After discussing things with Gesteine, Raymond and the Blue Tower Master walked toward the meeting room.
Two imperial knights tried to catch up, but they stopped them by raising their hands.
The Imperial knights did not insist on a close escort, perhaps because the blue tower master, who is at the level of a great wizard, was near them.
They arrived at the meeting room. Lisefield was the first to set up a mana barrier in order to stop the conversation from leaking out.
At this time, Raymond thought magic was really convenient.
“Are you going to recruit them all into the Shadow Squad?”
His voice was quite serious. When he confirmed his assumption by nodding his head instead of answering, the face of the tower master stiffened.
“I don’t know if you’ll accept Sir Gestein, but if you put all of the survivors of the Knights of the Frosted Shield in Guard, the Duke of the High Mountains won’t stand still.”
Duke of the High Mountains is the nickname of the previous Lord of Gesteine, also a high-ranking knight, who abandoned the Frost Shield Knights.
Lisefield’s comments made sense, but Raymond knew what was going to happen, so he was relaxed.
“The Duke will not care about this.”
“Is there any reason for you to be sure?”
Seeing that his expression was stiff, Raymond thought he needed to explain it to him a little bit.
“There will be a stir in the north in the near future. The Duke will head to the northern border, focusing solely on that.”
The setting of the “The Fallen Empire” novel would soon lead to the Heifel Kingdom’s border provocation, and the northern areas would be noisy for some time.
“The Duke can’t afford to care about anything else.”
Although he is a Duke of the Pilias Empire, the north, where the Heifel Kingdom borders, is a far greater threat.
“I see.”
Lisefield did not ask for the source of the information.
Raymond wouldn’t answer him honestly even if he asked questions anyway.
And a few days have passed. A lot has changed in the meantime.
Survivors of the Knights of Frosted Shield, which had been verified, were organized into the Shadow Squad.
Some of the Imperial knights returned to the palace and the Shadow Squad filled their places instead.
The list of Imperial knights sent back to the imperial palace was compiled by Alex, he mainly returned those who appeared to be close to the Third Prince based on statements from Gesteine and the Shadow Squad knights.
For Raymond, this was a delightful change as the Third Prince’s hands and feet on him were taken down.
“Fifth Prince, we have a banquet today.”
Alex came and reported as soon as he woke up at dawn and returned from the tower.
It’s already the day of the feast to celebrate the great war victory, so he laughed and finished changing in the bedroom thinking that time went by so quickly.
“The carriage is waiting.”
“What about the Master of the Blue tower?”
Raymond asked Alex.
“He’s officially invited to the banquet, so he’s coming on a different route.”
There was a separate door for those who are formally invited to the banquet, not the attendants.
“Then I’ll leave the escort to the Shadow Squad.”
“We will escort you safely, Your Highness the Fifth.”
Before he knew it, Gesteine raised his voice. Behind him, ten knights were armed with light weapons.
Ten people remained in the Fifth Prince’s palace and the other half followed him.
“Good for you.”
“I don’t want you to forget me.”
A blonde beauty, wearing a blue robe, appeared behind the carriage.
She held the robe slightly and lifted it up.
“Desia Helly, a High-level wizard of the tower. Will join the Fifth Prince’s Shadow Squad.”
‘High-Ranking wizards, high-ranking knights, and ten finest knights who defended the northern border from the Heifel Kingdom… They are too good to escort a scoundrel.’
But it doesn’t really matter. Starting today, the stigma of a scoundrel will disappear.
It is said to be falling, but it is a feast to commemorate the Pilias Empire’s victory in the Great War.
Even after the infiltration that happened inside the Imperial Palace, the banquet began splendidly because the purpose was to announce that the Pilias Empire was alive and well.
In addition, a large number of guards were deployed around the banquet hall to prevent the recurrence of unsavory events such as the attack on the Imperial Palace.
The nobles, who entered before the emperor and the imperial family, gathered with their own factions or had a chat with each other.
The topics among the nobility were different, but the story of the Fifth Prince was the most talked about.
“I heard he has changed a lot lately.”
“Yes, he’s cutting down on his drinking and focusing on his mana training.”
“Thank God, this is really an Imperial family celebration.”
***
The conversation was more decent than he thought. Still, there were Imperial knights all over the banquet hall, so it seemed they didn’t want to be accused of treason.
If it were a gathering of aristocrats, the word “scum” would have popped up very easily.
Although they did not swear to him openly, the aristocrats were busy undermining him little by little as soon as the topic of the Fifth Prince started.
“The Third Prince is entering!”
The entrance seemed to be noisy, and the third prince entered with about 10 members of his own Shadow Squad.
More than half of the Shadow Squad consisted of wizards, to show that he was the Prince supported by the Red Tower and the Yellow Tower.
Those who were not wizards also appeared to be knights belonging to the tower.
“The wizards of the Red Tower and the Yellow Tower.”
“As expected of the Third Crown Prince.”
“The Blue Tower hasn’t joined him yet.”
“They are not backing any Imperial family members, are they? I don’t think it’s good to drag them in politics.”
Although the nobles chatted in small groups, those who openly showed such behavior were only low-ranking nobles, far from the power structure. The true nobles remained silent.
The march of the Third Prince was over. Entering deep into the banquet hall, he moved to a place where nobles who supported him gathered.
After him was the First Prince, who entered immediately. His Shadow Squad, supported by the military, was composed of powerful knights.
Next came the second prince, accompanied by his own Shadow Squad, they were all men wearing dark hoods.
“I can’t see His Highness the Fourth Prince.”
“He says he’s not feeling well. They say he is still recuperating.”
The nobles had a conversation. The Fourth Prince has not been feeling well since he was a child.
So he rarely showed up at official events.
“The Fifth Prince is entering!”
The servant let out a powerful voice.
“His Highness the Fifth Prince?”
“It’s been five years.”
All of a sudden, the Fifth Prince, who hadn’t made an official appearance in five years, participated in the banquet.
The nobles turned their heads in the direction of the entrance, wondering if they had misheard the servant.
The door opened, and the Fifth Prince entered. But he has a different aura from five years ago.
“Is the Fifth Prince a weakling?”
He trained hard enough to vomit blood for three months. It’s weird if he doesn’t lose weight.
“By the way, did the Fifth Prince have a Shadow Squad?”
Someone said it among the nobility.
No one really wanted to follow the Fifth Prince. Therefore, there were many rumors that he had no proper subordinate as well as his own Shadow Squad.
“Where did he pick up those mercenaries?”
One murmured with a look of contempt.
Speaking in a voice loud enough for everyone around him to hear, he was a noble from the capital city and a subordinate of the Third Prince.
He could make insulting remarks openly because of his protection from the Third Prince.
On the contrary, he may be trying to undermine the Fifth Prince in front of other aristocrats in order to impress the Third Prince.
Most of the nearby nobles nodded and didn’t sympathize with him because of his image.
“I didn’t know that the Fifth Prince had made a Shadow Squad, but I didn’t know that he would have brought more high-quality knights than the Knights of the Leading Aristocracy.”
“Their spirit is somewhat different, but they are skilled enough to go to war.”
Unlike the aristocrats in the capital, the aristocracy in the north, which borders the Heifel Kingdom, recognized at a glance that the level of knights behind the Fifth Prince was high.
“The woman behind the Fifth Prince is a High-level wizard.”
“I didn’t expect him to have such talent behind him..….”
Officials at the tower also recognized Desia’s level.
Before entering the banquet hall, Desia had been following the order of the Fifth Prince not to hide her Mana in front of others.
High-level wizards are such expensive human resources that they cannot operate on small estates.
In particular, Desia, who is following in the footsteps of the Fifth Prince, is young, forcing the attention of the officials of each tower to focus on her and the Fifth Prince.
Someone said, “What can you do even when you have good men? The Fifth Prince has no faction. It will be a lonely feast; obviously, they are from the Emperor.”
‘I’m sorry, but I don’t need that to happen.’
He smiled and continued to walk.
***
His bad reputation is now less than it used to be. It was all due to his brilliant subordinate and his change in appearance.
However, there were still many eyes filled with contempt, perhaps because of the perception that he was still a scoundrel.
‘I am not a scoundrel anymore; I am the Fifth Prince of the Pilias Empire.’
His steps were full of confidence, and the following subordinates also walked with their hearts straightened.
It seemed as if they were saying, “We follow the Fifth Prince no matter what look we get from others.”
And when they walked to the center of the banquet hall, there was someone who showed up in front of them.
The nobles recognized his face and were astonished.
“Isn’t that the Blue Tower Master?”
“Lisefield Dior, Blue Tower? Why did he go to the Fifth Prince…?”
Everyone couldn’t adapt to the sudden changes.
When the other two towers stood behind the Third Prince, the only force that declared neutrality was the Blue Tower.
But now they’re approaching the Fifth Prince?
“He must be having a bad relationship with the Fifth Prince.”
“Yes! I think he is really a public disgrace.”
This was what the lower aristocrats expected. The higher nobles shook their heads. They were different from the lower aristocrats.
“There seems to be something we don’t know.”
“There’s no way that a prudent tower would move without thinking.”
“It seems that he has decided to stand behind the Fifth Prince.”
They were right. Unlike low-ranking aristocrats, who only liked to talk to others meaninglessly, high-ranking officials analyzed the current situation in a cool manner.
“The power of the tower is never light…”
“Well, that’s interesting.”
If we consider the power of the Southern Magic Tower alliance, the red tower is the first and the Blue tower is the second.
And it can be said that the Yellow Tower is in third place.
If the second-largest force among them, the Blue Tower, decided to stand behind the Fifth Prince, the battle of succession to the throne would be even more fiery.
With everyone’s attention focused on the center, the Blue Tower Master opened his mouth.
“Fifth Prince, may I take you to the table we’ve arranged for you?”
The banquet hall became quiet. This is because everyone knows the meaning of what the Blue Tower Master has said.
In a formal speech, that means they want to stand behind him.
Now all that remains is the answer to the Fifth Prince. Everyone’s eyes were on the Fifth Prince again.
“I accept the favor of the tower.”
Again, the banquet hall was in uproar.
It was at this moment that it was officially declared by the Blue Tower; they stood behind the Fifth Prince.
* * *
The elders of the Blue Tower were gathered in the place where Lisefield guided, but Philip cannot be seen among them.
As they approached the place, the elders stepped back respectfully and courteously. Naturally, a place was created between them.
“Fifth Prince, how does it feel to have the attention of the nobility in one place?”
Raymond’s mouth smirked at the playful question from the Blue Tower Elders.
“That’s not bad.”
Nodding his head, he spoke in a calm voice. The attention that had been cut off for five years was being concentrated on him again.
Right now, he could feel the eyes of the nobles.
He pretended to be talking to the Blue Tower Master and quickly looked around from his side view.
He was not looking at the high-class nobles, but the middle-class aristocrats, who didn’t support anyone, that were coming up close to him and looking for an opportunity.
“There are no other talented people.”
It’s not that they didn’t support other Imperial Princes, but they were nobles who weren’t accepted due to their lack of capability.
They couldn’t have been much help. He looked over just in case, but the results were the same.
‘Are you saying I still have to move on my own?’
He stopped looking through it.
They didn’t move first. Probably waiting for the conversation to take place in a visible position first.
‘I guess that’s it for now.’
Nobles showed interest, but that’s it. They haven’t shown enough expectations yet.
‘But after today, a lot will be different.’
As soon as the Emperor appeared today, it would be midnight, Raymond knew that there would be an event that will change the history of the Pilias Empire.
“Do you remember last time you asked me why I was rushing to form a Shadow Squad?”
Raymond looked at Lisefield and asked.
“Yes, I remember.”
“I’ll tell you why now.”
He spread out three fingers.
“In the next three hours, the banquet hall will be attacked.”
