[Legend of the Nameless Hero - Chapter 14]
There is no one who is truly born for greatness, only those who are born with the ability to become great. Those who rise are as common as those who fall in the worlds both known and unknown.
As those who rise towards power grow higher, there will be those who begin to follow, those who had come after. If one with the ability to rise towards the peak achieves their goal, those who followed after shall continue to do so. The greater the person sitting upon the peak, the fewer who would rise to challenge it, they will sit beneath the eclipse that are those who are great. But, are they not great themselves? If they are not great, then are they weak? What truly defines those who are weak? Just the same, what defines that which is strong? There is the saying that the strong shall consume the weak, but just as there is the saying the weak make the strong or the weak can eclipse those with potential through effort. In reality, who is to say there really is something so easy to define life as merely weak and strong, dark and light, wrong, and right.
***
‘I have never seen that man sweat before…’
The implication of worry, the worry of one who stood at the peak can resound upon all those who stood within the shadow of their eclipse.
(King Gideon)
“Who would have honestly thought that near the end of my reign, yet another absurd existence would appear…
Another world… strength… talent… wisdom… speed… another one to challenge the peak… Mocking everything we’ve ever done with those cutting eyes… and… she most certainly could have done it too…”
A chill ran down the spines of just about every individual present.
No one needed any clarification as to what the King was referring to. They knew all, all too well.
(King Gideon)
“I suppose I should act like a King at some point.
I disband the position of affairs minister. I’ll be fine dealing with my own affairs for the time being, I am the King after all.”
The room was aghast.
Rightfully so, the scene was that of a powerless puppet suddenly dismissing the puppeteer.
There were no laws against it either, the position itself was a position made by those who wished to use the authority of the throne without their opposition. The position was only furthered roughly twenty five years ago by the late Minister Abraham who had established himself as the main leader of the noble faction, aside from the domineering Lord Isaac. While what Abraham could do was limited due to Isaac’s constant interference, the fact that Abraham’s seal was second only to that of the Royal seal spoke wonders about the level of authority Abraham had consolidated for himself. That very same position was currently occupied by the First Princess, thus disbanding it was something the King, the First Princess’s father, could easily do. She was his heir after all, she’d respect his decision, especially after leaving blatantly from a Holy trial before the verdict.
(King Gideon)
“I knew it was likely my little daughter that would succeed me, well, so long as Isaac managed to keep living beyond my years, just as I knew my eldest son right there would probably have taken it by force from her if that man went on ahead of me.
Since I had nothing to teach such bright children, I left them to him, and afterwards there was nothing that I could ever dream to offer them. The only thing I could think of back then, the only lesson I could give them would be to let them run the nation in my stead, for better or worse. I’d let them operate while both myself and Isaac were still within this plain, so either he, or I would pull them out before they fell too deep.
I suppose that’s why I’ve lived so long, ahaha…
So long as I am still on this throne, there’s a limit to how much these energetic children can bicker. I’d be able to see which child would serve the realm best, then resign the throne to that one before my time was up. That way I could ensure the succession would be stable, though if that man was around, I doubt the succession would see so much as a spark regardless of who took my seat.
I’m a rather simple man when it comes down to it, and an even simpler king.
I looked back at what happened to my family during my childhood, and swore I’d never let it happen to my children.
My only fear in life was that my children would grow up to kill one another like my own kin did. I’ve spent my entire life aiming for that solemn goal. This single goal, to peacefully pass the throne over to my brightest child without bloodshed.
How it saddens me greatly, that at near the end of that path, something would come to happen.. something like this madness…
My Nobles!
If you could have possibly predicted these events, tell this old man!”
As one might think, the room remained silent.
(King Gideon)
“Then perhaps my vision hasn’t gotten as clouded as I thought it might have…
Heraldr!”
At the call of his name, Heraldr’s shoulders jumped. He rose from his seat and immediately fell to one knee towards his beloved Lord Father.
While he was never sure, Heraldr was the only person to have suspicions that his father wasn’t as simple as he appeared. The King wasn’t an incompetent king after all, otherwise he would never been upon the throne so long, nor would he have been able to avoid every noble’s advances for power. Somehow, all of the power within the realm circled around the silent throne as individuals used the throne as a source for their own ambitions. Instead of the nobles limiting the throne’s power, they centralized practically everything around it in their political race against one another. Since the King was such a weak king, they never worried about Gideon turning the power against them.
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Such a turn of events… surely it wasn’t all according to a plan that his father had concocted… To consolidate the throne without a drop of blood… without resistance…
It was because Heraldr’s own ambition was to see a similar reality for Leon that he had plunged into the depths of the Kingdom’s underworld, to grasp control of it and eliminate all threats towards his family from within and without.
So after hearing his father’s words, he simply couldn’t help his body from shaking.
It was true…
But he couldn’t lose himself in his ever rising thoughts, he had to answer his King!
(Heraldr)
“Yes my King!”
(King Gideon)
“As your father, I request you to surrender your position as third to the throne.”
Hearing this, the nobles began to murmur.
Before such a gathering of nobility, if Heraldr gave his consent, there would be no going back.
Heraldr himself shuddered even more violently, a sudden wave of pressure sweeping over him. So this was what his father was capable of…
His father had just told him he was disinherited, in a normal case one wouldn’t be at fault for being greatly upset over something of that nature…
But…
how could Heraldr ever refuse to buy into such a plan as that…
(Heraldr)
“If it is the will of my Lord Father, the King of Kremor, I officially renounce my candidacy…”
Even with his great loyalty, even with his sights upon the greater picture, to agree to be disinherited by his father was painful for Heraldr. If it wasn’t for Heraldr’s secret shame and the inability to produce an heir, Heraldr truly might have hesitated, even with what he believed his father had planned was true. Instead, he felt as if his father was unknowingly offering him a chance at true redemption, thus instead of hesitating, he jumped at the opportunity.
It was already a silent agreement between his elder brother and he that he would support Leon from the shadows rather than vie for the throne himself. So losing his claim in the long run might actually work to his favor.
(King Gideon)
“Mmmm, I know that i’ve wronged you rather harshly Heraldr…
I hope you will continue to show such loyalty to your brother when I am gone.”
There was silence for but a moment after the King stopped talking.
Then it finally sank in and the room burst into an uproar, neither the First Prince nor Heraldr, nor the rest of the Royal Family or even the Nobility could have hoped to believe the King had just said those words.
The true message in those words…
Leon would inherit after the King passed on…
...Leon was now the designated heir, selected and locked in by law and by word of honor before the gathered nobility of the realm…
Simply…
An outrageous declaration to behold.
For years, the obvious lineage inheritor expectant was the First Princess Sophia who had the full backing of Lord Isaac.
That would mean… the King was actually daring to go against Lord Isaac!
THAT Isaac!
The King had always gone along with High Lord Isaac Kaylock’s decisions, and with very, very good reason for it. Letting that man have full autonomy and authority to do as he saw fit had only brought even further prosperity and benefit to the realm.
So, why would the King be going against Lord Isaac? The very man who gave the King his throne!
(King Gideon)
“Leon…”
The King had started as if he were going to say something, but then stopped, turning it into a call.
(Prince Leon)
“Y…. yes Lord Father…”
Leon attempted to rise from his seat, but his legs simply couldn’t hold his weight. He was lightly covered in a cold sweat as his heart beat rapidly. As he made a forceful attempt to stand, his legs buckled under the weight and he fell to his knees. Given the situation, to those at a distance, it merely looked as if Prince Leon was zealously kneeling before the king. Leon’s nervousness was only apparent to his kin who could see his face.
If one would think on the situation, King Gideon, in all his years, had never been outspoken.
Almost every major issue had been settled by others outside of his control, especially after his first few years of rule.
Besides this supposed weak father, Leon’s heart was trembling. This… was the intensity… the authority…. no… the majesty of a King…
[LNH Chapter 14 - END]
White's Corner:
Well, that's it for tonight.
It's 2am and i've got plans for the Holidays.
I'll have another chapter after I wake up to release.
Stay Tuned~
~White