“My son, I will have to disappoint your expectations.”
“What?” Everyone didn’t look shocked by the King’s words. It was as if they knew what the King was thinking.
“But why father? This is our golden chance of expanding our territory and moving towards the northwest. The Istarin Kingdom will soon face the Nepoca Kingdom in a huge war. Even if they managed to win the sure, the Istarin Kingdom will be at its weakest. Shouldn’t we take this chance to attack?”
“Arthur, I believe as one of the candidates to become the next King, you should figure out my reasons for not getting involved in this war. I am getting old Arthur. This Kingdom needs a new King. Just because you’re my firstborn that doesn’t mean I will hand over the throne to you.” Arthur nodded his head with a polite smile but inwardly he was secretly gritting his teeth in anger and frustration.
“You must prove that you’re worthy to sit on his throne. If an incompetent person sits on his throne, it could potentially lead to an end of our Nyland Kingdom which I cannot allow happening. We, the Nyland Kingdom won’t be interfering in this war. Now you may leave.”
“Understood your Majesty.” Arthur bowed one more time before turning around and leaving the throne hall. Although Arthur didn’t show it on his face, he was extremely angry with the old man who was his father. As the firstborn, Arthur always believed that he was the rightful successor of this throne. But his old man was making this difficult for him by saying that all princes were allowed to compete for the throne.
After exiting the throne hall, Arthur finally stopped pretending. He angrily bit his lower lips drawing blood out of them.
“I really want to end this old man’s life.” Arthur reacted before the other princes. He was planning to lead an army and conquer the Istarin Kingdom. By making military achievements, Arthur would easily gain the people’s recognition. That would take him one step closer to becoming the next King.
“Now what should I do? Because of the old man, I will have to drop my plan.” Arthur couldn’t even risk assassinating his other brothers as this would bring the wrath of his old man. Arthur cannot afford to do anything that could make the old man dislike him.
Arthur walked out of the palace and was on his way to the library. 80% time the library was mostly empty. Arthur went to the library not because he liked to read books, in fact, he hated reading books. His reason for going to the library was because he was going to have an important meeting with a certain person belonging to a powerful organization.
When he opened the doors of the library, he found a person in a black hood whose entire body was covered in a black cloak, and the person was sitting on one of the chairs and reading a book in silence.
“So you came?” Arthur smiled as he walked to sit in front of the person in the hood. After sitting down, Arthur tried his best to see the face hidden beyond the hood, but some sort of spell seems to be blocking Arthur’s vision and making everything look like a pitch endless void.
“I had to come. What did your Old Man say regarding attacking the Istarin Kingdom?” From the tone of the voice, it was clear that the person in black cloak and hood was a middle-aged man.
“My old man wants to stay out of the mess and not get involved in the war. All of my plans flopped because of him.”
The man in the hood chuckled seeing the anger on Prince Arthur’s face. “Do not worry. Like we promised as long as you give us the thing that we want, we shall give you the support that you need to make the throne yours. This is the promise of ‘The League of the Black Tomb.'”
Arthur coldly looked at the man and replied. “Give me some more time to think about your offer.”
“My prince, you have one month’s time to decide. If you can’t make up your mind even after one month, then we shall approach the other princes.” After saying those words, the man closed the book and transformed into a black mist, and then disappeared from the library.
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Scene change______
50,000 troops being led by Duke Easton. As the soldiers silently kept on marching towards the Istarin land. Following Duke Easton, his right-hand man noticed a messenger pigeon was flying in their direction.
“Your grace, look a messenger bird is coming.” Duke Easton who was riding a white horse stopped making the 50,000 troops behind him stop as well. He waited for the bird to land on his left arm.
After taking the letter from the bird’s leg, Easton let go of the messenger pigeon and began to read the letter that was sent from the King.
As Easton continued reading the letter, the more he read the more complicated his expression seemed to have become. After a certain point, his expression practically turned ugly as if he was forced to eat sh*t.
Noticing Duke Easton’s ugly expression, his right-hand man Jerry couldn’t help but ask. “Sire, did something happen?”
“Yes, it appears as we started our march, late King Sebastian also had attacked the Istarin forces in order to drive out the enemy from his territory.”
“Sire, what do you mean by late King Sebastian? Did something happen to the King?” Easton sighed as he looked at the sky thinking how even heaven seems to be favoring King Aditya.
Sigh!
“Our enemy won the battle and has taken over the Zulux Dynasty.”
“What?”
“But how?”
“How did they defeat two 3rd-order generals plus an army of 50,000?”
“Silent” Everyone shut their mouths and looked at Duke Easton. “The news is true. As much as I hate to say but we got to hurry up. If the Dragon King arrives on the battlefield it will be the end of us. That man is a demon. It was highlighted in the letter that when that Man arrived on the battlefield, even though his troops were on the verge of losing, they still managed to turn the whole tide of the battle.”
“We can’t possibly let the Kingdom take over the Zulux Dynasty territory. The Kingdom of Nyland and other small neighboring kingdoms on the borders also doesn’t seem to have any intention of invading. Currently, our only option is to defeat Duke Sarlus and land a big blow to the Istarin Kingdom. Otherwise, the Istarin Kingdom will become the next big overlord of this part of the continent which is something that we have to prevent at any cost.”
Another thing that was mentioned in the letter was that King Aditya was on his way to Vrane city. The King had strictly ordered Easton to hurry up and attack the Vrane city fortress as soon as possible. No one wanted to wait long enough for the Dragon King to arrive and turn the tide of the battle just as he did with the Zulux Dynasty.
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While the Eastern part of the continent was in turmoil from the news of the Dragon King’s unexpected win over a strong Dynasty with 100+ years of history, the news soon reached the ears of Aditya’s other 5 wives who always kept their spies in the Istarin Kingdom to inform them about any even the smallest changes happening in the Kingdom. Everyone had different reactions. But everyone was happy to know that Aditya finally had changed.
On some part of the Dying Isle continent, there was a magnificent Castle. Fourteen thick, square towers have been built on various tactical spots for an ideal defense and are connected by high, thick walls made of basalt.
Rough windows are scattered generously across the walls in a seemingly random pattern, along with overhanging crenelations for archers and artillery.
A vast gate with huge metal doors, a draw bridge, and various artillery equipment guard the only place with water.
Various large houses are scattered outside the castle gates, surprisingly the rich are comfortable with living outside the gates as well. This castle has stood the test of time and despite knowing some very rough times, the castle still stands and it looks like it will do so for many years to come.
Sitting in the garden that was 5 times bigger than a football pitch, there was a man and woman who were enjoying their tea under the shade of a large tree.
“It looks like the winter will be on us within a few months.” The woman with long purple hair that she had tied in a bun spoke as she took a sip of green tea.
“The tea would have tasted 1000 times better if our daughter was here.” The man with short black hair said while looking at his wife.
“Yes, it has been a long time since we saw her here. I think it’s about to time we call her back to return.”
The man took a sip of green tea and then put the teacup on the table and spoke in an excited tone. “Very well, I shall send our head maid today itself to bring our daughter back. No, I think it would be much better for me to go there personally and bring our daughter back.”
“Honey, calm down.”
The woman with purple long hair looked at the different kinds of herbal plants that their daughtered planted in this garden. “Let’s wait a month before asking her to return. Currently, our son-in-law is having war. Calling our daughter back would only bring trouble to our son-in-law.”
“That alcoholic bastard is not our son-in-law.” The man angrily slammed the table without using much of his strength.
“It’s only because of the King that I agreed to marry my daughter to that man. At that time If I had known he would turn up to become this kind of man, then I would have never agreed to this marriage. I rather would have rebelled than give our precious daughter to that man.”
“I am calling back my daughter today itself.” The man stood up to leave. But his wife’s next few words stopped him.
“Honey, why don’t you sit down and calm yourself? Everyone makes a mistake. I can see that Aditya has changed. Give him some time. After he ends the war and deals with other things, we can call both of them here, and then we can decide whether he is worthy of our daughter or not.”
“Hmph! I still don’t recognize him as our son-in-law. I will wait only one more month.” The lady with purple hair covered her mouth and smiled secretly. Both father and daughter did have a similar personality.
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