20 The Scattered Empire

A guard returned to the palace, reporting the king's death.

"His Majesty is dead?!"

The palace guards and maids started to panic.

"So it has come to this, Your Majesty..." The head eunuch sighed. 

After serving Magnus for his entire life, he was saddened by the news of the king's death.

Remembering Magnus' final instructions before his passing, the head eunuch immediately went to the prince's quarters.

"Prince Edward, Prince Alfred, Prince Richard!"

"Have you heard of your father's demise?"

"We know," they sighed sadly.

Just a while ago, they were still with their father, competing for the title of crown prince. 

Now, in the blink of an eye, their father was gone. 

What had they been fighting for?

Without their father to keep the nobles in check, what could they do?

"I'm tasked to tell you that in the event of His Majesty's death, you should go to his natal family."

"Family?!" They were shocked.

They had no idea that their father still had a family.

"Yes, it's related to the Eryndor Empire, on the cursed continent."

"Empire?!"

Although they hadn't heard of the Eryndor Empire, they understood the significance of an empire.

To be called an empire, you needed to conquer an entire landmass, at least the size of the Sunburnt Plateau.

Realizing they still had a way out, they couldn't help but smile broadly.

As for their father's death, though they were somewhat saddened.

It's not as important as their survival.

...

After informing the princes, the head eunuch went to the only princess of the kingdom.

"Princess Emma, by the order of the deceased king,"

"You are to proceed to the Arcane Continent to continue your training."

"F-father is dead?!" Princess Emma was shocked.

"Hmm," the eunuch nodded sadly.

Emma immediately burst into tears as she thought of her father.

Her father had loved her the most, and even in death, he had thought of her not wasting her talent.

Her father had originally intended to accompany her to the Arcane Continent to study at the world's most prestigious academy.

Now she was all alone.

"I'm here, Emma," Jane comforted.

"Hmmm," Emma hugged her friend and continued to cry.

After that, the head eunuch informed the wives and concubines of Magnus.

...

A few days later,

The news of the King's death spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom.

Shock, anger, and grief gripped the people who had lost their beloved ruler.

The council of ministers convened an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and plan a course of action.

"What do we do now?"

"Where are the prince and princess?!"

"They've already left," the head eunuch said.

"They left?!" The officials panicked.

They didn't know whom to follow now.

The Faerie Kingdom had been running smoothly primarily due to the suppression of their king.

Now, without Magnus, they didn't know how the various nobles would react.

One thing was certain, they were finished.

They could only hope they would still be of some use and not be disposed of.

...

The death of Magnus also sounded alarm to the Etherium Embassy.

Finally, a tier 5 mage envoy comes to scour the sunburnt plateau for any remaining cult activities.

The other kingdom in the land was also alerted and strengthened their defense.

...

A month later, after things had slowly calmed down,

Outside the Imperial City:

"Surround the city!" Duke Charles commanded.

The soldiers began to encircle the city, not allowing anyone to escape.

"Are you sure we can take the kingdom by ourselves?" Duke Darwin asked.

"Why do you ask such a foolish question?"

"With the three of us, the Faerie Kingdom is in the bag," Duke Thomas remarked.

Usually, only a tier 4 individual could control a kingdom.

But with the three dukes, who were tier 3 knights, they could barely maintain control over the kingdom.

Soon, with the encirclement of the three dukes' armies,

The city quickly surrendered as the dukes took control of the kingdom's array.

This is the kingdom's lifeline; without it,

The citizens of the Faerie Kingdom would not survive the harsh conditions of the land.

...

A few weeks after the kingdom had somewhat stabilized under the orders of the dukes, some nobles remained dissatisfied.

Although there hadn't been much change in the Faerie kingdom's structure.

And even though the taxes remained the same, some nobles were still not satisfied.

Why couldn't they be the ones to manage the kingdom?

Soon, nobles with Tier 3 strength secretly met.

Planning to attack the imperial city and take control of the kingdom's array.

...

"Lord Harington, you're finally here!" A group of nobles greeted him.

"I'm glad to meet you, fellow nobles," Harington smiled.

He was the leader of this ragtag group of nobles, hoping to replace the dukes.

Seeing more than a dozen Tier 3 knights in the room, he became confident.

"My fellow nobles, I'm sure you know why we are here."

"The dukes are too greedy; we can't let them rule the Faerie kingdom!"

"We must band together if we want to take back the land that is rightfully ours."

His speech turned the room silent as the nobles looked at each other.

"I agree with Lord Harington!"

"We can't let the dukes sit on our heads any longer!"

"There are only Tier 3 knights like us! Why should we let them rule over us?"

The group of nobles suddenly became lively, their gazes intent on Harington.

"That's right! All nobles should manage this kingdom!"

"Without the unity of our nobles, how can the Faerie kingdom be able to run peacefully?"

"I promise you here that after we conquer the Faerie kingdom."

"I will fairly distribute every piece of land in the Faerie kingdom into our rule!"

The nobles grew excited at Harington's promise.

"Long live Harington!"

"Long live Harington!"

"Long live Harington!"

...

A month later, a group of soldiers surrounded the imperial capital once more.

"Enemy attack!" the guards informed their commander.

Meanwhile, the people in the city just continued with what they were doing.

"Another attack?"

"We were just attacked a few months ago."

"Don't these nobles have anything better to do?"

"Tsk, I hope it's over quickly; I still have something to do."

By now, the people in the city had become numb to the attacks. 

After all, whoever ruled over them remained the same.