CHAPTER 162: NIGHTS OF MASQUERADE 5

The second night proceeded and ended much like the first, with envoys from every corner of the world taking the opportunity to talk with us, which dominated most of our time, but contrary to yesterday Aurelius did not approach me, only Weixiao did.

Allowing me a rare opportunity to better understand the young prince, especially without any added distractions, which permitted me to carefully analyse and judge his character for any nefarious or scheming traits; ultimately leading me to become fully convinced that Weixiao was a man of benign temperament and dogged honesty; meaning that he when he claimed to have approached me yesterday under the sway of his own curiosity, he was not lying or being a conniving charlatan, who wanted to undermine me with the assistance of Aurelius.

It was solely that wicked boy’s scheme, who noticed an opportunity in the eastern crown prince’s words and leapt upon it.

We then, same as the night before, returned to our quarters an hour before the ball reached it’s conclusion, when my brothers returned to my side with the same disposition as previously, though I did not question them like yesterday, as I was still abiding by our earlier agreement of patience until they’re ready; but our early retreat this time was for one specific reason, and that is the need to slightly amend Isaac’s orders, much to my aversion.

The old Grand Chamberlin of the empire has been barely seen in recent days, as the man has completely devoted himself to the finding of Eve, despite it’s seeming futility, an action and resolution I greatly appreciated, yet now I would needed to alter it all.

"Isaac, going forward we will increase the count of assigned personnel designated with the task of spying on the Banquet’s guests, as we must uncover the reason behind the continued disappearance of the Luminous emperor and his wife, as well the new absence of the Boreas Empire’s heir." I stressed as I beheld the man, who was still dressed in a long dark hood over pure black leather armour.

"And the empress sire?" He carefully asked, since even with the full force of several dozen Shade Corps members, we still had a low probability of finding her, which would only further decrease that chance with diminished personnel.

Sighing for a moment, before I decisively reply "The circumstances have changed, and with the masquerade still continuing, it’s even more difficult now to track her, so simply put, for the coming duration of the next eight days, while the Nights of Masquerade is still ongoing, we will momentarily ease up on our search for her, as it’s mostly proving to be fruitless effort, and instead focus on the political landscape for the moment."

Those words nearly split my brain in half in agonizing conflict between my longing for her and the undeniable reality of the situation, as I utterly agreed with the infuriated roar of the Tyrant within me, but it is still a fact that the search for her has reaped no results so far, even after investing so much time and effort from my most skilled subordinates; not so much as a crumb of evidence of her presence here has been found, so for the sake of efficiency and need, I decided to simply forego the hunt for the moment, just until the first event ended, and the search would become easier.

"Very well, sire. We will immediately begin to further intensify our investigation of the western hegemon, as for the northern crown prince, though it is still unproven, the rumour has it that he has been bedridden since last night." Isaac bowed and answered, though the aged man did seem slightly frustrated by this, as he undoubtedly believed himself responsible for my decision, since I would not have needed to make such a call if he had found her, even though I had reapeated time and time again to this stubborn old man that finding Eve was near impossible under any circumstance.

"Was he poisoned?" Darius quickly asked, his experienced eyes already swirling with contingency plans and alternate deviations for future schemes he’d prepared before hand, to better adapt to such an abrupt change of events.

"It’s said he is laid low with a burning fever and is riddled with cold sweats and shivers, which does indeed match symptoms from a variety of venoms and poisons, but it’s not enough information to accurately determine if and what he is afflicted with." Isaac professionally answered with the confidence of an expert in his field.

"Then it is paramount that you obtain said information Isaac." Darius insisted, the man was clearly worried being unprepared in case a major event were to happen.

"Of course, my lord Grand Vizier. Give me but twenty four hours and I will deliver to you the answer." He assured.

"Very well." Darius nodded, satisfied with that time frame.

Isaac then vanished from our sight, speeding to finish his tasks, yet while they discussed Nicholas’ condition, I was immersed in my own thoughts, as my brows continuously furrowed in contemplation of a single theory of mine, one that I had no evidence for, but merely a hunch.

The third night then began as usual, with Octavian and Roxana still no where to be seen, yet now another pair of faces vanished as well, primarily being the cold profile of the northern emperor, Mikhail, and his wife, Nadia , as their eldest daughter Elisabetta took upon the role of her father’s representative.

But it didn’t take me long to discover the reason as to why, or at the very least the excuse given to the public by Elisabetta.

"The crown prince of the Boreas Empire, the Everlasting Dragon Nicholas, is preparing to unlock his third gate and his father, the emperor, has decided to abstain from coming today, so that he could remain by his only son’s side, to make certain that no mishaps would occur with his long awaited heir. And the empress decided to stay by their side as well to encourage her son as well."

Elisabetta crafted an excellent story of familial love and unity, all the while highlighting her baby brother’s talent, since he would soon be standing on the level of power as me.

A truly excellent cover up, one that enamoured all the guests with endless talks of it all, as they guessed if the northern crown prince would succeed, which would crown him as a veritable genius and my most likely rival in the future, that was nearly on par with me, even if I was a year younger and still unlocked a higher gate than him.

Even Weixiao, who as usual came to speak to me by the midway point of the ball, seemed to be enamoured by the topic, as he spoke endlessly on the matter.

Yet instead of anger at this stinging scheme of hers, that worked to enhance her brother’s prestige in the eyes of everyone present, at my expense no less, I instead secretly laughed at her conniving little design, as I already knew how to use her words, that were spoken too hastily, to make them backfire spectacularly upon the beneficiary of them.

Once the third day ended without anymore surprises, and everyone returned to their quarters with the most significant rumour of the day still stuck on their lips, I expectantly called for Isaac to give his report.

And just like I hoped and he assured, he came prepared, already having unveiled much of they’ve has been trying to keep hidden.

"Is it true what the rumours say, that the Boreas Empire’s crown prince is on the verge of stepping into the third gate?" It was Leonid who instantly asked upon seeing Isaac arrive, for other than me, he was undoubtedly the person who hated the northern giant the most here.

"No, that is not the case." Isaac instantly answered, before he continued "The northern crown prince is indeed bedridden from high fever and a few other ailments, such as muscle pain, and the emperor and empress have remained by his side since this mourning."

"Good." Leonid nodded with a pleased expression.

But Darius was not so elated, as he asked "So it’s poison then?"

The gravity of his voice made it clear what the Grand Vizier was fearful of, but thankfully Isaac instantly dashed those concerns, by doubtlessly saying "It’s not the Essence of Achlys, nor was it any other form of poison, so you can rest assured, my lord."

An immense breath of relief escaped everyone’s lungs, as they felt as though a giant weight had suddenly been lifted from their shoulders, for imagine if Nicholas, possibly one of the most well protected people in the world was to be struck by that horrendous venom, what guarantee would there be that one of us would not be next on this mysterious assailant’s list.

"Then is he just sick?" Asked Horus, who spoke in a slightly disappointed and confused tone, as that would prove to be both aggravating and incredulous, as that would mean that all our worry and planning from before would have been for naught, and utterly surprising since it was such a rare occurrence for a gated demi-God to ever catch any form of disease.

I silently nod in agreement of Horus’ sentiments, since from the beginning I very much in doubt of the possibility of that cheating scum being poisoned, especially with his father’s attentive and constant vigilance and care, but the idea of a second gated demi-God being felled by a simple fever was out of the question, which made me begin to more firmly believe in my theory.

"In a manner of speaking." Isaac replied to Horus’ question with slight hesitance, as if he himself could not believe the words coming from his own mouth.

"What do you mean?" I instantly asked for clarification.

He remained silent for a moment, before he seemed to resign himself to the absurdity of it all, as he reluctantly revealed what he knew "It appears to be fatigue, sire."