A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 644 Your Majesty?!

Alek gritted his teeth and strained, trying to break free of the heavy wool blanket, but he was lifted into the air and could not exert any strength no matter how hard he struggled.

Almost everyone reached out and lifted Alek up, while Jonas didn't get such good treatment. He was stuffed into a sack and held under the armpit of a strong man.

The two were swept along and passed through several more doors. They seemed to have left the Tower of Ten Thousand Arts, because Alek could feel the discomfort of the teleportation—something that would never happen inside the tower.

Finally, everyone stopped, and Alek was carefully placed on the ground.

An old servant walked over shakily and untied the blanket. Alek tried to leap up, but a spell struck him, and he immediately went limp and collapsed.

With tears in his eyes, the old man stroked Alek's face with his rough, withered hands: "Yes, it's just like him, very much like him."

Alek felt a chill run down his spine: "Like what?"

The old man looked surprised: "Of course, he resembles the great late Emperor! Your grandfather."

"The late emperor? My grandfather? I've never even met my biological parents!"

"Of course, His Highness the Crown Prince was murdered by the Allied Dogs. They claimed it was done by the evil god's henchmen, but we all know who the real killer is! We thought you would receive Richard's protection when you went to the Earl's residence, but he... he actually entrusted you to a dwarf to raise!"

The old man grew increasingly agitated, stamping his feet and cursing Richard Dahlberg: "Traitor! Accomplice! Wizard!"

The others echoed, their lively chatter reverberating through the hall. Alek then noticed that he was at a high point in the hall, which at first glance appeared magnificent, but actually reeked of musty decay, and a whooshing sound could be heard in the distance.

Where am I?

"In a place where the Allied Dogs can't find you, Your Majesty." The old man straightened his back to show his pride and honor: "The late emperor foresaw the danger to the empire and, in his later years, secretly commissioned the dwarves to build a starship for the empire. Unfortunately, the original plan was to build a fleet, but in reality, only our flagship was delivered."

"The flagship's throne has remained empty until now, finally welcoming a worthy master—His Majesty Alexei I!"

After speaking, the old man, without further ado, ordered the guards to help the weak Alek to his feet and move him to the throne. This large chair was not comfortable to sit on at all; it was made by dwarves, and the cold metal surface was both frozen and hard.

Once he sat down, the people in the hall—no, the palace—boasted, "Your Majesty Alexios I!"

Alek felt a sense of absurdity. On the one hand, he felt like he was watching a farce, with all the people below him being strangers, dressed in retro and old-fashioned clothes and performing greetings he had never seen before. On the other hand, he felt like a puppet, a mere figure, and that he had no freedom or autonomy at all.

The old man continued his incessant rambling, claiming to be a court baron appointed by the late emperor and now the Grand Master of Ceremonies. Alek, filled with pity for the mentally unstable, listened helplessly to this court baron's "advice":

"Your Majesty, you will be of legal age in four days."

I didn't expect them to even know their own birthdays. It seems their background is somewhat credible.

"That day will be the day of the Empire's glorious restoration! We will celebrate your formal ascension to the throne and present you with a grand gift—we will launch a massive offensive against our alliance!"

"The alliance is powerful, but are you powerful too?" Alek recalled a chivalric novel he had read, in which the protagonist charged at the dragon with a rusty lance.

"Your Majesty, do not be deceived by appearances. The Alliance may be powerful now, but it is not a monolithic entity. For decades, they have forced Imperial citizens who came to the Astral Plane to seek refuge to change their identities, which is unpopular. Moreover, they are at war with Navaruwa, and some settlements are in dire straits."

"And we, many of our loyal subjects have never forgotten the glory of the Empire, and continue to contribute to the great cause. We also have the support of Valois, whose emperor once said, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

"So, you're saying you have no shortage of manpower or money?"

"Yes, that's right!" The old servant was very pleased. The fact that His Majesty was concerned about these matters showed that he cared about the restoration cause.

Unexpectedly, Alek complained, "So when the new capital and the Northern Earldom were in such a difficult time, why didn't you loyal subjects of the empire provide support? We were suffering so much on the ground, but the Alliance was sending aid and support from time to time."

"Without their sponsorship of food and support in terms of weapons and equipment, I might not be alive today."

This stumped the "loyalists of the empire." The court count stammered, "That's...that count is a complete traitor who has sided with the alliance. We can't aid the enemy!"

"Moreover, we were once very weak, and it was only by accumulating strength that we now have the resources to launch this uprising. I hope you can understand."

The other "loyal ministers" below also bowed their heads and shouted, "We hope Your Majesty understands!"

The old man launched into another psychological attack, endlessly recounting the deeds of His Majesty Wilhelm II. Alec had been hoping to hear about his relatives, but the figures the baron spoke of lacked any humanity; it was as if he were listening to some distant tale. In contrast, Alec and Vogel's memories were far more vivid.

After finishing his speech, the old man, seeing that Alek was drowsy, decided to use a more forceful approach: "Your Majesty, as you come of age, we will be selecting a queen for you. Three families are now willing to offer you their most beautiful daughters. You can choose one as your principal wife, and the others..."

Before he could finish speaking, the lights in the hall suddenly flickered.

The minor anomaly went unnoticed by the loyal subjects of the empire, but the Star Tower mage, who was waiting in the crowd for the final payment, frowned and his hair stood on end.

The hall was trembling!

He gritted his teeth, intending to activate the teleportation scroll he carried with him to escape, but a thick cloud of smoke burst from the scroll, clearly indicating that teleportation was prohibited in this area.

It's too late, it's all over!

Sure enough, a rift was torn open in the center of the hall, from which a large number of allied special forces soldiers and armed puppets rushed out, surging into the sand pile built by the loyal subjects of the empire like a tide, causing immediate chaos.

In the chaos, the court baron shouted, trying to order his guards to buy time and escape with Alec and the hostage Jonas, but upon closer inspection, he found the throne empty.

At this moment, Richard, carrying his own child in his left hand and the son of his old patron in his right, judging from his angry expression, knew that Jonas, still fast asleep, was in for a good scolding when he got home. As for the boy in his right hand, he smiled and said, "Should I also address you as His Majesty Alexei I?"

"No, no, no, that's too scary. I mean, that's too stupid. Please just call me by my name, Alek sounds much more familiar."

Richard nodded, satisfied with Für Eloquence's answer: "That's good."

Caroline finally emerged from the spacetime rift and patted the despairing Star Tower mage on the shoulder: "Cooperate actively with the investigation, and we won't make things difficult for you."

"Yes, yes, I told you everything I knew, it was Emperor Paul."

"I'm not going to say this here." After saying that, Caroline walked up to the court baron. Now all the loyalists of the empire have been rounded up and brought under control.

"You have a lot of guts to kidnap a citizen of our alliance, an apprentice of our Tower."

This is not kidnapping.

Caroline, not wanting to waste any more words, said, "Take the people away and seize the ship."

"Why should I? These are imperial assets! You filthy allied dogs, don't touch the late emperor's relics!"

"Based on the <Safe Magic Technology Promotion Agreement>, which is an international law that the Empire signed more than sixty years ago, we have reason to suspect that this starship used non-compliant and substandard alchemy technology. Otherwise, how could it have successfully evaded our investigation for decades?"

"Thank you for not taking their drive watches when you kidnapped the two apprentices, which finally allowed us to track them down here."

The court baron's vision went black, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood to follow the late emperor in death.

(End of this chapter)