In his office, Riley looked over a report from the Ministry of Magic, one hand pressed to his aching head. With the king’s declining health, the crown prince was being sent more documents than ever—though, given his age, they still required the premier’s approval. The document before him was different, however; he had personally asked an official to bring it.
“Huh. ‘The swarms are of natural origin and will no longer be investigated.’”
One could gauge a document’s importance by its signatures, and this one bore both the premier’s and the Minister of Magic’s. It was also uncomfortably precise. In the past, Riley might have taken that as typical of senior mages—but after hearing about the former king’s “pernicious legacy,” he found himself reading more deeply into it.
“Are they serious?” he muttered. “Won’t the swarms just keep getting bigger, causing more and more damage?”
Nothing meaningful was being done to curb their growing frequency or scale. The only proposed “solution” had been to increase the number of guards and knights along major highways, an idea Riley found painfully insufficient.
“The order doesn’t have enough knights who specialize in slaying monsters, so they can’t spare any for highway patrols. And the feudal lords would never lend out their own. Not to mention that most of their knights are peasants.”
Knights serving under feudal lords weren’t trained to fight monsters. Apart from mages capable of using the strongest light magic, only the mage knights of the royal order had any hope of defeating such beasts.
“Did the premier truly approve of this?”
Riley couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. He wanted to believe there were other countermeasures being discussed behind the scenes, simply omitted from the report, but he doubted it. With a sigh, he decided he would ask the premier directly the next time they met.
The prince set the report aside and rose to his feet, craving a change of pace. He took his favorite sword from its mount on the wall and left the office for some fencing practice. Austin had been so busy since joining the knights’ order that they rarely trained together anymore. His friend felt more distant than usual, but Riley assured himself it was a natural part of growing up. The secrets he kept weighed heavily on him, but he still looked forward to the day Austin would serve as his personal guard.
As he stepped into the hallway, Riley slowed. Approaching him was the king’s half brother, just shy of twenty-nine. The prince grimaced inwardly but presented his usual calm, courteous smile.
“Uncle Franklin. What a surprise. It’s been a while since you last came to the palace, hasn’t it?”
“Yes, I’m here to visit an old friend. But when I heard my brother was sick, I thought I should see him.”
Archduke Franklin was an illegitimate son of the former king. Tall and slender, with a sweet face adored by the fairer sex, he had long been infamous for his scandalous love affairs. A philanderer through and through, he had earned so much of his father’s contempt that the late king had refused to deal with him at all.
Franklin had once served in the royal order’s First Corps—but only to boost his popularity with women. His shameless motives had earned him extreme disfavor in the Seventh, where merit meant everything. He remained unmarried and lived comfortably in a royally owned domain far from Hudore.
Riley sighed, working to suppress the irritation rising in his chest. The “old friend” Franklin had mentioned was obviously one of his lovers—and judging by his tone, he was far more interested in her than in visiting his ailing half brother.
“Are you heading back to your lands?” the prince asked.
“Would that be more convenient for you?” Franklin shot back with a nasty grin.
Though Riley was the crown prince, Franklin had a legitimate claim to the throne as well. Riley’s bloodline was superior, but Franklin was a more appropriate age for the role, hence his subtly antagonistic demeanor. It wasn’t enough to rattle the prince, who forced a polite smile and shrugged.
“Of course not. I was just curious. Normally, you return home right away, without even stopping by the palace.”
Franklin’s bravado vanished at once. Everyone knew he had abandoned his royal duties to fool around. Even the archduke himself seemed aware of it, judging by how he wilted.
“With my father gone and my brother as he is now, I’ve never had much reason to stay,” he said. “I just thought my being here might help, with everything you’re dealing with. If you want me gone, I’ll go, but is there truly nothing you’d like to talk about?”
“I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. My retainers are very capable.”
“What, those sly old foxes my father left behind?” Franklin exhaled through his nose, hands linked behind his back. “The ones who hold the kingdom’s reins?”
Riley’s eyebrows twitched in an almost imperceptible frown.
“They don’t understand the value of royalty,” Franklin went on, contempt curling his lips. “They make light of us, convinced they can run the country alone. What hubris. They have no respect for the family whose ancestors founded this kingdom. Just minutes ago, when I offered to handle approvals, that fool of a man told me I ‘wasn’t needed.’”
“Which man?”
“Some old sleazebag. The Cerulean something. Completely full of himself.”
Riley barely managed to stifle a sigh. Franklin calling Duke Clarke “old” was laughable, considering they were of the same generation. The duke had also done far more for the royal family—and the kingdom—than the amorist archduke, to say nothing of the vast gulf in political acumen. Franklin could flaunt his royal status all he pleased; it meant nothing to the head of House Clarke. Riley himself had only been able to take part in governance by navigating the duke with extreme caution.
“I see. Perhaps you could take on work that only you can do?” Riley said, playing to his uncle’s pride.
“Work that only I can do...?”
“Gathering information from around town, for example. But be sure to bring guards—you know these are troubled times.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
Franklin brightened immediately. The delight on his face was impossible to hide. Riley, meanwhile, felt relieved that his uncle would be steering clear of politics.
In truth, there wasn’t much Franklin could do. His “information gathering” amounted to whatever gossip he heard at brothels, where he spent most of his time boasting. And as he barely managed his own lands, let alone played any meaningful role in the kingdom’s central politics, there was nothing he could say that foreign spies would ever care to hear. Naturally, he was the only one unaware of that fact.
“I may not look it, but I’m busy,” the archduke said. “I’m heading out, but let me know if you need anything.”
With a cheerful wave, Franklin departed. Only once he disappeared from view did Riley let the strength drain from his shoulders. He could easily imagine the two sour-faced guards behind him were just as irritated with his uncle.
“It’ll be a while before Liliana’s next visit, I guess...”
The words slipped out before he could stop them, and his ears turned red. He had always been comfortable around Austin—they were childhood friends—but somewhere along the way, taking tea with Liliana and speaking with her as an equal had become just as important to him, if not more.