While Ilucia and Gandling conversed, the study of King Terenas within the Royal Palace of Lordaeron was also brightly lit.
Arthas and his father Terenas were talking.
"My son, you seem to have changed a bit since returning from Kalimdor," Terenas said, sitting in a high-backed chair, a look of confusion on his aged face.
As Arthas' father, he couldn't claim to fully understand his son, but he knew his son's thoughts and actions better than most people in this world.
At least, in the several years since Arthas came of age until now, the old king had never seen Arthas so concerned about Alliance matters; he seemed more focused on Lordaeron's own situation.
Terenas had also asked Arthas to handle certain requests and incidents from the Alliance, such as Quel'Thalas's plea for aid, but Arthas always dealt with them efficiently without wanting to delve deeper.
This made Terenas realize that his son didn't seem to want to manage Alliance affairs yet. At first, as the leader of the Alliance, Terenas wanted to force Arthas to take over Alliance matters, but Arthas's attitude of neither refusing nor taking the initiative truly confused Terenas.
Arthas was not without capability, but he simply didn't seem to want to expend much thought on Alliance issues yet.
"Before, you were never willing to proactively intervene in Alliance affairs. Why do you have such a plan this time?"
Regardless of anything else, Terenas was quite pleased. In the old king's heart, Lordaeron had been prospering in recent years. If Arthas could succeed him as the leader of the Alliance, he might be able to achieve Terenas's ultimate goal:
To merge the loose Alliance into a powerful "nation"!
To retrace the path of Emperor Thoradin in this way was a dream for any descendant of an ancient empire. Just imagine, thousands of years later, to revive the glory of the ancient human empire and have one's name forever recorded in history—what an inspiring thing that would be.
Arthas saw the old king's expectations and hopes. He naturally understood his father's ideals and aspirations. However, this was not within Arthas's short-term thoughts, and it might never become Arthas' goal.
Or rather, it was a means, but not the ultimate purpose.
Integrating human strength sounded like a good future, but for the current human civilization, it was more like a pie in the sky, without any practical support.
"Father, Alterac is a very important place. It connects Hillsbrad Foothills and Westwealde, and it also borders the core region of Lordaeron," Arthas pointed out Alterac's importance. "Although it is a small nation, it might still become a core member of the Alliance."
"I know these things, but the Barov Family's relationship with us isn't exactly harmonious. They might seem weak now, but once given the chance, the development speed of this ancient family might exceed our imagination."
Terenas seemed very wary of the Barov Family. After all, as one of the participants who personally dismembered this massive family back then, he was very clear about Barov's strength.
"On the surface, that's true, but Barov will at least not betray humanity. Moreover, making them the new king of Alterac can also divert others' attention. You should know the true identity of those 'bandits' lurking in Arathi and Alterac; they are the ones least willing to see Barov ascend the throne, because that would mean all their previous efforts were for naught."
Terenas looked at his son's confident expression and fell into deep thought.
He had naturally considered all the things Arthas mentioned. As a king, one might not do certain things, but one must never be ignorant of them.
He was perfectly clear about the existence of the Syndicate, but completely eradicating their influence among the common people of Alterac was almost impossible. After all, they essentially represented the "Old Alterac" that had already fallen; to put it simply, they considered themselves to represent "legitimate Alterac."
Actually, Barov should have belonged to this faction, but their actions during the Second War incurred widespread resentment.
Everyone agreed to watch Perenolde fall, and then "fairly compete" for the throne, so why did you run off and curry favor first?
Therefore, the hatred towards the Alliance and Lordaeron was external, and its root cause was also that the Alliance and Lordaeron did not support these nobles in becoming the new kings of Alterac. Most of these nobles did not care about the Perenolde Family's affairs.
But once Barov stepped forward, they would undoubtedly become the target of all criticism. Those nobles would certainly focus all their attention on the Barov Family.
Rather than letting these Alterac nobles harm Lordaeron and other Alliance members, it was indeed better to set up a stage for them to fight amongst themselves in the ruins of Alterac. And they would have no choice but to fight amongst themselves, because this time, the successful one would inevitably become the new King of Alterac.
"So that's it..." Terenas rubbed his brow. "Arthas, besides Alterac, do you have any other plans?"
Arthas nodded, "Burning Steppes and Searing Gorge are very important. They are my first targets after the Alterac matter is concluded."
Burning Steppes?
Terenas seemed slightly surprised. If he could still understand Arthas's schemes in Alterac, then Arthas's determined attitude towards Burning Steppes truly left him bewildered.
To this, the old king could only shake his head helplessly. He understood his son less and less; many of the things he did even completely exceeded his own expectations.
"Alright, Arthas, your decisions have never disappointed me, nor the kingdom, but I have one more question to ask you," Terenas's somewhat cloudy eyes sharpened. "How long will it take you to conquer Blackrock Mountain?"
"A year at most. Before next summer solstice, the evil forces in Blackrock Mountain will disappear from our continent forever, and the human kingdoms will once again be connected north and south after the Redridge Cataclysm."
"You truly intend to integrate the strength of the entire Eastern Kingdoms, Arthas," Terenas smiled. At least on this point, Arthas and he thought alike. The process no longer mattered, because the old king believed his own methods weren't necessarily better than Arthas'.
His time was drawing near, and his attachment to power was not as strong as it had been a few years ago. Kingship is not eternal, this was a maxim passed down through the Lordaeron royal family. Terenas suddenly felt that rather than letting this nation decay with him, it was better to entrust it to the new generation sooner.
"Good! Then, the moment the evil banner in Blackrock Mountain falls, Arthas, return to Lordaeron. At that time, you will be the new King. I wish to rest."
Terenas said this calmly, as if he wasn't relinquishing the heavy burden of kingship, but merely arranging a trivial matter.
He had fulfilled his responsibility as a monarch. The future would be left to the future king.