Chapter 632 Misaligned
They stepped back out into the main room, and the whole audience seemed to be eagerly awaiting their next action.
"I am pleased to say that after intensive treatment tonight, he should be fully recovered and ready to resume his casually retired life within the next six months. The damage was somewhat unusual, but nothing that I couldn't handle." Wolfe proclaimed.
The old Demon smiled at Wolfe's words. Yes, within the next six months he would surely find out who had been behind the ongoing injuries, and he would definitely take care of the situation and return to his retirement.
His grandson, the new temporary Minister of Agriculture while the official Minister was in prison awaiting trial, pulled him into a hug.
"Is it really true? You will make a full recovery?"
The old demon nodded. "Not instantly, have some patience. But I'm already stronger than I was yesterday."
That seemed to please his relative and unsettle a few of the other old Demons in the room. They had all worked together for many years as Ministers and Advisors, but that didn't mean that they all liked each other, or even held particularly similar world views, other than that they all believed that the current Boy King should be the reigning Monarch, and not someone from another branch of the Royal Family or a different Family entirely.
With that loose of an alliance, it was not a shock that many of these Demons were growing nervous about who would recover first, and who would recover fully, while others were still at reduced capacity.
As Wolfe finished making his rounds, a side door opened and a gentle young voice spoke up.
"It is so good to see my friends getting along outside of work hours." The King greeted them.
"Your Majesty, welcome. Had we known that you were available this evening, we surely would have sent you an invitation." One of the ministers greeted him.
They would have sent it to the Steward's office, Wolfe was certain, where it would not get delivered to the King. But they would at least have been able to say that they had made an effort.
The young King made the usual rounds, greeting everyone in order of their rank, and then made his way to Wolfe. "Patriarch Noxus, I know it has been a long evening, but might I borrow you for a moment? I am certain that the Ministers won't begrudge me an evening with our guest while they celebrate the recovery of their family members." The King informed him.
"Certainly, Your Majesty. They have been nothing but accommodating, and they have so much to catch up on now that the Elders of their families are recovering." Wolfe agreed, then followed the King out of the room.
The guards stopped Rail as she attempted to follow them, leaving her pouting at the side door out of the room. Without Wolfe present, she had to deal with all these Ministers on her own, and none of them took her seriously or wanted to hear her input on anything, so she was nothing more than a decoration in the room until the Chief Investigator finished his conversation and came to rescue her.
The King led Wolfe to a suite of rooms with a comfortable sitting area, which Wolfe noticed he hadn't gotten to when he was doing his rounds, enchanting furniture. That must make it the King's private residence, the one place that Wolfe hadn't been allowed to venture before.
"I must thank you for all you have done for the staff, and myself as well. The Kind Intentions spell has been an incredible upgrade when dealing with my advisors and ministers. As soon as I realized that they had to hesitate and change their intentions to enter the throne room if they planned to lie to me or work for their own benefit and not the Kingdom's my life became immeasurably easier.
But I have a few things I would like for you to do, other than upgrade my furniture, before we call your penalty for trespassing settled. Will you consider them?" The King asked.
"Of course, Your Majesty. I trust that you won't ask me anything too outlandish or morally questionable." Wolfe agreed.
The King laughed and shook his head. "I was hoping that you could help me with an advancement. The Magi have some skill at it, and if I can make another breakthrough, it should help my physical growth. It's an oddity of the Royals, our size is proportionate to our power. Nobody takes me seriously because I'm stuck at this size until I advance. But there is a second issue. I can't connect properly to the Inscription that should link me to all my Nobles and allow me to draw on their power. I suspect that someone tampered with it, but I can't openly accuse anyone, as it would mean admitting that my Rule and Power have been undermined, and that I'm not actually controlling the Crown."
The King gestured to the Crown, which was hanging casually from a bedpost. It was an intricately created magical item, but if it wasn't connecting with the King, there was an issue. He was no longer a child, he was already rank two, and bordering on Rank Three. There was no good reason that he shouldn't be able to use the crown, unless there was some restriction on it.
Wolfe crouched in front of the crown to examine the layered inscriptions from a different angle. The crown was made of a half dozen different arrays, most of which looked fine. But the one that the King had mentioned, the binding array that created a Monarch to Vassal link between the wearer and the subjects, had indeed been damaged or tampered with. It was still bonded to someone else, so it couldn't be linked to the current King.
All he had to do was determine who it was linked to, and alter that link to the new King, and it should be fine.
Wolfe traced the link from the crown downward, and searched for the Demon at the other end, hoping to determine who had been bonded to the crown.
"Is it possible to move about the castle unseen? I need to follow a magical link, and I need the crown near me when I do it." Wolfe explained.
The King frowned, but pointed at a door at the side of the room.
"If we can do it in the next two hours. After that, it will be impossible, as the Ministers will be finished their meeting and I will be under too much surveillance."
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