“The Assassins who followed the Master of the Red Tower to the Fifth Prince’s Palace have been confirmed.”
A cold-looking man bowed his head in front of the Third Prince, Aloken, and reported.
He was a skilled assassin who came from the Second Prince to help Aloken.
“This… I wouldn’t have been hit in my back if I hadn’t put surveillance on him, right?”
Aloken said.
Since he was a child, he was very suspicious when the Second Prince sent assassins to him, so it was almost as if he had been scheduled from the beginning to be monitored by his men.
However, it was a pity that he had no idea that the surveillance of his men was being reported to the Second Prince continuously.
The Third Prince, Aloken, was smart enough to rise to the rank of a Superior wizard at a young age and had a good affinity for Mana, but unfortunately, he had a strange leap of faith in his brother, Deneb Pilius, the Second Prince.
And the reward for that faith was endless surveillance.
“Do you know what has been said in court meetings in these recent days?”
“I haven’t heard of it.”
The black-clad assassin answered Aloken’s question, shaking his head.
The court meeting was not in his area.
“Some say that Raymond should be crowned the Crown Prince.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Yeah, that won’t happen. But that’s not what I want to say.”
The glass that had been filled was already emptied.
The corners of his mouth twisted, perhaps uncomfortable, even though he drank a strong drink at once.
***
“Shall we participate in the court meeting?”
When Rayman asked playfully, Lisefield, the Master of the Blue Tower, opened his mouth with a smirk.
“I’ll prepare a wagon.”
It is common to put flags representing those on board in the nobles’ wagons.
The Master of the Blue Tower will take the opportunity to call the court meeting to officially announce that the Blue Tower will be siding with Raymond.
Court meetings are generally attended by many nobles.
They will all be seeing the flags of the Red Tower and the Blue Tower, which will be hung on the Fifth Prince’s wagon.
“The carriage will become crowded with so many people, anyway let’s get on.”
Raymond grumbled as if he were complaining, but Lisefield saw a faint smile spread around his mouth.
“What are you doing? Get on board. I don’t want to be late!”
The Fifth Prince, who got on the wagon, urged.
The Blue Tower Master climbed into the carriage with a smile, and the Red Tower Master followed with a tensed face.
Along with four members of the Fifth Prince’s guard on horseback and Gesteine driving the carriage, their security was very tight.
Gesteine, who confirmed that the formation was properly formed, sent a departure signal, and the carriage began to advance toward the palace.
“The security is very strict.”
Alex, sitting on the curb, said.
The inspection at the main gate of the Imperial Palace was very strict, and the many imperial knights and soldiers were patrolling with a sad spirit.
As soon as they crossed the threshold, the atmosphere became heavier.
Gesteine, who was driving by the carriage, glanced around and opened his mouth with a calm look.
“Not long ago, the Emperor was attacked. I don’t think this level of security is enough either.”
That was a high-ranking knight’s answer.
Alex let out a short, indisputable sigh.
The conversation between the two was over, but another conversation was about to begin inside the carriage.
Amidst the continued silence, the Fifth Prince, Raymond, opened his mouth first.
“Do you know why I was called for a court meeting this time?”
After being attacked at the banquet hall, he was silent and immersed in training afterward, so Raymond was not told about what was going on in the palace.
He read up to the third volume of “The Fallen Empire” and memorized the author’s book’s settings, so he roughly knew about the situation going on at home and abroad, but he wanted to hear more information from the Master of the Red Tower or Blue Tower themselves.
“Maybe it’s because of the Heifel Kingdom and the Fresyria Kingdom. They say they’ve deployed additional troops on the border.”
It was Berenus Kyle, the Master of the Red Tower, who answered the question.
“Did the Northern Central Army move toward the border?”
“Yes, Your Highness the Fifth.”
“There must be friction on the border.”
Although it is said that the Black Mountains and the Black Forest are forbidden zones, it was not difficult for any of the excellent range mages of the Heifel Kingdom and skilled mercenaries of the Fresyria Kingdom to sneak over.
A large number of people would find it difficult, but a small number would not.
“There are already large and small skirmishes on the border with the Heifel Kingdom.”
This time, Lisefield replied.
“I heard the other princes were called, too.”
“Yes, all three of you have been called to a court meeting, except for His Highness the Fourth.”
At the end of Lisefield statement, Raymond could guess the Emperor’s thoughts.
It was clear that they would send an Imperial family member to boost the morale of troops deployed on the border.
He was thinking about how he could get out of the palace, but it would now be easier than he thought.
‘If so, I must go to the border with the Fresyria Kingdom, to make sure of… ‘
The Black Mountains, along the border with the Fresyria Kingdom, is where the “soul sword” was asleep.
“We’ve arrived.”
Outside the carriage, the Shadow Squad announced their arrival.
When he opened the door and got off the wagon, the imperial knight who came out to meet Raymond raised his right arm over his chest politely as a salute to escort an imperial family member.
Thanks to rumors that the Emperor was saved from the banquet hall attack by Raymond, the imperial knight’s eyes on the Fifth Prince were now more favorable.
“Fifth Prince, I’ll show you the way to the conference hall. Only until the door of the conference hall is allowed to be accompanied by the Shadow Squad.”
As he nodded slowly, the Imperial Knight took the lead and moved on.
Raymond walked behind and looked around.
He saw carriages of nobles gathered in front of the tall building.
From the eyes of some aristocrats gathered near the wagon, the flags of the Blue Tower and the Red Tower hung next to the flag of the Fifth Prince.
“Was it true that both of the towers stood behind His Highness the Fifth?”
“There’s also the flag of the Red Tower.”
“What the hell has happened in the last few months?”
The nobles chattered.
There were many positive comments, but there were also a lot of negative comments.
But Raymond ignored their conversation and continued to walk forward.
Gesteine, who was about to refute their words, also followed without saying a word, as his lord didn’t care.
“That’s all I can show you.”
When he reached the door of the conference hall, the imperial knight bowed his head and stepped down.
“Be on standby nearby.”
“Yes, sir.”
Raymond ordered the Shadow Squad to stand by as he entered the conference room with the two tower masters.
The eyes of those who were inside the meeting room first focused on the three people. Among them was the Third Prince.
He didn’t approach them first, unlike before.
Also, he didn’t pour out any hasty threats, but Aloken just scanned Raymond and the master of the Red Tower from head to toe.
Of course, Raymond just ignored him and sat down with the two tower masters, regardless of the enemy’s full gaze.
“Did your brother ever care about you?”
When Raymond asked, while slightly wetting his lips with the drink brought by his servant. Berenus opened his mouth, trying to hide the corners of his mouth, trying to hide his dissatisfaction.
“Sure. I was cared for enough to be spied upon by his assassins. “
“I guess that was the true purpose of your so-called escort.”
“You must be well aware of the capability of His Highness the Second Prince.”
‘I know him very well.’
Raymond affirms Berenus by nodding his head.
Even if he doesn’t remember reading it in the novel, he can guess it by just looking at how Berenus is acting right now.
Berenus, the master of the Red Tower, did not elaborate, but Raymond could guess what he had been through.
Berenus Kyle was a very important person as far as being one of the few great wizards in the whole Pilias Empire.
But he didn’t notice the assassin’s surveillance?
He knew about them but turned a blind eye in order to save face for the Second Prince, who joined hands with the Third Prince.
“What did you do to them?”
It was difficult to move if those assassins sent by the Second Prince were still lurking among the Red Tower people.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
Berenus replied.
He was aware of the presence of the assassins on surveillance and was capable of repelling them.
He was just holding it back in order to avoid any discord between the Second and Third Princes.
But now that he had decided to grab Raymond’s rope, the Fifth Prince, he didn’t need to worry about it anymore.
As soon as he returned after declaring an alliance with the Fifth Prince, he immediately selected the best wizards and high-ranking knights of the Red Tower and repelled those assassins.
Some of them were even handled by the Master of the Red Tower himself.
“The Emperor is entering!”
The door opened, and the officer standing by the entrance shouted with a loud voice.
Everyone stood up from their seats.
Soon, the old Emperor appeared, escorted by the Imperial Guard.
The Imperial guards were on their guard after what had happened at the banquet before because it was not unusual for that same event to repeat again.
Raymond sighed inwardly as he saw this scene.
It was a pity that the great powers that commanded the ancient era had fallen to the point where they had to worry about assassinations happening in their own Imperial City.
“Everyone, take your seats.”
The Emperor sat down first. His voice was solemn, but the Emperor seemed very exhausted.
He tried not to show it, but some nobles still noticed it.
“Come up, Commander of the Northern Central Army, and report on the current situation.”
A middle-aged man in a military uniform stood up at the emperor’s command.
Raymond had never seen him before, but he knew about him from the novel.
‘Count William Acorn.’
He was a high-ranking Knight stationed in the Northern Central Army, and he was a promising figure in the military.
Although he was not an aristocrat by heredity with a territory, he still had the title of Count.
“We’ve got one legion now close to the northern border. If a border force is attacked, it will hold out for four days without support. “
One legion is about 6,000 men. Considering the current power of the Pilias Empire, there were a considerable number of troops.
‘But it will not be able to hold it out.’
The Heifel Kingdom is by no means a pushover.
They were always looking for a chance to escape the barren land of the north.
If there was a proper justification, there should have been troops to go through a dangerous obstacle called the Black Forest in the south.
‘But the Pilias have no national power to pass through the wilderness.’
Not yet.
‘Unless I became Emperor and invoked the Imperial Reconstruction Plan, it was difficult to confront the Heifel Kingdome or the whole Alliance of the Three Kingdoms.’
