SON OF THE HERO KING

Somewhere far away, in an unknown dimension, a large monster was curling as it slept peacefully.

The world around it was devoid of any color.

The peaceful sleep was seemingly disturbed as its eyelids twitched briefly before slowly opening, showing cold gold and black pupils.

Slowly rising to its full height, the monster who was already a few stories tall, now showed its full splendor.

Anyone standing in its presence would have been unable to express any coherent thoughts.

This monster stood at the apex of the food chain.

Beautiful golden scales, long curved horns, a large and beautiful tail.

It emanated a perfect sense of harmony between strength and beauty.

It was… a Dragon.

The dragon, observing the monochrome world around it, slowly raised its head and looked at the sky full of multi-colored stars.

Some stars seemingly shined brilliantly while others seemed to be completely dead and basking in darkness.

Its gaze, finally settling on a dead star, showed a trace of sadness before it skipped it and settled on a little gold star next to it.

Compared to all the previous stars, this one was incredibly tiny. So small that it seemed that it could be snuffed at any moment. Despite that, its gaze brightened considerably at the view of this star.

Murmuring to itself in a surprisingly womanly voice, "It seems like my vision was a little off and I woke up a little later than I should have."

Stretching her paw in the direction of the star, the dragon suddenly stopped and watched as a red color slowly engulfed a corner of the previously golden star.

'Blood, war, destruction, and power.'

The dragon frowned as she observed the star and hesitated a little before finally putting back her paw and curling back to sleep.

The last thought as her eyes closed was,

'It still isn't time yet.'

-----

Sol, who was currently walking in the hallway of the Highland castle fell a shiver pass through his spine.

"Your highness?"

Setsuna and Milia, seeing him suddenly stop were wondering what was happening.

"No, it’s nothing. Let's go."

'I need to talk to Edea or Freya before the date tomorrow.'

He had felt like someone was observing him. But the sensation was so ethereal and went away so fast that he even thought it was an illusion.

Since his super senses caught something weird, it would be stupid of him to not investigate it.

Still, the only reason why he wasn't too worried was that,

'...It feels… warm?'

It was a weird feeling. It reminded him of the way Lilith, Milia, and Camelia looked at him when he was just a child. A stare filled with caring love.

What's more, his blood seemed to boil a little as if it was resonating with someone.

'Tiamat? Or another dragon?'

It was possible, but it was dangerous to jump to conclusions without enough evidence.

'Sigh, no matter. Let's focus on what is happening now.'

Finally reaching a large black and red door guarded by two knights, Sol's group stopped for a short while as they waited to be announced.

----

In the dining room, a young red-haired boy was seated with an impassive expression on this face as he observed those already seated.

The table was long and rectangular. No one sat on the head table as it was reserved for the prince. On the right side of the table was his grandfather followed by his grand-uncle, Gerald Highland. On the left side was his sister, followed by him.

After them, were the highest-ranked noble on either side of the table with the lowest-ranked one, a knight, seating next to him.

A piece of rhythmic and powerful music sounded in his ears, partially covering the noise of discussions and laughers.

Even though nothing seemed wrong on the surface, inwardly, he was seething at the pitiful sight.

'Grandfather is too…'

He stopped himself from going farther. Even though he didn't accept some, well, many of the choices of his grandfather, it was a fact that the man was an idol in his eyes.

But–only as a warrior and a general.

As a noble on the other hand, he was a total failure.

Calming himself and being sure that he didn't show his frustration, he looked once again at the pitiful number of people on the table and more than their numbers, their ranks were the problem.

'Many knights, some barons, and three viscounts and one earl. Not even one of the ten Marquess.'

To think that only such a pitiful group could be reunited after a call from one of the four Duke. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before the Highland family was erased like many Duke families before them.

'That's why we need to win the unconditional support of the prince.'

Lustburg kingdom followed a simple system. The highest-ranked were the members of the royal family.

After them, came the Dukes, then the Marquesses, then Earls, Viscounts, Barons, and finally Knights.

The Highland family was the oldest noble family still active. They were one of the four Dukes. People should be running trying to please them or submit under them.

Sadly, the reality was that, in terms of influence, even some Marquesses were higher than them.

What's more, the fact that the knights could sit on the same table as the viscounts or earl was something completely astonishing.

Ares wasn't the kind who discriminated against people based on their titles. He didn't think that he was superior to anyone thanks to his blood. He believed that everyone had equal chances to prove themselves.

But,

'How can grandfather just let the situation continue?'

He knew the difference between his ideals and reality. Just because he didn't discriminate, it didn't mean that they should allow such a scene to happen.

The worst was that,

'He wants his highness to share the same table.'

Just thinking about that was enough for him to feel like flipping the table and scream at his grandfather and his twin sister.

In his opinion, they had already gone past the line after what happened in front of their door. Such a new slight could push them to be completely blacklisted.

'Goddess above, please help us.'

Praying in his heart, he waited anxiously before finally hearing one of the servants announce,

"His highness the crown prince, Sol Dragona Luxuria and his retinue."

His heart missed a beat before he took hold of himself and braced himself for whatever was about to happen.

Despite that, some of his worries could still be seen on his face and this didn't escape the Duke notice.

Shaking his head, he raised his hand and the chatter immediately died down before he stood up, followed by all those present.

He loved his two grandchildren dearly, but for all his smartness, Ares was sadly not well suited for the position of heir. Keeping him as an advisor for Athena was the best solution.

----

The moment Sol entered, thanks to his outstanding memory, he immediately began to match the face with those he knew from documents his teacher in politics always made him learn.

Out of all of them, he could only recognize the Earl and the Viscount. As for the other one, since he didn't recognize them, it means that they were of a rather low rank.

For a moment, he began to wonder if the Duke was fucking around with him again, but after seeing the helpless and agitated expression of the Duke’s grandchild as well as the familiar face of his 'uncle' Gerald, Sol immediately calmed down and judged that the situation of the Highland was worse than he thought.

The silence followed him as he walked in the room under the curious stares of the nobles present before he finally sat on the head chair, Setsuna and Milia standing behind him.

"You may sit."

"By your grace."

The voices were united and sounded powerfully in his ears before they all sat in unison.

'I see…'

Sol immediately got rid of any thoughts about the Highland house being pitiful.

What they lacked in rank, they made it up with power and unity.

'That old bastard is far more dangerous than I thought.'

He had already understood a little of it when he saw how the soldiers didn't hesitate to follow the Duke’s order back then this afternoon.

'To think it would even extend to the nobles.'

It was an impressive display of charisma and control.

What he didn't see was how cold Milia's eyes became. She understood the current situation even more than Sol.

Inwardly she had already decided that if the Duke didn't join Sol and insisted on being neutral, then she would simply cause him to die accidentally during the war that was coming once they were sure to win.

'No matter what, at the end of this week, Sol must have absolute control over the kingdom. Anyone standing in the way of this plan is a hindrance that needs to be erased without any pity.'

This was her creed. This was her way. Even if she had to walk through a bloody path, she would never regret it.