“Your Highness, please stay calm.”
The Duke handed a glass of wine to Charles, his voice steady and gentle.
“Haste makes waste.”
He gently swirled the wine glass in his hand.
He watched as the liquid formed beautiful streaks along the walls of the glass.
“The loss is indeed heartbreaking; Knight John was a true warrior.”
“But since it has already happened, we need composure more than anything. We mustn't panic.”
The Third Prince took the wine glass but had no intention of tasting it. He simply stared intently at Joseph.
On the surface, he complied. “You are right, Duke. I lost my composure.”
But his heart was already seething with rage, letting out a silent, cold snort.
He knew very well!
The core pillar of his power, the one most independent of Duke Joseph's system, had collapsed.
To this Duke, the overall benefits outweighed the losses!
True, Gorn's fall was a significant loss for the Duke’s faction.
After he was a Legendary powerhouse the Duke had spent a fortune to cultivate.
But compared to the blow the destruction of John's Holy Knights dealt the Third Prince...
Gorn's death appeared "acceptable."
Knight John came from his mother’s side and was absolutely loyal to him personally.
He was the Third Prince's greatest source of confidence, allowing him to compete on equal footing with the deeply rooted Duke Joseph within their own faction.
Now that John and the knight order he built personally had been wiped out...
It meant that Third Prince Charles had completely lost his dominance within his own faction.
To continue this struggle for the throne...
He had to rely even more heavily—one could even say depend entirely—on Duke Joseph's power.
Even if he won the throne, he would likely be unable to escape the fate of a puppet.
And that was the very situation Duke Joseph was most pleased to see.
While losing two Legendary pillars was painful...
With the Duke’s own immense wealth, connections, and latent power...
He could still steadily push the toothless Third Prince into the position of the "favorite" for the throne.
However, this "favorite" would henceforth be entirely under his control.
The Duke took a sip of wine and looked at the young prince before him, who was struggling to suppress his agitation.
A nearly imperceptible trace of satisfaction flickered in the depths of his eyes.
This was exactly the effect he needed.
A future king who had to rely entirely on him to secure his rule.
When he had originally proposed letting John's Holy Knights escort that coward princess...
He truly hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise.
The atmosphere in the room was subtle.
Duke Joseph sipped his wine with composure, as if admiring a piece of art.
He turned a blind eye to Third Prince Charles’s anxiety and unease, which were nearly boiling over.
He was waiting patiently.
He was waiting for this young prince—who once relied on his mother’s family influence to hold his own—to completely let go of his pride and personally speak that promise.
That would signify his total alignment with the Duke.
It would be the pledge of loyalty, trading his future royal power and the vast majority of his interests for immediate support.
Charles’s heart was in a fierce struggle, his expression shifting constantly.
Ultimately, the cruelty of reality crushed his last shred of reserve.
He took a deep breath as if exhausting all his strength, his voice dry and low as he spoke.
“Duke... I understand the current situation.”
“As long as... as long as you can help me ascend the throne, then in the future... the keys to the national treasury, the authority to deploy the army...”
“Even... even the distribution of profits from all the newly developed trade routes in the southwest can be left to your... prior discretion.”
“Furthermore, I will also marry your daughter and make her my Queen.”
These words nearly drained his strength; they meant he was proactively handing over his future authority with both hands.
A trace of pride and satisfaction flickered instantly in Duke Joseph's eyes, impossible to conceal.
A warm smile bloomed on his fat face.
He put down his wine glass, stepped forward, and clapped Charles firmly on the shoulder.
The action seemed friendly, but it carried an undeniable sense of control.
“Your Highness, you flatter me! We are in the same boat; why distinguish between us? Since you trust me so much, I will certainly do my utmost to help you achieve your royal destiny!”
A stiff smile squeezed onto Charles's face, but his heart roared in anger.
If John's Holy Knights were still here... I wouldn't have to endure such humiliation, acting as if I'm begging!
The conversation then shifted to business, becoming serious and secretive.
Joseph walked to the door, opened it slightly with a look of caution, and confirmed in a low voice with the guard captain outside, whose aura was heavy and condensed.
“Are you certain everything is secure? Absolutely no one can eavesdrop?”
The guard captain straightened his back, his tone resolute and filled with absolute confidence.
“Rest assured, my Lord! Fourteen High-tier Transcendent Knights are on cross-alert, and two Barrier Mages are maintaining a highest-level Silent Barrier.”
“Even a Legendary Assassin would be discovered by us!”
Joseph nodded in satisfaction, closed the door tightly, and returned to Charles’s side.
He began to show Charles the massive web he had woven with gold and connections.
Specifically, how he planned to kick the other two strong competitors out of the race.
“The Fifth Prince’s Legendary Assassin? He has been secretly collecting the Spring of Life to extend his granddaughter's lifespan. Coincidentally, I have a few drops in my treasury.”
“As for the Eldest Princess Diana, who is supported by two dukes... Heh, her Finance Official happens to owe a massive debt to an underground bank.”
“As long as I help him pay it off and promise him the position of Minister of Finance in the future, he will naturally become our most loyal set of eyes.”
“At the same time, I have acquired all the outstanding bonds of her three largest chambers of commerce. I only need to sell them off simultaneously at a critical moment...”
Charles hesitated slightly. “Will they submit so easily? Those people are their diehard loyalists...”
Joseph scoffed as if mocking Charles’s naivety.
“Your Highness, what is there in this world that can truly be called a ‘diehard loyalist’? It’s just that the price for betrayal isn't high enough.”
“When it comes to wealth, even the royal treasury might not be as full as my Joseph family’s!”
“Then... what about Elvia?”
Charles mentioned the name with a trace of wariness.
“Even though she has lost power, she is still a variable.”
A cold smile appeared on Joseph's face.
“Her? She doesn't even deserve our personal intervention.”
“I will secretly fund and guide those useless princes and princesses, along with the group of foolish rebels they’ve conspired with, to execute that crazy Saintess Assassination Plan.”
“Assassinate the Saintess?!” Charles’s pupils shrank.
“You mean... assassinating the Holy Saintess of Light?!”
“Exactly,” Joseph’s smile grew even colder.
“Those fools truly think that by assassinating the Saintess and provoking the Holy Church of Light’s Crusaders to purge the Carter royal family, they can profit from the chaos? What a joke!”
“The Saintess may be used by the Church as a consumable against the Demon God.”
“But before she is officially inducted into the Hero's party and heads to the battlefield, she still represents the face of the Holy Church of Light!”
“Is her protection really as simple as it looks on the surface?”
“When they make their move, I will send someone to ‘timely’ stop it, and then point all the evidence toward our Princess Elvia, who has just returned.”
“Coincidentally, the High-tier Transcendent experts assigned to assassinate the Saintess are actually the subordinates of that coward princess, and they are quite happy to execute the plan in her name.”
“At that time, it won't matter if her little boyfriend is a member of the North Wind caravan or a follower of Light.”
“In the face of the ultimate crime of assassinating the Saintess, no one will be able to protect her!”
“The wrath of the Holy Church of Light will burn her and all her hopes to ashes!”
“That ridiculous princess doesn't even know she's being plotted against by her own supposedly loyal subordinates. Truly laughable.”
Upon hearing this, Charles breathed a long sigh of relief.
Elvia's own strength and influence were indeed not to be feared.
But her exceptionally high reputation among bottom-tier adventurers and the common people, combined with her sharp political intuition...
Meant that regardless of which side she leaned toward, she would bring a massive boost to them.
Especially her intelligence organization, whose specific members were unknown.
They had finally managed to exile her, yet she had unexpectedly returned.
This time, they had to take the opportunity to crush her completely within this Royal Capital!
After confirming a few more details, Joseph was in a grand mood and decided to strike while the iron was hot.
He smiled and said to Charles.
“Your Highness, there is no need to worry too much.”
“Come, let me take you to see my true treasury of treasures; it will put your mind at ease.”
“In supporting you, I, Joseph, have plenty of confidence!”
He wanted to use this tangible, mountain-like accumulation of wealth...
To stabilize this prince, who had just been forced to hand over dominance and whose heart must be filled with unease and anger.
...
Above them, within the shadows of the heavy ceiling beams...
Lin Gui, perfectly covered by the Shroud of the Gloomy Night, clearly felt Elvia’s body instantly tense up on his back!
A cold hand had already silently gripped the hilt of the honorific saber at her waist.
A killing intent, suppressed to the absolute limit, began to spread.
Lin Gui reacted quickly, pressing down on her hand before she could draw the blade, and asked in a low voice.
“What are you doing?”
Elvia turned her head.
Even in the blurry state of concealment, Lin Gui could "see" her eyes, which were nearly spitting fire.
Her face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
She spoke through gritted teeth, her voice squeezed out from the gaps.
“I’m going to take this opportunity to slaughter this old fogey who wants to frame me!”
Lin Gui looked at her speechlessly, mercilessly exposing her previous words.
“And who was the one advising me that I couldn't kill him? That killing him was worse than killing your father?”
Elvia: “...”
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