****
[A few minutes ago]
Gabriel had just stepped out of the hotel, and he was looking at the map, trying to decide on his next destination. He was so long on his map that he didn't even realize that a woman was standing behind him, waiting to enter the hotel.
The woman opened her lips, but she couldn't speak anything. She was just so timid. She even raised her hand a few times to tap his shoulder to attract his attention, but she couldn't gather enough courage.
Eventually, the Royal Knights who were accompanying her grew somewhat irritated. Instead of bothering to remind the unaware Gabriel to move aside, one of them pushed him aside without holding back any strength, not caring that it could hurt him.
****
[Present Time]
The current Royal Clan of Arecia climbed to the throne by pulling down the legitimate rulers. Their rise depended on the fall of the Arecia Clan. Now, it was his turn to repay the favor.
Gabriel understood that if he wanted to take the throne, he needed to pull down the current Royal Clan as well. Gabriel had already thought of a way to take over the throne without attracting the attention of the Churches.
He needed a third option, and he had decided on one. The only problem was that it didn't satisfy all the conditions that he was looking for, but it was the closest to what he wanted.
He wanted his plan to satisfy three criteria if possible. One was to use a legitimate method to take over the throne so as to not be attacked by the Churches or any uprisings in the future. He didn't want to give them any reason to jump into a conflict with the Arecia Empire.
The second was to avoid attracting the attention of the Churches onto him altogether. And third was to avoid bloodshed if possible so as to reserve his strength for true emergencies.
With his plan, he had satisfied two of the conditions already. He had thought of a legitimate way to take over the Throne. Moreover, that way, he didn't even need to marry a Royal or depend on the mercy of the Royal Family to be granted a Royal Title.
However, the problem was that there was a lot of potential in this plan to lead to a lot of bloodshed. However, this was also the fastest method to achieve this as well.
He had decided to come forward as the last remaining descendant of the Arecia Clan from the lineage of Novius! That way, he satisfied one of the criteria. With that claim, he was going to be from the lineage of the previous ruler, after all. And if he claimed to be from Novius' bloodline, that meant he had a pure bloodline of the Saint King!
He could also use people's devotion to the Saint King to make them side with him.
Through that method, he could certainly claim his right to the throne if he exposed how the Arecia Clan was betrayed and people were lied to about them.
That way, if he could convert this whole situation into less of a takeover and more of an internal conflict over succession, then he could avoid the interference of the Churches and the other Empires.
If this was an internal Conflict, then they had no valid reason to interfere since Churches were supposed to be neutral and only get involved in the matters of Mages or to be specific, dark mages.
If he could win the support of the people by revealing all the dark secrets of the Empire or even plant some seeds of doubt, half his goal was already achieved. The love in people's hearts for the Saint King was his biggest weapon after all.
He had planned to do all that while claiming to be a pure Knight. That way, the Churches were not going to pay too much attention... At least not to the extent of sending their Holy Priests to check out the situation.
That way, two of the three criteria were fulfilled. The only problem was that it could lead to a lot of bloodshed and potentially lead him down the path of fighting all the Royal Knights to reclaim the throne.
However, he had thought about that as well. He knew he needed support, and that's why he decided to make this the best show these people were going to see! It was time for him to show them what 'Descendant of Saint King' was capable of.
Currently, he didn't know all the secrets of this Empire. He didn't know which Noble Clan was still loyal to the Arecia Clan on the inside. Through today's incident, he wanted to spread the word that the heir of the Arecia Clan has returned to reclaim the Throne!
Once this news spread, he was sure that the ones who were truly loyal to the Arecia Clan were going to come forward to approach him, even if secretly. And if none came forward, that could only mean there wasn't anyone who was loyal to Arecia Clan, and all Nobles had a hand in their massacre. That way, he found freely take them all out.
Initially, he wanted to gather some more information before executing this plan, but after seeing the Royal Knights, what better opportunity than now?
Hearing the hidden implications behind Gabriel's words, even the crowd that had gathered started talking.
"Could this guy really be a Noble?"
"No, I'm sure the Royal Knights know all the Nobles here. How could this kid be a Noble? If he were, they would've already known him!"
"Exactly! This kid can't be a Noble! He's certainly bluffing! He's probably a commoner who wants to get out of this situation by bluffing!"
"Exactly! This damn liar, he dares fool the Knights?!"
Most of the people believed that Gabriel was lying, but there were also some objections mixed in.
"Wait. So what if he isn't a Noble of our Empire? What if he meant he's a Noble from a neighboring Empire? In that case, it's clear Knights wouldn't know him!"
"Ah, that's possible! A lot of foreigners have been entering the City for the Knight Tournament!"
"If that's the case, wouldn't attacking him count as a big political trouble?"
****
The Knights also thought about the same thing. Was this guy a Noble from a neighboring Empire? Then it could make sense why he was so arrogant.
"Are you a Noble from the neighboring Empire?" One of the Knights asked.
Gabriel shook his head. "I'm not a Noble of a neighboring Empire."
"Then who are you?!" Another Royal Knight asked, frowning.
This was the moment... The moment to finally put the plan into motion and plant the seed for the future.
"I am..."
