Translator: CinderTL
Though a strange feeling flickered through Lucius's mind, he dismissed it as a trick of the light.
Now that Arno had lost his territory and retreated in defeat, reduced to a stray dog, there was no need to maintain any pretense of courtesy.
No longer concealing the coldness and condescension in his voice, Lucius spoke bluntly:
"Duke Arno, you've lost your territory, your armies have been routed, and you've returned to the royal capital alone. What brings you here?"
Arno seemed utterly unfazed by Lucius's change in demeanor.
Instead of showing embarrassment, he met Lucius's gaze with a casual air, as if discussing trivial matters, and openly recounted every detail of their previous secret schemes.
"Naturally, I've come to fulfill our agreement, Your Highness. To help you accumulate military achievements and prestige in your campaigns against foreign states, paving the way for your smooth succession to the throne."
Lucius scoffed, his contempt undisguised.
"Agreement? Your armies have been reduced to ashes on the River Domain frontier. What military achievements or prestige are you talking about? What leverage do you have now to speak of agreements?"
A cryptic smile flickered across Arno's face.
His unnaturally bright eyes locked onto Lucius, and his deep voice carried clearly to every ear in the room.
"Defeat can be turned into victory, Your Highness. This setback reveals a more direct path forward."
He paused, letting the chilling implication of his words sink in, before continuing slowly.
"If King Monen were to... meet with an unfortunate end, wouldn't you, as regent currently ruling the royal capital, become the rightful heir?"
The words struck like a block of ice, freezing the already tense atmosphere of the Council Hall.
A deathly silence descended, heavier and colder than any that had come before.
Several elderly nobles gasped, their eyes darting between Lucius and Arno in terror.
This blatant proposal landed like a stone in the lake of Lucius's heart, inevitably stirring ripples of ambition.
Parricide and usurpation.
The thought, buried deep in the darkest corner of his mind, now lay bare before him. His heart raced, and a flicker of fervor he hadn't even realized he possessed flashed in his eyes.
The allure of power was within reach.
Yet his reason, honed by years of political maneuvering, swiftly suppressed this momentary impulse.
He knew better than anyone the deeply entrenched prestige King Monen held within the Golden Valley Kingdom.
It wasn't merely the weight of the crown, but the mythical status forged from decades of warfare and statecraft.
True, the armies and transcendents gathered in and around the royal capital were vast and formidable.
But these forces didn't truly pledge allegiance to Lucius personally.
They belonged to various noble families, a scattered mass that required meticulous coordination to become effective.
Perhaps, if he could unite these disparate forces into a single, cohesive whole, and combine them with his own schemes in the shadows, he might stand a chance against the aging King Monen, whose strength had likely waned with time.
But the crux of the problem lay precisely in "coordination."
Without the support and commands of the nobles, he couldn't effectively mobilize this massive force.
Lucius knew his limitations. In terms of personal prestige, military acumen, and political maneuvering, he couldn't compare to his father.
Once Monen returned with the elite forces of the Northlands, these nobles—who might still maintain a facade of respect for him—would betray him without hesitation.
As he contemplated this inevitable outcome, the faint spark of hope ignited by Arno's words was instantly extinguished by the cold reality.
The initial shock in Lucius's eyes gradually transformed into barely concealed disappointment and contempt.
The man he had once considered a formidable ally, a cunning strategist—Duke Arno—now seemed like a fool, blind to the realities of the situation and lost in fanciful delusions.
Lucius shook his head in resignation, preparing to mock this absurd plan, when he noticed Arno's enigmatic smile deepening.
"My dearest Your Highness..." Arno's voice carried a peculiar magnetism, as if it could penetrate the very soul. "I fully understand your concerns... You're worried that these esteemed lords..." His gaze swept casually over the trembling nobles. "...their wills may not align perfectly with yours, am I right?"
As the words fell, an imperceptible wave of energy rippled silently outward from Arno. The flickering candlelight in the Council Hall seemed to dim momentarily, and a faint, cloyingly sweet, yet decaying scent mingled with the incense in the air.
Lucius remained oblivious to these subtle anomalies.
But he did notice the old nobles, whose eyes had been darting nervously between them, suddenly stiffen almost imperceptibly.
Then, the light in their eyes seemed to shift, becoming...
Emptiness and obedience.
They remained silent, but the deep-seated resistance and terror that had been in their eyes seemed to have been quietly erased by an invisible hand.
Arno observed everything with a hint of satisfaction playing at the corner of his lips.
He turned back to Lucius, his voice now dripping with persuasion:
"Now, Your Highness, we can revisit that 'opportunity.' Perhaps the obstacles aren't as insurmountable as you imagined..."
Before Lucius could fully process this sudden shift, the elderly nobles seemed to receive a silent command in unison. They bowed deeply to him, their movements stiff yet eerily synchronized.
When they raised their heads, the fear that had previously haunted their eyes had vanished, replaced by a numb obedience. Their voices, as if rehearsed, spoke in perfect unison:
"We are ready to serve Your Highness. We will follow your every command."
This sudden, almost supernatural display of loyalty left Lucius momentarily stunned.
He whirled around to face Arno, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"What... what have you done to them?"
Arno merely smiled faintly, the flickering candlelight casting a distorted shadow across his face.
"I merely laid some groundwork in advance, Your Highness," he said casually. "Long ago, I established a certain... 'consensus' with them."
Lucius's heart jolted at these words. He knew all too well that these seemingly decrepit old men represented families whose roots ran far deeper than the history of the Golden Valley Kingdom itself. Their hidden power was vast and intricately interwoven, so much so that even his father, King Monen, had to approach them with careful strategy and balance.
What methods had Arno used to so thoroughly "persuade" them? This could not have been achieved through ordinary exchanges of benefits or threats.
Seeing Arno's reluctance to reveal more, Lucius suppressed the turmoil in his heart, furrowed his brow, and asked the most critical question:
"So, Duke Arno, since you're being so 'generous' in assisting me, what exactly do you want?"
Arno leaned forward slightly, the candlelight flickering in his eyes, casting unfathomable shadows.
"Your Highness is indeed perceptive," he said, his voice deep and magnetic. "What I desire is not excessive for a future king."
"Once you ascend the Iron Throne, I wish to obtain authority commensurate with that position—such as the lord protector's office—and... corresponding vast fiefdoms and privileges befitting my contributions."
This answer sounded reasonable enough, a typical demand from a power-hungry noble engaging in political speculation.
Yet, on a level Lucius couldn't perceive, a cold, ravenous voice was silently howling within the depths of Arno's consciousness.
It was a pure, insatiable hunger for destruction and suffering.
"...And... a grand feast... a feast that will engulf the entire kingdom, perhaps even the wider world... an endless chaos."
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------
📖 You are reading [226] Chapters behind.
🔥 Read up to Chapter [572] now, only on 𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝕞.
📚 Read upto [12,000+] Chapters on Site with [9,900+] Free Chapters!
🚫 Also get FREE lifetime ad-free and join the giveaway by joining our Discord!
---------------------------