Chapter 314: Matters Of Implications III

Lady Seraphina remained silent for several moments, contemplating the revelation that had just fallen from Regina’s lips.

She understood what her old friend was trying to convey. The King’s health was no small matter; it was a cataclysmic predicament, capable of plunging the entirety of Valoria into chaos.

The monarch was not merely the head of the Royal Family, but the very foundation upon which the kingdom’s political stability rested. His authority kept the Great Houses in check, restrained the ambitions of lesser nobles and maintained a delicate balance among the factions that composed the aristocracy.

For that reason, should that foundation crumble, the consequences would reach far beyond the palace walls.

Yet, after considering Regina’s words, Seraphina raised one hand, her emerald eyes settling upon the woman opposite her with a questioning expression.

"Although I understand what you are trying to say, I still fail to see how the King’s health relates to the difficult position you mentioned your household is currently in."

Regina released a sigh, her fingers idly tracing the rim of her teacup. For a moment, she seemed to weigh how much she ought to reveal before finally raising her gaze.

"In case you do not know, you are not the only person to have visited House Noctivane without prior announcement this week. As a matter of fact, we received an equally unexpected visit from the First Prince just two days ago."

Seraphina’s eyebrows rose, and surprise briefly unsettled her composed expression.

"You mean Prince Daemon?" she asked, leaning forward. "The First Prince himself actually visited your household? For what purpose?"

The questions came quickly, betraying the astonishment that had taken hold of her. It was not every day that a prince personally visited a Great House, particularly one as secluded and notoriously cautious as Noctivane.

Daemon’s reputation hardly inspired confidence, and his appearance at Regina’s doorstep was certainly not something Seraphina could dismiss as an ordinary social call.

Her surprise did not arise from any particular reverence for his royal status, but from the sheer audacity of his decision to approach House Noctivane in person.

Regina, however, did not immediately answer. She lifted her teacup, took a restrained sip and returned it to its saucer before speaking.

"Regarding what he discussed with us, I am afraid that is something I am not in a position to disclose."

"What I do want to make clear, however, is that Prince Daemon has been making moves lately, and those moves are serious enough that even I, as the matriarch of House Noctivane, must exercise considerable caution when dealing with him."

Seraphina stared at her friend. A crease formed between her brows, and she seemed to search Regina’s face for some indication that the remark was intended as a joke.

"Are you telling me that the First Prince is actually someone you consider dangerous?"

The incredulity in her voice made her opinion of Daemon abundantly clear. She regarded him as an inconvenience at best, and an embarrassment to the Royal Family at worst. The notion that such a man might warrant genuine caution from Regina seemed almost absurd.

The Noctivane matriarch merely shook her head.

"No. All I am telling you is that he is someone you would be foolish to underestimate."

There was no hesitation in her response, nor any trace of humour or the contempt that coloured Seraphina’s expression. Regina’s grey eyes remained fixed upon the Valehart matriarch, carrying a gravity that made it difficult to mistake her words for exaggeration.

Indeed, what Regina had just said was something Seraphina could scarcely have imagined hearing in her lifetime, and for good reason.

Prince Daemon was widely regarded as the most useless member of the Royal Family. His reputation for debauchery, extravagance and general irresponsibility had followed him for years, becoming a persistent embarrassment to the royal household.

His indulgences were so notorious that the King had eventually forbidden him from being considered for the position of Crown Prince, choosing instead to favour the Third Princess as his successor.

Among the nobles, Daemon was little more than a spoiled royal whose greatest talents appeared to lie in squandering the royal treasury and discovering increasingly inventive ways to disgrace himself.

Yet Regina was describing him as a calculating individual, someone capable of manoeuvring behind the scenes and, more astonishingly, someone whose actions had made the matriarch of House Noctivane wary.

Had such a statement come from anyone else, Seraphina might have dismissed it as a poor attempt at humour. Coming from Regina, however, it demanded serious consideration.

The woman before her headed one of Valoria’s Great Houses, a family whose influence had been built upon gathering information, executing delicate operations and eliminating threats before they became troublesome.

Regina was also her friend. Seraphina knew the woman well enough to distinguish her measured warnings from the occasional dry remark she made at another person’s expense.

There was no amusement in her expression now, only a restrained seriousness that suggested she had chosen her words carefully.

"Regina," Seraphina began, lowering her voice, "you cannot expect me to believe that the same Daemon who has spent years making a spectacle of himself has suddenly become some sort of political mastermind."

"I did not say he had become one," Regina replied. "I said you would be foolish to underestimate him."

"That distinction is hardly reassuring."

"It was not intended to be."

Seraphina pressed her lips together. She glanced towards the window, where the afternoon light had shifted across the garden path.

"Then something happened during his visit," Seraphina said. "Something that changed your opinion of him."

Regina’s gaze remained steady. "I would not put it quite that way."

"Then how would you put it?"

"I would say that his visit gave us reason to reconsider certain assumptions."

Seraphina leaned back slowly. That answer was hardly an explanation, but she recognised the boundary Regina was drawing. Whatever Daemon had discussed with House Noctivane, her friend was not prepared to disclose it.

Nevertheless, the implications were difficult to ignore. If the First Prince was making moves significant enough to concern House Noctivane, then the King’s declining health might have already stirred ambitions within the palace.

The question was no longer simply who would inherit the throne, but how many people were preparing to influence the outcome before the succession became unavoidable.

Seraphina returned her attention to Regina, her expression now considerably more guarded.

"And this is why you say your household is in a difficult position?"

"Well, it is one of the reasons."

"One of them?" Seraphina repeated, her eyes narrowing. "You make it sound as though there are several."

Regina offered no immediate reply. She merely regarded her friend over the rim of her teacup, and the silence that followed was answer enough to deepen Seraphina’s unease.

If Regina had chosen to speak so seriously about Prince Daemon, then there was little reason to doubt her. And this was precisely why Lady Seraphina was quite taken aback...