The Martial Unity

Just as planned, he managed to get Ranea into his own faction. He knew she would ultimately submit even if she hated his guts, because she was smart enough to know that this was perhaps the only chance she had not to lose her current position as Minister of Maritime Affairs. She had only experienced Rui’s competencies when they had faced each other in the previous throne war, which had ultimately allowed Rui to gain complete control over four of his siblings who had planned his assassinations.

“When are you announcing your bid for the throne?” She gazed at him with a serious expression. “The earlier you do it, the better. It would not be wise to allow this storm to unfold for much longer; it has the power to tear our nation apart. It is not an exaggeration to say that your presence is the only thing holding it back from doing so.”

With almost all the Martial Artists of human civilization concentrated in the Kandrian Empire and taking their own sweet time to remain, the Kandrian Empire’s integrity as a nation was most in danger. If not for the sheer weight of Rui’s presence weighing down on every Martial Sage, the winds of the storm would have been more ferocious.

Rui sipped some dark elven green tea. “I know. However, there are a few reasons that I’m delaying it for a few days. The first is that I need some time to figure out what my regime is going to look like, to sell it to the ministers in government. I can’t bribe them like last time.”

“If you do not have a cogent vision for your regime, then there are those who might choose not to support you,” Princess Ranea confirmed. “Your explanation to me was only satisfactory insofar as your intentions. It fails to inspire any confidence in your ability to manage a nation. Wanting ’your power to become the power of the people and the nation’ is not a clear policy platform. It’s a platitude. An almost meaningless one. You’d better have something more concrete than that when you announce your bid.”

Rui nodded. “I have concepts of a plan. I will flesh it out by the time the funeral comes around. Another reason I’m waiting for the funeral is to add greater weight to my words.”

“Your words already have a lot of weight.”

“That’s true, but I fear that if I announce my bid for the throne remotely, there will be greater room for skepticism, given my historic avoidance of long-term responsibility, and my past deceptions in the previous throne war. By announcing it at a time when every single major power of the continent is present, the impact will be enormous, leaving very little room for skepticism or distrust about my sincerity to take the throne.”

Princess Ranea slowly nodded as she pondered his words. “Sensible. Alright then, I will make preparations to second your bid along with my entire faction when you announce it. It will not be easy maintaining secrecy while conveying my intentions to my inner circle, but I will ensure there are no leaks.”

Rui simply nodded.

Princess Ranea heaved a deep breath. “This has been a short but life-changing meeting. I did not expect that you would be the one to win my political support when it was I who sought to earn yours. Moreover, I didn’t think that I would see you make a genuine bid for the throne after twenty-five years. I thought, from the way you acted, that the throne was not a part of your destiny.”

Her tone of voice was profound, reflecting the sheer depth of emotion within it. The warm, gentle light of the evening sky beamed through the windows of the guest room they were in, coloring the heavy mood that hung in the air.

Rui smiled bittersweetly. “I too believed that more than anyone, but… no one knows what the future holds for us.”

“Except you do.”

“Yes, well, that’s different.”

Princess Ranea shook her head lightly. “I hope, for the sake of the Kandrian Empire, you have spoken with sincerity and truth. I hope that I do not regret joining your faction.”

“You won’t,” Rui promised. “I will do right by the Kandrian Empire. I will become a ruler that the world will envy Kandria for.”

His determined voice conveyed the sincerity of his words, leaving Princess Ranea a little more relieved.

“…I look forward to that.”

It wasn’t long before their meeting ended and Princess Ranea left, leaving only Rui in the little guest room within the Vargard Royal Palace. There was no doubt that this radical change in her alignment had just created a mountain worth of work for her. She would need to break the news to her inner circle and the stakeholders of her faction gently, without breaking her faction entirely. That was going to keep her fully busy over the next few days, without a doubt.

He heaved a deep breath as he continued sipping his green tea, deep in thought.

It had been such a long time since he thought about Kandrian domestic politics that he almost blanked on what he needed to do next.

“I should arrange for meetings with various power blocs and seize their support,” Rui remarked. “It will divulge my intentions, but it will also make people take me seriously when I announce my bid for the throne. However, I could also do that after. What’s annoying right now is that I don’t have a dedicated team of people who I can leave to micro-manage the annoying matters.”

His previous faction administration had assimilated the Water Sect and managed not only the massive headquarters but also oversaw the sect branches that had opened up across the entire continent during the Era of Darkness.

“At the very least, I need a secretary. Someone I can trust and someone who is an insider.”

Finding such a person was going to be annoying.

Was there such a person who was available nearby and fit his criteria perfectly?

CLACK

The door to the room opened as a familiar older woman stood at the entrance, stepping in before bowing to Rui. “Your Highness, pardon my interruption of your tea-time, but I’m here to inform you that Prince Raijun requests a meeting with you.”

It was Royal Secretary Claris.