The emphasis on the 'Crown Prince' ignited a wave of fury within Astaroth.
"This is completely atrocious!" Balam rose, enraged. "Astaroth and my lord grew up like good brothers. How can he be so cruel now?"
Balam's wife, Xeraphine, stared at the Queen, hurt and aggrieved. "We always treated my lord as our son, and now he is so quick to draw the line between us like this…"
"Draw the line…was it me or was it Sir Balam and his family to draw the line first? What do you say, young lord Astaroth? Shall I reminisce about our 'happy' past memories?" He smiled, challenging him.
Astaroth clenched his jaw.
Veloria's brows knitted in displeasure. "He is still your elder brother, Zerath."
Zerath rose and bowed. "With all due respect Your Majesty, in this moment in the court, he stands as one of the many subjects of our realm like any other citizen. As His Majesty says, the courtroom is not the place to consider emotions and relationships."
The tension visibly palpated in the air so deeply that Vivia swallowed a dry gulp.
It's one thing to confront his cousin, but is it really alright to talk to the Queen like that? She sweated.
Veloria gave him a hard stare.
Zerath smiled. "It's also quite ironic. Young lord Astaroth is worried about the grievances that the Nethermoor citizens suffered, yet he had no qualms in embezzling the royal treasury's funds for his own pleasure and enjoyment."
Astaroth's eyes flew wide open as Orobas's earlier sarcasm came to his mind. "What are you trying to imply!"
"It's not just an implication, young lord. I've already submitted the ledgers of your fraudulent use of the gold you had received to resolve Nethermoor's crisis. You're welcome to challenge me if you wish. Or would you rather take that anger out on Princess Clairette once again?"
"Fufu~" Asmodea whispered a sneaky chuckle. "My lord doesn't hold back at all."
Astaroth's temple throbbed with fury. "The Crown Prince is accusing me of fraud? Then what about you who has been fooling us all this time? You kept everybody in the dark about how you could wield magic, so how is that not a fraud!"
"Magic?" The courtiers whispered, visibly taken aback.
"How is this possible?"
Astaroth's lips twisted into a mocking smile. "My lord calls himself a simple swordsman, yet how could he defeat that monstrous ice tide? It's clear from Captain Valtor's report that you used magic! So you can wield magical powers but never breathed out a word of it to anybody. If this isn't a betrayal, then what is?"
Valtor almost stepped forward to clarify.
I never reported that my lord used magic. It's simply a power whose origins I couldn't identify…
He anxiously retreated seeing how Astaroth wasn't in such a cordial mood and decided against pointing out the errors in his understanding.
Xeraphine backed up her son with a narrowed gaze. "There is some merit to it. How can the Crown Prince, the future King of the Demon Realm, keep such important information to himself?"
Nefarion glanced at Zerath. "Can you explain yourself?"
Vivia grew concerned. Though Astaroth was supposed to be held on trial, the wind's direction was now taking a leap towards Zerath. She glanced at Asmodea's back and slightly cleared her throat.
Asmodea turned and blinked. "Was that a summon for me?"
Vivia whispered. "Forgive my rudeness."
She smiled. "I'm not offended."
"Thank you. May I ask if it's such a grave matter for the Crown Prince to wield magic?"
Asmodea tilted her head amusingly. "Though you're a princess, you seem a little naive towards the understanding of politics in royal matters."
Her brow threatened to twitch.
Until a few days ago, I was just a normal dancer so humbly pardon my limited understanding of Princess Clairette's world…
Was what Vivia longed to say but she held back. Before Asmodea could respond, Doloros, seated to Vivia's right, answered.
"To be able to wield magic or not is the lesser problem, Princess. The larger issue is the supposed secrecy," he said, looking at her. "People like to hide their own cards, but they resent it when others do the same."
"Isn't that…two-faced?"
"Fufu~" Asmodea chuckled.
Gressil lazily said, "Information is power, Princess. It makes or breaks the war. You're the weakest when you're in the dark of your enemy's abilities. We like good surprises, not bad ones."
Vivia pursed her lips. "But still. Isn't it a good thing for the Crown Prince to use magic? It'd only serve him to become a better King for his subjects with more powers for their benefit. I just thought that everybody would welcome the news."
Asmodea mused. "Hmm, but it cannot overshadow the fact that my lord hid his supposed 'magic.' A prince, and to that end, a King is expected to be transparent and truthful to his subjects. Hiding something, even something positive, could breed doubts and bring a sense of unease."
But don't nobles and royals usually have a lot of skeletons to hide in their closets? I hardly doubt if a genuinely clean noble really exists in this world. Ugh, politics is so messy…
Doloros tiredly scoffed. "Young lord Astaroth would hate this revelation the most, being the unofficial contender for the throne."
"Ah, don't say such hurtful things, Sir Doloros," Gressil chuckled. "Who says that young lord Astaroth is not an official contender? He is one, at least in his imagination."
Doloros simply waved his hand in dismissal and by that point, Vivia wanted to puke blood.
These demons don't mince their words at all!
But it became clear to her. Astaroth cared less about Zerath's powers and more about being left in the dark all these years. Had he known, he might have taken more aggressive steps to stake his claim for the Crown Prince's position.
These turn of events put him at a disadvantage because Zerath now seemed to be the perfect candidate to become the future King - Not only was he Nefarion and Veloria's son, the finest swordsman in the realm, but now he possessed mysterious powers as well.
The scales were tipping in Zerath's favor.
Across the aisle, Xeraphine's gaze narrowed, watching how Vivia chatted with the three council members at much ease.
What's going on over there? For a human to secure three council members' attention during the courtroom session…Just who is she?
Meanwhile, Zerath remained unfazed in the face of the accusations.
"Your Majesty, young lord Astaroth misunderstands Captain Valtor's report. He never stated that I used magic."
Valtor, inwardly relieved, nodded hard.
"I, too, confirm that I don't possess any magical abilities."
Draconis pressed. "Then what else could it be, my lord?"
"I don't know, Sir Draconis. I only recently noticed a change in my sword during training. I don't know what the golden light is or what its source is because it's not magic. Sir Draconis can test me with his crystal ball if he wishes so."
Astaroth turned to Nefarion. "Please allow Sir Draconis to perform this test, Your Majesty. The Crown Prince cannot hide from us any longer!"
Nefarion considered for it a long moment, then nodded. "Permission granted."
At his command, Draconis promptly summoned his aide to fetch the crystal ball. He set it before Zerath and said, "Place your hand here, my lord. The sphere will change color if it detects magical mana within you."
Without hesitation, Zerath pressed his palm on the sphere. Everybody held their breaths, including Vivia. A few long and tense moments passed, but the color remained unchanged.
Zerath glanced at Astaroth. "Are you satisfied now?"
Nefarion's breath caught in his chest, his body suddenly trembling with excitement. "It must be the revered Varkhail's power!"
Vivia blinked.
The Varkhail?