Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

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"Of course we fought."

This statement left Theodore and Valentine completely bewildered. They were about to avoid Uncle Musa, an outsider, but he was the first to speak.

"What are you doing? What do you know?" Count Valentine scolded irritably, but Uncle Musa, sitting on the sofa, frowned and said, "I know what situation His Highness is in right now."

Upon hearing this, Theodore turned and stared at Uncle Musa, his hand unconsciously reaching for his waist where a decorative dagger lay.

"Everyone knows that the Second Prince and His Highness are vying for the throne. Now that the Grand Duke of the North has caused trouble in order to rescue the First Prince, it's the perfect time to start a war." Uncle Musa's demeanor changed from that of a businessman, and he became much more composed.

"Do you know how many men the Duke of the North has with him?" Earl Valentine shouted from the side. "Two thousand men, a full two thousand cavalrymen."

"So what?" Uncle Musa narrowed his eyes. "Besides, I'm not going to fight the Duke of the North."

"Not fighting the Duke?" Theodore was taken aback, then his eyes widened. "You mean..."

"Yes," Uncle Musa nodded heavily. "The second prince's residence, Benir Palace, is in the western suburbs of the capital. His Highness just said that he will also receive the news. At this time, those ministers will definitely go to see His Majesty the King, wanting him to deal with the Northern Duke who dared to cause trouble in the capital. However, they lack a leader, and they will definitely wait for the second prince to arrive at the palace."

"Do you know what you're saying?" Earl Valentine shouted sternly.

Uncle Musa merely glanced at the Count, his face showing no particular expression.

Young master is right. These nobles are useless. They are afraid to risk their lives for important matters, but they forget righteousness for petty gains.

"I've heard that His Majesty's health is quite poor. I believe the Earl was summoned before and should know the details," Uncle Musa continued in a deep voice. "I just want to ask Your Highness, are you content with this?"

"I..." Theodore frowned and didn't finish his sentence.

"Now that things have come to this point, only by taking the initiative can we take control of our own destiny."

"Do you know how many people are on the Second Prince's side?" Earl Valentine said through gritted teeth, his face dark. "Almost all the nobles in Plantagenet City are on his side. If anything goes wrong, the city's garrison will be mobilized immediately."

"No," Uncle Musa shook his head, "I think the royal city's garrison has already been mobilized."

Theodore and Valentine exchanged a glance, then immediately understood what Uncle Musa meant: "The garrison has already assembled in the east of the city."

"That's right, now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Uncle Musa said loudly. "As long as we kill the second prince in the chaos and then shift the blame to the Duke of the North, you will be the sole legitimate heir to the kingdom, and no one can compete with you."

"You," Uncle Musa stared intently at the second prince, whose fists were clenched, and said, enunciating each word clearly, "are the future king of the Kingdom of Fran."

"You want to persuade His Highness..." Valentine frowned as he looked at Uncle Musa, but his next words were immediately interrupted by the other man: "I came to see His Highness, just like you, Earl, for my future prospects and wealth."

“But I,” Theodore paused, then looked up at Earl Valentine standing beside him, “how many men do you have under your command?”

"I only brought 200 people with me."

"Here I have," Theodore thought for a few seconds, "I previously recruited some adventurer brotherhoods and knightly orders, plus guards, and I can only muster 600 men."

"Then we only have 800 men." Count Valentine's voice betrayed a hint of hesitation.

"800 men it is," Uncle Musa slammed his hand on the coffee table in front of him. "800 men is the best defense. As long as we replace the guards at the west gate of the kingdom immediately, we can take action once the second prince arrives from the palace."

This statement silenced Theodore and Valentine once again.

Nearly ten seconds later, Count Valentine said in a low voice, "How about I go to Perfume Lily Street right now and have that high priest do some divination?"

"What kind of divination?" Uncle Musa slammed his hand on the coffee table. "Does a bad divination mean you're quitting?"

"When the Second Prince ascends the throne, what do you think your fate will be? You know, the First Prince has spent many years in prison."

These words directly provoked Theodore, who jumped to his feet, his face turning ashen.

Her second brother was no pushover, and she and her mother had treated him harshly on several occasions before.

If the second prince becomes king, his fate will certainly not be good, and those nobles will not even raise any voices of opposition. Perhaps, like the Mello family before him, he will be wiped out.

Theodore felt a chill of fear at the thought that Ciel Mello's fate might befall him.

"I am the future king of this country," he said through gritted teeth in a low voice.

These words startled Count Valentine, who took a step back.

"Count Valentine, you should prepare to assemble your men immediately," Theodore said, staring intently at the other man as if trying to discern something from his eyes.

However, Valentine did not refuse, but nodded, "Yes, Your Highness, I will go and gather my men immediately."

"I will mobilize all my manpower immediately. Beniel Palace is not far from the kingdom, but it is still some distance away. We need to hurry." With that, Theodore revealed a sinister smile.

"Your Highness, you need to write a few more letters immediately," Uncle Musa said, standing up. "Write to your maternal clan, and to the noble lords you trust, and tell them to bring their troops to Plantagenet immediately."

Theodore immediately understood Uncle Musa's suggestion. He pointed at the man and said, "Mr. Salmu, if things really succeed, you will be my greatest contributor."

"No, this is all thanks to His Highness's personal efforts." Uncle Musa smiled, placed his hand on his chest, and bowed slightly.

Seeing Count Valentine and Theodore leave the luxurious reception room one after the other, he smirked, "Just as the young master said, things have come to this."

He had previously received an intelligence letter from Charles, which provided a detailed analysis of the current situation in the capital and potential future changes.

"What about that incident the young master mentioned, will it really succeed?" Uncle Musa walked to the sofa, picked up his fur coat, and then slowly walked out of the reception room. Throughout the corridor, guards were rushing about, some looking for someone to give orders, others carrying several weapons.

"I need to go and inform Vivian quickly."

…………

"Is this the letter that informed His Highness?"

Vivian put down a letter in her hand, then looked up at the second prince, Grover, in front of her.

"Yes, my guard found it at the palace gate. He reported that the letter landed on the edge of the palace gate like a bird, flapping its wings," Grover nodded and said.

"The letter flew like a bird; that sounds like arcane magic." Alma, standing next to her, also picked up the letter and looked down at its contents.

Prince Grover looked at Vivian with a questioning gaze, as if to ask if her teacher had reminded her that the Grand Duke of the North was leading an attack on the prison.

Vivian thought for a moment. She figured that since Teacher Afif had been arguing with Teacher Victor all day, he probably wouldn't have noticed something like this. But she couldn't be sure if it was the work of the two teachers, so she could only smile apologetically in the end.

Unexpectedly, this smile made Grover breathe a sigh of relief, as if he had received some kind of answer.

"That's good," Grover smiled and said to Vivian, "There will be many things I'll need your help with in the future."

"Your Highness, you seem to have misunderstood," Vivian thought to herself, but then she frowned as she thought about the contents of the letter.

Just as the two teachers said, getting deeply involved in some kingdom events will indeed benefit one's growth.

But now it seems this incident has gone a bit too far.

"I don't know if the contents of this letter can be guaranteed to be true," Alma said slowly, putting down the letter.

"I don't know, so I'm planning to send someone to the capital to take a look." Grover sized up the two mages in front of him. If it came to traveling to the capital, these two mages were obviously much faster than riding a horse.

However, things quickly progressed in a way that surprised the three people present.

"Bang, bang!" The door to the reception room was knocked on by a guard. After the guard came in, he reported, "Your Highness, Minister of State Leod Potts has arrived."

"He's here?" Grover frowned. "How did this gentleman get here?"

"horse riding."

"He actually came on horseback; he's quite old."

"Yes," the guard puffed out his chest slightly, "when the Minister of State arrived, he almost lost his footing. If we hadn't caught him, he would probably be injured by now."

"Is that so?" Grover stood up, preparing to meet the minister.

But he immediately stopped and looked suspiciously at the mysterious letter on the table.

"It seems that it might be true," Alma said calmly.

"Miss Agatha means that this letter is genuine?" Grover pursed his lips. The letter described what happened in the East City Prison and mentioned that the Grand Duke of the North was leading 2000 cavalrymen.

"I want to know, does the Third Prince know?" Vivian suddenly asked from the side.

"They probably don't know, since it wasn't mentioned in the letter." Grover frowned; the letter indeed didn't say "the Third Prince has been notified at the same time."

"Now I understand why the Minister of State has come to see you," Vivian nodded slowly. "He must be here to inform you that you must go see His Majesty the King immediately."

"To see His Majesty now?" Alma frowned, not understanding why.

“Yes, the Duke of the North’s use of force around the capital is unacceptable. The nobles and ministers need a leader,” Vivian said, looking at the second prince before her. He was tall and handsome, with flowing golden hair, and looked every bit the promising young man. “His Majesty’s health is not very good right now. This is your chance. Doing this will not only tell the Duke of the North, but also the people of the capital, and even more so, His Majesty the King.”

"Tell His Majesty?" Alma muttered to herself, frowning as she looked at Vivian, somewhat confused about what she meant.

Grover understood the meaning behind those words. He silently walked to the wall of the reception room, where an oil painting was hanging. The painting depicted several young men playing around a child. There were young guards and beautiful maids, and the child in the middle was laughing happily.

He gazed silently at the oil painting, time ticking by. Finally, the second prince let out a soft sigh, "Has this day finally come?"

This abrupt remark startled Vivian and Alma. Grover then strode out of the meeting room. "Thank you both for your explanation. I know what to do next. You may proceed as you see fit."

With the second prince gone, only Alma and Vivian remained in the reception room. They exchanged a glance, and Vivian immediately smiled and said, "I still have some matters to attend to in the Golden Flower Royal City, so I'll be leaving now."

After saying that, Vivian left.

"This person is really strange." Alma stared at the closed wooden door; she was now alone in the reception room. "What should we do? Should we follow him and see?"

She needed to figure out what the Demon Lord Arrogance was planning in the capital, but Alma had no clue whatsoever. The only suspicious person was this "White Shell" Miss, but she was a disciple of a high-ranking archmage, and several attempts to track her had failed. It was as if she had vanished into thin air.

"Follow them and see. We can just use some magic to fly and figure out what they're up to." Alma pulled out a magic scroll from behind her back, which contained the art of flight. It was purchased with Grover's expensive consulting fee and was intended to track Vivian.

After a while, Alma flew in mid-air and cursed fiercely, "This 'White Shell' Miss didn't take the same path as the Second Prince."

There is a straight road leading from Beniel Palace to Plantagenet City, and the second prince and the minister of administration took this road. However, in order to take care of the elderly minister, Grover traveled very slowly, and even the guards he brought were only symbolically ten people.

Vivian simply rode her horse and turned onto another side road. She rode very fast and whipped her horse several times to urge it on.

"What should we do now? Should we follow the prince, or go after that young mage?" Alma rubbed her temples, looking exasperated.

In the end, she gritted her teeth and chose to follow the second prince. "My master said that if we want to know about Arrogance's conspiracy, we need to pay attention to the second prince. I hope you won't disappoint me."

With that, she flew towards the direction of the second prince.

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