Meanwhile, in the capital of Leopoldine...
In the imperial palace of this state, the publicly strongest man in the state was sitting on the most distinguished and highest throne in his imperial hall, watching some people bowing down below him.
Some of these people were very similar in appearance to him, while others were more ordinary despite their high levels.
There were also a dozen or so imperial guards around that throne hall, each at the 3rd stage, the weakest one there stronger than Mabel.
Anyway, while everyone was in their positions in that glittering place of high spiritual concentration, one of the emperor's sons said to his father.
"Your Majesty, the Province Conference of each of the subdivisions of our state has now been finalized. We have the results here to present to you." The Second Prince, officially the first in the line of succession, said aloud while his brother, the Third Prince, stood beside him.
As for the First Prince, well, he was a known criminal, rebel, and outlaw with a wanted poster with the phrase 'just dead' on it. So he obviously was not there and had long since been disowned by the emperor.
"Oh? Is that true?" The old fellow asked, remembering some things he had heard before. "How did our vassals do? Any good seeds worth knowing?"
The Second Prince then told the results of the competitions under his charge. "Well, in the Province of..."
After speaking for some time, that fellow passed the word to his younger brother after answering some questions from his father.
The Third Prince, who had been in charge of the Linn Province Conference, among others, then said. "Imperial Father, the competitions that I supervised..."
He proceeded to summarize the conferences under his responsibility for his father, just as his brother had already done. But this fellow excluded most of Lothur's accomplishments from his account, only quoting the basics so his father would not distrust him.
It was not in his interest to allow Lothur to gain any kind of good impression from the emperor. So, the Third Prince preferred to hold Viktoria responsible for the unexpected result in that province.
The emperor heard all this and showed no sign that he was disappointed or proud of his sons' presentations that hid things from him.
He had already heard the most important thing from his trusted subordinates, so nothing those two princes tried to do could affect him.
"So the daughter of the Frost family did all this, huh? It looks like she inherited Mabel's side of the family." The old fellow with a crown on his head said in a low voice, but everyone there heard him.
Mabel was not an original part of this Empire. She came from a family in a neighboring state, a relatively powerful organization that, although not as strong as House Leopoldine, was more than most of the powers of this state.
So it was not a surprise to this fellow who knew this to 'discover' that Viktoria had done well and was magnificently talented. That was only the least he expected from a descendant of the Rios family.
It was just a shame for House Frost that the Rios family was the reclusive type who did not involve themselves in the affairs of others.
Such power could make even the princes of the Empire think twice about their actions against that organization. But if no one did anything outrageous against Viktoria, Mabel, and Annaliese, that power would not go out looking for trouble, even if those women asked for help.
That was the only reason the Frost family had so much trouble, just from someone so well-born being part of that organization!
Anyway, the individuals in that place listened to the emperor. They agreed that Viktoria had inherited the talents of the Rios family, none of them being bothered by their current actions.
None of them planned to act vigorously to the point where the lives of those three women would be at risk. For example, no one had tried anything extreme against Annaliese during the Province Conference, even though she was the most vulnerable of Lothur's group.
These individuals were willing to take risks but would never attract death to them, knowing that such danger would approach them if they dared. So even with the existence of the Rios family, no one there would change their plans.
"Is there nothing else, Bastian?" The emperor asked his third son.
The Third Prince hesitated as he realized his father wanted to hear about Lothur. "We have this young man from the Frost family who has helped a bit with that family's results. But he is a lucky nobody. He doesn't deserve your attention."
"Is that so?" The emperor asked as the Second Prince looked at his younger brother with a smile on his face.
He would not say anything about Lothur either since he was afraid of his father's reaction. But he could not help but appreciate Bastian being pressured.
"H... He's a bit talented, but the luck factor helped him greatly, imperial father. I don't think he would be a good seed for the family. He certainly couldn't count on the same luck he did during that competition."
"So that's it?" The emperor sighed, feeling disappointed. "Then it's a shame. Someone like him could help our family if he were skilled, not just lucky."
The Third Prince chuckled ruefully. "That's right. He would be perfect for the family, hehe."
Meanwhile, the subordinates of the two princes in that place were looking at each other, knowing that such a thing would be terrible. After all, if Lothur were to meet the emperor, what could happen?
Lothur's father was not to be trifled with, and he was certainly not friendly to this family. But, on the other hand, this family did not have good relations with such an individual either, so it would be an unnecessary problem to bring Lothur to this place.
The ideal would be to eliminate him away from this place and throw the blame on a subordinate, as the Third Prince was trying to do with the help of families like House Strauss.
So the emperor finished listening to all the reports regarding the competitions that had just ended in his Empire and the changes that would soon go into effect.
'It seems the Frost family has gained a new lease of life with Lothur...' After being left alone in his throne room, the old fellow thought about this in silence.
He did not like the Frost family since his ancestor, who had reunited the independent regions and created the Empire, had failed to dominate that organization back then.
After that, that organization had never been against the Empire, but the grudge of the members of the then-new royalty had remained and developed over the years.
Because of this, that family had never helped House Frost and had even funded rivals of that organization, even though they had 'never' acted directly against it.
So, upon noticing that the Frost family had one last energy to continue this strange 'dance,' the emperor could not help but rethink a few things.
'What will happen in case Lothur reaches my stage? Will that be a good thing for the Empire or not?'
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