Chapter 584 - 358: The Eve of War

Chapter 584: Chapter 358: The Eve of War

Prince Sutton had his own plans. Having been the Crown Prince for nearly twenty years, he had naturally built his own power base, which included many nobles who, while not openly declaring their allegiance, were inclined to support him.

Of course, these people didn’t favor him because of any particular excellence on his part. Rather, his ideology better aligned with the interests of the majority of the nobility.

Thanks to the diverse and convenient channels of information now available, it was easy to get news from the Northern Domain and Deepwater City, even without planting spies.

They were even advertising it themselves; it was hard to miss.

And in the propaganda from both places, one could clearly see their attitude towards the traditional nobility.

Whether it was Zog or Figxin, they might nominally acknowledge the status of nobles, but in reality, they didn’t take it seriously.

In other words, they recognized the nobility in principle but abolished most of the rights that should belong to them.

’It’s utter madness.’

The Prince scoffed at the idea.

Nobles were nobles because their bloodline was inherently superior, far above those incompetent, lowly commoners. Therefore, they rightfully deserved their privileges.

If Zog, that Dragon, had such thoughts, it would be understandable—his mind wasn’t the same as a Human’s.

But what reason did his foolish sister, Figxin Sutton, have to betray the noble class to which she belonged?

Yet now, his muddle-headed old father had, for some reason, begun to entertain Figxin’s ideas.

’Absurd.’

The King wanted to weaken the privileges of the nobility. Where in the world was there such a thing?

The King himself was the greatest of all nobles.

’Does Figxin want to get rid of the King?’

’What a joke. What country exists without a king?’

Therefore, in the Prince’s view, the entire situation was now to his advantage, all thanks to Figxin’s "foolishness" and "shortsightedness."

The great nobles of Sutton had all expressed their support for him, some directly, others more subtly.

Could one Northern Domain and a single Deepwater City possibly stand against the combined power of all the other nobles in the kingdom?

’Impossible. Absolutely impossible!’

If the other three domains united with the Royal Family in the central lands, the Transcendent army they formed would make even a Giant Dragon tremble. What could the Northern Domain possibly use to resist?

’Farmers who’ve only been learning to shoot for a month?’

The Royal City Science Academy had already studied the power of those firearms. They were far from invincible.

Besides, they could manufacture them too. The cost would be several times higher, but it was still within an acceptable range. The royal treasury had enough funds for them to win this war.

He could win even without the support of Loman’s forces.

In short, he had countless paths to victory, while Figxin had just as many paths to defeat.

The Prince becoming King was what the people truly desired.

It was just that his "people" had never included commoners.

Firmly convinced that he held the upper hand, the Prince made up his mind to solve one last problem: the possibility of the old King changing the line of succession.

The Prince no longer had the patience to persuade his father to abandon the idea. Loman’s overtures had given him a whole new line of thinking.

’If you can’t solve the problem, solve the person creating it.’

Although the people from Loman had, for some unknown reason, suddenly changed their minds, he was no longer the weak Prince he once was. He could carry out his original plan even without outside support.

「That night, in the laboratory of the court Alchemist.」

The chief Alchemist was carefully concocting a potion. He poured liquids of various colors from a row of bottles and jars into a boiling crucible, added ground herbs, and then distilled the mixture. The final result was a colorless, odorless liquid, which he sealed in a small vial engraved with an Inscription.

’Traditional Alchemy.’

In the face of modern, industrialized Alchemy techniques, its room for survival was gradually shrinking.

The Academy called this new form of Alchemy "chemistry"—just a version of chemistry that intersected somewhat with Magic.

The Alchemist gingerly handed the finished product to the Prince. "Be careful, Your Highness. As soon as it leaves this sealed bottle, it will evaporate instantly. It is extremely dangerous."

"I will remember that," the Prince said, taking the potion.

’Loman could take their people, but they couldn’t take their knowledge. This was the potion formula they had provided. Just because the Lomans wouldn’t make it didn’t mean there weren’t other Alchemists who could.’

"Then, Your Highness," the Alchemist began, nervously wringing his hands, "the matter of my..."

He was already too old. Although he was the chief court Alchemist, the position wasn’t as glamorous as it sounded. Furthermore, he lacked the energy to keep up with the frontiers of Alchemy, where new theories seemed to emerge almost every month.

Therefore, he wanted to take the next step—one that would free him from such daily toil.

A title of nobility, for instance.

"Rest assured, a promise from the Royal Family will always be kept," the Prince said with a gentle smile.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

After speaking, the Prince left with the potion and gave a signal to the two Guards at the door.

The two Guards then entered the laboratory to stage an accident, according to their prior orders.

Besides the potion that would do the real work, some window dressing was required.

The King’s "accidental" death required a suitable "culprit."

The Prince had carefully selected a Death Warrior from the Northern Domain. He was the son of a great merchant from the Northern Domain and had been studying in the Royal City, living the pleasant and debauched life of a rich second-generation heir.

Then one day, his family’s fortunes suddenly collapsed. His wealthy merchant father in the Northern Domain was seized and sent to one of Zog’s factories to work as an assembly line worker. It was said he was even whipped daily.

His family’s assets were also converted into public property for Winter City in the Northern Domain.

Having lost his allowance from home, his quality of life immediately plummeted. He went from buying things without asking the price to struggling even to afford a meal.