to discuss Her Majesty’s personal privacy, we can’t afford to be concerned about that now. Brendel, actually, Her Majesty wasn’t like this before becoming what she is now. Her previous temperament was gentle and graceful, making her the most beloved princess in the empire, arguably even a star in the royal family. Even the previous chief priest had a favorable view of her. However, after experiencing that incident, her personality changed significantly, becoming hardened, indifferent, and headstrong. Few people know the truth of what happened during that time, but one thing is certain: the dragon clan played a major role.”
“Was that something that happened forty years ago?” Brendel asked.
“Yes. After that, the dragon clan secretly signed an agreement with the empire to compensate her. Only the previous emperor knew the content of that agreement, and only during the entire process of the current empress’s ascension did the presence of the dragon clan become evident. She is the firstborn daughter of the empire, but traditionally in Crusian, if one of the princes is capable of inheriting the throne, the eldest daughter is not qualified to be the emperor. Yet the late emperor seemed to tacitly acknowledge her existence. This matter was neither small nor large at that time, but it is said that the previous chief priest also witnessed the entire incident, so we, as later generations, cannot necessarily point out any errors.”
Brendel contemplated for a moment and asked, “So, does that mean the dragon clan has reemerged?”
Veronika cast a look of admiration, even making Mangolov pause in his tobacco-rolling actions. The one-eyed old soldier regarded him deeply. Brendel understood that he had guessed correctly once again, which led him to boldly hypothesize that the dragon clan had indeed pressured the Temple of Fire. Moreover, since Her Majesty had the ability to continue ruling, there was no reason for the Temple to force her to abdicate. As for that verbal agreement, it was merely a verbal understanding after all.
However, this meant that Rainwright indeed had a compelling reason to die.
Brendel’s brows gradually furrowed as he pondered whether this was an event that had already occurred in history or an altered history due to his arrival. In “Amber Sword,” the Silver Empress abdicated two years later. What had happened during that time? The players of the time had not yet reached a level where they could influence royal decisions, so no one would know the insider details, including himself.
But there were too many possibilities. It was possible that the Empress had been equally deranged back then but was ultimately stopped by the Temple of Fire and Veronika’s group, resetting history. But what if not?
Indeed, all of this was still just conjecture.
He raised his head and looked at Veronika, asking, “Do you have any evidence to prove all this?”
“Before I left the empire, Prince Lazel went missing, along with his sister,” Veronika replied quietly, but the facts she described were somewhat chilling: “Her Majesty always appeared rather indifferent regarding this matter, as if she didn’t care at all. This raised Mangolov’s alertness, leading him to take Lazel out of the White Rose Garden under the pretense of training.”
Lazel was the fourth prince of the Crusian Empire. In history, it seemed that indeed such an event had occurred, but he could no longer recall the final outcome; it indicated that this was a minor matter at that time. After all, there were entangled conspiracies within the royal family, and occasionally the deaths of one or two heirs weren’t overly strange; as long as it wasn’t the firstborn heir, it generally wouldn’t attract much attention, especially since they were merely missing. Yet Brendel found it strange and asked suspiciously, “Could your Empress possibly agree to that? She wouldn’t have seen it coming?”
Mangolov tapped his pipe and finally spoke: “It is a long-standing tradition in the empire for heirs to train outside. Even someone as esteemed as Her Majesty the Empress cannot unilaterally block it without legitimate reason.”
Veronika likewise nodded in agreement: “The crux of this plan lies in the fact that as long as Rainwright is not dead, Her Majesty cannot officially deny that verbal agreement. As long as she still acknowledges that agreement, Rainwright is indeed the most legitimate heir to the empire.”
……
(PS: Today is someone’s birthday, so I updated early to celebrate, 5500 words. Happy Birthday to Tiya, and to some cute ones, I am silently watching you all!)
