After a brief conversation, Arthas invited Ilucia to share a sumptuous dinner.
However, until she left the palace and returned to her residence, Ilucia's brain was mostly in a state of shutdown.
She picked up a glass of clear water, but when she lowered her head, she saw ripples in the water.
Just like her state of mind, completely unable to calm down.
The conversation with the Prince Arthas allowed her to obtain a shocking piece of news in just a few minutes—the master of the Scourge and the Crown Prince Arthas of Lordaeron were the same person.
This…
Ilucia drank the water in the glass in one gulp, looking at herself in the mirror with a bitter smile.
"Ilucia? You've already met His Majesty?" Director Gading's voice entered Ilucia's mind at this moment.
After hearing Gandling's words, Ilucia paused for half a second before asking back.
"You knew all along? Why didn't you tell me? So this radiant Prince Arthas of Lordaeron, admired and praised by the world, is actually the master of the Undead Scourge?"
Gandling, on his end, was uncharacteristically silent for a moment. "His Majesty already told you? ...Forget it, this isn't a big problem, but you need to be careful. Sometimes knowing too much isn't a good thing."
For Ilucia, Gandling naturally couldn't have any pity or sympathy, otherwise he wouldn't have become a ruthless Necromancer.
However, if Arthas had told Ilucia about his identity as the Lich King, then Gandling's view and perception of Ilucia would have to change.
Before, he only thought of Ilucia as a puppet used to control and limit the Barov Family, but now that Arthas had let Ilucia understand a part of the truth, it also meant that the status of this chess piece had risen.
However, for a young human who had only superficially touched the realm of magic and was unaware of the dark truth of this world, it might not be a good thing.
After a brief thought, Gandling immediately stopped his train of thought. The master of the Undead Scourge, Lich King Arthas, had the ability to monitor the thoughts of every one of his subordinates, he just chose not to.
Since Arthas believed Ilucia was capable, then even if Ilucia wasn't qualified yet, Dark Dean Gandling would have to help Ilucia develop her abilities.
Thinking this, Gandling felt a bit helpless: how did he go from a dark, mysterious, and evil wizard to a master of childcare?
"What task did His Majesty give you? I suggest you don't hide anything. Since you already know, you should be clear that we are actually in the same boat." Gandling inquired about the specific events.
Ilucia temporarily recovered from the brink of collapse. She had already given up on escaping from the Undead Scourge, because even if she broke free from the Scourge, she would still have to rely on human society to exist, and the future King of Lordaeron could still manipulate the fate of Barov at will.
"The Prince Arthas wants me to become the new King of Alterac."
Gandling, sitting in his dean's office, frowned deeply. He instantly understood that this was not a good position, but rather a hot potato, not stable for anyone.
But then he thought, the Barov Family, which was openly hostile to Lordaeron but secretly firmly controlled by Arthas, was indeed a very advantageous choice.
If members of the Barov Family wanted to rebuild Alterac and ascend to power themselves, apart from the remaining Alterac nobles of the Syndicate, no other Human Kingdom would have a reason to object.
In other words, apart from the Stormwind Kingdom, Kul Tiras, and Dalaran, other Human Kingdoms would certainly not want to see an Alterac King who was close to Lordaeron.
Of the seven Human Kingdoms, five were on the continent of Lordaeron. Besides the fallen Alterac and the relatively neutral Dalaran, the other two absolutely did not want to see Lordaeron become too powerful.
However, Gilneas had already announced its withdrawal from the Alliance to avoid Terenas dragging them down through the expenses of the Orc internment camps.
As for Stromgarde to the south... according to rumors from Gandling's informants in Stromgarde, King Thoras Trollbane's son, Garithos Thorben, seemed to have some ill intentions regarding the throne.
It probably wouldn't be long before the full development of the situation became clear.
For more than a decade after the Second War, Stromgarde's wounds had never fully healed, and the damage suffered by their capital, Stromgarde, was probably not much less than that of Stormwind.
Furthermore, due to the long period of emptiness within the kingdom after the war, they were constantly harassed by Trolls and Ogres, and those Alterac nobles turned their attention to this ancient city.
What they thought was, we can't control Lordaeron, but we can find a way to mess with you, Stromgarde, who are strong on the outside but weak on the inside.
After all, those remaining Alterac nobles not only hated Lordaeron but also the entire Alliance. As long as there was an opportunity to weaken the Alliance's strength, they would surely swarm like flies finding a crack in an eggshell.
Over time, Stromgarde not only failed to recover but also became weaker than it was right after the war. Coupled with the barren land of the Arathi Highlands making it difficult for Stromgarde to maintain sufficient harvests, internal resentment towards the King in Stromgarde gradually increased.
Many people, brainwashed by the Syndicate, began to complain that Thoras should not have actively helped the Alliance back then, but should have chosen to stay isolated, as the Arathi Highlands were barren anyway, and those orcs wouldn't stay there long.
If even commoners had such thoughts, then those nobles with ulterior motives were even more dissatisfied with Thoras's actions. They began to try every means to impeach Thoras, using various excuses and reasons to keep Thoras bogged down with messy documents all day long.
Although Thoras was a ruthless and cold monarch when dealing with enemies, he hesitated when facing internal problems within his own country, perhaps believing that he indeed owed his people too much.
Stromgarde thus passed through one year after another in various political games and whirlpools. Initially, the Alliance symbolically provided some assistance to Stromgarde, but these aids were completely divided up by those greedy nobles, with very little reaching the common people.
Over time, Terenas, being a shrewd man, no longer wanted to deal with Stromgarde's mess. He believed that one day, Thoras would carry out a major purge in Stromgarde, and investing any more manpower and resources into Stromgarde now would purely be a waste.
However, Gandling still had one doubt. Although Arthas was a Prince Arthas, he rarely intervened in Alliance political games before. He only constantly strengthened and consolidated Lordaeron internally. Why had he suddenly turned his attention to Alterac, which was already a ruin?
The Dark Dean pondered for a moment. He suddenly felt that this might be a signal: a signal that Lordaeron was strongly intervening and was going to reshuffle the powers of the entire continent of Lordaeron.