Chapter 476: Like Great-Grandfather, Like Great-Grandson

"Your Majesty, the Gryphon Riders have been delivered to the Helion Duchy," Leopold reported. "However, they didn’t come with Gryphons. I asked one of the riders where their partners had gone, but he said they had been lost in battle."

"Lost them in battle?" King Helios scoffed. "How can that be possible? I’m sure King Augustus kept the Gryphons and deliberately sent only the riders. After all, those mounts were too expensive to nurture for him to trade away so easily."

Leopold thought the same. He even doubted whether these men who surrendered were truly the famed Gryphon Riders of the Kingdom of Britannia.

"Conduct an investigation and get to the bottom of this, Leopold," King Helios ordered. "Then, report back to me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Leopold bowed respectfully.

A moment later, the light from the communication crystal dimmed, ending the connection.

King Helios heaved a sigh before walking to the meeting room, where the high-ranking nobles of his empire waited for him.

Frankly, he didn’t want to deal with them right now. However, six of them had come, so he had no choice but to talk to them.

Three of them were Dukes, while the other three were Marquises.

Needless to say, they were the high-ranking nobles who held sway over the politics of the Radiant Empire. They had come to meet with their King about the recent incident that took place at their southern border.

"Alright, gentlemen. Pray tell why you have traveled far just to talk to me," King Helios said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I’m sure you already know why we came here today," the Duke of Winterhold, who resided in the north of the Radiant Empire, replied calmly. "The Helion Duchy has launched a campaign against the Kingdom of Britannia and managed to conquer their lands.

"It should have been a moment of celebration for our empire. The Archduke has brought us honor and glory. And yet... I heard that you ordered him to stop his advance and actually return the lands that he had rightfully claimed. Is this all true?"

"That’s right." King Helios nodded. "Unfortunately, I have agreed to a non-aggression pact with the Kingdom of Britannia and forgot to tell the Archduke about it."

"So, it was all a misunderstanding then?" the Duke of Sunspire, who governed the east, asked back with a smile.

"Yes," King Helios answered. "A large misunderstanding that is now giving me a headache."

"I’ve known Lugh for a long time," the Goldcrest Duke, who protected the west from the Beast Kingdom, commented from the side. "I doubt he would easily hand over the lands he had conquered."

"The Archduke has already agreed to return the lands in return for compensation," King Helios replied. "I was the one at fault for neglecting to inform him about the non-aggression pact between the Kingdom of Britannia and me, so I will give him monetary compensation."

"Is that all, Your Majesty?" one of the Marquises inquired. "Did he not even try to squeeze the Kingdom of Britannia dry?"

"Well, he demanded that the Gryphon Battalion be handed over to him," King Helios stated. "Actually, the handover just ended. The Archduke now holds them as war prisoners within his duchy."

"The Gryphon Battalion?!" the Goldcrest Duke exclaimed. "The Kingdom of Britannia really agreed to such an unreasonable condition?"

The other Dukes and the Marquises had heard about the fame of the Gryphon Battalion. They were an elite unit that could overturn the tide of battle when deployed at the right time.

For such a powerful force to be given away so easily made them wonder if the King of Britannia had finally lost his mind.

"According to my subordinate’s report, only the riders were handed over," King Helios clarified. "No Gryphons were delivered to the Helion Duchy."

This clarification made the high-ranking nobles frown. They found it quite unfortunate that the Gryphons were not handed over.

Although they already had their own Pegasus Army, breeding Gryphons would have still helped them increase their military power.

Those powerful beasts would be a good addition to their campaigns against the Beast Kingdom, which had been giving them a lot of headaches as of late.

"Still, it is quite unfortunate that we can’t claim some of the lands of Britannia, especially after they suffered a massive defeat against the Barbarians and the Beastkins," one of the Marquises stated. "Truly a shame."

The other high-ranking nobles nodded in agreement. For them, the Archduke had accomplished a milestone that could have expanded the domain of the Radiant Empire.

Seeing their reactions, King Helios sighed internally.

’The Archduke is really popular within the empire,’ King Helios thought. ’If he were to rise and start a rebellion, the repercussions would be unimaginable.’

The King believed that at least half of the people inside the room would support the Duke and rally over to his side if he ever decided to defy the crown.

’I need to have a private talk with the Archduke later after this meeting ends.’ King Helios narrowed his eyes. ’I know he has no intention of defying the crown, but getting at least some kind of assurance wouldn’t hurt. Besides, my sister will ensure that what I fear wouldn’t happen.’

The King knew how much the Archduke loved his wife, a princess of the Radiant Empire. If Lugh really wanted to be King, he would have revolted and claimed the throne long ago.

And yet, none of such happened. He even chose to build his lands in the south, voluntarily serving as the shield of the empire against the Kingdom of Britannia, which wished to expand its borders.

Lugh perfectly deterred them from making their ambition come true, so they decided to target the Borderlands instead.

Unfortunately, that didn’t end well for the Kingdom of Britannia.

And it all started with the exile of the very same person who was the root of their current problem.

Somewhere in Grimjaw Mountain...

"Achoo!"

Leone rubbed his nose as he wondered if someone was cursing him in a place he couldn’t see.

He was currently on his way to the Forgotten Temple to teleport directly to the Helion Duchy.

Leone wanted to know if the Kingdom of Britannia had come to negotiate with his no-good great-grandfather.

The moment he arrived at the duchy, the one who met him was none other than the person he was thinking of.

"About time you showed up," Lugh said as soon as he laid eyes on his great-grandson.

"Great Grandpa, I’m glad that you’re still alive," Leone replied in greeting.

"Hey, you brat. Are you perhaps hoping that I kick the bucket?!"

"How can that be? I just wanted to know if you managed to squeeze something out of that old fart sitting on the throne of the Kingdom of Britannia."

Lugh chuckled, reminded of his youth. The him of the past and the Leone of now had a lot of similarities.

In his opinion, the only difference between them was... he had been more handsome, more dashing, more charismatic, and more eye-catching at Leone’s age.

Of course, if he said this straight to Leone’s face, the young man would have blatantly asked his no-good great-grandfather if he was drinking his medicine properly.

He would have also added that Lugh was getting old, and that he might be having the "delulu syndrome", which was very common for people his age.

The two then chuckled together, not knowing what the other was thinking.

If only they could read each other’s minds, they might have already disowned each other. Both were shameless, and yet neither of them would admit it.