For the past ten years the Noble houses had been in disarray, be it the disappearance of an entire house or the loss of business cutting off the supply of money.
The disappearance of the Noble house, though shocking wasn't all that suprising. The house of Valos could be considered the weakest of the Noble houses and the youngest of them all . Due to their circumstances they tended to become larkeys of the strong aristocratic families with them being known as house Fabian's surbodinates.
House Fabian was known for their connections with the millitary and their iorn and Crystal mines.
These factors gave the family alot of power in highsociety with many enemies along the way.
Like many houses, house Fabian had failed to reign in their young master who was known as a debaucherous young man with a penchant for chasing skirts.
Seth Fabian never once got scolded nor berrated for all that he did, not even when he raped and humiliated many a women through out the capital.
This had to do with three reasons, one- his family, the house of Fabian was one of the strongest Noble houses in the empire .
Two- he was a talented mage in the second level and considered the strongest in the younger generation and finally three- the women were from the lower nobility and the rich commoner families hence of little consequence in the highsociety.
Such activities were kept under the rag and heavily suppressed. the fact that he had such great talents made people automatically look the other way.
But as all know, such people are living on the edge one mistake away from a calm Mitty and calamity came in the form of the house of Bravos .
The house of Bravos was a house mostly involved in trade and commerce with connections to even the beastmen territory.
They were known as part of the loyalists party and extremely loyal to the crown.
They established the Chambers of commerce to give commoner merchants a chance to make a living and helped eliviate the laws constraining trade in the empire and hence revered by the commoners across the empire .
So how would such houses ever intersect? , Well this happened when young master Seth Fabian on one of his escapades, violated what seemed to be a member of the lower nobility .
What many might not have Known was that the woman in question was the wife of the second son of house of Bravos' house head .
The second son had apparently chosen to continue his mother's house as the Head of house Levi, a small noble house that chooses neutrality.
The poor woman was apparently delivered to house Levi's gate with bruises and scars all over her body with a note threatening house Levi and the woman's life.
On receiving his wife, Raymond Levi Bravos for the first time in his life broke down in tears summoning the best doctor and healer he could as well as locked down the entire house.
Upon inspection from the doctor and healer with the scars and bruises removed ,it was discovered that his wife Maria Hour Bravos had lost the ability to reproduce and had fallen into a comma.
With in a matter of twenty four hours , Raymond informed his father asking for help in gaining justice for his wife.
Anthony Bravos , the head of house Bravos was livid upon hearing the story. The entire house of Bravos was angry for as a tightnit family , Maria was like a daughter to him and before the end of the day house Fabian was facing sanctions from all merchants with none daring to do business with her the house. Not even the merchants supplying food dared to do so.
When house Bravos brought up the issue in the morning court, the emperor and the Noble faction tried to minimize the issue with the emperor going as far as ordering the removal of sunctions and offering an apology.
Such a thing not only chilled Anthony's heart but also brought things into perspective.
The emperor was using his moment of weakness and vulnerability to reduce the power and influence of house Bravos.
"I have been blind" leaving these few words,he left the palace.
Within a few months both houses of Levi and Bravos started moving their assets to the border between the empire and the beastmen territory.
The sunctions were slowly removed and many thought that the houses had been defeated.
A year later after the move , a massacre enveloped house lavos leaving none behind.on the same night Seth was attacked and crippled. Several of house Fabian's mines were destroyed and several of the families supporting house Fabian had their secrets exposed.
None dared point the finger but all knew the instigator. House Bravos lost it's authority but it's influence rose .