Ashoran finished changing into a pair of black pants and shirt, wearing a pair of black gloves and the lace rosy eye band Serenity has given him, caressing the dangling red ruby, he smiled gently murmuring a few words,
"Wish me some luck, Lily."
He pushed open the meeting room, sitting on the only chair in a room full of people on both sides; the first thing he asked about was his brother.
"How did things go with Adnan?"
Syrous rushed forward, bowing as he delivered his report.
"According to your majesty's orders, I administered the poison into his bones myself. If he's lucky, his body may last till tomorrow morning; if not, maybe an entire week, depending on his internal resistance."
Ash leaned on his right arm, lips slightly curved.
"He's not lucky then."
"!??" Syrous paused for a second but bowed respectfully, "All according to your wishes."
Syrous had a crazy thought going on inside his head , 'The poison inside his bones will eat him slowly from the inside till nothing is left of him; the pain along this process is no joke. If, in two days, the heart were to be swallowed, then he would've died less painfully, but his majesty ordered me to keep him alive for a week. Might as well experiment with some poison on him...I will ask for permission.'
Syrous walked to his place, standing at his majesty's right side, then leaned forward.
"Your majesty, I need your permission on something."
"Hmm?!"
"Can I do whatever I want with the corps afterward?" He took a bottle from his pocket and pointed at it. "I have a new poison in hand that is still in need of a test subject, so...about that...."
Ash looked ahead, raising his voice on purpose.
"Adnan is a royal member after all; I can't allow anyone to mess with his dead body under any circumstances."
Syrous was stunned hearing his majesty's response; his lips curled into a creepy smile without him realizing it. He bowed his head slightly.
"As you wish."
"Hmm."
Jevon, who was standing on his majesty's left side, saw his expression and threw a pen at him, but he instinctively caught it.
-throw-
-catch-
"What is this?" "Syrous said, looking at the pen in his hand
"Watch your expression, kid," Jevon said.
"Sorry," Syrous quickly went back to his original serious face, but inside he wanted to jump into the prison.
'You can hardly blame me, though; his majesty literally gave me a free pass to play with my poison on a living Adnan, and you want me to watch it?...I am so happy I can hardly contain myself.'
Jevon didn't need him to say anything to know what he was thinking; knowing he can't do anything, he only shook his head.
'That kid is insane, but aren't we?'
He was lost in thoughts until Ashoran's call woke him.
"Duke Alkana"
"Any orders, your majesty?"
"What happened to the queen's faction?"
"Here," Jevon handed his majesty a black file and started explaining while Ashoran was flipping between pages,
"as per your orders, we've been keeping a close eye on the queen's every move. According to the report, there were no suspicious moves so far except for a large amount of gold that has been transferred manually to her hometown in Galirion."
Aries rolled his eyes after looking at the report.
"What happened to all that money? Does she plan on rebelling or something?"
Jevon shook his head, saying with confidence,
"I don't think so...according to our sources, the money was used to store a large amount of mana stones."
"Mana stones? ... Hmm... Something is not right..." Ash crossed his legs, narrowed his eyes, and started tapping on the file, feeling uneasy. 'Is it a new trap?... I can't help but have a bad feeling about this.'
Ashoran suddenly called,
"Syrous"
"Yes?" Syrous jolted instantly upon hearing his name beeing called. 'Why did he suddenly call?'
"Did anyone come for Adnan since he was caught?" Ash asked
Syrous didn't even think; he answered right away.
"Not a single soul I recall...but now that your majesty mentioned it, it's indeed strange; previously it was a non-stop stream of people coming and going as they pleased, to check on him...strange?!"
Ashoran turned his face twards Caroline and asked a shocking question.
"How is the preparation for winter?...Do we have enough mana stones to pass this winter?"
Caroline got confused hearing his question,'weren't we talking about the queen just now?! Why ask about the preparations all of a sudden?!!'
she paused for a while in her place until his majesty called her name.
"Caroline"
"Um...huh?!"
Ashoran started tapping the file in his hands impatiently,
"I asked a question and i need to hear an answer right now"
"What's wrong all of a sudden?" Jevon asked but heard no answer.
Syrous, on the other hand, had a tensed expression as he asked,
"Did you realize something, your majesty?"
Ashoran ignored all of them, staying focused on Caroline, waiting for her answer.
He thought ,'The biased queen I know won't do something as random as storing those stones if there isn't any motive. Not to mention a whole night has passed without hearing anything from her when I have her precious son under my feet ...this is highly suspicious and simply doesn't apply to her character.'
Ash said, "She must have a bargaining chip hidden under her sleeves...a chip strong enough to make me bow my head."
Jevon's eyes widened as all the informations finally started to click into his head, he quickly spoke his concern,
"She won't be so dumb as to play with the lifeline of the entire Avalor, would she?"
"You're underestimating the queen's greed my duke" Ash said, then crossed his arms, looking at Caroline. "Answer my question, Caroline. What happened to the mana stones?"
'That man's gut is crazy.' Caroline pressed on the file in her hand and finally started talking.
"Your majesty's gut is spot on, indeed something did come up with the mana stones, mine in BALIRION."
'I knew it,' Ash thought to himself. 'There is no way that old hag will stay silent for this long if not cooking a disaster ...and here we are...'
presenting a file on the desk in front of his majesty,
"According to the last inspection of the mine, the innermost layers have no trace of any kind of mana stones."
Syrous couldn't help but raise his voice from the shock.
"What?!!...The mine in BALERION is responsible for at least half of the production in AVALOR, yet you're telling me it's empty? Is this supposed to be a joke?!"
Jevon frowned after hearing her words and released his frustration on Syrous,
"No time for jokes; if her words are true, then we're about to face a disaster, especially when we are approaching winter. There is absolutely no way we could pass through without mana stones."
Syrous waved his hands, explaining himself with a completely serious expression,
"I wasn't joking; the innermost layer containing the vein source that was supposed to be flowing with mana stones with the highest quality is said to be empty?...Call me crazy, but I am stating facts in here."
"He has a point though...this problem wasn't supposed to happen this fast; the vein is still far away from being exhausted. Something fishy is definitely going on in here." Astrum said, turning at Caroline, "Is there something you haven't told us about?"
Caroline nodded, "There is indeed something else."
"Speak" Jevon said.
"When the news reached me, I went there for an inspection myself and found that the inner layer is not naturally empty, but someone intentionally removed the content from inside," Caroline said.
Syrous asked, "What about the vein?!"
"It's gone."
After hearing her words, everyone present in the room went into a state of shock, staring at each other in a state of denial.
Olsen suddenly said, trying to ease the tension, "Removed from the center?...Is that even possible?!"
Syrous snapped at him, "Does it matter if it's possible or not? The problem here is how are we going to pass the winter without the existence of any mana stones?...The table is open for any recommendations."
Olsen lowered his head, saying,
"Apart from BALERION's mine, there is SAVIROS's mine, but we already used most of it, so...."
"So what continues...?" Syrous asked impatiently.
Seeing how hesitant Olsen was, Jevon caught on to his thoughts and continued in his place.
"Our only option will be the GALIRION mines."
Caroline was consumed by anger upon hearing the word "galirion" that she caught Olsen by the neck.
"Are you crazy? That's the queen's family territory. There is no way in hell she's going to help us after what happened to Adnan."
"Why would the mastermind help?"
Those sudden words coming from Ash froze them in place, not knowing what to say or do.
Ashoran crossed his arms, looking at the data Caroline provided, then passed them to Syrous.
Then he stated what he found ,"The mine must be closed for at least a year and a half to allow the vein to reproduce, but the stones are gone and the vein is also gone,but taking the vein after it produces mana stones is not an option since it will explode halfway and it's impossible not to catch our attention, which means it all happened during the closing process a year and a half ago ... What are your thoughts about this matter?"
A thick heavy aura filled the air as he finished his words, making them fall into dead silence; even breathing became hard.
"It was a setup; we walked into it with our feet," Astrum said, gritting his hands till they bleed.
He carefully thought a out that situation ,'At this rate either his majesty lowers his head to the queen, losing all dignity, or he refuses, and as a result this winter will turn into a plague over this land. Either way his majesty will lose his throne, and we absolutely have nothing to do to help...the queen got us, and we lost.'
Syrous was so deep in thoughts until his majesty noticed him.
"What's on your mind? Share with us."
"Uh?! Huh?!" Syrous snapped out, noticing everyone staring at him. He immediately held his posture. "Ahem...Your Majesty, I was thinking if this was someone's work, then why don't we find that someone first?"
"Speak," Ash said.
Syrous said, "Every vein has a very unique aura around it. We can use this aura to follow behind and find the person in question. Wouldn't that solve the problem?"
Jevon shook his head in disappointment. "I wish it was that easy, but it isn't. If we were to use mana stones from the same mine, it would be pointless ...the same stones were distributed among people all across Avalor, not to mention that finding the person doesn't guarantee finding the stones. If the robbery happened long before the vein was able to reproduce, then what's the point of all we did?"
"No! Let's go with Syrous's plan," Ash suddenly said and followed, "if we find the people involved, there is a high chance to catch an unexpected surprise."
"But how do we find people?....the aura of the vein is so faint which make it impossible to track" Caroline asked
Syrous assured her, "His majesty only needs to give the order, and don't worry about the rest...my family will take care of it."
His words spread like a shocking wave over the heads of those present.
"The HORTUS will get involved?" Jevon asked in confusion. His mind was spinning like crazy by the sudden interference of that powerhouse.
The HORTUS are a noble family that have the litter DE in as their middle name just like the ALKANA a powerhouse with deep loyalty and rooted legacy but they don't interfere with the inner conflicts inside the palace.
Syrous smiled slightly, "This whole shit is more personal than you think...if it's something else, my family would never have gotten involved in this struggle, but this matter involves the existence of the entire AVALOR. It's not a joking matter, and it requires a satisfactory punishment."
His aura shifted from his usual gentle face to a sharper, more dangerous aura. 'I absolutely cannot allow anyone to dethrone that man until I figure out the connection between him and those two....even if that meant breaking the rules so be it.'
Ash looked at Syrous's face and released a deep sigh, showing his deep dissatisfaction,
'I wished this game would drag on longer, but with the Hortus interface it won't take long... What a knockoff!'
Ash got up from his chair with a voice full of disappointment.
"Meeting adjourned."
And with that he left the room, but Syrous was stunned in place.
"That familiar tongue...So alike..."
Jevon walked beside him and patted his shoulders. "It's normal to be stressed in such a situation; don't worry about him."
Syrous pointed at the doors in disbelief saying in shoke,
"Which eye of yours saw that man's stress? ....am i the only one who saw his true face? "
"What else?!" Jevon asked.
"Pfft...hah, hah, hah, hah, hah...what the fuck, man...you guys see him stressed for real?" Syrous couldn't hold himself back and kept laughing hysterically to the point of crying.
Astrum had enough of him and punched his head till he squatted on the ground from the pain.
-bang-
"Ugh...ouch...that hurts, man. Be gentle."
"I can't promise you that."
He was strengthening his fists, ready to throw another punch, but Jevon stood between them.
"That's it, kids, calm down...I know we're all stressed, but this is where we should keep our calm, at least in front of his majesty."
Syrous jumped from the ground all carefree.
"Huh, him?...Don't worry about him; if there is anything he's stressed about, it would be my family joining in the game...Knowing it will end so fast, he is mad he lost his fun."
Olsen grabbed Syrous by his collar, full of anger.
"You've lost it. How can you talk about him like that?"
Syrous didn't pay his words any attention and shoved his hands away.
"It's not me, but I think all of us...we failed to know that man for who he truly is."
"What do you mean?" Olsen asked
"Who knows if time is enough to reveal everything...you will understand someday," saying that, he walked out waving. "Now excuse me, I have a family meeting to attend to."
Caroline suddenly said, "The fuck just happened?"
"Language, young lady," Jevon said and walked outside of the meeting room, going back to his home. "My little darling might come home any day now; I need to prepare everything for her stay...no time for the kid's bickering."
"...?!" She stood there stunned by all the mess that just happened. In desperation she caught Astrum's cloth
"What?!" He asked in confusion, looking at her head glued to his back.
"Explain what just happened," she said with burning eyes, making it hard for him to refuse.
He rubbed his temples, feeling so stressed.
"Let's get this done fast; I still have work to do."
"It will be fast, I promise," Caroline said.
Caroline took Astrum to a corner outside the room, and there he explained to her,
"It's easy, actually. If we caught the person, we might be able to find a clue to connect him to the culprit. You get what that means, don't you?"
Caroline thought about it for a while, and suddenly everything started to make sense.
If the blame were to fall on the queen, then we would have a reason to raid her family's business, which will help us pass the current situation.
"But what if we found nothing?" Caroline asked. "In most cases like these a mediator will be involved to ensure that no trace is left behind. If that happened, how do you plan to solve it?"
"If the road isn't found, then dig it yourself. Either way, the end will still be the same; we will reach the end." Astrum gave her a sly smile that said everything, and then he walked away saying,
"A person as airheaded as yourself better step back from this life earlier, or you might regret it."
While she was lost for words, Astrum placed his hand over her shoulders.
"Caroline, you're a strong warrior, but that's all...stay away from the political struggles. It's just not for you."
He then let go and walked on his way without looking back. In his mind he was like, 'I hope my message reached her, but I also hope it's not too late for her to turn back...maybe deep down we all see her as a pure flower that shouldn't be polluted by all this shit.'
Astrum kept walking ahead until he reached a door surrounded by guards wearing silver armor; the door was closed with their spears preventing him from entering.
'This is kind of troublesome.'
Astrum took a deep breath and then stood straight with hands behind his back.
"ASTRUM VON ABIEGNIS requests an audition with his majesty."
Ashoran's voice suddenly came from inside.
"Let him in."
The guards made way for him to pass and then closed the door behind him.
Inside there was a huge office full of papers and a huge map of Avalor; the chair was facing the open windows as Ashoran was sitting on it with his long loose hair, leaning on his right hand and staring outside while playing with two huge pearls in his other hand.
Astrum looked at the office and noticed his eye mask was left on it. 'He's not wearing his mask?...Doesn't he almost always keep that thing on?'
Ashoran's sudden deep growling voice suddenly echoed through the room, snapping him back from his daytime dreams.
"Speak"
Astrum got ahold of himself and bowed; then he started talking.
"Your majesty, I came here to deliver the report of my mission in REGIS and also to ask for your forgiveness."
Ashoran paused his hand's movements for a second, then went back to moving the pearls, speaking so calmly it makes people shiver.
"Is it about why this wasn't included in the morning meeting?"
Astrum fell onto his knees apologizing.
"My deepest apologies, this won't happen again."
"Happens or not depends on what you're about to say." Ashoran closed his fist onto the pearls, reducing them to ashes.
-crash-
"What a waste."
He looked at the dust in his hand with disgust, then turned his chair around to clean his hand with the handkerchief on his table, and then he threw it onto the ground.
"Explain"
"Yes"
Astrum tried to get up and talk, but a pen suddenly passed in front of him, scratching his right hand, making him retreat his legs immediately.
"Did I give you permission to get up?"
"No, you didn't."
"Start your report already."
Astrum started explaining, "Yes...as per your majesty's instructions, we followed the lead the craniom left behind, and that led us to REGIS's teaching island. According to our rat, there was supposed to be a transaction of some kind that should have taken place there."
Feeling impatient, Ashoran started tugging his pen onto the table over and over.
-tug...tug...tug...tug-
"I know all about that. Get to the point; my patience is running thin."
"Understood." Astrum kept his gaze fixed onto the ground with a cold, sweating forehead. "Back then, when we couldn't find any trace of them, we were about to end the mission then and there, but we intensified the research for one last time, and sure enough, our people indeed ran into those people thanks to Serenity informing us they were actually there."
Ashoran suddenly said,
"Get up and keep going."
"Y…yes!"
Astrum looked so surprised as he got up from the ground, staring at his majesty. 'Am I hallucinating, or did his mood suddenly improve?'
Astrum adjusted his clothes, then took a deep breath before he continued his talk.
"When we spotted them, we followed behind and saw the transaction happening right in front of our eyes, but unfortunately we couldn't stop them from running away, and that was when we met Your Majesty in that small world."
"No wonder we met...but did you know what the transaction was about?" Ashoran asked
Astrum shook his head. "Unfortunately not, the items were hidden inside boxes made of the black metal CATENA; hence, we couldn't use magical sense to explore what was really inside, but at that time I'm sure we heard them mentioning the DAMNATIO."
"Hoo~, interesting..." Ashoran leaned back on his chair, feeling a bit amused. "It seems like the cooperation request needs serious consideration, but...that's not the reason you apologized, right?"
'The report until now contains nothing out of the usual topics discussed in the meeting, so what else does he still keep hidden? ...I am furious just thinking that my loyal dog is actually hiding something from me; I actually have the urge to kill him right here and right now.' Ashoran fixed his terrifying gaze at Astrum as if looking at a weak prey ready to be devoured at any second.
The look in his eyes made all his cells scream from fear.'Why are you glaring when you have those eyes? ... They are already terrifying as it is. Does he think dying once isn't enough?!'
"Speak!"
"!?!?"
Ashoran's sudden call woke him to his senses; he kept explaining.
"When we failed to catch them, most of our people went back because we only had news about the transaction and nothing else, but I stayed behind ...because when my sister said she felt them, she said almost ten, but we only approached two, so I stayed behind just in case."
"Then..."
Astrum tightened his fists as he kept going.
"Just as I expected, there was still a hidden agenda; a group of their people spread all across the island destroyed all contact channels and transport portals, while worse, a huge summoning circle was planted under the stadium absorbing the mana source that was keeping the island in the sky."
Ashoran's lips curled into a creepy smile on his face, sending a shiver down Astrum's spine. 'He's actually smiling?'
Ashoran suddenly covered his face using his right hand and burst out laughing.
"Pfft...hah, hahaha... this story is quite funny. Keep going, but wait, let me guess: it was a one-sided struggle, right?"
"How did you guess?" Astrum was stunned on the spot hearing his majesty's words.
Astrum stopped laughing and leaned onto his desk with his arms crossed right under his chin.
"Haa~ that was actually expected since my last visit confirmed one thing...those bastards are sitting on a large mine of treasures that the outside world knows absolutely nothing about, so it doesn't actually feel strange that an organization like the Craniom also wants a piece of the cake."
Ashoran took off his eye mask and wore it again while playing with the rubies dangling from it.
"So who ended the mess?"
Astrum swallowed his saliva before answering.
"Outside the stadium were I, Aries, lady fear , and some of the warriors who fought back, but inside only a group of students with Belladonna's help."
Ash stopped playing with the rubies and switched to a stone-like face.
"Be more specific, Astrum."
'No use hiding anything; many people saw it happen anyway.' Astrum raised his face, looking straight at his majesty's eyes.
"Those who solved the portal crisis are Luna, the host from that day; Belladonna; a student named Baial; Prince Daniel Vastator; and Princess Sylvia Invictus. All of them followed Serenity Alkana as the leader. While they dragged for time, she collected enough magic to chant a spell that in the end landed the island safely and destroyed the summoning magic." Astrum said
Ashoran was stunned for a second there with his mind flooded with questions ,'It's actually her! ...But why would she expose herself like that? Didn't she say she's afraid of drawing some unwanted attention? What's the difference between what she did and giving a public invitation?'
Ash closed his eyes a d started rubbing his temples, saying, "I don't think you need to worry about your sister since she dared to do it, so naturally she's ready for what's next...I will pass on your punishment this time, but next time I won't be this merciful."
Astrum suddenly said, "Actually there is still one thing I didn't say, and that thing is what I truly apologized for."
"Hmm?!"
"Serenity had a backlash after using her powers," he said.
Ashoran paused for a second; his voice changed showing a hint of anger,
"What happened?"
'What's wrong with him?...maybe he is mad that my report is this long?...that should be it right?!' Astrum thought, but noticing how strange Ashoran was behaving, he quickly answered his question. 'Survival comes first'
"The backlash of using her powers was a divine punishment, being struck by lightning ten times before it was finally over." he said
Those words shocked him to his very core, unable to process what he had just heard. Astrum still went and dropped another bomb over his head.
"That all happened last night when we were at the villa, and it seemed nobody in REGIS academy felt a thing of it, but ...during the ascendance of lightning, the few of us present at the time saw it as clear as day when a pair of dragon horns grew over her head, absorbing some of the lightning. And apparently next day the news outside confirmed a huge pillar of light shot into the sky which means everybody saw what happened except for those on the island"
Ashoran started rubbing his chin, looking all serious.
"Could it be Serenity is just like you, a host to the dragon blood?"
Astrum denied it instantly. "It's absolutely impossible; the three of us have gone under a thorough examination the moment we were born, and back then I was the only one whose results were positive at the time."
"How do you explain this situation then? She has a pair of horns which means she is a ' jure sanguin ' born with rights to the throne" Ashoran asked but the unbothered cold look on his face made Astrum think extra carefully about what to say next
"The only reasonable explanation would be that her reawakening physique likely affected her affinity, which maybe led to the awakening of these powers...since I am also a host, maybe Serenity also had it but was yet to awaken it." Astrum explained his opinion while monitoring his majesty's face clearly.
"..."
His mind turned into a mess, especially after hearing no response from his majesty.
'Why isn't he saying anything?...Those who host the dragon blood apart from the royal family must join under the Von Abiegni as a subsidiary under the royal family. It's an ultimate rule, but Serenity, as a grown-up with the character 'DE' in her name, turns out to be a host. This situation is more dangerous than anyone could imagine; at best, her magic will be crippled; at worst, ultimate death.'
"Astrum"
Ashorean suddenly called, making him jolt in his place.
"Your orders!?"
"Notify Duke Alkana. Princess Serenity Alkana is summoned to the royal palace the same day she enters Avalor's lands," he said.
Astrum's whole body tensed after hearing his words, 'I knew it would come down to this...God bless us for what's coming.'
And with that Astrum left the office but Ashoran once he was alone he walked twards the windows looking at the grand scene outside thinking deeply,
'Even thought i have known you for just a couple of days i bet you have no idea how much i adore you'
He placed his right hand over his chest and grinding his nails through his shin cutting his own flesh, just as the blood was running down he closed his fist holding the crystalized flower that reappeared on his chest glowing as it repaired his wonded body then disappeared again.
looking at his healed chest with a blank expression he flickrd his fingers over the healed area saying,
"My adorable white lily you belong only to me ,so ...Whatever you do never come near my throne or i can't controle what i might do next"