Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1052: Unfit

”Qquestion my ability to uphold my duties?! My King... You-”

”Me what?” Alexios’s voice cut in. ”I don’t have the right?”

Alastair’s lips sealed. He didn’t dare speak the words aloud, but in his mind, they rang as clear as a war horn: ’Exactly that.’

”By the Law of Accord, signed and sealed by our ancestors, resigned by us upon taking our current positions, the Five Ducal Houses recognize the Valorian Crown as their sole sovereign. All land within the Vraven Kingdom belongs to the royal Valorian family. The Dukes are entrusted with the governance of their duchies, but sovereignty was surrendered when the Accord was signed. You were given stewardship, not ownership.”

The hall seemed to grow colder with each syllable. Alexios’s tone was not a shout this time around, but it didn’t need to be. The weight of the law itself hung over every noble present.

Alastair’s jaw tightened. Of course, he knew the law. Every duke did. But law and reality were two different beasts. No king in living memory had dared use that clause against them because they wouldn’t survive the attempt. The ducal houses had been granted full autonomy in practice, regardless of what the Accord claimed.

Why? Because united, the ducal families could crush the Crown. If the royal family tried to take more than was theirs, the five duchies would rise in revolt.

Alexios was treading where no king had tread before.

Alastair’s gaze slid to the other dukes.

First, to his closest ally, Duke Harland of Thornhollow. The grizzled man’s eyes burned with quiet defiance. He gave a firm nod, pledging his full support without a word.

Then to Duke Zaren of Duskmere. Zaren’s sharp features were full of hesitation. His duchy bordered Ravenshade, and their relations had always been far warmer than with Greenvale. But even so, Alexios’s maneuver was too blatant, too dangerous to be allowed. Zaren’s lips pressed into a thin line before he, too, inclined his head in agreement.

Two on his side.

Alastair’s mouth began to curl into a smile until his eyes found Tharion, Duke of Ravenshade.

Tharion’s teeth were gritted. Alastair could see the storm raging behind his eyes. But then—shockingly—Tharion broke away, turning to speak to his young son as if the matter at hand was beneath him.

Alastair’s smile died. He suspected why. Alexios had married Tharion’s relative, Queen Morgana. That bond of blood was likely staying his hand. Still... He expected Tharion to know better than to weasel out. But in the end, he could accept it begrudgingly while cursing inwardly about ’Ravenshade dogs.’

Such bitter heat rose in Alastair’s chest as his gaze moved to the final duke.

Kaede of Silverwind.

The woman did not even glance his way. Her gaze remained forward, her expression unreadable, as if the storm swirling in the hall was nothing more than distant weather.

Alastair’s molars ground together.

Two duchies for him. Two against.

And the balance was not in his favor. Duskmere and Thornhollow were part of the Sustaining Arm. As such, their militaries were pale shadows compared to Ravenshade’s and especially the Royal Central Forces. Kaede’s Silverwind remained a complete unknown, and that uncertainty was more dangerous than an open enemy.

The realization hit him hard.

He had been outplayed.

While the nobility assumed Alexios was idly sitting on his throne as generations before him had, the king had been quietly shifting the pieces on the board. He’d struck before Alastair could even see the trap being set.

Marrying Morgana was definitely not all that he did to dismay Tharion, and Alastair felt the relationship between the king and Kaede to be fishy as well. There was a chance they had struck a deal behind everyone’s backs. ř𝘢ꞐóΒΕŜ

”I have every right to question your ability, Alastair,” King Alexios finished his lecturing with a sharp statement. ”And that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.”

A stir went through the gathered nobles, but before the duke could muster a reply, a firm voice spoke from behind the king.

”Royal Father, pardon the interruption.”

Elias Valorian, the first prince, stepped forward from his place on the dais. The resemblance to Alexios was unmistakable. Sharp cheekbones, eyes that seemed to read past one’s defenses, and a presence that pressed upon those in his gaze. The king inclined his head, granting his son permission to speak.

Elias turned his attention fully upon Duke Alastair. His tone was polite but edged. ”There is a matter I wish to raise while we are gathered. Several months ago, a certain... super rookie emerged within your duchy.”

At once, murmurs rippled through the crowd. No names were spoken, for none needed to be. Everyone knew who the prince meant.

”Devil,” Elias continued, ”the rising prodigy of the Vesper Consortium. The crown has devoted no small effort to uncover more about this enigma. But ever since he became a Vesper Phenom under Black Fang’s sponsorship, even scraps of reliable intelligence have become almost impossible to obtain. That woman sees to it that nothing leaves their circles, save for the occasional rumor so absurd it is difficult to credit.”

”Surely, Duke, you too have spent considerable resources inquiring after this man. What have you found?”

Alastair gave a dismissive wave, the motion casual, almost bored. ”When the Consortium first began flaunting him, they claimed he was an Elemental Sovereign, an achievement few elemental mages can even dream of. A true prestige, and one not seen among humans since Queen Morgana herself attained it three centuries ago. Naturally, I was intrigued. The first prince is correct; I invested resources, sought to learn more, perhaps even lure him into my service. But Black Fang... she made approaching him impossible.”

His expression cooled even further. ”Then came the rumors, becoming more and more outrageous. I was expected to believe this man could cast any elemental spell without speaking? That he wields all four elements at once, with silent casting?” A scoff escaped him. ”Not even Queen Morgana is capable of that. It seemed clear the Consortium was desperate for recognition, spinning tales to polish their reputation. I do not waste coin chasing phantoms. So I stopped investigating.”

Quinlan muttered.