Chapter 52: Political Schemes
Abium soon confirmed that it was not a dream or a hallucination.
Because no matter how long he stared at it, the head stayed there on the fortress wall!
Abium stood up from the floor, took his sword from the spatial ring, and then held on to his waist. Slowly, he walked out of his room, left the grand hall, and stepped towards the place where Hemarc was hanging.
Abium's room was allocated near the grand hall's entrance, making it easier for him to sneak outside.
As he moved towards the side of the wall, he soon noticed the entire body of Hemarc on the other side.
Hemarc was gripping the edge of that wall utilizing his hands and observing the other side.
Abium noticed this and assumed Hemarc arrived here to see that mysterious beauty.
There could not have been any better purpose for him to come here. He felt Hemarc appearing here must have to do with what he said earlier.
'Letter, huh. Maybe a love story?' He chuckled.
He then quietly advanced towards the left side while looking at the paintings on the walls and soon reached the nearby building supported by multiple pillars. It was another grand hall specifically allocated for commoners, knights, and soldiers.
As he walked past the platforms and pillars, he heard some voices nearby.
A frown appeared on his face.
'Whose voices are those?'
Immediately, Abium stopped his track and peered towards the area where those voices arose from. In the narrow courtyard, twelve members assembled.
Walls surrounding that area obstructed the moonlight, but lamps placed near the crowd illuminated dimly.
All the chief guests who arrived at the night banquet were gathering there.
'Are they talking about something important? But why are they gathering here at this time?' Doubt appeared in his mind.
He now guessed that Hemarc was not here to see the mysterious beauty but attempting to listen to what they were discussing!
He was spying on their conversation!
'Should I also listen to their talking?' He was also very curious about their secret discussions.
With the aid of his scan function, he quietly found a safe place and started listening to their conversation.
Undoubtedly, Hemarc chose a perfect place to hear their talking.
His only doubt was how Hemarc fooled those high-level warriors' senses? He quickly scanned everyone using Azolla's Spiritual Scan ability and noticed the difference in Spirit Power emitting from Hemarc and others.
Abium and others continued radiating a large amount of Spirit Power from their bodies, but Hemarc's body only emitted a much less amount of Spirit Power.
He knew nothing much about the Spirit Power in the past. The only thing he knew was that it was a power used to build spells in their minds and somehow related to souls.
Even the warriors who were above Fourth-Tier could barely be able to sense the mysterious power. If one wanted to feel it freely, they had to be above Seventh Tier!
But now, he had an easy time sensing their Spirit Power.
Abium stayed away from the other warriors' range and quietly listened to what they discussed.
Because of his half-elf racial traits, he could hear and see more clearly than normal humans. So, he didn't face any difficulty at all.
As he was trying to listen, a red carriage that stood a few meters away from their meeting area caught his attention.
'Is this the same carriage I saw in the evening?' He also shifted his gaze towards Hemarc and raised his eyebrows in suspicion.
He thought perhaps Hemarc arrived here to see that girl.
But what made Abium speechless was Hemarc's recklessness. Who would boldly climb on the wall to see a girl except for this fool?
Abium shook his head and focused on what people were talking about.
Suddenly, his expression stiffened as he caught his name stated in that conversation.
No, it was Thallan's name.
"What about the boy that your son invited into the fortress earlier? Where is he? Our speech shouldn't fall into his ears. He is one of the elven kingdom's citizens. I even heard that he is working under the Explorer Squad." An old man's voice echoed.
Abium soon zeroed his attention on the particular area and saw the person's face.
The old man appeared to be around 60 to 70 years old, had monolid Jade eyes, low arched eyebrows, a celestial nose, olive skin, straight blonde hair, and a chevron mustache with a full square beard.
He currently wore a lavishing overcoat with fur and even placed a brown hat over his head.
At that moment, Margrave comfortably sat on a luxurious chair and continued.
"No one should know about this until our plan is firmly set. Suppose, if Thallan learned a little about this, he should not set out from this fortress."
Even after he heard those ominous words, Abium didn't move from that place; instead, he made sure to listen to their entire conversation.
At that point, Nicolaus's voice fell onto his ears.
"Don't bother about him, Lord Margrave. He is dozing peacefully in his room. That fool is a reckless brother of my friend but not a bright one. He won't do something like eavesdropping on others' conversation."
"I'm glad that you have so much confidence in him. But we don't know him before. That is why I'm warning you here. What we are going to discuss is not about random business but the supremacy of the kingdom. Even a single word that slipped out of your mouth may lead to disasters. All of you must remember this!" Margrave Eliot expressed in a grave tone.
Abium got startled as he noticed that these Nobles were talking about the Royal family's matters.
Nobles had only the right to speak about marriages and administrative issues, but talking about Supremacy and the Royal House was more like treason in any kingdom!
The thought that there would be some rare event occur sooner in this very town came to his mind.
'The crown prince will lose his arm...'
That incident caused shame to the Royal Family in the past. Everyone began to mock the crown prince for losing his arm in his kingdom. Nobody knew how he had lost his right arm in the past, but that incident became the root problem during the Grand Noble's Gathering.
While he was in thought, Margrave Eliot resumed his talk.
"I have come here to convey urgent news to all of you. It is the reason I hold this gathering. King Sewallus's health condition has worsened even more. I even asked the Light Church Bishop who examined that curse about the King's condition. He stated, 'that curse was put on the King using some strange dark magic, and he will not live long.' So now we have to consider what needs to happen!"
Meanwhile, Abium couldn't help but raise his eyebrows as he heard this news.
'Interesting. Is the King affected by a magic curse? That's why he died much earlier than the Grand Nobles' Gathering?' He thought to himself.
"What did those diviners tell you regarding his health?" A middle-aged man asked from that crowd.
"Why should we have to ask a diviner? Didn't you notice the changes occurring inside and outside of our kingdom?" Another guy argued.
Margrave solemnly said, "I requested some of the diviners. They appear to find it hard to foretell our King's fate, no, the kingdom's fate itself. They also stated something about the future swapping in a strange direction. Anyway, what we have to do now is think about who deserves to rule this kingdom." He ended his speech while gazing back at the crowd of nobles.
"What is there to think? King Sewallus already selected Huggin as a Crown Prince without considering anyone," A 30-years-old looking young man stated in an annoyed tone.
Abium also identified the young man and turned solemn.
'Viscount Raoul!'
He had short black hair, thin eyebrows, average height, a little obese body, and a chubby face.
Among the others, he was the only one who wore a simple cloth and appeared more like a commoner.
"It is true that the Royal Family didn't hear about our ideas on this matter. But it is wrong to say they didn't discuss this matter with anyone, Lord Raoul. They heard the opinions of Princess Ankerita and Duchess Margery. Aren't they? Can you say no?" a guy answered that in a mocking tone, followed by a few people in the crowd who began laughing.
"Wow! You're laughing! I don't know how you laugh at this situation. At this moment, my stomach is burning inside, and my blood is seething with rage!"
Margrave gritted his teeth and returned in an offended tone.
There was a brief moment of silence.
Only the sound of the west wind whispering and the trees' buzzing noise echoed.
After a long silence, the guy who ridiculed the speech apologized along with others.
"We apologize for speaking like that, Lord Eliot. You're our leader. Everyone here is ready to carry out your every command. We walk the way you showed us. So, please forgive us!"
Margrave Eliot also returned to his calm state as he heard the apology and waved his hand.
"I have also lost some patience. For that, you have to excuse me. Consider one thing. In my opinion, Crown prince Huggin is not qualified to govern this kingdom. I know that all of you think the same. But if we didn't do something, he will be soon crowned as the next King in a few months."