Crown Prince

Ki left her room and scouted the capital for potential talents and business while she had the time to do so.

Her mother and father spent their time together on the little vacation and enjoyed the scenery around the capital.

Guards were placed around them so that they were kept safe during their stay and they did not seem to encounter any difficulties.

Meanwhile in another part of the capital, there was a young man who seemed younger than twenty.

He had silvery white hair and icy blue eyes similar to Lumi, he was dressed in luxurious robes and there was another person in front of him. "Did you go? What happened?"

Darius of the Frost family was the other person in the room and he responded. "Crown prince, I have visited like you requested. The Bombyx family do not have grande ambitions and do not wish to get involved with the power struggles of the capital but there is something that should be mentioned."

The crown prince was the most talented among the royal siblings who had entered the Ice Phoenix Sect and had gained the rights to inherit the throne.

If he wanted to hold onto that position then he had to keep his guard up at all times and to not slack off.

Another family entering the capital was something worth investigating for him just in case there was a need to deal with the Bombyx family early or to make use of them in some way.

Nobody believed that the Bombyx family could cause any big disturbances in the capital but the crown prince would not overlook them.

Something he overlooked had the chance of being used to drag him down from his position so he ordered Darius to go to the coming of age ceremony.

Not all of the greater families in the Northern Lands were loyal to him and were supporting his siblings but the Frost family was among them that were loyal to him.

The head of the family would carry out his wishes without a single complaint even if the request was a little unreasonable and far below what someone in his status should be doing.

Most noble families would send their subordinates to carry out smaller tasks that they did and only made an appearance where it best suited their status, Darius being at the coming if age ceremony of Ki was something that would not usually happen in places like the Central Lands.

The crown prince remained quiet as he listened then spoke again. "What is it?"

Darius put on a serious face as he spoke coldly. "I received a warning from the young lady of their family about something concerning. She said that if something like that happens again then they will have to pull their business out of the capital once more."

The crown prince frowned. "That young lady sure has some guts to speak to you that way. Tell me, what is this concerning matter?"

Darius nodded and continued. "There was an ambush set up on the way to the capital using starved and trapped wolves which were let loose near the road they were travelling on.

I have sent my men to investigate if this is true and it has been confirmed that the Bombyx family had arrived in the capital at a later time than they were expected to. They had been selling and trading a large amount of wolf organs, meat, bones, teeth, claws, tendons and pelts to the vendors.

They are all fresh kills and they should be connected to what she was talking about. Do you want to ignore this claim or should I look into it further? Those pointed out by her seemed to be from the families that support your brother."

The crown prince knit his brows upon hearing the last part. "I see.. this may be our chance to put some of those close to my brother in their place. How about we just borrow the Bombyx families name as important diplomatic and business visitors.

That way we can use this to punish those who interfered with their arrival and had set up a sinister plot? Their way of doing it will upset a lot of people too so use that to further crush them."

If there were individuals that were getting in between important matters of the capital then they could be punished severely.

Visitors from other lands were usually welcomed and treated with respect so that ties could be maintained and so that there would be no conflicts spark from them being upset or not making it back to their homeland.

The visitor could always just convey something different to those they served so that relations would worsen and the visitor dying on their lands could be seen as a declaration of war at times.

The Bombyx family may not have been able to represent the Central Lands but they had had become an important source of food and other supplies to the capital.

That business relationship would improve the state of the capital from the commoners to the royals but if it came to an end then many would be left without the things they had come to enjoy or gave them a better means to live once they ran out.

The Bombyx family had stores that dealt with herbs and medicine, clothing, food, drink and other goods that could not be obtained from their lands but if they stopped being supplied with goods, those that had come to rely on or enjoy them would be the ones to suffer.

Even if the Bombyx family was not seen as important and was despised for being from the Central Lands and being outsiders, there were certain people who could see their importance.

The method that had been used against the Bombyx family would not be considered as something many would be fond of.

The Northerners ways of hunting had certain laws or guidelines that they lived by and expected others to live by too.

It was okay to gather wolves for a public hunting competition and it was still okay to let them go free once again if they were not going to kill and use them but what they had done many would not be too pleased about.

They had trapped and starved the wolves then they set them loose on others.

The population of the north was already quite low compared to other places so creating something that would endanger more lives was not something that could be accepted.

Using the lives of the wolves as tools to kill another in such a way was not seen as honourable and was very despicable.

It showed disrespect towards the wolves that should have been left to roam free in their habitat and should only be hunted once there was a real need for hunting them for food or sport.

Starving them would harm their health and weaken them while they would be more aggressive to attack just about anything in the area.

It was not just a problem of humans being harmed but also the animals numbers that would be reduced if such acts were allowed to take place often.

If villages were not wiped out by such things then there would be other problems like there being less food to hunt due to certain animals being driven near extinction.

There were people that could fish but not everyone was that skilled in it and there would not always be great gains depending on the location they fished from.

Some better locations may have been much further from the cities or villages so many had to live on what they hunted or the wild herbs they found.

When the two were put together, there was enough grounds for the crown prince to use the Bombyx families wolf attack to his own advantage.