Isa stepped into the main hall amid cheers. The girl had become immensely popular with her actions in Marile. Mira told her about how the soldiers could not stop singing her praise.

"I greet her grace, the Countess Guarding Diery." Isa gave her a small bow.

"Isa Fenesor, for your contribution in the battle, I name you Sword Maiden of the Diery county." she said. Isa bowed, but Althea wasn't done.

"The border has gone unguarded for far too long. The county has relied on the Northern Fortress, and the Marquis until now. But that shall not be the case anymore. In the battle you proved your courage by charging into the beast tide itself. Proved your power by surviving. And finally proved your intelligence by meticulously executing your plan."

"I thus find you worthy, and name you a Viscountess." Isa kneeled in a hurry, surprise clear on her face. "I grant you the city of Marile, and name you guardian and overseer of our border within the Empire."

Althea turned towards the Empress. The Diery county did not have a Sword manual, and revealing two manuals might be too much. A single manual of Space kept secret could be ignored, but two would draw too much attention.

"The Solerian Empire offers you this manual, to keep with you as long as you live and pass on to your descendants." the Empress announced, a manual appearing in the with a puff of black smoke and purple light. A show but a needed one. Isa accepted the manual and walked out. Althea could see that she was very surprised.

As much as she wished that giving her a title of nobility was simply out of appreciation. The move was planned. The city had lost its city lord, and needed a huge administrative turnover. As a new noble, Isa would have to build a whole new government, giving Althea an excuse to dispose of the old corrupt government.

Isa was also one of the few people the people would trust. A person from the county, daughter of one of its most respected ministers, and well respected across the county. After the old city lord, she would be a welcome change.

And giving the city to a person of military background told the nobles of the Empire that she did not trust them. In a way it was a slap on their face, but it was a slap she wanted to make.

The Diery county was not among them, it was above them in stature. That was what she wanted to say. That she was a part of the royal council, and they would not get away with attacking her.

The decree she would release later today should emphasise that. Althea had even prepared a writing, something that did not accuse any noble, but implied it heavily.

> The Diery county must inform, with great regret, that investigations have found the involvement of nobles of the Empire in certain events that have recently troubled the county.

>

> The Diery county will be raising the price of agricultural products sold to the Zerolian family by three times from today.

The declaration technically had two separate things, but a fool could tell that they were related. Althea was quite proud of it. Now for the final part of the court.

"I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the brave members of the Emperor's guards, and Steward Ven." she said. "The county is in their debt."

"I do not have the power to reward them, but I hope that the Empress will do it for me." she said.

"The Countess can rest assured that their actions will not go unrewarded."

"I am glad." Althea smiled. "Now, I think it is time for a celebration."

sc

The Diery county sure seemed to have a lot of celebrations lately. The nobility of Soleria focused on few grand celebrations. The average noble did not have as many celebrations in a year as the county had in a month.

"The city sure looks nice." the Emperor of Soleria said beside him.

"Are you trying to irritate me?" Keron replied.

"No, I am just saying that the city looks nice, prepared for winter." The Emperor said, acting as if he did not hear the irritation in Keron's voice. "There is certainly a festive feel to it."

"There is barely any snow in the entire Empire." Keron noted. "The Diery might be the only one that gets a little. This much preparation is too much."

"Well, it is better to be prepared than to find yourself dealing with something you did not expect to deal with in your entire life. Like, say, a son. A hybrid Prince of two royal bloodlines. A person whose very existence puts us in danger."

There it was, in the end his brother could not control himself. Keron laughed awkwardly.

"Oh that. Well, it happens. I did not know she was her when it happened." he said, struggling to string words along.

"So you did sleep with a Fae. And forgot to tell your brother, the Emperor of Soleria, that there might be a bastard prince wandering around." the Emperor of Soleria folded his hands, staring at him.

"Did you forget about birth control methods? The several spells you know? Why did you even take the risk in the first place? A Fae Keron! Did you not know that a Prince would utterly defy the human treaty? Did you want to cause a war?"

"I was young. And foolish." Keron replied. "I did use precautions, I do every time. The measures must have failed."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"That is your excuse? That your precautions failed?" Lorn huffed. "Well, it was going to happen eventually with how often you decided to have relations with women."

"This is not the old ages anymore. A man and a woman can have carnal relations without having to get married." Keron replied.

"Don't give me that. I have let you do what you want to for a long time, Marshal of the Empire." the Emperor said.

Oh, this was bad. Lorn was using titles.

"But you are a Prince of the Empire. The normal rules do not apply to you." Lorn practically spat his words out. "If you have children, they can inherit the throne. Have a try at cultivating the Law manual. A Grandmaster manual, Keron. There is no precedent for a member of the Fae royal family cultivating a Grandmaster manual."

Now Keron was frustrated. Ok, having so much sex might have been a mistake. But he had taken protections. And they were ignoring that the bloody Fae Crown Prince was involved.

"The Grandmaster clans were five thousand years ago, Lorn. The old rules don't really matter-"

"That is the problem with you, Keron." Lorn apparently wasn't going to let this go. "Even now, you refuse to understand. The Grandmaster clans might have weakened, but we aren’t dead. And we won't be for as long as the Warrior of Senesor is the only Grandmaster of humanity. For as long as he respects the old rules, so will the other species. And need I remind you of the events of seven hundred years ago?"

Keron sagged. This world had too many old people, old powerful people that refused to move forward. So powerful that they kept the world behind with them.

"Now, why don't you go tell the oldest of princes, who his father is? And while you're at it, tell the Druid of Soleria to open the record book. I am sure it's no trouble to change a way of inheritance that has stayed the same for ten thousand years. Just a little swipe of my pen and a Fae hybrid won't be in line to the throne anymore, older brother. “

Keron flinched. That was a low blow. But he knew the seriousness of this. If Nathan stood to inherit the throne, that meant he was a royal. And the human treaty forbids hybrids being nobles, let alone royal.

“And don't you dare ruin this. The human race desperately needs more power, and the Grandmaster clans might be the only way we get through this." Lorn's teleportation bracelet flashed purple as he teleported away.

Now, he had to go talk with his…son. What did one say to a long-lost son?

Hello, I did not know you existed, but could you please keep your existence secret because you are a diplomatic crisis waiting to happen?

sc

Verest

Verest watched as the girl practiced her sword, swiping at her as she imagined an enemy. Even today, a day she should be celebrating, she practiced. Not a day went by that she let herself go. The Empress hadn't come to give Isa the real manual yet, and it gave him too much time to reconsider.

The Empire gave fake manuals in ceremonies, it was tradition because manuals tended to be stolen in transit. There would then be protective spells set up to prevent the manual from being stolen. Not every noble was an Adept, and it would leave the Empire vulnerable if manuals could be stolen just because a noble was careless.

Verest was reconsidering again, but he did not know if he would ever get another chance like this. The manual had lots of restrictions. So many that it had irritated their clan for decades, a lot of Grandmaster manuals were similar.

There was a science behind it, something to do with how the elements interacted with the body and person. Verest wasn't too sure. But there was a policy that the clan followed, to take every seedling they could.

To adopt them into the family and raise them as new Swordsmen. Verest just didn't think that he would get the chance. But here they were. And of course, it was complicated.

Isa had a family, and was a part of a Grandmaster clan. If she wanted to be a Swordswoman, she had to be neither. The clans cooperated on the surface, not in truth. To go further and allow someone from another clan to become the next clan head…but rules were dead and so were the ones who made them.

Verest had already broken every rule in that rule book by simply being born. What was…a dozen more? Not like there were any ancestors left to hunt him down.

The Empress teleported in, and he headed towards her.

"I was wondering when you would want to talk to me." she said. "So, the Swordsmen still live."

And she knew. Not a shock, the Law was second only to the Druid in sensing. And the Druids were monsters that were better ignored.

"A half-life of shorts, your majesty." he said.

"In this day and age, that is an achievement. Seven fell to time, six to the burning, nine live without heir. Just five still stand." she said. And there they went, talking mysteriously again. The Grandmaster clans loved doing that, even his mother. The Empress was talking about the clans, but why couldn't she just say so.

"Seven now." he replied "The Druid and Swordsman live again."

"Perhaps." the Empress said with a level voice. But Verest could tell that she was hiding something. What was it? The Law was the best of the clans at collecting information, what did they know now?

"What do you want?" she said. Verest wondered if he should ask the question that was on his mind. But in the end, he could not. Even if they would have one day been equal, but that day was long. The Empress to one of the three most powerful human Empires was not someone he could speak as an equal to.

Even if she acted amiable, she was still the Empress of Night, slayer of armies, destroyer of dreams, keeper of the fog. Verest would die before he knew what happened if she decided he was better off dead.

"Isa, she meets the requirements." he said.

"And you want to take her in. " she stated.

"The clans are dying out, your majesty. The thing that made us powerful is killing us." he said. "The manuals are too hard to cultivate, even the Diery family lost its inheritance. And they are the Druids."

The Empress' face turned dark. "There is more to it than you know."

Verest was once again tempted to know more. Now that he had sworn loyalty to the latest Druid, of course breaking the rules, he would be involved. But he could not. The Empress' tone was final. A bit too final, perhaps. But still he would not question it.

The Empress sighed. "I do not know what our predecessors were thinking, letting clans fall apart without supporting them. If the clans had supported each other in their times of need instead of fighting over scraps, then perhaps we would not be here now. Have her if you wish, but I am not the one you have to ask. The Law will not break the treaty of three again. Ask Althea."

Verest paused. The treaty of three…he remembered his mother mentioning it. The treaty had allowed three Grandmaster clans to live in a single nation without killing each other. Perhaps the greatest treaty in the history of humanity. A treat so old, it was one of the oldest written parts of history still around.

The Diery vault probably had the largest collection of them now that he thought about it. Even the Great Elven Library was a good three thousand years younger than that thing. The treaty stood unbroken for ten thousand years right up till that moment.

"Does your ancestor agree?" The words were out of Verest's mouth before he could stop them. But the Empress did not seem to take offense.

"There is a reason I am preparing for war, Swordsmen. That man might have gotten away with his plans seven hundred years ago, but I will not stand for it anymore." the Empress turned to him.

"I might have married into Law, but the blood of Druids flows through me. And if it comes to it, my husband and I shall stand with the Druids. Even if it means the fall of another Grandmaster clan."