"The smaller nations are afraid. Some want protection from the major powers, but some are already secretly dealing with Xenthalor. They sit in meetings and nod along, but they don’t do anything important.
It...
It is a mess."
Veylara shook her head, as if just thinking about it all was exhausting.
Kael and Lavinia frowned at those words. Lavinia’s frown, however, was stronger.
"No, something doesn’t make sense here."
She shook her head. Veylara looked at her, and the Princess frowned.
"What the smaller nations do doesn’t matter. They are weak, they hold next to no power compared to the major nations. Most of them are like vassal Kingdoms.
As for the major powers..."
The former Princess took a small pause, as if trying to make sense of it all in her head first.
"If Drakthar, Eryndor, Zephyria, and the Church of Feraos have already made an alliance, spending months thinking about who is going to make the first move makes no sense either.
They can simply divide their forces equally to create a vanguard, and this is just something I thought of within a minute. I could come up with far better responses in a month."
Lavinia spoke up.
And no, she wasn’t saying that she was smarter than the major Kingdoms. The point she was trying to put across was that—
"If the Alliance is already formed, if they are prepared to move against Xenthalor, waiting gives them no benefit. Xenthalor’s research is advancing every moment. The more time they waste, the stronger they would be, the worse the outcome of the inevitable battle would be.
None of the three Kingdoms would want that."
"Are you saying..."
Kael narrowed his eyes and Lavinia nodded.
"Yes, if the war is being delayed, that means someone in the Alliance has been delaying it purposefully."
Lavinia revealed, and the next instant, Elira and Arlan’s expressions changed. Veylara seemed comparatively calmer. She observed Lavinia for a moment. No one knew what she was thinking.
"Who do you suspect?"
Veylara asked, looking at Lavinia.
Lavinia, however, shook her head again.
"I have not been part of politics for a long time. I do not even know who represents the Alliance, or how the meetings are convened.
What I’ll say will only be coming from my bias."
The former Princess then looked at Veylara and—
"What about you? Who do you suspect?"
At that question, Veylara remained silent for a while. She turned towards Arlan and Elira, surprising the two.
"Answer her question."
She ordered.
’She asked you!’
Both siblings thought at the same time, but neither of them dared to say it out loud, not when she was looking at them with such a solemn look.
Instead, the siblings looked at each other, then, as if they already had an answer in their heads—
"Crown Prince Edric."
The answer came instantly, both siblings saying the same name.
Lavinia narrowed her eyes at the answer, waiting for an explanation. Elira knew that, so she answered further.
"We have been suspicious of him for a while now."
Kael nodded at those words. He still remembered the time he suspected the Crown Prince the most.
"And our suspicions have only gotten stronger. Especially since the Crown Prince is currently nowhere to be found, and ever since he disappeared, the Alliance meetings have been continuing smoothly and progress has been made."
"What?"
Kael frowned at those words.
"The Crown Prince is missing?"
"Yes."
Arlan nodded.
"Well, not exactly missing. He did say he would be leaving for a while, he just didn’t specify when, and one day, he just disappeared out of the blue."
"Also, do you remember Althea?"
Elira spoke up.
Kael nodded.
How could he forget his first assistant in this world, the cruel woman who healed him mercilessly every time his instructors were done beating him up, only for him to be beaten up again.
At one point, he was more scared of her than the instructors beating him.
"What about her?"
"She was Crown Prince Edric’s person."
Elira revealed the truth. Arlan nodded at those words, saying Elira was correct. Again, it was rare for the siblings to agree on something, this, however, they were sure about.
Kael’s expression changed as well.
"The Crown Prince, huh...
So he was keeping an eye on me."
"Yes, he cannot be trusted."
Elira nodded confidently.
Veylara, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes.
"You don’t seem to agree with them."
She noted, looking at Kael. Soon, however, as she looked at Kael’s face, her expression changed.
"No, it’s less about you agreeing with them, you...
You suspect someone else.
And you seem quite certain about your suspicion."
She read Kael’s face. Kael looked momentarily surprised, soon, however, he just chuckled a little, then nodded.
"Yes, there is someone I suspect."
The three Stormholds looked at him. Elira’s eyes momentarily fell on Lavinia, then back on Kael—
"Are you talking about... the King?"
She guessed, looking at Lavinia.
The King was the one who exiled Lavinia. He said she was corrupted. That obviously was not true, else Kael wouldn’t be with her in the first place.
That would mean the King himself was wrong.
And since something like this couldn’t just be an honest mistake, it would mean that the King knew what he was doing.
He exiled Lavinia on purpose, and if that was indeed true, then...
Elira would understand Kael’s hatred and suspicion.
"Yes."
Kael didn’t hide it either.
He nodded.
Though he didn’t just say that because of what happened to Lavinia. He had... a much stronger reason.
His Vision.
He had literally seen King Alden standing in front of him, with his sword smeared with Lavinia’s blood.
This was the entire reason he ran away from Drakthar in the first place.
The King could not be trusted.
And as Elira and Arlan saw his face—
"The King, huh..."
They muttered to themselves, trying to imagine what it would be like to have the King of the strongest Kingdom turn out to be the real enemy.
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