“Hey! Give Lord Vandal back!” shouted Eleonora.
“I’m sorry! You naughty little hand! Lefdia, give His Majesty back to his mother—ah, what should I call you, as the mother of our king?”
“I keep telling you! I’m not Lord Vandal’s mother!”
“You aren’t? Could it be that you’re his gran—”
“Complete that sentence and I will seek a duel to the death.”
“Princes Lebia, Eleonora is one of my trusted allies,” Vandal said. “We are not related. Come on, we can talk while we walk out of here.”
They collected the remains of the whip and the coffin that had sealed away the Demon King’s blood. Then, Vandal and his party departed the castle.
That morning, the air in Heartner Castle was as tense as ever.
The current duke was almost completely bedridden, perhaps having a few waking hours in total over any number of days. At this point, his successor should have taken over all his public duties, but his two potential successors only continued to bicker over who would get to sit in the ducal seat.
The duke’s second son, but his first with his wife, was Prince Belton. He led the political side of the debate, believing that protecting the Heartner Domain from the Empire was the most pressing issue and that the duke’s army should be a shield. Meanwhile, the duke’s oldest son, born from one of his concubines, was Prince Lucas. He believed in taking the fight to the Empire and striking back over the loss of the Saulon Domain to bring glory to the house of Heartner.
Under normal circumstances, Prince Belton would clearly hold the upper hand. But the Heartner Domain now found itself on the frontline of the conflict with the Amidd Empire. That had given Prince Lucas, who had the full support of the duke’s army, a much more commanding presence.
In the past, everyone assumed that Belton would use his cunning political acumen to command the domain, while Lucas dealt with military matters. But now, many suggested Lucas should become duke, leading the army into battle, while Belton remained at home to tend to political matters.
Of course, the chatter meant nothing if the current duke simply chose his successor. This squabble would immediately come to an end. However, every time Duke Heartner did manage to wake up, he said something different. He appeared to be lucid, but the content of his head was a jumble. Even his closest ministers didn’t know what to do.
As a result, the domain had split into Belton and Lucas factions, along with those attempting to curry favor with both sides. The whole affair created considerable tension, but the situation had also been going on for so long that most of the castle staff simply worked around it by this point.
“Prince Belton, may I have a word?” Prince Belton was heading to the dining hall for an early lunch when he was called to a stop by Baron Ikks, one of his close confidants. Ikks was a noble priest and diligent civil servant. While he worked under the State Bursar, a man from the Lucas faction who desired to stimulate the economy through the conflict, Ikks had chosen to side with Belton. Of course, his primary motivation was the hope of promotion if and when Belton became duke.
“What is it, Baron Ikks?”
“There is clearly something going on at the magicians’ guild, my lord,” Ikks reported. “Guild Master Kinap and a few other key figures are clueless, but some of those paid to protect them have completely gone missing.”
Prince Belton remained calm while muttering to himself under his breath. The magicians’ guild was a key base for his support. Each guild ostensibly professed political neutrality, but he was unable to ignore the support of the magicians’ guild in his current situation, with their varied research and development of spells and magic items, and their stable of skilled Magicians.
In particular, Belton was of a mind to use guardsmen and knights to deal with keeping the peace and fighting monsters within the domain, so the adventurers’ guild didn’t think much of him. He had the HQ Guild Master under his thumb but faced a lot of opposition from those in the regional branches. That was another reason he wanted to maintain support from the shrines and the other guilds.
“Is it my brother?” The agents of Prince Lucas might be throwing around bigger bribes again or be holding something over those in question.
“It doesn’t seem so,” Ikks replied. “I was unable to confirm any movement from Prince Lucas’s men. I have received other concerning reports, however—unsubstantiated for now. I will report further once I have confirmation.”
“Very well. I know I work you hard, Baron Ikks. This will all be worth it.”
“My Prince.” Ikks gave a bow and then dropped back.
Belton knew that Ikks was skilled at collecting information, using a complex network of spies. Surely he would find the truth of whatever was going on and report back swiftly. Belton watched the Baron go, keenly aware how much lay across those broad shoulders.
Then, without warning, he felt the ground shift a little beneath his feet.
“An earthquake?” It wasn’t a large one, but still a rare occurrence. Then the rumbling got a lot more pronounced, very quickly.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!” A massive hole proceeded to open up in the floor. Baron Ikks had been walking exactly on top of it and dropped into the chasm without a hope in the world of escape.
“B-Baron?!”
“Prince Belton, please, get back! Get back from the edge!” One of his attendants, someone close at all times, moved in from the shadows and grabbed Prince Belton, dragging him backward to safety.
That was the day that the castle of Duke Heartner started to lean to one side.
Skill level increased for Carpentry, Construction, and Golem Creation!