Although the nobles of Castitia live in extreme luxury, with even the most basic lighting provided by mages, King Gonzalez VI is quite frugal, using only the simplest lighting equipment, which is even less effective than the magical lanterns used by the Gray Robes from the distant Ror Empire.
Under the dim light, a letter, wet from seawater and soaked in blood, slowly appears before King Gonzalez VI.
Looking at the letter sent from M Continent by the National Master he personally promoted, Gonzalez VI couldn’t help but sigh even more.
“Oh, Gray Robe, how nice it would be if you had failed your mission…”
Gonzalez VI reclined back in his throne.
This wasn’t because Gonzalez VI wished for the death of the National Master whom he had once promoted; it’s just that the departure of the Gray Robe and Rosalind, along with their presumed deaths, was an unspoken reality among all nobles and the royal family. If they could, that group of people would even want to push the Gray Robe and Rosalind onto the guillotine; however, they ultimately chose a somewhat more dignified death for them—serving the country by setting sail, which at least sounded decent.
The forced departure of the Gray Robe and Rosalind is definitely not as simple as the two being troublemakers for the war faction; the underlying issues are quite deep, and Gonzalez VI couldn’t keep control anymore. After the Gray Robe set sail, those nobles even began recommending other candidates for the position of National Master to Gonzalez VI, without any pretense.
However, the intense struggle among them meant that no one was willing to yield, so the position of National Master remains vacant.
Of course, this is not ideal for Castitia.
But no one expected that the Gray Robe and the Little Princess actually succeeded—not only did they successfully reach M Continent, but they also became esteemed guests of a kingdom called Cape.
Gonzalez VI gently stroked the various damaged pieces of letter paper; if it weren’t for the special letter paper of the Gray Robe, these papers might have completely deteriorated along the way.
A powerful kingdom named Cape, where even the border stronghold is as prosperous as the central city of Castitia, has a means of transportation that allows rapid transit between cities and carries large cargo; their fire technology is even several times stronger than the cannons smuggled by the Avars.
Since this letter was written in the early days of the Gray Robe’s arrival in Cape and was greatly damaged along the way, many details are no longer known, such as when the Gray Robe only mentioned meeting the princess of the elves; the subsequent content was completely soaked in seawater and damaged beyond repair, to the point where Castitia is unaware of the elves’ actual situation. However, this is still very important for Castitia; of course, the most crucial point is that Rosalind is still alive.
Not only alive but has also learned a lot of knowledge; in that wise kingdom, the noblewomen’s afternoon tea time surprisingly involves studying together. When Gonzalez VI read this piece of information, he took his glasses from a maid beside him, put them on, and read through it repeatedly, several times putting the letter back in the envelope and taking it out again. After carefully examining the context, he finally confirmed that it had not been tampered with; the Gray Robe wrote it this way.
The noblewomen of that country surprisingly have a hobby of studying, and Rosalind has made rapid academic progress by studying alongside them.
“……”
After confirming that he wasn’t mistaken, Gonzalez VI continued reading.
The next long section introduces the political system of Cape, but similarly, there are large segments of damaged content. However, fortunately, the context still allows for a coherent understanding.
After finishing reading the entire transformation process of Cape and knowing that it is currently ruled by the Northern Border Governor, King Gonzalez VI laid the letter down on the table.
The flickering light mimicked the mood of King Gonzalez VI; judging from the letter, Cape’s situation back then was not much better than the current Castitia. The foreign queen held power, with local lords in turmoil, and compared to Castitia, Cape was indeed in complete chaos at that time.
Moreover, the ending, from King Gonzalez VI’s perspective, was also not very good. The power of the king had waned; although the Gray Robe showered praise on the governor ruling Cape in the letter, he was not a true king after all. From Gonzalez VI’s viewpoint, the Northern Border Governor was undoubtedly a rebel; the only reason he did not seize power was likely because Cape’s situation at that time was too complicated.
In reality, how the Northern Border Governor saved the royal capital was almost completely destroyed in that segment of the text. Coupled with the fact that the Gray Robe had only heard about the situation at that time, what was presented to the people of Castitia was simply that the Northern Border Governor took advantage of the troubles in the capital, allying with the deposed queen to enter the capital and seize power.
While that was indeed the case, many details were lost, resulting in a completely twisted narrative. With the absence of the royal capital’s defense battle and scenes of Lind’s tank armor troops trampling over the Demon God Offspring, it made Lind, the Northern Border Governor, appear like a cunning and scheming rebel.
He did not directly ascend the throne merely because of the chaotic situation within the royal capital at that time.
King Gonzalez VI could most closely relate to Augustus III. Just imagining that if he were to die, the next king of Castitia would likely die early as well, with the foreign queen ascending to the throne, and later his children becoming entangled in a coup, ultimately allowing the great nobles who came to assist to take advantage and reap the benefits, Gonzalez VI found it hard to sleep.
Moreover, at least from snippets of information, he could infer that that Augustus III did not have significant issues concerning heirs; the foreign queen was merely an accident. But Castitia is currently on the brink of collapse just due to the issue of heirs; the best outcome may simply be division, while the worst outcome could be being consumed like Cape by great nobles.
However, King Gonzalez VI felt utterly powerless about the current situation. Almost every child of his has the backing of local great nobles who control land, and Gonzalez’s royal authority is as fragile as the envelope delivered to him; initially, those small nobles might grant some respect, but the great nobles encountered along the way show no regard for King Gonzalez VI’s feelings, directly tearing open the envelope to see what was written inside.
Once the envelope was opened, the small nobles also stopped holding back, directly checking what was written in the envelope, even daring to leisurely make a copy for themselves, which is why this letter took so long to reach King Gonzalez VI’s hands.
Castitia does not have a roundtable meeting like Cape; however, on the day after King Gonzalez VI finished reading the letter, nobles continued to come to the royal palace to request an audience, including King Gonzalez VI’s second son, Garcia.
“I am truly very glad to hear that my sister is still alive.”
Garcia bowed to his father, although there was not a hint of joy on his face, nor did he explain where he got his information.
“However, Your Majesty, that country across the sea may not necessarily be a friend, and it is possible that the Gray Robe has already defected, with Sister Rosalind possibly already under their control.”
This prince, with a worried expression, was promoting an unreasonable conspiracy theory to his father, fundamentally suggesting that the Gray Robe had become unreliable and may have defected, and that extreme caution must be taken regarding that country across the sea. After all this unhelpful rambling, the prince finally expressed his true intent.
“Moreover, those wealthy countries on M Continent may possess firearms, but they do not use Supremacy Magic; in a place where magic is abundant like M Continent, they must be significantly stronger than us. That country is very likely already conquered by the Avars and dragons. After all, you know, no country can defeat large numbers of dragons, and those dragons have already taken flight toward M Continent.”
“The Avars may have already conquered M Continent alongside the dragons; even if they haven’t, they are likely making a fortune there. If we do not seek cooperation with the Avars soon, we may not even get a piece of the pie.”
Garcia’s expression was unusually anxious, but it accurately reflected the views of most nobles. After all, in Solun Continent, even a city apart can lead to information gaps, let alone across the vast unending sea; they could only speculate about the situation of M Continent based on the incomplete letter sent by the Gray Robe and the movements of the dragons from Solun Continent.
