Chapter 42: The Family meeting 02
"Well, since everyone is here, let’s begin this meeting," Jacob said, his deep voice echoing in the large hall. "Second Elder, if you may."
An elderly man with a long white beard stood up from his seat, pulling a crisp document from his robes to show the table.
"Most of you know that I recently traveled to the Capital to formally request the King’s permission to upgrade our territory and build a town. This was our third request this year," the Second Elder said with a heavy, serious expression. "As you all suspected, they refused us again. But this time... it was different."
"Different? What do you mean by that?" Martha asked, narrowing her golden eyes.
"Well, during my previous visits, I usually submitted the request directly to the King’s officials. But this time, the Second Prince was the one who personally intercepted and met with me," he explained, his voice trembling with anger. "He explicitly stated that we are no longer allowed to make any more requests to build a town—or even a new village. He said if we do, it will be treated as an act of high treason."
"That is absurd!" the Third Elder roared, slamming his fist onto the wooden table. "Is the Second Prince actively looking for a legal way to destroy us?! Every other noble family in this kingdom has at least one town under their control, not to mention those with entire cities!"
"I don’t think the Second Prince was the one who came up with this idea to keep us stagnant," Martha interjected, her expression turning deadly serious. "I am absolutely certain that the power backing the Second Prince is the one who wants us gone."
"The power backing the Second Prince?" the First Elder asked, looking confused.
Martha glanced over at Jacob. The Family Head gave her a single, solemn nod, giving her permission to speak freely.
"Things in the Capital have not been as peaceful as you all think. According to my intelligence network, there is a heavily guarded rumor spreading in the shadows... the current King has fallen severely ill," she revealed with a grim expression.
"What?! Did you just say the King is ill?" the First Elder gasped, sudden panic flashing across his wrinkled face. "What type of illness is it? Do you know?"
"That, I do not know. At first, I thought it was just a normal sickness, like a harsh winter cold. But judging by the aggressive actions the Second Prince has just shown us, it is highly likely that the King is going to pass away soon," Martha explained, the entire room falling completely silent to listen to her. "And as I was saying earlier, the main power behind the Second Prince is Marquis Silas Blackwood of the South side of the kingdom. By extension, that means the entire southern half of the Kingdom is currently supporting the Second Prince’s claim to the throne since the nobles that live there are under Marquis Blackwood."
"I see..." the First Elder whispered, his frail hands beginning to physically shake. "If Marquis Blackwood is the one supporting the Second Prince... then there is absolutely no future for our Thorne family in this kingdom if that boy takes the crown."
"Why do you say that, First Elder?" Jacob asked, looking at the old man with a deep frown.
Everyone at the table stared at the First Elder, waiting to hear his explanation. Even Ian didn’t say a single word, opting to just sit quietly and analyze the political landscape.
"It... it is nothing too scary. It is just that the Blackwood family hates ours because they originally had the exact same idea as us decades ago regarding the creation of a Merchant Union," the First Elder stammered out, refusing to make eye contact. "It’s just that they were a bit too slow, and we managed to secure the support of the previous Crown Prince—who is now the current King—before they did. But if the King passes away and we wll lose his protection over us... I just don’t know what will happen to our clan."
’This old guy must be hiding something,’ Ian thought, his eyes narrowing slightly as he observed the trembling old man. ’I just don’t feel like a simple business rivalry over a Merchant Union is enough reason for a high-ranking Marquis to loathe a small, weak family like ours and something that happened decades ago that they are still holding a grudge.There is no way. And judging by the skeptical looks on the other Elders’ faces, I guess I’m not the only one suspecting him of hiding the full story.’
"Is that really the whole truth, First Elder?" Jacob asked, his tone dangerously serious.
"Yes, Family Head," the old man quickly nodded.
Jacob let out a long sigh. "It doesn’t matter anymore since it happened a long time ago, and we cannot change the past. All we know for certain now is that the Second Prince and Marquis Blackwood hate us to our cores, and they will not miss a single chance to completely crush us."
"Aunty, since we are so afraid of being exterminated by the Second Prince’s faction, shouldn’t we just join an opposing faction to gain protection? Like the First Prince, for example?" Ian suddenly asked, looking over at Martha. These were the very first words he had spoken since the meeting began.
"The First Prince would have been a great idea if it weren’t for his incredibly nasty and cruel character. His personality pushes many followers away. However, he does have the absolute backing of the second Marquis of the Kingdom... Knight Julia Graves," Martha explained.
The moment the word ’Knight’ was spoken, the temperature in the room seemed to physically drop.
In this world, a ’Knight’ was not just a fancy noble title—it was the absolute pinnacle of martial power. A Knight was an Aura User who had successfully reached the terrifying Seventh Stage of Aura. In the entire Trillah Kingdom, there were only two living Knights: Duke Snow, and Marquis Julia Graves. The fact that an entire kingdom only had two of them showed just how impossibly hard it was to reach that divine level of strength.
"Marquis Graves only follows the First Prince despite his nasty personality because she has a deep, personal relationship with the Prince’s mother. It is heavily believed that they are blood cousins," Martha added.
"Aren’t there three princes in the kingdom? What about the Third Prince?" the Third Elder asked, looking at Martha for answers.
"We should completely forget about the Third Prince," Jacob answered instead, shaking his head. "Duke Snow basically controls him like a puppet, and the Duke is not even trying to hide the fact that he wants the throne for himself."
A heavy, suffocating silence permeated the room as everyone digested the terrifying political landscape.
’I didn’t think the situation for our clan was actually this bad,’ Ian thought, rubbing his chin in deep concentration. ’We don’t even have a viable faction to join during the upcoming succession war. If we try to remain neutral, we will just be swept away by the crossfire, and Marquis Blackwood definitely won’t miss the chance to wipe us out. Joining the First Prince would be an even worse choice since his cruel nature means he could betray us at any minute and use our family as mere meat shields. As for Duke Snow... he isn’t taking in any smaller noble houses at all. He is perfectly willing to fight the entire kingdom by himself because he has been preparing to rebel for a very long time, and the King’s death gives him the perfect excuse to finally act.’
’Fuck. This is the absolute worst-case scenario,’ Ian cursed bitterly in his mind. ’And with how infamously weak the Thorne family’s bloodline is... what powerhouse would ever be crazy enough to risk their neck to take us in?’
