It was the day after the lower stages and gradually, people got back to their daily duties.
The King was in his study, signing off some documents. Beside him was Lucian, one of his five subordinates.
Lucian was a sixty(60) year old man, with a lot of experience added to his name. He was not well known, as those that knew him had already died due to the situation with the rifts.
"Caspian. What are you thinking?" asked Lucian.
If it were anywhere else, he would be required to address the King with his title, but here, he could speak freely with his student.
Caspian scrunched his brows, "It is the nobles, particularly Duke Forst and Earl Vargas."
Due to his duties, dark circles had piled under the King's eyes, and every day he had to cover it with light makeup.
Lucian asked him, "Ohh, what is it?"
"Yesterday, I noticed the Duke was not present for the competition. When I asked, I was told that he was busy preparing instructions for his territory. Now, I know that is important, but something doesn't sit right with me."
As a King, Caspian had developed an impressive intuition. Some of the situations he had faced could only be solved with the heart.
Lucian agreed, "That, indeed, is strange. He could have done it any other time, but why then?"
Caspian informed his teacher, "It was not only him. A few other nobles were missing, and most of them were in Duke Forst's closed circle."
"Hmmm…...this is truly strange. Is this the emergence of another movement, another rebellion?" smiled Lucian.
Throughout his years of serving Caspian, he had seen a lot of rebellion, which had all failed. It was safe to say, as the leading kingdom of the south, there was little to no chance of a successful rebellion.
That was how tight the system in Aztec was!
On the surface, Aztec Kingdom employed a noble system, but truly, the most important parts are not left to the nobles.
For example, the army sector of the kingdom was in control of the King's brother, Royal Duke Conan, and assisted by him(Lucian), one of the king's subordinates.
The other sub-ordinates also watched over other sectors. Hawk was in charge of intelligence. Sia was in charge of Management. Flan was in charge of the economy, and Grif was in charge of Law enforcement.
Their respective duties were to watch over their sectors.
Lucian quizzed his student, "So, what do you plan?"
His beloved student replied, "I would have asked you to check it out, but I need you here, in case of any emergency. Hawk is also too busy investigating the mysterious organization. It seems like I would have to pull out Grif for this."
Lucian nodded at the Caspian, showing his full agreement.
After they had decided on the matter of Duke Forst, he questioned again, "What issue is there with Earl Vargas?"
Using his arms to hold his chin, Caspian replied, "It is a letter a received from Viscount Elliot. Apparently, one of the members of the Vargas Family trespassed into their territory through the dark forest. That is not all, in the letter, it was fully implied that the member possessed a forbidden pill."
"What were they doing in another territory?" Lucian asked the important question.
"They were searching for the remains of an unaffiliated [Realm-3] cultivator, not from our kingdom. Quite funny, due to wanting to keep the news quiet, they were beaten to it by a commoner. I believe his name is Ray. I saw him at the competition," replied the King.
He was not fazed as he recounted the whole event. Not even bothered by the treasures of a [Realm-3] cultivator.
Wasn't he also a [Realm-3] cultivator?
If it was a [Realm-4] cultivator, it would have been a different case, as, throughout the history of Aztec, there had been no known [Realm-4] cultivator.
That was how difficult [Realm-4] was to achieve. [Realm-3] was the limit of the southern continent. Only, the sects on the islands possessed a [Realm-4] cultivator.
Lucian pondered on Caspian's words and asked him, "What type of forbidden pill was it? Maybe, we can trace its origin through it."
The two of them took this matter seriously because years ago, they had banned forbidden pills from entering their kingdom.
All their imported goods were occasionally checked, so they were no way Vargas Family could have gotten the pill from there.
There had to be another source.
The King rubbed on his head, as he felt another pounding issue coming his way.
Seeing this, Lucian asked, "What do you plan?"
"What else? I sent for one of Hawk's subordinates to investigate the matter!"
"So, what have you thinking this deep? The Vargas issue is still a bit trivial," probed Lucian.
"The problems I have been receiving throughout this year are increasing exponentially. I am beginning to worry," smiled Caspian.
He continued, "Oh, I just remembered. The barrier of the Pinesun's zombie mine has a hole. Where is the next Array master?"
Thinking deep, Lucian replied, "The last one left the continent two years ago. The only ones available are in the two sects. Still, they are not exactly available."
Lucian said this as he knew how otherworldly sect members liked to act.
"But, we need one or the hole would expand further. I will have to contact the sect and pay whatever price they demand," sighed Caspian.
The Zombie mine's barrier was made by an array master back when there was still an array master in Aztec.
However, the last one died decades ago, and since then, Aztec has been unable to raise another.
They had to depend on array masters from outside the kingdom, but most array masters leave as there is little for them in the continent.
*Pa!*
Caspian dropped down his pen as he finished signing the last of his document.
He tiredly smiled at Lucian, "That is all. What do you think?"
Noticing his dark spots, Lucian replied, "I think you should have a rest. You have been going at it since her death. Go, I will take care of any other issue for the day."
His student was overtaxed by the burden of a King. It was his duty as his teacher and adviser to ease the King.
He sent of Caspian, as he stationed himself in the study, waiting for any issue to pop up.
........
Aztec Palace.
King Caspian walked the palace hallways. The hallways always felt cold to him. It always felt unwelcoming.
Due to him having his time off, Caspian went to the only place he could have a proper rest. The court garden.
It was a special place for him and his dead wife. She would always tend the flower, while he would hide at surrender himself to the soothing scene.
"Hmm..," Getting to the courtyard, Caspian was shocked that it was already occupied.
He looked to see who it was and saw his children sitting on comfortable chairs under the canopy, enjoying the great sun.
'I can't disturb them,' he thought.
Using his high cultivation base, he hid among the well-trimmed short trees.
Yet, he was found out, "Who is there?"
The owner of the voice belonged to Cheyenne, who had noticed him despite him hiding.
He tried to bluff, not showing himself.
"I know you are there. It is you, isn't it, Father?" scoffed Cheyenne.
Her tone was full of venom, showing how much contempt she held for her father.
Knowing he was already revealed, Caspian came out of his hiding spot.
He greeted his children, trying to walk away, when he heard Cheyenne's voice, "You are not welcome here. This is a place mother stayed to free herself from pain. Leave!"
She had made it clear how much she hated him.
Caspian stopped at his feet. He wanted to do something other than running away today.
He walked to his children and felt a rollercoaster of emotion.
This was scary to him, more than an actual life or death battle.
Not giving up, he said, "I know I have wronged you. I am sorry. If there's anything I can do for you to forgive me, please let me know."
Years of being alone had rusted his sweet mouth and he found himself almost stammering in front of his children.
"There's nothing!" shouted Cheyenne.
She was triggered by the presence of her father and wanted him to get away.
"It is too late. Where were you when she was still alive? Where were you?! You know, Mother is strange and sometimes, I hated her. We had once asked her why she continued to stay with you and not leave, but you know what she said?"
Her every word biting into Caspian's heart, gnawing on it.
"She said she didn't want to. When further questioned, she just smiled and said it was love," Cheyenne gritted her teeth.
She couldn't continue as tears rained down her cheek. For the fifth time since she was born, she cried.