Chapter 50
The Grand Council
“I feel the same way.”
Upon hearing Ferda’s answer, Erdes leaned back.
The murderous tension vanished as though it had never existed, replaced by her hearty laughter.
“Is that so? I have a feeling you and I will get along. You’re young too, unlike those old fossils. I hope we can have conversations like this more often.”
“I will make sure to contact you first.”
“Or I’ll contact you. Your Highness! I’m going to look around elsewhere now! They say beautiful women are always busy, don’t they?”
“Yes, of course! Take care!”
Erdes departed with her glass in hand.
Once her figure had moved far enough away, Alexander turned his head.
“Do you have some connection to the Magical Association?”
“No.”
He had many, but those connections belonged to the distant future.
“I am not trying to reprimand you. If there is bad blood between you, it would be best to settle it quickly.”
That was what he said, but Ferda knew better.
Alexander was growing anxious.
For the incompetent First Prince to establish a foundation of power, he required overwhelming strength.
And magic was precisely that strength.
“More importantly, I heard that you have recently been importing monster corpses into the Far East…”
Ferda answered the abruptly introduced topic.
“That is correct.”
“We were already running out of places to bury them, and burning them every time was becoming troublesome. I am truly grateful that you have been taking those corpses off our hands.”
Alexander spoke with a broad smile, but his expression carried a sense of urgency that contradicted his casual tone.
‘Tell me what you are doing with them.’
Ferda considered his options.
He himself had been the one who decided to keep the production of mana stones confidential.
He believed it was still too early to reveal it.
He had come prepared to offer some vague excuse, but after looking into Alexander’s eyes, he found himself unable to do so.
‘This is a man who pointed a sword at his own father because he coveted the throne.’
No matter how fervently he tried to justify himself, he was a greedy, unfilial bastard.
That was an immutable truth.
He was blinded by the throne.
He wanted to rule over one hundred million subjects.
That was why he had fawned over Erdes.
He had been desperately trying not to offend her.
‘That must be why Erdes thinks I inherited Thessalos’s work.’
After all, there was a plausible connection between the two.
Ferda deliberated.
Both options were terrible.
He simply had to choose the one that was slightly less terrible.
“The truth is, we are researching a method of producing mana stones from monster corpses.”
He told him the truth.
The subject seemed to catch Alexander’s interest, and the prince leaned in to listen.
Anything connected to magic was bound to make money.
“Mana stones? What are they? Are they similar to those… crystal orbs used by mages?”
“They are similar, yet different. These objects contain pure mana.”
“Oh…”
Ferda explained everything that had been discovered so far.
“For example, could they supplement a mage’s mana?”
“There may be applications like that, but they cannot replenish a mage’s mana, nor can a mage directly use the mana inside them.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Furthermore, their efficiency is currently only around seven percent. For actual mages to use them…”
“Ah, I see. Remarkable.”
Alexander repeatedly voiced his admiration.
However, Ferda could visibly see his interest falling away piece by piece.
“In any case… you are certain that this has nothing to do with dark magic?”
“That is correct.”
“Of course, research inevitably requires one to touch upon many different fields. But intent matters, does it not? What I mean is, can you assure me that there is not even the slightest trace of such intent behind it?”
Alexander continued pressing him.
Ferda was about to repeat, like a parrot, that he could assure him as many times as necessary.
Before he could speak, however, a faint fragrance brushed past his nose.
Ferda recognized the scent.
“You are cornering him rather harshly for a first meeting, Brother.”
The beautiful voice naturally drew the men’s gazes.
It was Olivia Arken.
True to her reputation as the Flower of the Empire, she wore a magnificent dress and carried a seductive smile.
When Alexander saw Olivia, he burst into laughter once more.
“So my dear sister has arrived! Come to think of it, the Regent has already met you once. Since my sister welcomed him in my place, I wonder whether she treated him properly?”
Alexander casually reached out to place a hand on Olivia’s shoulder.
“My, why would you worry about that?”
Olivia answered with an innocent smile.
Alexander’s descending hand slid smoothly past the line of her shoulder without ever touching it.
“Because a problem arose, did it not? A serious problem for the imperial family.”
“It was merely an unfounded concern. Lord Ferda is a man of great generosity.”
“It was an issue that had to be raised for the sake of the Empire’s precarious security. What about the incident in the imperial warehouse that nearly threw the entire nation into chaos? No matter how I look at it, allowing you to enter politics would bring nothing but danger.”
“Is that so? But the matter was resolved without incident. Ah, come to think of it, perhaps you do not even know what happened, Brother. The moment a Level-One alert was issued, you fled with your tail between your legs—pardon me, you evacuated.”
Her expression remained perfectly innocent, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.
The two smiled at one another while mercilessly stabbing each other with verbal blades.
It was enough to make everyone listening feel uncomfortable.
‘They both have quite the tongue.’
Ferda could only admire the spectacle.
Perhaps it was a hereditary trait of the Arken family.
“Was that not standard procedure? If the Empire’s heir dies, the Empire itself will collapse. For the Empire’s sake, I had no choice but to survive.”
“Ah, yes. Of course. Naturally. The heir, you say.”
Her eyes curved into crescents as she raised her fan to partially cover her mouth.
No—
She only pretended to cover it, deliberately letting her sneer show through to provoke him.
“It certainly is the kind of survival instinct one would expect from someone who boldly raised the blade of rebellion, only to retreat in disgrace.”
“Hoho. This fox-like wench was blessed with more than she deserves, yet all she does is seduce men. No wonder they call you an enchantress.”
“Is that not better than possessing something and being unable to use it? For example…”
Olivia’s gaze drifted toward Alexander’s crotch.
“Father said he would like to see a granddaughter. When do you plan to give him a grandchild?”
Despite the smile on his face, Alexander’s complexion flushed bright red.
Then his eyes subtly shifted toward Ferda.
“Be careful. Beautiful roses have thorns. And who knows? Those thorns may be coated in deadly poison.”
Alexander offered the warning with a serious expression.
Ferda silently looked down at him.
His face remained expressionless, but he could barely contain his contempt.
‘You certainly talk a lot for someone who was pricked by those thorns.’
Ferda did not know the exact circumstances, but shortly before Olivia’s death, she had been in Alexander’s bedchamber.
Had Alexander not ultimately tried to take his own sister, only to be stabbed to death?
In the end, he too had been captivated by Olivia’s beauty and fallen for her.
Hearing such a man offer this warning only made him seem pathetic.
“I am aware.”
“You are? Then that is a relief. In that case, try smiling a little. Your face is far too tense.”
Alexander patted Ferda on the back and naturally put on the genial smile of an easygoing man.
Whenever he laughed, the surrounding nobles laughed along with him.
Watching them, Ferda thought,
‘I want to go home.’
Valdrova’s face faintly appeared in his mind.
“So, in summary, you still have no practical use for it?”
“That is correct.”
“I understand. From now on, I shall also take an interest in the development of the Far Eastern territory.”
It was obviously a lie.
The First Prince was too busy currying favor with the central nobility to spare any genuine interest for the Far East.
“I am simply grateful that Your Highness would show such concern.”
And so Ferda answered with a lie of his own.
“Meet as many people as you can before the council begins. It seems someone is calling for me.”
Alexander raised his glass and walked toward another group.
Ferda thought he could finally breathe a little easier.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than someone gently tugged at his sleeve.
It was Olivia.
She was still standing beside him.
“Is there no one else you need to meet?”
Ferda asked bluntly.
“No one particularly important. Besides, something more important remains.”
Olivia’s shoulder pressed against Ferda’s.
“The representatives of the great dragons will be arriving shortly.”
The dragons’ representatives.
In other words, the Dragon Spawns were coming.
‘Dragon Spawns.’
Ferda had encountered very few of them.
At most, he had only glimpsed one of the Blue Dragon’s Spawns, the master of magic, in passing.
It would be worthwhile to see with his own eyes what Dragon Spawns other than Luri looked like.
“I am curious.”
At Ferda’s answer, Olivia smiled brightly.
“Then let us go together.”
Olivia smoothly extended her hand.
Her red lips moved with the bashfulness of a modest young woman.
It was a scene that would have made any man’s heart race.
“What is this?”
Ferda stared at her hand and asked.
“My, I am asking you to escort me. Surely you are not going to make a lady walk alone?”
Olivia blinked.
Her slightly hunched shoulders resembled the vulnerable gesture of an innocent girl.
Ferda took a small step back.
“I am already spoken for.”
“You should still do it whether you are spoken for or not. Shouldn’t we at least do this much if we wish to strengthen the trust between us?”
“I shall leave it to Sir Zed—”
“Have you ever seen what happens when a woman sulks?”
A shadow fell over Olivia’s face.
“It is not pleasant.”
“…”
Ferda could not have cared less.
When he gave her an indifferent look, Olivia leaned her face a handspan closer and continued.
“Do you not feel that, as collaborators within the Empire, we need to strengthen our mutual trust? We will likely share many secrets. I believe this much is necessary.”
Olivia clung to him persistently while subtly threatening him.
However, Olivia was currently his only collaborator within the Empire, so ignoring her request also carried risks.
“Haah. Very well.”
“You should have agreed from the beginning.”
With no other choice, Ferda held out his hand.
He had intended only to make a show of taking hers, but Olivia firmly clasped it and smiled delightedly.
Ferda glanced toward Luri.
Her face was expressionless.
No, her lips were protruding ever so slightly, giving her an unmistakable expression that said, I do not like this.
It was subtle enough that no one except Ferda, who saw her face frequently, would have noticed.
Naturally, Luri did not openly express her dissatisfaction and continued behaving as a proper attendant.
Perhaps that was why Ferda felt even more uneasy.
‘I hate being scrubbed in the bath.’
High society had left him with nothing but suffering, both mental and physical.
Half resigned to his fate, Ferda escorted Olivia toward the window.
Outside Blancaros’s domain stood a carriage made of gold.
An old man wearing religious vestments and a crown emerged from it, followed by several clergymen.
“Do you know who they are?”
Olivia slipped her hand around Ferda’s forearm and locked herself firmly against him.
“They are from the Holy Empire of Odograsado.”
“That is correct.”
The Gold Dragon, Odograsado.
It was a nation founded upon a religion that worshiped Odograsado as its idol.
Although it bore the name of a Holy Empire, in reality it was closer to an alliance between a holy kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms.
Odograsado had no Spawns.
Therefore, the Pope and four religious leaders were walking toward the gathering to attend in his stead.
A short while later, a blue portal opened.
Beyond it stretched the cold scenery unique to the northwest.
Dragon Spawns with blue hair and horns rounded at the tips emerged from the portal.
“They are Iorga’s Spawns. It seems they have not missed this Grand Council either.”
They belonged to Iorga, the master of the Magic Towers and the one known as the Eye that watched over the continent.
More researchers than mages in temperament, they walked with the same elegance as highborn nobles.
“Ah, they are arriving over there as well.”
Olivia raised her head and looked toward the sky.
Five unnatural specks appeared in the clear blue heavens and flew toward them.
They streaked forward without hesitation like comets radiating silver light.
Ferda had seen that sight before through Luri.
‘Silver Wind.’
Despite the force of their arrival, they landed lightly and stepped inside Blancaros’s domain.
After confirming who they were, Ferda subtly shifted his gaze.
Luri stood beside him, silently looking down at them.
Her eyes held an emotion entirely different from anything he had sensed from her until now.
Ferda could tell how tense she was.
“It seems those three are all. Apparently, Storeus’s side will not be attending today. Well, I suppose it is fortunate that we will be spared the trouble.”
“They must have quite the reputation.”
“They are evil dragons, after all. They are nothing but troublemakers. Those creatures love starting fights.”
As the Dragon Spawns gathered, the surrounding spectators began moving one after another.
They were heading toward the Grand Council chamber.
“You should go now.”
Olivia released the arm she had been holding.
Her status was that of a princess.
Unlike the princes, she possessed no right to participate in the council.
Ferda followed the crowd heading toward the chamber.
The Grand Council, where the most powerful figures from across the entire continent had gathered, was about to begin.