Chapter Thirteen

[City of Behemoth – Capital of the Kingdom]

"Your Majesty, please reconsider this!" said Marquis Carlos. "If you announce that to the entire Kingdom, we'll enter a civil war!"

King Alvis glared at the Marquis. "Carlos, are you telling me that I should not choose a successor?"

Despite the heavy gaze of His Majesty, Marquis Carlos did not yield. He knew that if he did not stop the King here, their country would enter a dark age. Even if he was hanged for overstepping his bounds, he had no intention of backing down.

"That's not what I meant, Your Majesty! Think about it! The three Dukes are the reason why the Empire has not invaded this Kingdom yet! If you announce that now, those three will end up killing each other!" roared the Marquis. He saw that the personal guards of the King started moving after that, but he continued regardless. "Please reconsider, Your Majesty!"

Silence befell the throne room. King Alvis gazed upon the Marquis beneath the throne, carefully embedding into his mind the pallid face of the old man that had accompanied him through numerous battlefields.

Marquis Carlos was his most trustworthy general and his closest friend. He knew that the old man wished nothing but the best for him and the Kingdom. Still, King Alvis had already resolved himself for this one.

"I will not change my mind," said the King eventually. He waved a hand and two guards approached Marquis Carlos and grabbed his shoulders.

"What the meaning of this?!" growled the retired general. Under the fierce glare of Marquis Carlos, the two guards nervously gulped down.

"My dear friend, I am sorry." King Alvis was frowning. He closed his eyes for a moment, creating numerous wrinkles on his skin. "Until the declaration ends, I will have to lock you down in the dungeon. Of course, rest assured that you will not be harmed."

The guards took out chains and cuffed the retired general. Marquis Carlos did not resist, probably because using force inside the throne room would be far too disrespectful to the King. He merely stood there, biting his lips as the cuffs were wrapped around his wrists.

Marquis Carlos and the King locked eyes with each other.

"King Alvis, please." Marquis Carlos' voice was almost sobbing. For a moment, King Alvis had the urge to immediately unshackle him. "There must be a better way. Please… Please… reconsider."

King Alvis knew the implications of his decision. Indeed, just like the Marquis said, their country might enter a civil war once his announcement spread through the Kingdom.

But I'm running out of time.

After a heavy sigh, King Alvis gave the signal to the guards. They took away the bound Marquis. Silence once again returned to the throne room.

***

Two days after the Marquis had been imprisoned, the citizens of Behemoth City gathered in the Central Plaza. The place was crowded despite the cold winter, with more than thirty thousand people gathered to personally hear the announcement from the King. It was almost a fourth of the entire population of the Capital.

Although King Alvis was dubbed as incompetent, he was loved by his citizens. Unlike the tyrant King that preceded him, King Alvis never tormented his people with absurdly high taxes. Also, during his reign, wars have lessened gradually, and this was due to the fact that the current King was a pacifist. The wars that occurred during his reign were on a far smaller scale, with the exemption of the Bloody Thorn Plains incident fifteen years ago.

The Grand Chamberlain, Viscount Lakian, tapped his wooden pole thrice towards the ground, creating loud thud sounds. Everyone's eyes immediately turned to him. "The embodiment of God Neruz. The heart of the Sun. His Majesty, King Alvis Lukas VI has arrived. Everyone – show your respect."

Immediately, the entire plaza became quiet. The residents knelt on one knee, their heads lowered on the ground. The sound of several footsteps was heard.

Accompanied by the Royal Guards, King Alvis went towards the pedestal, overlooking the entirety of the crowd that had gathered in this place.

"Raise your heads," said King Alvis.

"Raise your heads!" shouted Viscount Lakian.

Like a wave, the crowd looked up and gazed at the old man standing on the pedestal. Unlike most Kings, his finery was not gaudy. His long silk tunic was embroidered with very few golden threads, and his cloak had a plain purple color. If not for the scepter in his hand, it would have been easy to mistake him for a low ranking noble of the Kingdom.

"Today, I have gathered everyone to make an important announcement." King Alvis' voice echoed with the help of an expensive magic stone.

King Alvis could see that aside from the commoners, several nobles stood among the crowd. Most of them were familiar faces.

He once again remembered his dear friend, Marquis Carlos. Right now, the retired general was locked up in the dungeon, and once this speech was over, he planned on releasing him. He knew that if he had not locked Marquis Carlos away, he would have created a revolt just to stop this announcement. Once that happened, even his status as the King of this country would not exempt his friend from the death penalty. It was something King Alvis would like to avoid at all costs.

King Alvis could feel the gazes of everyone. He breathed in then said, "Four years from now, I will pass the throne to my successor."

The entire plaza blazed into life. Numerous murmurs filled the air. It was a well-known fact that the King's children were all female. He did not have even a single son to inherit the title. Since it was in the law that only males were allowed to become the ruler of the Kingdom, everyone thought that the King would try to have a son within the next few years. After all, although old, males were still capable of impregnating a woman.

Therefore, a question ran through the minds of the citizens and the nobles. Who would be the successor the King spoke of? As far as they knew, the King was without a son.

As though answering the thoughts within their minds, the King spoke, "As you are all aware, all of my children are female. Because of this, I will be choosing my successor from among the Three Great Families. All of the sons of the three Dukes will become candidates for the throne."

King Alvis could see that the nobles were stunned upon hearing this. The common citizens, on the other hand, were ecstatic. They had never heard of something like this before – a King handing over the throne to someone without blood of the Royal Family.

"I will choose the heir to the throne based on that person's capability. By that, his ability to rule his territory," said King Alvis. "Since problems will surely arise because of this, I forbid the three Dukes from waging war against each other. If proven guilty of trying to bypass this decree, the House of the perpetrator will be immediately kicked out of competition for the throne."

King Alvis knew that even with this decree, the three dukes will still clash against each other regardless. But at the very least, he would be able to prevent an all-out war of the three large forces.

I'm running out of time. This Kingdom needs a new ruler soon. A great monarch that would lead the people to peace and prosperity.

***

The news of the King's declaration immediately reached the entire Kingdom and its surrounding countries. In the taverns, discussions on who among the three Duke's sons would most likely inherit the throne was frequently heard.

Inside his room, Lord Drakus silently sipped wine from the bronze goblet. He looked through the window, gazing at his domain. As one of the three Dukes of the Kingdom and also the Head of the Marcus Family, he possessed power second only to the King. With a single command, thousands of soldiers would march under his flag.

"Haaa." Lord Drakus deeply breathed. These past few days, he had lost sleep. The sudden announcement of the King was something he had never expected. "Four years… In four years, the Marcus Family will become Royalty."

He never once doubted this. After all, his son, Lui Marcus, was the Kingdom's hero. At a young age of twenty-eight, he had made great feats and won numerous wars. Some of the scholars were even saying that he was the second coming of the War God, Rurukashu. With an unbeaten record, Lui Marcus was the current Supreme Commander of the Western Regiment. The Great General that kept the Empire at bay.

Compared to the sons of Duke Kelvin and Duke Youchester, my son is ahead by leaps and bounds. There's no way the House of Marcus will lose in the competition for the throne as long as Lui is with us.

Lord Drakus had long accepted that Lui had already surpassed him. If not for this sudden declaration, he was even planning to pass on the title of the House Head to Lui next year.

For now, I will have to postpone giving him the title. It'll be easier to act if I remain the Head of the Family. Even if I have to empty the treasury, I have to support Lui and make him inherit the throne.

As Lord Drakus was submerged in his thoughts, three knocks were heard and a voice spoke, "Father, It's me."

Lord Drakus broke out of his fantasies. He fixed his collar. "Enter."

The door opened and a good-looking man entered the room. His silver hair was the characteristic trait of the Marcus Family. Whenever he commanded the soldiers to battle, his long hair would flow with the wind, and it gave him the nickname – the Silver War God.

After shutting the door, Lui bowed his head. "You've called for me, Father?"

Lord Drakus inwardly nodded at this. He approvingly looked at his bowing son.

As expected. My son is perfect. The competition for the throne will surely become our win.

"I'm sure you've heard of the announcement from the Capital."

"The competition decreed by His Majesty?" said Lui. Although he was still wearing the sword on his waist, Lord Drakus did not mind. He knew of Lui's personality. Even in banquets, his son never took off his weapon. He would always say that a moment's carelessness could lead to death. "People have been talking about it nonstop that my ears have gone numb."

Seeing the wry smirk of his son, the confidence within Lord Drakus' heart rose up a notch. As expected, the competition was no big deal for his genius son. There was hardly a change in the expression of Lui all throughout their conversation.

Lord Drakus grabbed the shoulders of Lui and looked at him straight in the eyes. "Listen, Lui. As my only son, I will support you with anything, using any means necessary. I will use all the power of the Marcus Family to make you ascend the throne."

Lui's eyes glimmered. "I understand, Father. I've already asked Count Nases to gather all of the nobles within our faction. They'll arrive here soon within the next few days. I've also mobilized half of the Marcus Army stationed in the Rulfort Mountain Range. They're currently moving towards the Louan Plains to subjugate the monsters residing there."

"Louan Plains?" Lord Drakus frowned. "Monsters?"

"Yes, Father. The King said that he'll judge us based on our ability to govern our people. Therefore, instead of prioritizing guarding the border of Rulfort Mountain, we will do better in using the army to subjugate the monsters in Louan. The City of Metesda and the City of Yan are currently separated by the Silen River—but that's wrong. What really separates the two cities are the monsters that follows the river's route. I've sent several men to do reconnaissance in that area and they found out that the monsters originated from Louan. If we are able to subjugate the monsters in Louan Plains, a trade route between Metesda City and Yan City will open up."

Lord Drakus was at loss for words. Metesda and Yan were both under the domain of the Marcus Family. If this information was true and the army managed to subjugate the monsters in Louan, then the two cities would prosper once the trading route opened up. Furthermore, the area surrounding Silen River was filled with gemstone mines. But due to the monsters that frequently roamed the area, those mines were never developed. The Kingdom tried subjugating the monsters before, but for some reason, they kept coming out of the River, as though they were birthed by the water.

As expected of the Silver God that defeated even the Empire. In just a few days, he had already come up with a plan to win the competition for the throne. In just a few days, he had already come up with a plan to make their domain prosper.

Lord Drakus tried to stop his body from shivering in delight. He could not ask for a more perfect son.

"But Father, there's one thing that's wrong," said Lui.

Lord Drakus paused before asking. "What do you mean, Lui?"

"I am not your only son," said Lui.

For a moment, the head of Lord Drakus throbbed. He remembered that boy borne from his concubine. The incompetent boy that, unluckily, have the blood of the Marcus Family flowing through his veins. Personally, Lord Drakus felt that he had been a kind father for simply exiling that boy towards that desolated town.

"You mean, that one?" The eyes of Lord Drakus narrowed. He let out a sigh.

"Father, Lark is also your son." The face of Lui was grim. "He's closer to a demon than a human, I've got to admit, but he's still my brother."

Lord Drakus did not like where the conversation was heading to. He knew perfectly well this side of Lui. Although he was a peerless commander, he had a fatal weakness – he loved his family too much, to the point of kneeling in front of everyone just so that his useless little brother would be forgiven for his atrocious misdeeds.

If possible, Lord Drakus would like to disown that stupid son of his that carried the name of the Marcus Family. If Lui had not stopped him back then, he would have exiled Lark outside the Kingdom, never to be seen again.

Now that I think of it, the brat should still be alive, right? Gaston insisted on coming with him. And I gave him a hefty sum too. But considering that brat's personality, it wouldn't be surprising if he'd squandered it by now. Ah.. Damn it. Just thinking about that one is giving me a headache.

"Father, I suggest that you send several soldiers towards that place," said Lui.

"To that small town?" Lord Drakas could not see the merit in doing that.

"Yes. With my rank as the Supreme Commander of the Western Region, it'll be hard to target me. Therefore, the other two Dukes will definitely aim for my little brother."

Upon hearing this, Lord Drakus' expression turned grim. He sent that stupid kid to a faraway place so that he'll not be able to harm the reputation of the Marcus Family, but it seemed that alone was not enough to remove the problem.

I really should have killed that brat back then. He kept ruining the Family's reputation. Fighting with the other nobles. Harming the citizens of the fief. A year ago, he even almost killed the priest due to some petty squabble about religion.

Despite his dark thoughts, Lord Drakus never implemented such plans. His genius son would find out sooner or later, and it would definitely deteriorate their relationship with each other. It was something he would like to avoid at all cost.

Lord Drakus sighed. "Tell me, what merit would the two Dukes get by targeting Lark?"

Even if that son of his was harmed by the Dukes, it did not really matter to Lord Drakus. After all, that kid was nothing but a baggage. He could not see how it would affect him in anyway.

Lui gnashed his teeth as he stared at Lord Drakus. "By targeting my brother, they'll be indirectly targeting me."

"Father, if they harmed my little brother, I will slaughter the two Dukes and their entire Army, regardless of the Royal Decree."

The eyes of Lui was predatory. "I promise you that."