Imperial Palace, Empress' chambers
Anastasia was furious. She couldn't fathom how the bastard prince had managed to escape. According to her men, the Barcas had found no leads and weren't paying any attention to the alley close to their mansion.
What further angered her was the ridiculous story about a Sage-rank mage saving him without even revealing his identity. It was obvious that the mage was Enki's trump card, and he wanted to keep the man's identity a secret.
Anastasia wasn't alone in the room. With her were her guards and people from the ducal house of Lapius. They had gathered here to figure out how to move on from here. They couldn't easily lay their hands on the crown prince anymore since he now had Warriors from the Barca family constantly guarding them. The men from Lapius were also instructed by the Duke to report to him if the Empress plans on doing anything reckless.
"Empress, what would you have us do?", asked one of the employees of house Lapius. The Empress had now been stomping her feet on the ground and circling around the room, deep in thought.
Hearing the question, the Empress stopped in her tracks and gave out an exasperated sigh.
"What can we do? They hold all the advantages. We are being suspected of kidnapping the crown prince, even though they have no evidence to support it. The houses supporting the other princes will surely make their moves during this time when we are at our most vulnerable. The Barcas hold the prince prisoner so wantonly antagonizing them further is not in our best interest.", the Empress recounted. They were going to be hit on all sides soon.
"For now, just leave the Barcas and crown prince alone. It might be safer for Darren to stay inside their walls for now, since our position in the Imperial family is unsteady right now. Besides, they won't mistreat a prisoner, especially a prince. While he won't like it there, he will at least be safe.", the Empress further expressed her thoughts.
"All right.", the surrounding men nodded in approval. Everything the Empress had said was true. The Emperor was angry with them, the Empress was suspected of kidnapping the prince, the Duke would be under heavy surveillance because of the suspicion and the other houses would surely take advantage of their predicament. The only uncertain factor in this was the crown prince. They didn't know yet how he would react. So far he had played a passive role and tried to keep out of everyone's way, but after this, it was likely to change as well.
"What do you want to do regarding the other princes and houses?", asked the men of Lapius.
"For now, keep an eye on them and report everything to me and father. Also, refrain from doing any large transaction, only keep the normal businesses and operations in place, and don't let our men roam the streets alone. Make sure they move in groups and that all important officials and members of the house are constantly guarded.", the Empress replied.
It would most likely start with their businesses being targeted, after that they would try to poach some of their important allies and members. Then they would start the hunt, killing key members of house Lapius and its allies and trade partners. They would try to inflict as much damage as possible before the Emperor would put a stop to this. Considering that the Emperor was pretty angry, he would likely delay his interference for some time. He would probably let the others target house Lapius and the Empress for two to three days.
"Just hold on to the best of your capabilities.", the Empress muttered while gazing outside her window.
The moon was shining brightly, and the stars illuminated the night sky. It looked so peaceful, but Anastasia couldn't help but feel uneasiness building up inside her.
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Cathedral of Eternal Light, underground chamber
Three men were gathered in the dimly lit room. They were the Patriarch, Cardinal Varmio, and with him was the blue-haired man.
Within the room were a simple round table and five chairs. Two of them remained empty.
"What went wrong?", asked the blue-haired man. They were planning on killing the kidnapped crown prince before he could be exchanged or rescued. They had found his location through extensive search and had dispatched their men to the location. But clearly, something had gone awry.
"The one rescuing him wasn't someone we could deal with. We had no choice but to retreat", the Patriarch explained with a strained expression. Why in the hell did The Night get involved in this? They had kept a neutral stance for so long. The Church was not ready to go against them unless absolutely necessary, and even then their victory right wouldn't be certain, at least not right now.
"Who, who was it that got in the way? Why are you two so scared of them?", the blue-haired man demanded to know. These two were one of the most influential people on the continent. He couldn't fathom who they could be afraid of.
"It wasn't the person that was taking action that scared us. It is the man behind it that we are cautious of.", the Cardinal replied with a frown. He didn't appreciate this ignorant man's attitude. Besides, it would incur the Night's wrath if they spread around news of their existence, so the Patriarch and Cardinal both kept shut about it.
After trying to pry for more information without any results, the blue-haired man threw up his hands in frustration.
"What now, then? Are you planning to give up just like this? Are you willing to let all of our years of effort go to waste?", he asked in a displeased tone.
"Of course not. We will still act. We will use a more indirect approach, though.", the Patriarch retorted.
"Oh? What do you have in mind?", the blue-haired man asked, having calmed down upon hearing his allies didn't plan on throwing in the towel.
"We will attempt to poison the crown prince and frame the Empress for it. Even if the Emperor and the other houses would doubt if she was truly behind it, they would still jump at the opportunity to be rid of her. Right now is the perfect chance to deal a devastating blow against her.", the Patriarch declared.
"You do know it's highly unlikely that the prince will come to any harm?", the blue-haired man commented.
"The crown prince is not the target this time. That window has closed for now. With the Barcas publicly supporting him, we have no choice but to plan carefully our next steps against him. Besides, the Conservative faction seems to be attempting to get close to him, so I have to be careful when dealing with him.", the Patriarch rebutted.
"We are going to use a pawn that doesn't know he works for us to plant the poison in the Empress' room and put a dosage in the crown prince's room. The prince is a Warrior, and the Palace has plenty of healers, so he will be fine. But the Empress will have a hard time explaining herself.", the Cardinal explained with a smirk.
Stroking his chin, the blue-haired man nodded. This would most likely be a checkmate to the already cornered Empress. The woman was too impulsive. She would have been one of the more formidable opponents had she not acted out so rashly.
"Well then, gentleman, until next time.", the blue-haired man said while leaving the room.
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Imperial Palace, within an underground network
Madelein kneeled before a man that was dressed in black gear that was identical to the one she used. The man's face was covered under a hood and only two piercing black eyes could be seen shining from within.
Surrounding Madelein and the man were nine other identically clad men and women.
They were all gathered under the Imperial Palace within an underground network that extended throughout the Capital. It was the base of their organization, The Night.
"Why did you disobey your orders, First Shadow? Your mission was to simply observe the target and keep your existence hidden. Never were you allowed to directly help him.", the man before Madelein berated.
"I judged him to be someone who would be worthy of the throne and I was unwilling to let his position be weakened like that.", Madelein explained.
'Like hell can I tell this old man that I just didn't want to do the extra work that came with the prince's disappearance.' Madelein thought while sweating.
Hearing her answer, the brows of the man before her slightly rose up. Not that anyone could see that.
"Oh, and what exactly is it about him that makes you think that?", the monster of the night asked while feeling amused. He could see that Madelein was hiding something but if she could give a satisfying answer, he would let it go.
"The crown prince is diligent and hardworking. He has no ambition towards the throne but sadly for him, the Emperor threw him right in the middle of the struggle of succession and now, in order to survive, he has no choice but to claim the throne for himself. He cares a lot about the citizens of the Empire, which can't be said about the other Imperial family members, including the current Emperor. The prince is the best option as the next Emperor that we have and I felt it would be a waste if he was in danger of losing his life or position.", Madelein hurriedly blurted out anything that came to her mind that would leave Enki in a positive light, leaving her out of breath when she finally finished saying her piece.
'Hardworking my ass. He is just a slave driver. Cruel to the people working under him.' Madelein cursed in her mind.
Silence followed her outburst.
"Vey well. I shall forgive you this one time. The next time something like this happens, you will be punished.", the man before her spoke after a long silence.
"Yes, Father Night.", Madelein replied while feeling elated. She had been fully prepared to receive a punishment. But in her opinion, it would have been worth it. Nothing could be worse than the mountain of paperwork on her desk.
"Also. Your mission will be slightly changed. You will be still observing the crown prince while keeping your identity a secret, but you must also keep him alive. Since you have formed such a high opinion of him in such a short time, he must truly be extraordinary.", Father Night mused.
"Yes, Father.", Madelein replied.
"All right, off you go, my child.", Father Night dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
After Madelein left, he turned to look at the others that still accompanied him.
"Your thoughts?", he asked.
"I feel like there is more to this, but First Shadow didn't lie. Everything she said was true and our other reports confirm it.", replied one of the Shadows.
"I feel like we should seriously consider the crown prince. First, the Supreme Commander and house Barca spoke in favor of him and now even the usually frosty Madelein had only praises for him.", commented another Shadow.
"Very well. Keep observing the movements of the Church and other houses. Report all actions that they take against the crown prince. Don't interfere, just report.", Father Night commanded.
"Yes, Father Night.", they all replied.
"Dismissed.", he said while disappointing into the shadows.