NOVEL NEXT Chapter 104: A Hidden Disease (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Saleen was so engrossed in his own world that he did not realize that the viscountess’ homecoming had caused a huge stir in Holy Rock City.
The Qin Emperor had struck the magic clock for the first time in ten years to welcome his daughter home. The next day, the emperor announced that Lex De Grukos would become the first county queen in the history of the Qin Empire.
The emperor had conferred a county queen before he had even appointed a crown prince, and this led to unrest among the nobles of the upper house. The Loulan Duchy was going to be in chaos, and everyone knew this. In fact, Bitter Water Prefecture was not very far from Loulan Duchy. If the Loulan Duchy fell into chaos, Bitter Water Prefecture would have the right to capture it using military force and could even absorb the duchy into the Qin Empire.
If the soldiers made their way into the neighboring duchies, Bitter Water Prefecture would be able to control thousands of miles of land, provided that their army was powerful enough. This would implicitly make the Bitter Water Prefecture a prototypical empire.
The prince’s health had never really been in its best condition and he had just recovered from a big illness. Although he enjoyed the support of many, it had all been due to the Qin Emperor. Now that the emperor was supporting his daughter in establishing a county, how many nobles would flock over from him to the viscountess?
The prince’s power would be weakened once Lex’s power increased. Even though he would be the crown prince, the Qin Empire would still be split into two political factions.
A county queen had the power to confer titles upon nobles, and this would cause many people to be tempted into joining and following Lex. When the viscountess had been born, the emperor had personally given her a masculine name which made many people uneasy. Now that the worries of the people were coming true, the atmosphere in the imperial capital would become tense.
There were twenty avenues that spanned the empire’s northern and southern areas. The fourth avenue closer to the eastern side had a magnificent building. This building had the style of the Fourth Dynasty with a mixture of brick and wood in its architecture. There were images of animals and birds carved onto the green bricks, just like a picture scroll.
The walls of this house were not very tall, but they separated the house from the street. There was a stone pillar at its front door. The stone pillar had been weathered over a long period of time, yet it had not been fixed with magic. However, the ancient Qin words on the stone pillar were still recognizable. There was no punctuation separating the words, making them appear like a long poem that could have been recited by a poet.
The door was shut. On the door were ancient beast patterns painted in gold. The streets surrounding the house were abnormally quiet and empty, and there were no patrolling soldiers at all. Just outside the house was a colossal magical tower. This eight story tower was not concealed at all, and gave off an undeniable sense of majesty.
This was the house of empire’s prince. However, it was not a big deal that there was a magical tower with eight stories in the prince’s house. After all, there was a thirty-nine story magical tower in the palace, so this could not be considered overdoing things.
Usually, there would be many horses and carriages at the door as well as many guests. But ever since Viscountess Lex had returned to the imperial capital, Prince Safilos had shut his doors. He did not even host the lower house meetings anymore.
No one could guess what Prince Safilos was trying to do, and nobody dared step foot near his house either. For three consecutive days, his doors remained shut, and his house grew more and more deserted. Then, a black crow came flying towards the prince’s house. When the crow passed the perimeter of the wall, it was as though it had gone through an invisible water barrier. There was a ripple in the air and the crow disappeared.
There was a lake in the park behind the house. There was a blue stone by the lake, and on it a game of chess was being played. There were two middle-aged men playing against each other while three young men spectated the game. The crow appeared right beside the blue stone, and the most handsome young man stretched out his hand and grabbed it. Then, the crow spit out a miniature scroll from its mouth.
The game of chess was at its climax. The black pieces which represented mages were trapped, while the red pieces were hot on their heels. The red pieces represented troops, and these troops were closing in on the king of the black pieces.
The middle-aged man controlling the black pieces wore a long cotton robe, and there was not a single valuable accessory on him. This man looked a little like the Qin Emperor, except that he was slightly younger and there was an air of arrogance between his eyebrows.
The other middle-aged man in the game was dressed like a general, and he was much more handsome than his opponent. He had a short mustache and looked very determined. The two men were extremely engrossed in the game, and did not care about the letter that the young man had received.
As the king piece of the black side was about to be killed, the middle-aged man controlling the black pieces suddenly moved a cannon piece and immediately eliminated a red piece. This red piece represented a palace swordsman.
This move of retaliation had been devastating. If the red pieces tried to bring in reinforcements, the mages would be able to kill any troops that came close to the king.
With a shove, the general with the short mustache messed up the chess pieces and said, “In this game, the power of the mages is too strong. There’s no fun in it.”
“No matter how strong they are, the commander of these pieces are still the deciding factor between victory and defeat.”
The general roared with laughter and said, “You are the prince, of course you can say that. I am just a general. On the battlefield, mages will always be the priority.”
The man who had average looks and a long cotton robe was in fact the only prince of the Qin Empire, Safilos. He did not only look like the Qin Emperor, but his sense of fashion was also similar. Both of them did not like extravagance.
“That is of course, guaranteed. Magic is the bedrock of the empire. Vincent, tell me your thoughts on my elder brother.” Prince Safilos had changed the topic of their conversation. He had asked a question that would have stumped anyone, because the brother of the prince was the Qin Emperor.
“What is there to be said? Lex is also a member of the royal family. I cannot say anything.”
“Stanney is also a royal family member. Why are you distancing yourself from them now?” Safilos said as he pointed to the most handsome young man.
Vincent looked at his own son, and said with a sigh, “You also know that your younger sister is inclined towards His Majesty. I am not really in charge at home.”
“Stanney, what did the letter say?” Safilos did not continue with the conversation. Even though his brother-in-law was a duke in the empire and led half of the empire’s garrison troops, he did not dare point fingers at the emperor. All these things were domestic affairs. Safilos’ sister had been against the emperor’s decision to send away Lex all along, so Vincent could only avoid this topic or else there would be chaos in his household.
“Uncle, this is an urgent message from Loulan.” Stanney was not only handsome, but he looked capable too. The two other young men beside him did not have an aura like him.
“Loulan, aye. My brother is planning for Lex. Since he is establishing a county now, it may mean that he is going to reclaim the land of Loulan already.”
“Father, the Holy See of the western side is going to declare war soon anyways. We should just let Lex do the job. It doesn’t matter,” another young man who was also wearing a long cotton robe interrupted.
Safilos looked at his own son without any expression. The atmosphere was a little tense. After a long while, he said, “If you were only half as capable as Lex, would I be frustrated? The two of you…”
Safilos could not continue talking. Even though he was extremely influential, he had no idea how to manage his sons. The blood related royal members of the Qin Empire were already very scarce, so every single member was extremely precious. If the prince’s two sons had come from an average family, they would have been considered talents. However, in the imperial family, they were too much to handle.
The nature of a person’s talents could not be changed. Safilos sighed, and said to Duke Vincent, “My elder brother is using the issue of the crown prince to suppress me, and he is insistent on helping Lex establish her county. This is not a wise move. If the lower house objects and I suppress them by force, all these years of efforts will go down the drain. And, soldiers are going to be mobilized soon. My brother is just adding to the chaos by doing something like that.”
When Safilos said those words, there was a hidden tinge of hatred in them. The prince was contributing to the country, but his two sons did not hold any important positions. The prince had not even once thought of succeeding the emperor. However, as the emperor, his elder brother was making such an absurd decision simply because he wanted to pamper his daughter.
But the prince had no solutions. If he became the emperor, the empire would surely become more chaotic.
“Uncle,” Stanney called out after amassing his courage. He could tell that his uncle’s mood was worse than usual.
“Stanney, just say it. What does the letter say?”
“There was an assassination attempt on the Grand Duke of Loulan, but his life is not in danger anymore. However, the situation on the border has already become unusually tense, and the Holy See will start the war during the autumn. The black mages were not exterminated and they have destroyed more than ten towns so far. The Grand Duke is requesting assistance from the empire.”
Safilos and Vincent looked at each other, unable to maintain their cool. Both of them stood up and Safilos said, “Vincent, you will go back to the eastern town. I cannot hide from my brother anymore. There is something strange about this matter. There is only a small number of black mages in Loulan, but it is definitely not by chance that they are able to advance so quickly. If I continue staying here, my brother may have Lex lead the troops. No matter how smart she is, she will not be able to handle this situation.”
“Stanney, you will stay here and go with me to see His Majesty.” Prince Safilos stopped their unnecessary talks and left the park. He brought his soldiers and rushed to the palace in a carriage.
Prince Safilos had every reason to be anxious. Loulan was the barrier to the empire, and they had strong soldiers and good war horses. The fact that they had to ask for reinforcements showed just how dire the situation was.
By this time, Saleen had left the palace. Viscountess Lex had changed into her magic robes and brought Saleen along with her to the southern part of the capital.
“Viscountess, where are we headed to?” Saleen felt very uneasy and unsafe without Sika and Nailisi by his side. Furthermore, the viscountess and him had snuck out secretly. If the emperor were to become angry, the one to be punished would certainly not be the viscountess.
“To see someone.” When the viscountess had changed into her magic robes, her appearance had returned to its original state. She was now a harmonious mage, without the airs of a royal family member and the dominance that she possessed when talking to a soldier.
“Viscountess…”
“Call me Lex, but only for now. Once we get back…”
“Got it.” Saleen became depressed and fell silent.
There was a flash of naivety in the viscountess’s eyes, and she asked Saleen, “Are you angry?”
“No, I just feel that rich and powerful people like yourself are very fickle.” Saleen was not afraid of offending Lex. She must have had something important in store for Saleen to have brought him into the imperial capital. So, she would not be angry just because Saleen had spoken the truth. She was a viscountess as well as a mage. There were no benefits to lying.
“It is not just people. In this world, everything is in a constant state of change.” The viscountess’ answer sounded like a typical proverb a mage would say.
The imperial capital was bustling. The further south they went, the more civilians they met, and there were shops everywhere. Nobody disturbed them as they walked on the streets in their magic robes.
“This place is so nice. There were less people in the entirety of my hometown than the number of people on this street. Saleen stared at the crowds on the street, and felt that it was unreal. The feeling of solitude had disappeared, and in its place was an inexplicable warmth. A book he had once read had said that humans were social beasts. Once they were separated from the herd, they would get depressed and might even die.
“We are going to get there soon. When you meet the master, remember not to spout nonsense.” Viscountess Lex led Saleen into an alley. The alley was sparkling clean, unlike the ones in Ceylon City which had stagnant water everywhere. There were huge trees on both sides of the alley. The trees provided shade, and whenever there was wind, they were unusually cooling.