"My-my King! I was ... just showing these younglings around...."
Seeing the King smiling at her, Eloise first calmed herself down before curtsying and saying these words.
Of the King, she had mixed impressions. First, she had thought that he was just someone power-hungry who took the opportunity to take the throne by using an opportune time. Yet, the more she found out about him, the more she realized that her impression had been very wrong.
In fact, it was this initial impression which had led to her taking the decision to try and change his mind by offering up her body. Thankfully, she hadn't had to forsake her dignity in order to save the people she loved.
Soon after, the lockdown on the concubine wing had been lifted, allowing her and many others to finally reunite with their mothers.
Of course, except for the ones who had been executed, many were in prison for all the crimes that they had been committed. Still, they weren't treated very unfairly. Allowed visits and decent food, the feeling in the nobles' hearts had already changed to thankfulness from scorn.
In fact, there were only 4 or 5 other nobles like her who had done absolutely nothing to warrant punishment. Still living their lives in the palace, the only restriction placed on them was that they couldn't leave the premises of the palace.
Indeed, Daneel had taken this decision regarding the Lanthanore Family both due to Eloise's story and Laravel's sacrifice.
The unlikely ally who had sacrificed his life in order to help him obtain the throne was not forgotten by Daneel. Even more than Eloise, he was the reason why he had chosen to show compassion.
Of course, he had only done this after taking certain precautions.
For instance, including the 5 individuals who had no stain on them, all the individuals who contained the blood of the Lanthanore family had already sworn an oath to follow his every command. They had had no option, as the alternative was immediate death.
Additionally, these 5 had been placed on house arrest until Daneel decided what to do with them.
Even though he had come a long way from the person who had frozen in his place when he saw the first death in his life, Daneel was still not someone who could cold-bloodedly slaughter an entire family line without just reason.
The only risk that existed was a coup, yet with the support of the people and full control of the Dragon Heart Formation, there was no risk of this happening from the inside.
Yet, when he saw the sight of Eloise interacting with the children of the research division who had been lodged in the palace, he wondered whether there was another risk that he had not thought about.
Could the Lanthanore name return if he ever left this location?
He already knew that some individuals carrying the Royal Blood were outside the Kingdom when he ascended the throne.
Although he made attempts to uncover their locations, they had all chosen to hide fearing the wrath of the usurper.
Thus, the risk of someone from the outside using the Royal Name to stage a rebellion was not a very moot possibility.
There were only two ways to rectify this:
1) Remove all those containing the blood of Lanthanore from this land.
2) Find a way to bind the remnants to him, ensuring that future threats would be removed.
The first had already been deemed impossible.
Thus, the second option was the way to go.
In fact, if he used the idea he had just gotten, he would be able to both set in motion a plan to do the latter while also finding someone who was perfectly qualified to take over the duties of running the first public news channel of Angaria.
Realizing this, a wide grin came on his face which made even Eloise shrink back even more.
As for the kids, they looked on with curiosity in their eyes, trying to remember where they had seen this man before.
"Follow me to the meeting room."
Saying this, the King of Lanthanor strode away in a particular direction without looking back to make sure that she was following.
Sure enough, after hurriedly calling over a servant to lead the children back to their rooms, Eloise followed in the King's direction in a slow trot.
With her face holding an adorable expression of slight panic, she hurried to the door of the meeting room which had been left ajar after Daneel had entered inside.
Seeing the King sitting calmly in a chair, Eloise closed the door behind her and fidgeted on the spot, unsure of what to do.
With an amused smile, Daneel watched on, noticing that the beauty that he had seen before in his chambers had already grown in this little amount of time.
Her cheeks were fuller and her pallor was more similar to that of a healthy woman's. Realizing that this was probably due to him lifting the ban on the concubine wing, Daneel sighed remembering the sad plight of all the mothers who had cried with joy when this order had been passed.
Yet, just like with the 5 nobles, the concubines had also been confined to the palace till Daneel took a final decision regarding their fates.
"Would you like some wine, My Lord?", she finally asked after a few moments, breaking the silence which had felt like it had been strangling her.
"That's not needed. Sit down."
Motioning to a chair in front of him, Daneel waited while she walked forward and adjusted her dress before demurely lowering herself into it.
Indeed, it seemed that she had been quite proficient at the etiquette lessons. Although she had been quite flustered till now, her lessons kicked in during moments like these.
"By the oath you have sworn, I order you to never reveal the contents of our discussion to anyone or anything without my prior permission."
This was the standard order given before discussing sensitive information.
Although Daneel knew that oaths were not foolproof, he was pretty confident that they could only be circumvented by the means of those far above in power compared to the inhabitants of Central Angaria. Thus, it was still safe to use them unless he was discussing information which could directly result in him losing his life if it got out.
After nodding, Eloise got a serious expression while listening to the plan of the Young King of Lanthanor.
After a few minutes, it was all she could do to keep her mouth from falling open after listening to the ambition of this man who sat in front of her.
On ensuring that she was in full cognizance of her duties, Daneel left the room, allowing her to ponder regarding how she could carry out the King's wishes.
...
One week later.
A nondescript man wearing grey robes could be seen walking through the Darper district with a wide smile on his face.
Although a few people stared, they couldn't affect the jovial atmosphere he exuded while strolling onward aimlessly.
Of course, this man was Daneel.
Using the camouflage tool, he had decided to check out how well his dream project was doing under Eloise's administration.
The smile on his face was mainly due to the intoxication he felt from gaining power every day at an incredible speed. Already quite close to the 5th Grade Human level as both a mage and fighter, Daneel felt like he had made the best decision when he chose to delegate tasks and focus on training rather than micromanaging like he had been before.
On the way, he noticed that a small crowd had formed around 2 men who were discussing something on the side of the road.
"What do you think about the latest news out of Arafell?"
"Oh, you mean the report that giants are one of the most peaceful beings in all of Angaria? Unless you anger them of course."
"Ya, I admire that giant who stood and let some rogues harass him to defend a helpless child who was being bullied."
"I heard he didn't even raise a fist! That's so cool!"
Hearing this, someone who was visiting from another district couldn't control his curiosity. Walking forward, he asked a member of the crowd:
"What are you all talking about? This isn't there on any of the notice boards right?"
"You must be someone from another district! We got the news from this!"
Taking out a piece of parchment from his clothes, a member of the crowd shook it in front of the man who had asked while saying these words.
"A trinket? But who's on the other end?", the man asked, being well informed about trinkets himself.
As if answering the question for the hundredth time, the other man rolled his eyes before saying:
"Someone who knows about EVERYTHING going on in our continent! It's the Network of Angaria!"