"Your Majesty, I was thinking how about organizing a cooking competition. This event will be a great way for you to gain more popularity. I say you become one of the judges. This event can earn us a lot of money."
"Not a bad idea. Tell more." Right now Arthur, the current King of the Nyland Kingdom, and the prime minister both were having some conversation.
"Please don't take any offense but currently the King's reputation is not that high. If your highness wishes to overtake your father, then the best way to do it would be to by interacting more with the public so that the public will support you even if you're no longer the king."
"I don't understand how the public's support will help me in the future?" Arthur asked in a confused tone. To him, this kind of thing felt unnecessary and boring. He would rather play with some woman in his bedroom. He felt kind of annoyed when he was told to act like a kind and rightful kind. Why should he do it? He is the king and he has the right to decide how he is going to rule his Kingdom.
"Your majesty, I have worked as the prime minister for 93 years. This is my 94th year. Over 9 decades of working in this position, I have learned that the public also holds a lot of power. Having the support of the public is like having your backup secured. Not only that having the public favor would prevent riots from rising and also would motivate the young ones to become soldiers."
"The public is the ultimate workforce. If you don't keep them happy there is a chance that our population might migrate to other kingdoms or regions. A middle-class family only needs a good standard of living. If the public is not happy with the King, then no one will respect the King." The prime minister was also a shy fox. Without Arthur realizing it, he was dancing in the prime minister's palms. He was being manipulated without even realizing it.
While every royal official and noble took sides in this throne succession race, only the prime minister remained loyal and never took the sides of anyone. The previous Nyland King was wise and intelligent. He knew what was best for his people and also his kingdom. While Arthur gave value to the Kingdom, he did not understand the importance of his people. This is one of the reasons why the previous king did not want Arthur to become the next king as his son was too blinded by power.
However, to the prime minister, Arthur was the perfect tool that can be manipulated. He couldn't manipulate the previous Nyland King but manipulating Arthur was just too easy. It was also he who manipulated Arthur to take out all brothers.
'Hehe! I never thought that King Vega's son would be this stupid. The brat only cares about power and nothing else. Now that he had eliminated his brothers, I can finally have a chance of sitting on the throne. But for the next few years, I will allow you to be the King. Since I am already manipulating him, indirectly I am the King here.'
'Once I have managed to eliminate those nobles that are loyal supporters of Arthur, I will finally make my move and assassinate him. And finally, take the throne of the Nyland Kingdom.'
Everyone was greedy for the Nyland throne. Arthur and the prime minister wanted this throne as this was the throne of the strongest kingdom in the Eastern region of the Dying Isle continent. However little did Arthur and the prime minister know that the title of the strongest Kingdom already has been taken away by the Istarin Kingdom. It's just that neither Aditya ever showed his powers to anyone.
At the current moment, Aditya had over 30 fourth-order cultivators. The Nyland Kingdom was calling themselves the strongest kingdom because Aditya had allowed them to do so. Aditya knows when to hide or when to reveal his strength.
"Alright, you have convinced me. I am starting to feel a little tired. Send two new slaves to my bedroom."
"Your Highness, do you have any preferences?" The prime minister was obviously disgusted with Arthur's this type of behavior. No matter how shy or calculative he was, the prime minister has never taken advantage of his powers to sleep with another woman besides his wife. His wife was the partner that he can trust even in his life. In the end unlike the king the prime minister was loyal.
"Is there any fox race woman? I have been getting curious about fox race women for a while now."
"Understood. I will send two fox race slaves. But please don't try to kill them." The prime minister felt pity for those girls. He also had a daughter so seeing those slaves, he always remembered about his daughter. His heart ached every time he sees the miserable condition of those girls.
"I will try but no promises." Just as Arthur was about to get up from his throne, a messenger came with urgent messages.
"Your Majesty, this is bad news." The male soldier was panting heavily; trying to catch his breath.
Arthur and the prime minister both frowned at the same time. "What bad news?" Deep down Arthur felt the bad news this soldier was going to tell them about was the fall of the Istarin Kingdom. 'So finally the Istarin Kingdom has fallen. Now that I have kept my promise not to interfere with those men, I guess I am free now. The deal has been completed from both sides.'
"The Istarin King has alone defeated an army of one million two hundred and thirty thousand alone. After defeating the army, he sent his soldiers and his generals to take over the Nepoca Kingdom and other 13 kingdoms including the Paladin Dynasty that was destroyed by some mysterious cultivator 15 days ago."
King Arthur and the Prime minister exchange looks before looking at the male soldiers. "Can you please repeat what you just said?" Right now Arthur's mind was a mess. Inside he was screaming no, no, no. He refused to believe that King Aditya is strong enough to kill one million two hundred and thirty thousand troops alone. He refused to believe that even the combined strength of 14 kingdoms has failed to defeat the Istarin Kingdom.
"Even the King of the Deep Sea Palace was killed by Aditya. According to the news, not even a single soldier among the one million two hundred and thirty thousand troops has managed to survive. Even the dead bodies of the soldiers and the kings were not found. It was as if everything had been turned to ash."
"What?" Hearing these words, Arthur felt as if his legs lost their strength to stand. His butt fell on the throne. While the prime minister felt his mind had stopped working. He just blankly stood there staring at the messenger soldier.
Scene change_____
It was the night that Mark Vega, the former Nyland king was about to die. Only Arthur knew that his father was going to die tonight. So he had come to see his father one last time.
"Arthur is that you?" The current Nyland King looked like a 100 years old man. His skin was wrinkled. The king could not even open his mouth nor had the strength to move his body. Even if Arthur had not used poison to kill the King, Mark Vega would have died in a week or two.
"Yes, father. It's me." Arthur felt a little sad for killing his father. Arthur lost his mother at a young age. Despite being the king, his father personally taught him and his brothers together without being biased. If possible he wanted to keep his father alive but he knew that it was either give his dream or the life of his father.
"Arthur, my son I have chosen you as my successor. Before I leave this world, I want you to remember something." At that time Arthur did not pay much attention to his father's words. He only listened because of the last remaining respect that he had for his old man.
The Nyland advised Arthur on what to and what not to do. In the end, the king ended his conversation with a few sentences that Arthur could not ignore. "And lastly I choose King Aditya as an alley as I know that being his ally would bring us more benefits than being his enemy. That young man is sharp and clever, he clearly knows when he needs to strike. If you want the Nyland Kingdom to keep on standing never break the alliance that I have forged with him."
"Also never offend that man. Trust me, being that man's enemy will become your life's greatest regret."
"I am now starting to regret it." A drop of tear rolled down Arthur's cheeks. In search of gold, he lost the diamond.
Really Thank you very much to all those who sends support with valuable golden tickets. I hope we can keep it up!!!
