While King Walker enjoyed his last days with his wives, Prince Charles took care of his affairs with his team in another city ruled by the royalty of the Kingdom of the Waves.
Although this young man's forces had not succumbed to his older brother's assassination attempt, this youth had taken a big fright that day!
He might be the most talented in cultivation and was probably as strong as his older brother. Still, in front of so many Spiritual Kings and cultivators at the end of the 5th stage of cultivation, he couldn't help but fear for his life.
Because of that, at that moment when he had been ambushed, this young man had felt a shiver down his spine like never before.
Not only that, but despite the success of his forces, he still had several wounded guards, people at the end of the 5th and beginning of the 6th stage. Consequently, in addition to stopping his actions for a few days, he now had to spend many of his resources on medical treatments...
And such a thing was a problem!
He might be the favorite for the throne. Still, the game's result would never be inevitable before the end of the competition...
And despite being a young man who had his flaws... Charles knew that he was not yet the king and that his older brothers could achieve their goals if he were not careful.
Because of this, Charles was not happy about losing his valuable medium-grade crystals to treat his guards.
That was a job that required to be done, as he needed his guards, but at the same time, it was also a waste.
If they had been better prepared, that whole situation could have been avoided!
And given the importance of spiritual crystals in a royal succession, which was basically what could make organizations look more favorably on each side, Charles felt at a significant loss at this point.
He was the most talented and had the most support, but Wilfred had the help of the Queen, one of the wealthiest people in the region!
Because of that, every crystal Charles needed to spend was like he was throwing away some of his advantages in the competition for the throne!
And for him, this was unacceptable!
Anyway, in an office of the government palace of the city ruled by Charles, some people were talking in that place while drinking spiritual tea and sitting on sofas and armchairs scattered around.
And apart from the two bodyguards standing beside Charles, no one else stood out in this place.
"Third Prince, we've already done all the damage analysis for this incident, and we had to spend about 15,000 medium-grade crystals. However, our men also took damage from spiritual artifacts, and if we want to replace it, our loss could reach the mark of 100,000 medium grade crystals..."
One of them started talking about the financial damage Charles would have to deal with and the options he had to make. It was not easy to have to spend such a sum, and because of that, the prince needed to consider how much it was worth making this investment or taking another path.
After that, they soon talked about how the preparation of future trips should be done so that the possibility of such a danger was minimized as much as possible.
"Third Prince, you know how important your victory means to my Hargraves family. Because of this, the patriarch asked me to present you with a certain device." One of the men in that office said this before getting up from an armchair and handing a necklace to one of Charles' bodyguards.
"What is that?" The black-haired young man asked as one of his bodyguards probed that item.
"This is an item of protection that our Hargraves family has inherited for hundreds of thousands of years. It can help you in times like the one that happened recently. You just need to infuse your spiritual energy into it, and naturally, it will..."
The man explained the basics about that item until finally, Charles' bodyguard had seen that it had no problem and had given the necklace to the prince.
The conversations continued for a while longer, with Charles negotiating resources with the organizations that already supported him and talking about potential allies.
It was not uncommon for large families to have one or two allies outside their state, and with that, Charles intended to use his current contacts to garner even more support.
Finally, after some time talking, Charles looked at a middle-aged man who was there and asked. "Mr. Keith, I understand that your Reid family has good connections with the Chambers family, right?"
Hearing this, that man moved back and forth in his chair, straightened his necktie for a moment, and said. "Yes, Prince Charles, you are right. The Reid family is on good terms with the Chambers house."
Charles smiled and then spoke again. "Then I would like you to convince them to support me. I'm sure we can do a lot of business in the future!"
However, instead of hearing a positive response from that man, Charles saw and heard something disheartening. "I'm sorry, but I believe such a thing will be complicated to happen."
"And why do you say that?" Charles asked with a gleam in his eyes as he looked at the old figure who was now moving his head from side to side.
The old man said. "Recently, the Chambers family started a war with the Hayes family in the Cromwell Kingdom!"
"What?" Several people in that place screamed in shock, showing their surprise at having heard such a thing.
And that wasn't strange. After all, those two families had only reached this point of no return in their relationship a few months ago. Consequently, the news had not yet spread across the northern part of the Central Continent.
In fact, apart from some important families of the Cromwell Kingdom and allied powers of those two organizations, as in the case of the Reid family, few people knew about this war!
This conflict had not yet come to significant effect, and because of that, these people in this office did not yet know about such a thing.
"A few months ago, the young master of the Chambers family was killed in a contest for the incredible Spring of Life. At that time, after his death was confirmed, it was also discovered that this valuable item was stolen by the daughter of the patriarch of the Hayes family."
"After that, there was an incident where a Spiritual King killed a subordinate of the Hayes family within that force's territory."
"Finally, the two sides started this war, which has been more than three months since the first battle."
When they heard the old man finish speaking, everyone there was shocked by such events. Mainly because just Spiritual Generals disputed such a valuable item...
"Unbelievable!"
"The Hayes family had good luck, huh? With such a resource, they must have 'unearthed' one of their dying ancestors..."
"Ahh, if they're at war, then I really can't get their support…" Charles sighed, understanding the situation.
Wars between great noble families were rarely short. Of course, there were exceptions, but unless several large families united against only one, it would be tough for one power to succumb in a short time.
So, every resource, be it financial or personal, had to be used wisely to prevent the collapse of those powers!
Therefore, providing external support was out of the question for organizations like the Chambers family...
But not only that, the truth was that the Chambers themselves were not capable of defeating the Hayes family alone!
If not for their relationship with the Scourges of the Devil, the family of the deceased Kevin and Leroy would never have been involved in a war against a power stronger than them.
After talking about it, the group changed the subject and solved other problems related to the royal succession. The competition for the throne was not easy, and everything could change overnight.
Every decision made, every event, directly or indirectly related to them, could decisively influence an outcome. So, unless someone wanted to die, underestimating the competition for the throne would mean death.
When you play the game of thrones, you win, or you die!
