He took a minute before he finally said something.
"Your offer is compelling but unfortunately, me loyalties lie with the First Prince."
Although he was a bit taken aback, contrary to what he had just heard, the Prince was smiling. "I've given you a chance at a peace resolution, but, alas, it seems you want to do it the hard way"
With that, another red folder appeared in his hands before placing it down on the table.
The Archduke looked at it with cold eyes before turning his sights back on the Prince. Picking it up and flipping through its contents, his eyes grew sharper and colder with each passing second. Though, he was quite talented at suppressing his emotions.
"So you're threatening me now?" he said, placing the folder back on the table.
"It only goes to show how much of a valuable asset you are." The Prince argued, making a point of it. "But there is a better way, one where your city and house prospers. Of course, it is your choice but I shall implore you one last time, take the original deal. I'm sure it is far better than the one you made with the First Prince..."
Although it was a bitter pill to swallow, Edward Light, the honoured Archduke, was between a rock and a hard place. Thinking it through, he finally relented, unwillingly shacking his head, he said, "Then we shall go with that..."
The smile on the Prince's face grew wider as he teased, "Are you sure? What of the loyalty you were talking about before?"
"My loyalty lies with whoever gives me the most benefits, you see, I am a businessman after all..."
Well put, well put indeed...
The Prince nodded his head in understanding before slowly getting up from his chair, "Good, good, now listen carefully as this is the first part of my plan to having an over whelming victory. Do not announce that you've changed the candidate you support, for now you will continue to support the First Prince and report his plans back to me."
Nodding along, the Archduke was a bit apprehensive. 'I understand him using me as a spy but is he really going to make me play along till the very end of the throne race before switching sides???
That would not only snatch the title of king from right under the First Prince's nose, but also be an unexpected comeback, making it seem as though he is some kind of underdog, and everybody loves the underdog... how clever.'
Making others underestimate you took real skill, it was also an advantage that would be cashed in the later stages of the race.
Coming to an agreement, Prince Amon excused himself leaving the Archduke saying that they'd be in touch...
. . .
Once he left the office, he didn't see his butler anywhere near. Only to spot him in the distance, admiring the paintings on the wall, the same painting they had been oblivious to when walking past them earlier. Sensing the Prince's stare, the butler briskly walked towards him. Asking if it was done one he got close enough.
The Prince simply nodded to his question, notifying him of the positive results. Exhaling a breath, the butler said, "Thank God, now we have a fighting chance!"
"We still have much to do." The Prince added, a meaningful look appearing in his eyes. Seeing that, the butler seemed to have understood something as he nodded his head. 'We're being watched!'
"You're right, we shouldn't get too full of ourselves. Now lets hurry along..." With that said, the two returned to their aircraft hastily departing the city at unimaginable speeds. Once they were far enough, the butler activated the auto flight mode before returning to the Prince's cabin. Sitting back in his seat from before, he asked, "So how did it go??"
The Prince recounted, "I offered him the easy way but he refused, so I offered him the hard way, which he readily agreed to." The butler's face went stale as he stared deadly at the Prince prompting him to say, "Okay, okay, Jeez..."
He then recounted what happened, almost verbatim except for parts he explained and commented on. Once he finished, the butler was at a loss for words. His face expressing his current thought process.
"it's odd though, isn't it? With the proposal you gave him, there shouldn't have been no way for him to reject. Like you said earlier, he only cares for three things in this worlds; money, power, and his daughter.
You offered him the krypton mines, so money is a check; you offered him a position in your advisory court, checking of power; and you also proposed a marriage union between you and the Light family's only daughter.
Speaking based on stats alone, you should've won him over. There's something strange about this. Could it be that he's under some sort of restriction?"
The Prince had ha similar suspicions so it didn't take long for them to agree. "Maybe the First Prince has more sides to him than he let's on .." The butler agreed, "Its only natural for people to have unsightly sides to them, especially those who grew up with a silver spoon up their mouth."
Hearing that, the Prince held a confused expression before he asked, "I grew up with a silver spoon, are you saying I too am like that?"
"Don't tell me you actually think you're normal???", the butler, on the verge of being flabbergasted.
"Am I not?"
"You started a secret division at the age of thirteen... Trained almost all its members to the completion realm in the span of just five years. These weren't even the people that were talented, no! They were the dregs of society!
The ones that had given up on themselves! The ones that had given up on the worlds, the ones with no will to live. Big dreams with no means of achieving them. You took that and turned them into completion realm cultivators!! My Prince you are far from normal!!!"
The Prince hearing all that felt the need to cringe as it made him seem like some righteous benefactor. But he was no benefactor... at least not according to himself.
It wasn't that his actions weren't righteous, it was because of his intentions. He wasn't doing this out of kindness, he was doing it for the simple fact that he could. At first it was simply a young man he had found on the street, begging. Noticing the youth's predicament and his tangled fate, the Prince decided to take him in as a subordinate.
Fast forward a year, he had taken in seven other people like that. Noticing the increasing number of subordinates he had, he decided to create a secret division where they would be free to train themselves as well as each other. I
t was quite spectacular actually. The rest was pretty much done on their own, the Prince only adding more people to it. He had even given them a chance to leave and explore the world, the cosmos. While some did left, the ones who stayed were loyal to a fault.
By analysing what the Prince needed most, they had even made themselves out to be an Intel gathering, light, and heavy assault unit. Creating a self reliant organisation with little to no recognition, only being known by the people that hired them to do "odd" jobs.