A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

It was already bright, but the light in the dungeon was still dim. Only a beam of light shone in from the narrow iron window above the dungeon, reflecting a bright spot on the ground.

The little light refracted on the cold stone ground moved slowly over time, and finally reflected on the face of the black-haired young man sitting against the wall.

He lowered his head slightly, closed his eyes, and his thin black hair fell on his forehead, looking like he was sleeping lightly.

When the refracted light reflected on his face, the slender eyelashes moved once, and then slowly opened.

Heimos woke up quickly from his light sleep. He turned his head and saw the position of the sun in the sky through the small skylight, and judged the time from this.

Then, he turned his head and looked in a certain direction.

He thought that the discussion about his guilt had almost begun, and presumably the person who intended to frame him was among them.

Thinking of this, Heimos remembered what his subordinate had said to him not long ago when he decisively decided to steal the military symbols.

At that time, Suojia, who was a priest of the God of Night and had always been cunning, strongly opposed his attempt to steal the talisman. But he did not listen to his subordinate's words, and stubbornly led his troops to the city of Tozes.

Before he was imprisoned by the royal knights, Suojia rushed to see him, frowning and sighing.

"Your Highness Heymos, have you ever thought about who will ultimately benefit if you are deprived of your right to inherit the throne?"

Suojia's face looked quite heavy.

"Prince Garlan doesn't have to do anything. He just needs to remain silent to become the final winner."

"Your Highness, I know that you have a very good relationship with Prince Gallan, but when such a good opportunity is presented to you, you won't let it go."

He said with cold eyes,

"Your Highness, what you have experienced should make you see clearly better than anyone else - the most untestable thing in the world is human nature."

"Everyone is selfish when it comes to their own interests. This is human nature and no one is an exception."

…………

After waking up from his memories, Heimos looked ahead.

His eyes seemed to penetrate the heavy walls, looking towards the place that he couldn't see at the moment.

That invisible battlefield.

He could imagine Garlan standing on the battlefield without a sword.

‘No one will be exempt’…?

The corners of Heymos' lips suddenly traced a trace.

Whether it was Suojia who was present at the scene or the person who secretly framed him, they must have been shocked by Garlan's behavior.

…………

……………………

"As Prince Aaron Landis, I veto the Chief Secretary's proposal."

Garlan's voice echoed in the chamber.

This sentence made Suojia, who almost took that step to walk in front of everyone, stop and choke on the words in his throat.

This sentence made the old chief director's warm smile freeze for a second.

But it only lasted for a second, and it stopped in an instant, so fast that no one had time to see it.

The chief secretary was still smiling, his wrinkled face full of kindness.

He looked at Garlan with kind eyes, and there was no trace of anger on his face. He looked at Garlan like he was looking at an ignorant junior.

"Prince Garlan."

He shook his head slightly and sighed.

"You're being too impulsive."

Although his face was kind, the expression on his face was completely different from the big director's heart.

He, and the large family behind him, play a pivotal role in the center of Aaron Landis's regime.

Over the years, his status has become more noble with time and position.

Therefore, it has been a long time since anyone would refute him in public so cleanly and humiliate him.

——This made him extremely unhappy.

Even if it was Aaron Landis's prince who embarrassed him.

Prince, Crown Prince.

One word difference, but a world of difference.

The former only has a noble status, but in terms of actual power, he is not as good as him as the chief director.

Moreover, even a prince should know how to respect the elderly.

The Chief Secretary thought so unhappily in his heart.

However, no matter how dissatisfied he was with Prince Gallan's attitude, his face did not betray it at all and he was still amiable.

He said: "Prince Gallan, I know that you have a deep friendship with Prince Heimos, but Prince Heimos made a mistake and should be punished, so that he will understand where he went wrong. What do you mean to him?" His protection is not helping him, but harming him."

Every word he spoke was earnest and thoughtful, like a simple and honest old man teaching his beloved children.

Garlan, who was standing in front of the obsidian chair, looked at the chief director. A section of the light blue cloak hanging from his shoulders rested on the armrest of the chair.

"I don't agree with what you say, Chief."

As if he didn't hear what Garlan said, the chief director shook his head and sighed as he spoke.

"I know that you are all still young and it is inevitable that you will make mistakes. And because you are all princes and have noble status, everyone follows you..." He sighed, "But even if you are a prince, it does not mean that you will not be punished if you make a mistake. .”

“If so, where is the majesty of Aaron Landis’s law?”

Let the Chief Secretary speak those high-sounding words, Garlan turned his head and looked at the Chief Secretary with bright eyes.

"If you make a mistake, you will be punished, that's true."

He said, "But, Chief Secretary, convicting people without any investigation and letting innocent people bear the burden of things they have never done. Is this what you say shows the majesty of the law?"

"Prince Gallan, you are speaking too forcefully. Even though the weapon talisman has been taken out from Prince Heimos, he admitted that he stole it..."

Garlan interrupted the Chief Secretary's words simply.

"He admitted to stealing military symbols and mobilizing troops selfishly, but do you have evidence to prove that he killed two royal knights with his own hands?"

The old man coughed lowly and winked secretly to the person behind him.

Someone immediately understood and took a step forward to speak.

"The facts are clear. Only Prince Heimos had been there at that time."

"Those two royal knights are responsible for guarding the military talisman. Since the military talisman is in the hands of Prince Heimos, it can be logically inferred that if he didn't kill him, who else could it be?"

"Yes, in order to seize the weapon talisman, it is natural to kill the two knights guarding the weapon talisman. Isn't this obvious enough?"

Garlan frowned.

"So, the reason you convicted Heimos is 'based on common sense'?"

His voice suddenly became stern.

"Even convicting civilians requires conclusive evidence of guilt. But now for the prince, you have no evidence or witnesses at all, so you convict him on the grounds of 'taking it for granted'?!"

Garlan's tough attitude made the atmosphere in the entire chamber freeze for a moment. Some people wanted to say something more, but found that Garlan's words made them unable to refute.

Before this, everyone had naturally linked the killing with the talisman and thought it was the same thing. Since the military talisman as physical evidence was found from Prince Heimos, the person must have been killed by him.

That is a kind of inertial thinking.

Even so, there was no fool among the people present. Naturally, many people thought that there was no need for Prince Heimos to kill people. This was not good for him. Maybe someone was framing him.

However, even if many people knew it well, the key now is that Heimos did steal the military symbols and mobilize the army.

This matter offended the royal authority and might make King Camos furious. Prince Heimos didn't know what would happen to him yet.

Therefore, even though they knew that something was fishy, ​​everyone couldn't wait to distance themselves from Heimos in order to protect themselves and avoid involving themselves.

In this way, of course, it is impossible for them to speak for Heimos at this time, and it is good enough not to add insult to injury.

And the mastermind behind the scenes naturally caught everyone's mentality and wanted to settle the crime in one fell swoop before King Camos returned.

It's just that many people didn't expect that the person who stood up to speak for Heimos without hesitation was actually Garlan.

Prince Garlan could not be so stupid as not to know what it meant to him that Heimos was disinherited.

Many people present were thinking in confusion.

Why would he do such a thankless thing?

…

Could it be that he had other plans? Are there any greater benefits?

These powerful people who have stayed at the center of the political power for too long and have become accustomed to intrigues and intrigues almost subconsciously think this way.

Seeing that the matter of convicting Prince Heimos had once again reached a deadlock, the chief director no longer maintained the amiable smile on his face, but became slightly darker.

"Prince Garlan, you are sophistry."

He scowled.

"It's okay for you to be fooling around in Tozes City. How can you still follow your own temper here?"

The old chief secretary sat in the front seat. He had been in a high position all year round and naturally gained a lot of authority.

As soon as his face sank and his eyes became serious, the atmosphere around him seemed to become oppressive.

"You know, the things you did in Tozes City, Prince, are very inappropriate."

He said solemnly,

"You arbitrarily freed the slaves who are the private property of the people of Tozes City, which is equivalent to seizing the people's property without any reason! As a prince of a country, how can you do such an act of oppressing the people?"

The sudden mention of this topic by the Chief Secretary made Kayhos on the side feel a shiver in his heart.

Sure enough, it came.

Kehos thought.

When Prince Garlan made the decision to free the slaves in Tozes City, he knew that this behavior would definitely arouse the dissatisfaction of the powerful people in the royal city.

Because what the prince did has shaken their interests.

However, Kehos felt that this matter should not be serious.

Because even if they are dissatisfied, these powerful people will not show it in the short time when the prince returns to the royal city.

And as long as they wait until King Camos returns to the royal city and let King Camos speak and characterize the prince's act of freeing slaves as a special case in a special war, they can alleviate the dissatisfaction of those powerful people a lot.

However, unexpectedly, the chief director suddenly chose this moment to launch an attack, which made Caijos nervous.

It was obvious that the chief was warning Prince Gallan.

What Caihos understood, Garlan also understood.

The subtext of the Chief Secretary mentioning this matter was to warn him not to meddle in other people's business, otherwise he would fall into a ditch.

At the same time, the words of the Chief Secretary also resonated with all the dignitaries present.

After all, almost all the nobles were extremely dissatisfied with his act of freeing slaves on such a large scale.

It was only because he was concerned about Gallan's status as a prince that no one wanted to be the first to step forward, so he temporarily suppressed his dissatisfaction.

Now, as long as the Chief Secretary persists in this point, these powerful people will follow the stick and express their dissatisfaction.

Garlan pursed his lips.

There was a bit of anger in his eyes.

At this moment, it felt like there was a lump of air in his chest, making him feel very suffocated.

These guys talking loudly here have no idea how tragic the so-called war is, and what a sad end the people will end up with after the city is broken.

They will only accuse you so arrogantly and condescendingly from a safe place.

They will only tell you that you shouldn't do this or that you can't do that.

If it doesn't go to their liking, they will stick to any mistakes and force you into a corner - after you succeed, they will feel proud that you have become the final winner.

The young man had a sullen face, and his hands hanging by his sides clenched into fists.

Only his arms were covered by the light-colored cloak hanging from his shoulders, and no one saw his clenched hands.

Seeing that Prince Gallan was quiet, the chief director smiled slightly.

Even if he is a prince, he is just a young man. How can he be his opponent who has been immersed in the center of the political power for many years.

"Prince Garlan."

He continued to speak to Garlan in a teaching tone.

"'Wise Prince', that's what the people of the royal city call you."

"It took you eight years to gain such praise from the people, who called you the 'Wise One of Shamash'."

He said with warning.

"Don't let your anger ruin your reputation."

"Even for the sake of your reputation, you should make a careful decision." The chief director looked at Garlan and said, "So, Prince, please make a conclusion now."

The chamber fell silent once again.

Everyone's eyes fell on Garlan, who had his head slightly lowered.

In the side hall, the priest of the God of Night also stared at Garlan unblinkingly. At this moment, his eyes were extremely complicated.

"If a man does not serve himself, he will be destroyed by heaven and earth." ’

Suojia has always thought so.

But at this moment, he was actually a little confused about his feelings. What kind of answer did he hope to get from the Prince of Gallan at this moment?

In full view of everyone, Garlan raised his head.

He said calmly: "I am opposed to convicting Heimos on this. I will personally investigate and find out the real murderer of the two knights."

The muscles on the face of the Chief Secretary, who thought he had already secured victory, suddenly twitched.

Why is this prince so stupid and ignorant?

He stared at Garlan dissatisfied and thought.

"Because of your personal relationship with Prince Heimos, you favored the erring Prince Heimos and wanted to exonerate him. This is not what you should do as a 'sage'."

"Since the people say that you were 'given justice and wisdom by Shamash,' then you should not be partial in this matter."

There are hints in and out of the words of the Chief Secretary.

"Prince Garlan, please be sure to clarify your position."

"Convicting Prince Heimos without any regard for selfish interests or status is a truly wise act——"

The young man raised his eyes and looked straight at the Chief Secretary with his golden eyes.

"Chief Director, did you make a mistake?"

he asks.

"What?"

"You said it yourself, I am the one who is praised as wise by the people, and I am also the one who is given the title of 'wise man'."

Garlan stared at the chief director.

At this moment, there seemed to be a golden flame burning in his pupils.

"It only took me eight years for the people to praise me. However, Chief Secretary, you have been in power for decades but have not received praise from the people. This shows that you are not a 'wise man'."

"But now, you, who are not a 'wise person', are teaching me what to do in a 'wise way'. Don't you think this is ridiculous?"

"you--"

Garlan's words made the chief director's breath catch in his throat.

"Chief Secretary, as you said, I am a 'sage' recognized by the world."

Looking across the crowd, Garlan said in a deep voice.

"That is to say..."

Standing in front of everyone, the young man waved his hand suddenly.

The light-colored cloak hanging from his right shoulder was lifted high when he waved his hand, flying behind him.

"As long as I do something, it is a wise act!"

He said,

"I veto convicting Heimos!"

The author has something to say: Chief Secretary: Mmp, this prince doesn’t follow the routine.