The room went quiet.
Alaric grit his teeth.
He'd come here to pressure Cassian. Use the upper hand while he still had it. But the Prince wasn't letting things go any further.
No matter how powerful a Duke was, he couldn't ignore an Imperial decree.
"Of course not, Your Highness. How could I ever disregard an Imperial decree?"
Alaric's expression softened. Took on a mournful look.
"It's just that I'm trying to find justice for my daughter.
"Haaa" Alaric Sighed heavily
She suffered such a terrible fate....
As her father, I simply cannot accept that she's gone."
Cassian let out a quiet chuckle.
A faint look of mockery crossed his face.
He knew better than anyone how shameless Alaric could be. How far the man would go to get what he wanted.
But Cassian had no interest in the performance.
"All right, all right."
He waved a hand.
"I understand you gentlemen have your grievances. But we can't let this drag on here atleast for now."
He leaned back.
"So. Shall we get back to what we actually came here to discuss?"
Averius wore a mischievous grin.
"Exactly that's the spirit"
He clapped once. Broke the tension.
"Now. Let's put this unpleasantness behind us and talk about what we came here for."
"We received intelligence from the Ebon Divide."
Averius didn't sound playful anymore.
"Our border forces found a Tier Two Anomaly nest."
Cassian raised an eyebrow.
"A Tier Two nest? Those aren't rare in the Ebon Divide. What's so special about this one?"
Averius smiled.
"Ha. Our Duke Cassian is as sharp as ever."
The smile faded.
"Yes. Those are not rate but his one got something very special in it .
We found a Wyrd Gateway inside the nest. From what our investigations show, it leads straight into the Land of Outcasts."
Both dukes' expressions changed. Replaced with seriousness.
Anyone who knew anything about the Land of Outcasts understood what that meant.
A Wyrd Gateway was rare. Very rare. The odds of finding one were less than one in a billion.
But the rarity wasn't what made it valuable.
The gateway lets people from the outside world enter the Land of Outcasts. Eventually letting kingdoms establish a foothold there.
Even though it is called the Land of Outcasts, Nobels call it as Land of Gold.
On the surface, that didn't sound like much. The Land of Outcasts was a nightmare. Anomalies everywhere. Miasma thick enough to rot a man from the inside.
And yet every kingdom on the Darwin Continent wanted a piece of it.
The reason was simple.
Once a kingdom secured a foothold inside, it could claim that territory as its own.
Claiming it was one thing.But Holding it was another thing.
The Land of Outcasts was massive. A single gateway would draw attention from every kingdom that caught wind of it. And once word spread, the fight for control would turn bloody worse.
Averius looked at the two dukes.
"So. I'm sure you both understand how seriousness of this is."
His tone had lost its playfulness.
"The news hasn't reached the outside world yet. I want both of you to handle this personally. Make sure the gateway falls under our control."
He paused.
"Even though Ebon Divide falls under Valerium's jurisdiction. But it's still dangerously close to the Kingdom of Caelvaris. If they find out, they'll interfere and would cause a huge mess."
His gaze swept across the table.
"We can't let that happen."
"I'll have our troops keep a close eye on the area. But we'll keep their movements stealthy. Too many soldiers at once and people will start finding things strange," Cassian said.
He wasn't about to turn a quiet discovery into a fight with a neighbouring kingdom. Not before they even knew what they were dealing with.
Alaric nodded. Whatever his history with Cassian, he wasn't stupid enough to let something this valuable slip away. Something that would earn him credit in the future.
"Agreed. Have them enter Ebon Town as ordinary civilians. I'll arrange somewhere for them to stay."
He paused. Thought for a moment.
"There are already spies from other kingdoms in the town. If a large group of unfamiliar faces shows up out of nowhere, someone's going to notice. We can't give them a reason to start digging."
"Then we proceed as discussed," Averius said. "For now, this stays between us. The last thing we need is Caelvaris catching wind of it before we've secured the gateway."
Both dukes nodded.
The tension in the room finally eased.
Averius leaned back in his chair. Then glanced at the table with a grin.
"Now. Enough of this serious talk. We've been sitting here for ages and I'm starving. Surely we can eat before rushing off to deal with another headache?"
You know, Moonlight Pavilion has some pretty authentic dishes. I heard their twin tower pork belly could make you water your mouth.
Don't worry, gentlemen. Today's feast is on me. Of course, I would reimburse the money from Imperial finance team. So whatever you eat, our Imperial treasury is gonna pay.
The shift caught everyone off guard.
One moment he'd been discussing a discovery that could drag several kingdoms into war. The next, he sounded like a young neighborhood fellow who wanted to have fun.
Cassian shook his head faintly. Alaric said nothing.
But you know that was Averius D'Averne a cunning fox of D'Averne.
He could jump from politics to being a nonchalant, harmless boy.
People who almost mistook his easygoing nature for a lack of cunning tended to regret it. Eventually. A man who could smile and joke while quietly planning his next move was far more dangerous than one who wore his ambitions on his sleeve.
Time passed....
They finished supper. Throughout the meal, they tried to avoid political talk. But somehow, though, the conversation kept circling back.
Once they finished eating, the others began to leave. Eventually, only Cassian and Averius remained.
Cassian turned towards the Prince. Gave him a meaningful look.
Averius shook his head with a helpless smile.
I really can't fool the Duke of Graythorn. It seems those eyes of yours can see right through any falsehood.
"Please. Don't flatter me, Your Highness. I'm just an ordinary man from Valerium."
"Haha! I wouldn't exactly call a duke an ordinary man, you know."
Averius chuckled before continuing.
"So. When did you notice, Master?"
Cassian's expression didn't change.
"Please don't call me Master, Your Highness. I haven't taught you anything particularly valuable that would earn me the right to such a title."
He refused calmly. Composed.
"Come on, Master. Don't be so cold-hearted."
"I learned enough from you when I was a child. That's more than enough for me to consider you my master."
"Haha! You know what? I still remember you buying me those candy sticks when I was a kid.
Haaaa...Those such a wonderful days, weren't they, Master? You know, I still have the wrappers from those sweets you..!"
"Khuk! Khuk!"
Before Averius could continue, Cassian cleared his throat.
The Imperial Advisor, who had been listening to their conversation all this while, was left dumbfounded. Who would have thought that the mighty Second Prince of the D'Averne Imperial Family had such a side to him?
Cassian glanced at Averius.
"So. The news about the Wyrd Gateway was bait you fed for Sytix through Alaric?"
"It seems you've noticed, Master," Averius replied with a smile.
Cassian didn't bother correcting him this time. He simply ignored the title.
"So you suspected Alaric would leak the news to those heretics?
But When did you figure that out?"
Averius sighed.
"Not long ago. I hate to admit it, but that man has been betraying us for who knows how long. There's no telling how much information he's leaked to them."
He paused. His expression turned grim.
"And to make matters worse, he seems to have gained the support of my stepbrother."
"You know what he's like, Master. He'd go to any lengths to achieve his goals."
Averius's expression grew more serious.
"I also discovered something else. Not long after Emily's death, Alaric made contact with one of Sytix's Apostles.
And, I suspect he had something to do with Emily's death."
Cassian remained silent. Listening.
"My guess is that Emily discovered something about her own father. Perhaps that was why she came to the boutique that day. She might have intended to tell you what she'd found. But Alaric somehow got wind of it."
Averius paused. Gathered his thoughts.
"He might have somehow arranged for her to meet your son. Then manipulated the situation to make it look like Leo had killed her. If my suspicion is correct, he deliberately dragged your son into this mess to divert attention from himself."
He frowned slightly.
"There's just one thing I can't figure out till now. If Alaric planned all of this, how did Leo end up suffering such severe injuries? That part still doesn't make sense to me."
Averius fell silent for a moment. Then let out a sigh.
"Whatever happened, we can't undo it now. It's a shame, really. That poor girl became a victim of her own father's greed and schemes."
A trace of pity crossed his face.
After a brief pause, Averius continued.
"There's more. It seems Alaric and the heretics are planning something together. He's been supplying them with the necessities for their stay. And as far as I can tell, he's the only one who knows where they're hiding."
Cassian's lips curled into a faint smile.
"So. You calculated all of this beforehand?"
Averius smiled.
"Exactly. I planned it that way. I simply fed him news too tempting to ignore. What did you think he'd do with it?"
His smile slowly widened into something far more unsettling.
"Not only will I be able to hunt down those heretics, but I'll also get my hands on the spies operating under our noses."
He leaned back in his chair. Looking rather pleased with himself.
"Besides. This will give me something substantial to show during the succession. I need to prove my worth if I want to stand a chance against my stepbrother."