The Kingmaker System

The kingdom prepared for the mass funeral of those who had passed away during the siege of the Dark Forces. Unfortunately, a lot of caskets were without any dead bodies while some were damaged beyond recognition.

Northwestern territories had faced a great damage except for the handful few and apart from the families directly connected to Esmertia clan, the rest were receiving help from Oasis Foundation.

"Are they purposely avoiding us?"

"The Harbor is damaged quite badly."

"Even the markets and other administrative buildings are destroyed."

Presently, all the heads of the branches of the Esmertia family had gathered in the mansion of Duke Esmertia to discuss their next step. They knew they were caught up in a vice whirlpool with how the things were escalating. Not only were their most influential and economically important locations damaged but they also had to face the backlash as the rumours of the Queen being behind it were spreading like forestfire. The situation might be down now because the people were busy recovering and mourning but soon they will pick up weapons and their first targets will be Esmertia clan.

The Queen’s death at the hands of the heroic First Princess who had appeared out of nowhere had added insult to injury since the masses would be swayed more towards her side and it would be the final nail on their coffins if the people started demanding an investigation in the deaths of the former Crown Prince and his family’s deaths.

"Katherine... just what kind of a mess have you dragged us into?" Duke Esmertia muttered to himself bitterly.

"Your Grace, we need to get out of this or we will lose everything that we had built so far."

The heads of the other families pleaded while Duke Esmertia sitting at the head of the table only grimaced.

"We"? What did they mean we? He had built everything himself, the wealth, the foundation, the positions they were in was all his hard work. Hearing them squaking like headless chickens only infuriated the Duke and he couldn’t help but recall the last conversation he had had with Katherine.

"I’m telling you, Ocean Ryujin is a monster!" Katherine had screamed at him, "He-He tried to kill me! He will also kill my son and everyone! He will destroy everything!"

The state she was in made the Duke wonder if his daughter had been pushed to the brink of her sanity because of something that Ocean Ryujin had done. She kept insisting that he wasn’t human and that she vividly remembered the agony he put her through.

But back then, he could only see his daughter’s state- sunken cheeks, colorless lips, bedraggled hair, messy night gown, skeletal form. She had stayed in that state for some time before the Trials began and then she seemed to have pulled herself together.

Watching her back at the amphitheatre, the Duke had believed that whatever had happened to Katherine it had passed but what he learned later had shook him to his core.

Katherine... possessed by a demon was going to commit regicide and she had literally turned into a monster.

Even now as he recalled the thought, it sent chills down his spine.

Just how did the things escalate so much that Katherine had to go to this extent?

"Ocean Ryujin... what did you do?"

"What if we ally with Oasis Foundation?" One of the Lords of a small territory, Lord Clador asked.

"Oasis Foundation?" A Viscount grimaced, "Have you lost your mind? Why would they help us?"

"With the way the things are, Ocean Ryujin and even his son are hailed as heroes. They are benefitting from this the most."

"Considering that Ocean is said to be affiliated with the Mage’s Tower, do you think that Ocean Ryujin was the one who had hidden the First Princess for all this while?"

"That’s right, it’s suspicious as he of all people wouldn’t know that she was right under his nose all that time."

"Are you trying to say that... he might have a hand in this?"

The grim silence fell over the conference room, nobody dared speculate any further as they all stole glances at the Duke. He had been silent the whole time and now that the things have come to the point where Ocean Ryujin was a suspect of causing the seige they couldn’t brashly go ahead because they never knew who could be a mole among them.

Ocean was notorious for gathering all kinds of intel about everyone so, it was believable that he had known about Princess Alys all this time but what if he had staged it all to completely uproot the Esmertia clan? Could he truly have gone to this extent just to remove both the Queen and her whole clan?

Duke Esmertia released a deep breath and then looked up at his vassals.

"Don’t go around spouting nonsense." He spoke curtly.

He knew Katherine was delving into the crafts of the dark forces and if they impatiently dragged Ocean into this based on their conjecture it would only mean that they would lose the last option of salvaging the situation.

Ocean Ryujin maybe a monster but he was the only person in the kingdom who could prevent the complete annihilation of the Esmertia clan.

"Lord Clador is right," the Duke added, "We will have to get assistance from Oasis Foundation."

He felt the bitter aftertaste for saying this but at the end of the day, the survival of the clan was more important for him.

The heads of the families looked at each other, their expressions crossing from bewilderment to understanding until Duke Esmertia placed his hands on the table.

"For now, we need a strong ally that could save us from getting executed for treason. Ocean Ryujin is currently the only man who could do it."

"B-But, Your Grace... how could we trust him?"

Some of the heads nodded and Duke Esmertia glanced at the person before he recalled the teams especially dispatched by Ocean descending on the battlefield where even the most seasoned knights were having a hard time. They were only a handful of people but they turned the battlefield into their playground within a few minutes.

Ocean had sent reinforcements despite announcing that he wouldn’t help Esmertia family. That was a silent message, he not only had the power but also Prince Carlos- their last pawn in his palm. Esmertia family had to admit subservience at this time if not, they will lose everything.

Nyx Valmest had been invited to live with the Castermere family after the siege, she didn’t have a residence in the capital so staying with the Castermere family was reassuring.

Their family unlike hers was lively and loving, Earl Castermere and Lady Chelsea were a warm and loving couple and their affection was clear for their children as well. Nyx hadn’t had quite a long conversation with the daughter Lysanne but she knew that she was a confident and strong woman. Nyx had seen her at the arena doing her best to support the Princess and bravely fighting against the demon.

They had been kind to her and offered her to stay in that manor until she was in the capital, she had a decent warm room and had meals with the family.

"Miss? Miss?" Nyx turned her head and looked at the twins who had came to her room earlier along with Lysanne to talk with her. The maids had brought along a lot of sweets most of which were gone now.

"Um... Yes?" She asked with a small smile.

The kids beamed brightly before their eyes drifted to the table where Nyx’s apple pie sat untouched.

"Do you like sweets?"

"I love sweets!"

"I love strawberry cake the best!"

"I love all kinds of sweets!"

The kids spoke nonstop and Nyx could only stare until she smiled and then pushed the porcelain dish over to the kids.

"I’m not in the mood to eat anything sweet right now..." she spoke, "Would you like to have this?"

The kids’ faces brightened up but before they could swipe away the dessert, a stern figure appeared behind them.

"You two," Lyssane spoke looking down at her mischievous brothers, "what did I tell you last evening?"

The kids glanced up at her, their expressions mirroring each others as they portrayed the sight of the most innocent children on earth.

"What did you say, Big Sister?"

Lysanne’s stare grew icier and the two shuddered.

"Ba-Baroness Valmest is our guest so, we shouldn’t disturb her!"

"We also should not try to steal her snacks."

"Or do anything to annoy her."

"And?"

"We should be on our best behaviour."

The kids hung their heads almost whimpering under the stern glare of their older sister and Nyx couldn’t control her chuckle.

She shook her head and then picked up the dessert.

"It’s all right, Miss Castermere. I really am not feeling like eating much so, if they want it they can have it. They weren’t disturbing me."

The kids looked at her with glistening eyes while Lysanne sighed, "Don’t do this, Baroness or they will keep pestering you again and again."

Nyx smiled watching one of the kids take the dish from her hand before signalling his twin.

"I... never had a good relationship with my brother so, watching you three is fun."

Lysanne sighed and watched her brothers scurry away before taking a seat. She had heard about this newly appointed Baroness of Valmest and also that her half-brother had nearly lost the Barony because of his gambling debts.

Lysanne wasn’t good at beating around the bush like the noble ladies of the capital so, she was hesitant about asking Nyx more about her life.

"I... well... It wasn’t always so fun and harmonious for us." She started awkwardly, "You see the age difference between me and the twins is quite large so, when they were babies... even I couldn’t know how to treat them."

Nyx leaned in, listening intently and Lysanne chuckled nervously, "There was a point when I avoided them when they were young, I found them annoying and insufferable as they kept following me around..."

"But then one day," Lysanne looked down at her hands, "It was the time of the festival in the neighbouring territory. The twins were quite young so, they weren’t allowed to go."

It was the time when the twins were four years old and Lysanne was fourteen, she had already been trying to avoid her brothers so, when the time came where they clung to her begging her to take them along at the festival she had tried her best to shake them off her back. Yet, they hadn’t backed away and when Lysanne left, they snuck along with her luggage and went along.

Lysanne was aghast when she found the two kids after reaching her friend’s territory. By that time, Castermere household was in a chaos as they couldn’t find the young masters.

Lysanne hated it but she had to take up the responsibility of looking after her brothers since they had come all the way.

"Stay in the house and don’t dare follow me this time." The young Lysanne sternly told her brothers.

The two heads bobbed in agreement and Lysanne left for the festival with her friend. The festival was quite fun but Lysanne couldn’t enjoy it to the fullest as she kept thinking about her brothers who looked crestfallen when she had left them behind.

The guilt made her return sooner than they had planned, only to find out that the kids were suffering from quite a high fever.

Lysanne hadn’t focused on anything else other than her brothers sneaking in to the neighbouring territory with her. She hadn’t noticed that the long travel and the means with how they came had taken a toll on their little bodies.

Lysanne sat by her brothers’ side the whole night, looking after them and vowed to herself that she would never neglect her brothers, even if that meant for her to be a strict figure in their lives she was ready to do that in order to keep them safe while also giving them room to be the lively children as they were.

Nyx felt the sense of warmth but also an ache after hearing the story, she never had anyone in her life who could do so much for her. No one apart from Prince Carlos who saved her and her people.

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