I spent the next couple of days accompanying prince Gideon by day and setting out to create more dark fog vessels by night. Their existence was now seen as a danger to the empire.
I had consistently set the vessels' strength to that of a high mage. That made them less of a threat and simultaneously made prince Sullivan look bad for failing to handle it.
The crown prince's standing amongst the nobles was on a steady decline now. He had been forced to rest in bed for all this time while prince Gideon had been attending meetings. Unfortunately for him, most nobles believed that he was exaggerating to shirk his responsibilities.
Right now, prince Gideon had garnered the support of a large portion of the nobles including some of the ones I had marked as trustworthy during prince Gideon's audience concerning the failed assassination attempt.
Today was an important day since prince Sullivan had announced his return. The meeting room was packed full with nobles and only a few seats at the back were still free.
Prince Gideon was sitting to the right of his father, the emperor, where usually prince Sullivan would sit. I was standing behind him scanning the room for potential threats. I had to keep up appearances okay.
Prince Sullivan arrived shortly before the meetings began with Tristan in tow and walked toward his familiar seat only to find his younger brother already sitting there. His countenance twisted as he heard the surrounding nobles snicker at him.
"Brother, I believe that seat is mine. The crown prince should be sitting to the right of the emperor. As my younger brother, you should be sitting further away."
"And where has our crown prince been during these trying times? Licking your wounds and hiding from the problems we were facing? Now that we have somewhat gotten back on track you appear here and wish to take the lead? A fine crown prince and older brother you are!"
The lesson in rhetorical questions I had given prince Gideon was paying off. The nobles around were nodding in approval and whispering amongst themselves. The emperor remained silent, he didn't defend prince Sullivan or support his claim for the seat.
Behind prince Sullivan, a dangerous aura arose. Tristan was simmering with rage and the ground around him started to crack as frost seeped into the marble floor. The nobles moved away like a group of frightened deer.
The emperor's gaze grew sharp but he still chose to refrain from taking any action.
I wasn't sure if this was a test for me or prince Gideon but it didn't matter. Tristan unleashed a beam of concentrated cold energy that would probably permafrost prince Gideon if it was allowed to hit him.
The air around the beam froze and the room's temperature immediately dropped. Beam attacks were one of the only ways for ice attacks to deal with physical fighters. However, due to their concentration, they were easy to block if approached the correct way.
Before the beam could get anywhere near prince Gideon I stepped in front of the beam and held a dark blue scale into the beam's path. The scale was about the size of an adult head and when the icy beam hit the scale it just disappeared.
This was the heart scale of a sub-zero serpent king. I had found the scale in an abandoned basement of a noble while creating dark fog vessels. Contained inside the scale was an entire blizzard world. Nothing but ice attributed magic could enter so it was worth a lot less than space element treasures. However, as long as the opponent only used ice magic, especially energy beams, it was very useful.
The scale showed no change even when impacted by the full force of Tristan's cold energy beam. All of it was just absorbed into the scale.
The nobles gasped aloud at my display of skill. Or wealth?
Tristan looked incredibly troubled. His attack was warded off so easily and without any casualties. I hadn't even used magic so he was in real trouble. Prince Sullivan was quick to think but there wasn't much he could say.
"Brother, who is this stranger you have with you. Is this masked man connected to the monster that attacked me?"
And of course, he would go for me. My identity was unknown after all. Too bad he wasn't prepared for what was about to come.
"How dare you talk about lord Raven in such a manor. When one of those creatures attacked my son he was the first to cut it down. I will not have you drag his name through the mud with baseless accusations!"
That was one of the dukes. The occurrence he was describing had happened but hadn't been part of my plan at all. I had just acted in the spur of the moment and now I could benefit from it.
Dukes were influential figures in the empire and even a crown prince would have to respect them. If prince Sullivan insisted on claiming that I was involved in the creation of the vessels he would enter an open conflict with a duke. Either way, he wouldn't regain the upper hand he needed to get that seat.
And the biggest issue had yet to come. The emperor broke his silence as a blinding aura was emitted from him. The full brilliance of a rank two light element archmage was projected throughout the throne room.
"Court mage Tristan, I respect you as both a mage and a benefactor of the empire. However, I cannot overlook your actions anymore. You have openly attacked my son before my very eyes and I could tell that you were not holding back. As much as I don't want to, I am starting to believe that you really did attempt to assassinate my son at mirage lake."
"My emperor! I would never do such a thing! I had no intention of hurting the prince. I am loyal to the empire."