Chapter 157: The Mastermind

"Never marrying! Never inheriting the throne! How could there be such a princess? How could there be such a royal eldest daughter?!"

The purple-gold goblet, a symbol of royal authority, was crushed into a distorted lump by a hand with bulging veins. Tossed onto the floor, it was then ruthlessly stamped into a golden coin by a heavy war boot.

An intensely hard blue diamond shot out from beneath the war boot, rolling across the floor until it came to a stop at the feet of Duke Ludwig. The Golden Knight of the Tudor Kingdom expressionlessly ground the 3,000-gold-sol diamond into fine powder. At this moment, his mood was identical to that of the irritable king: like a cornered beast encircled by hunters.

The origin of the matter lay in an unverified piece of news. Emperor Frederick of the Sasan Empire reportedly intended to propose to Roland Auguste, the eldest royal daughter of Gumbis, on behalf of his heir, Crown Prince Siegfried. Upon receiving this intelligence, His Majesty King Friedrich of Tudor urgently summoned the kingdom's three Golden Knights to deliberate on a countermeasure. Once apprised of the basic situation, everyone's immediate reaction was the same: the situation was extremely棘手, extremely tricky.

Duke Ludwig lowered his eyelids and said flatly, "The Auguste family possesses a distinct trait: every single descendant blessed with exceptional genius is profoundly romantic and headstrong. Roland is this way, and so was her father, Lane. No noble king would ever take a lord's daughter as his queen, yet Lane did precisely that. Therefore, I wouldn't find any eccentric behavior on Roland's part the least bit surprising. Your Majesty, let us first discuss this inexplicable piece of news."

Friedrich reined in his anger and said in a deep voice, "According to our scouts, Emperor Frederick V is currently discussing this matter with the high nobles of Sasan. Frederick's intention is that as long as Roland is willing to marry the imperial crown prince, he will abdicate, allowing the crown prince to inherit the throne and making Roland the empress. From then on, the Sasan Empire will direct its full might eastward and cease its aggression against the Three Kingdoms. Frederick himself will devote his remaining years to the Lord of Radiance and join the Radiant Knights. Although a final outcome has not yet been reached, the Church seems quite receptive to Frederick's proposal. My lords, tell me, what kind of impact will this have on our Tudor?"

"Utterly disastrous!" Golden Knight Dietrich slapped his gleaming bald head and said, "The Sasan Empire is currently at war with the centaur tribes of the Eastern Wilds. Gumbis has just weathered an insect plague and must still be on guard against Neovistar, while the Rose Queen is busy developing the Centaur Hills. Originally, this was our golden opportunity: looking north, we could seize back the Great Steppes; looking south, we could carve out vast territories from Gumbis at the very least. Now, that entire plan has been completely ruined."

The King of Tudor let out a breath and said, "Perhaps you could be more specific."

"Your Majesty, the crux of the matter lies in Gumbis's attitude. If Gumbis accepts Sasan's marriage proposal, we will have no choice but to surrender to the Sasan Empire," said Duke Dunkru respectfully.

For a long time, the three kingdoms of Tudor, Gumbis, and Naville could only stand a chance against the Sasan Empire by binding themselves together. Once Gumbis fell into the embrace of the Sasan Empire, the remaining two kingdoms would be left powerless to defend themselves. In particular, the Tudor Kingdom would find itself caught in a pincer movement from front and rear. If they did not surrender under such circumstances, the Naville Kingdom would likely attack Tudor first to demonstrate its loyalty to the Sasan Empire.

The King of Tudor nodded and said, "Lord Dunkru, please continue."

"In the second scenario, Gumbis rejects the marriage proposal. In that case, we can only choose to march north to seize the Twelve Holy Cities, because our strategy of pushing south was built on the premise of Gumbis being consumed by internal strife with no foreign aid, coupled with the compromises they made toward us. Of course, we would first need confirmation that the Rose Queen would stand aside and watch. However, judging by her steadfast defense of the Centaur Hills, the House of York clearly has no intention of being dragged into the vortex of war; that much is basically certain. But the Auguste family now has a choice. If we continue our southward advance, we will inevitably force Gumbis to lean toward Sasan. By then, the Rose Queen will undoubtedly step forward to beat us while we are down, securing a higher status for herself in the new order. In truth, the moment Gumbis agrees to the marriage alliance, its lords will instantly unite into an ironclad front, making them once again the strongest among the Three Kingdoms."

"Your Majesty, I can assure you that Roland will never marry the Sasan crown prince. In that case, will you choose the Northern Expedition?"

"Unless Roland takes a husband or ascends the throne, I will never choose to push north!" the King of Tudor said with an ashen face.

Even knowing that Roland would most likely refuse the marriage proposal, the King of Tudor dared not take the risk. What if Gumbis outwardly refused while secretly agreeing? In the Tudor king's view, that possibility could not be ruled out. After all, the conditions offered by Frederick were simply too alluring—it was tantamount to handing half the empire over to the Auguste family on a silver platter. Furthermore, the Sasan crown prince, Siegfried, was not even a Great Knight. If Roland united with him, she would be empress in name and emperor in truth.

The king and the three Golden Knights fell into a long, profound silence. Finally, a heavy sigh from Duke Ludwig broke the suffocating quiet.

"Whoever came up with this scheme is truly terrifying! The Sasan people knew perfectly well that Roland would never look twice at Siegfried, which is why they offered such an irresistible condition. While the Sasan Empire is currently unable to look south, we are forced to be constantly on guard against Gumbis—we can neither march north to reclaim strategic depth nor push south to conquer Gumbis and strengthen ourselves. Most terrifying of all is that once this suspicion takes root, will we ever dare to fight shoulder to shoulder with the knights of Gumbis again once the Sasan crisis is resolved? When that time comes, how are we supposed to resist the Sasan Empire?

On the surface, the Sasan people promise to halt their southward expansion if the marriage succeeds. But I can guarantee that if it does succeed, Gumbis will certainly seize the opportunity to push north. Regardless of whether we can defeat Gumbis or not, the Sasan Empire will have a ready excuse to tear up its promise or simply sit back and watch the show.

Brilliant! Truly brilliant! Without dispatching a single soldier, a mere unconfirmed rumor has turned us into the biggest losers. And there is nothing we can do about it."

The King of Tudor asked in a hoarse voice, "How will our eastern neighbor react?"

"The Naville Kingdom enjoys excellent relations with His Holiness the Pope. Regardless of any internal conflicts within the Church, the Pope and the Holy Knights maintain a united stance on the matter of the orcs. Right now, the Naville Kingdom is cooperating with the Sasan Empire to jointly fend off the centaur tribes of the Northern Wilds. On the strength of that alone, Naville can easily wash its hands of this affair and stay out of it," Dietrich said, shaking his head with a sigh.

The King of Tudor closed his eyes in deep thought for a moment before saying, "The root of all this lies in Lane's death! If Lane were still alive, this situation would never have arisen; he would simply have torn up the marriage proposal and thrown it in the face of the Sasan envoy. Now it seems certain that Lane's death was engineered by the Sasan people. What would happen if we leaked this news to Roland?"

Ludwig replied coldly, "Your Majesty, while we may not have been the masterminds behind Lane's death, we were nevertheless complicit. Besides, even if Roland declared her intention to avenge Lane, could we really trust her? In my view, her best method of revenge would be to become the empress of the Sasan Empire, unify the human realms, and then settle accounts at her leisure—which would inevitably include us."

A bone-chilling cold gripped the King of Tudor, as if he had plunged into an icy abyss. He failed to absorb a single word of the subsequent discussion, and the meeting ultimately concluded without producing any results.

After the three Golden Knights departed, the King of Tudor remained seated upon his throne for a long time. Only as the last rays of the setting sun gradually faded did he speak: "Jens. Are you there?"

"Your Majesty, I have always been here," a sharp voice rang out in the cavernous hall as a completely cloaked figure materialized from the shadows.

"Heh, heh, heh... How utterly foolish I was. After Lane died, I even held a secret celebration banquet. And now I am destined to meet the exact same end—no, I am even worse off than him. At least the Auguste family will retain a prominent status within the new empire, while our Friedrich family is headed for total disintegration. And I brought all of this upon myself with my own hands." The king's laughter sounded like weeping.

"Your Majesty, as Lord Ludwig said, the person who laid this trap in the shadows is truly terrifying. He has made use of everyone: Your Majesty, Neovistar, Sylvia, Lane, Roland, Williams, and even His Majesty in Naville. The depth of his calculations is terrifying, and his intimate familiarity with every single one of your personalities is simply mind-boggling. I seem to smell the scent of one of my own kind!" Jens said in a piercing tone from the shadows.

"How is that possible? The Sasan Empire was established with the backing of the Holy Knight families—how could they ever harbor a wizard?! Even if the faith of the Holy Knights is somewhat less than unshakeable, they would never coexist with a wizard! Otherwise, they would lose the blessing of the holy light! Lane's affair must have been orchestrated by the Holy Knights; they have, after all, assassinated an emperor of the Lante Empire before," the King of Tudor muttered under his breath.

"Your Majesty, the Three Kingdoms have always been on guard against the Holy Knight families. How could they possibly possess such profound insight into the personal traits of each of you? According to your instructions, I have investigated this matter for a long time. The starting point of this grand strategy should be the Battle of White-Water Castle—eight years ago—and back then, Roland was not yet a Golden Knight! The Church's Holy Knights certainly do not possess prophetic powers."

The King of Tudor sighed heavily. "It is far too late to dwell on that now. Do you have any countermeasures?"

"Your Majesty, you could take the initiative and surrender to the Sasan Empire."

"Enough! The Tudor Kingdom has endured for 374 years, and now, a mere unverified rumor is supposed to make me hand the kingdom over to the Sasans on a silver platter? That is sheer absurdity!" the king roared.

"Your Majesty, I am merely reminding you that surrender is a fallback option. Before choosing that path, there are still many things you can do. For instance, compel Roland to marry," Jens explained.

"Marry! She doesn't even think highly of Golden Knights—what on earth can I do?! Come to think of it, it is utterly ridiculous that the fate of my Tudor Kingdom is being held in the hands of a young girl, while I can do nothing but stand by and watch helplessly. And that fellow Andre is completely useless; he doesn't even know how to pursue a woman! strutting around with that haughty air all day long—does he not know how to coax Roland?!" After grinding his teeth through a string of curses, the king continued, "Still, it remains a solution and is worth a try. Send more suitors to pursue Roland. I am only afraid that time is not on our side. Do you have any other countermeasures?"

"Your Majesty, then have her killed," Jens said coldly.

"A foolish idea. Only a Golden Knight can assassinate a Golden Knight! I have no way of ordering the kingdom's Golden Knights to march to their deaths!"

"Your Majesty, we do not need to assassinate Roland ourselves. If we simply provoke a civil war between the Rose Queen and the Auguste family, regardless of whether Roland survives or dies, you can ally with the Rose Queen to swiftly annex Gumbis, thereby gaining the leverage needed to confront the Sasan Empire. If the Sasan Empire suffers heavy losses in the Northern Wilds, we might even replace them altogether. This is our only path to snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. And even if we fail, we still have the fallback option of surrendering to the Sasan Empire."

The King of Tudor's heart leaped with excitement as he listened. He realized that Jens's proposal held immense potential: on the one hand, they would dispatch men to pursue Roland; on the other, they would instigate a civil war within Gumbis. If the plot to annex Gumbis failed, there would still be a chance to push Roland into marriage; and if all else failed, they could still surrender to the Sasan Empire.

"How can we get Sylvia to make a move?"

"Your Majesty, the Rose Queen has a young lover. As long as we ensure he dies at the hands of the Auguste family, this matter will succeed."

"Absurd! Would Sylvia start a war with the Auguste family just for a lover?! You disappoint me too much," the king said angrily.

"Your Majesty, a lover may not be all that important, but the dignity of a Golden Knight brooks no challenge. Faced with the relentless advance of the Auguste family, the Rose Queen's patience is already nearing its limit. Yet the Auguste family has clearly forgotten the terror of the Fiery Golden Knight. Now, all we need to do is give them a covert push in the dark, and a civil war in Gumbis will become inevitable," Jens said with absolute confidence.

"Go ahead and do it. But you must ensure Sylvia detects no flaws; I have no desire to face the wrath of the Fiery Golden Knight," the king finally instructed.

Jens nodded. "Rest assured, Your Majesty. However, my plan will likely require the sacrifice of Duke Eriksen, whose territories border the Centaur Hills."

"Eriksen? Then let him be sacrificed."