"Duke Fulvanius, there is a problem."
Smith, the Butler of the Duke, Thornton Fulvanius spoke with a solemn look on his face.
"What is it?"
The Duke questioned.
"It is about what the First Prince said."
Smith answered and Thronton's face turned solemn.
"Is it about Duke Merula and Duke Vestalis?"
He questioned.
"Yes."
The butler nodded his head.
"What is it?"
"After our investigation, we noticed that there are indeed some secret letters that have been exchanged between the Dukes.
The two of them are definitely communicating with each other, and they are doing it very secretly."
"…"
Hearing these words, Thornton narrowed his eyes.
He was the Strongest of the 4 Dukes, however, in reality, this didn't really mean anything. He may be strongest when it comes to one on one fights, however, this didn't mean that the Fulvanius Duke House was the strongest compared to all.
The real power of the Duke's House depended on their Protectors.
The King Stage Experts who were protecting their house in secret.
Just like Emperor Stage Cultivator behind the Kingdoms, these Protectors didn't show themselves either. Therefore, not much is known about them and since the strongest of the Duke Houses were a mystery, nobody knew which Duke house was the strongest.
Not even the Duke Houses themselves.
All the Duke Houses were wary of each other and all of them are presumed to be on the same level.
Therefore, when Duke Merula and Duke Vestalis decided to stay silent about their secret communication, nobody was able to find anything, however, the moment Duke Fulvanius tried searching with the certainty that the two parties were communicating,
He was able to find the Truth.
"Did you find out the content of these letters?" Thornton questioned.
The Butler, however, shook his head.
"I did not, they were very secretive about it. The letters were probably burned the moment they were delivered and read."
Thornton turned silent.
This was not good.
Two Dukes communicating with each other.
This was definitely not a piece of good news for him.
Thoughts similar to his Grandson started appearing in his mind.
'This is not good at all.'
With a tense look on his face, the Duke started thinking.
"…"
The Butler didn't say anything either.
He knew better than anyone that disturbing his Master while he was thinking wouldn't lead to a great ending.
He just stood there, with his head bowed, and ears perked up, ready to answer whenever the Duke sought his assistant.
He was a loyal butler indeed.
More and more time passed, and the Duke didn't say anything and had already closed his eyes, he was thinking about all the possibilities and the worst-case scenario, however, in the end, he opened his eyes and shook his head.
"No, this can't be."
"Hmm?"
The Butler frowned.
The Duke then explained,
"We are taking this too seriously. The Two Dukes are talking to each other in secret, that conversation could be about anything.
We should not assume anything without knowing the content of the letters."
"But those letters are probably in cinders now, and even if they do exist somewhere, I highly doubt that we would be able to find them very quickly.
This time, the Targets are Dukes, we would need months just to get a small lead and we wouldn't even know if that lead would actually be a lead or just a trap set by our opponents."
The Butler spoke.
"Heh, this is why I am the Duke and you, smith, are just a butler."
Thornton snorted.
Smith frowned in confusion.
Seeing his expression, Thornton just smiled, and then, he started explaining.
"You are correct, the letters have probably turned into ashes now and even if they are not, we definitely don't have enough time to find where they are."
Hearing these words, the Butler frowned even more.
Why was the Duke repeating the words he already said?
What happened?
He wondered in his head.
And as if knowing what was going on inside his mind, the Duke's smile widened,
"However, who said that we need to find the letters to know about the contents of the letters?"
"Are you saying that we need to capture the servants who read the letters?"
The Butler finally realized.
They couldn't possibly capture a Duke, however, capturing a servant should not be very hard.
The Duke, however, shook his head.
"There is no way those bastards would allow any servants to read those letters."
"Then what should we do?"
The Butler questioned.
"Did those two geezers realize that you were looking into them?"
The Duke questioned back.
"If they look into it, they would find out, however, I don't think they know about it right now."
The Butler shook his head.
"This is good enough."
The Duke smiled and then, he ordered.
"Write a letter to Duke Vestalis."
As soon as he said those words, a paper, and a pen appeared in the Butler's hands.
No matter how confused he was, once the Duke orders anything, he must ensure that he doesn't let him wait for more than it is needed, otherwise, he is a failure as a butler.
The Duke nodded and then, he cleared his throat before starting,
"To Duke Leofric Vestalis,
I do not wish to waste your and my precious time in small, meaningless talks, therefore, I would directly come to the topic.
As you already know, the King would soon elect the Crown Prince and this Game of Thrones is about to see its conclusion. However, even when we have come this far, you, one of the main players in this battle have not participated.
Honestly, it is surprising to see that a smart man like yourself will not benefit from this Game.
However, worry not, as I have a way with which you can benefit from this battle as well.
An Alliance.
An Alliance between you and me.
The terms are simple, you place your support on my Grandson, Raguel Skyfall, and in return, when Raguel becomes the King,
Your House will receive direct benefits.
As an expression of my goodwill, I am sending 10,000 gold coins along with this letter, and not only that, once we come into an alliance, the Gold Mine you always wanted will be yours as well.
I hope you make a wise choice.
Duke Thornton Fulvanius"
