CG Chapter 67: The Prince's Gambit, Royal De Royal
Just when he stepped outside of the library one of the holy knights of the cathedral came to Tom in a hurry.
“Your holiness I came to find you to deliver an important invite.” The knight tried to show a composed expression while being as respectful as he could. However, it was obvious to Tom that the knight was nervous.
“Who sent the invite? May the goddess forgive you if this isn't an urgent matter.” Tom's action seemed gentle, but it had an undertone of a threat.
As a bishop with supreme status many people tried to get close to him, and without some ‘divine punishment’ for those who crossed the line, he wouldn’t have time to open even a single book.
“I wouldn’t dare to interrupt you if it wasn’t a matter of at most importance. The letter was just delivered by the first prince's personal servant, he told me that you must receive it personally or…”
“Oh, are you scared of a prince’s servant? As a holy knight, you must have the courage to die for the goddess and now I see you shaking in fear like a child because of a mortal? Prince or not a holy knight must act as such. Go and confess your sins.”
Despite his actions, Tom felt surprised by the prince’s sudden invitation. He knew that as the rising star of the church, all princes would fight over him sooner or later yet this was still too early.
An invite coming so soon and when Tom didn't reach a sufficient level would only make the prince look desperate.
According to his information, the crown prince's position was stable, so there must be another reason why the prince invited him.
Reading the content of the invite, Tom confirmed it was as the knight had said: the current crown prince wanted to invite him over for dinner in one of the private rooms of Éclat de la Lune.
If anything, that showed the prince’s good intentions since the rooms there were reserved months in advance.
After he wore his clothes, Tom placed a scarf around his neck that carried a golden symbol of an eye on both of its sides.
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With his long crimson hair that he hadn’t cut since he arrived in the city and the golden glasses that covered his eye color, Tom's appearance resembled both royalty and holiness.
At first sight, people might think of him as a prince who gave up his royal status to become a priest. Little would they know that they were looking at someone who had been crowned emperor too many times to count.
As the light of day faded beneath the cloak of night, lightkeepers swiftly ignited lanterns, casting their warm glow upon the streets. Meanwhile, the night watchman commenced their patrol, ensuring the safety of those same streets.
…
At the gates of the restaurant, Tom was greeted by the prince's servant.
This confirmed some of his ideas: If the prince was truly desperate for his support in the battle for the throne, then he would have come to invite him himself or at least greeted him by the door. Those subtle hints that would get glanced over in most cases made Tom have an overall idea of the prince's character even before he met him.
The place was filled with the enticing aroma of aromatic food, and tables were adorned with delicacies crafted from the highest quality ingredients. Dishes such as Stonefur bear heart stew, golden leopard and owl steaks, and many others would make you salivate from miles away.
As Tom ascended the stairs, he passed by the muscular guards stationed at the door of the room. Upon entering, he found himself seated across from the crown prince.
“Welcome, let me introduce myself I am Alexander de Astrial, it’s an honor to meet you, I have heard big things about your accomplishments, Edward Von Flameheart.” The prince smiled while introducing himself.
From the moment he entered the restaurant, Tom could sense a bad feeling at the back of his neck. As if he was smelling a bad stench that was only getting worse, thinking back at it, the smell came as early as the day he arrived at the capital.
This feeling was an instinct of Tom that was honed through countless life and death trials, and in Tom’s case, they were literal death trials since he died in many of them.
However, that feeling of danger wasn’t going to stop him, if he were faced with a mountain he would slice the mountain, and if he were faced with a river then he would cut the river in half.
A long time ago Tom created a scale inside his mind where he would judge the risks and benefits of everything he does.
If the benefits outweigh the risks, he wouldn't mind jumping head-first into a volcano, and if the risks outweigh the benefits, he would run away without a second thought, in such situations he wouldn't care about shame that would only drag him down.
“It’s an honor to receive an invitation from the crown prince himself as a humble citizen, but as a servant of the divine, I wish to spend my time serving the goddess. I hope that you understand this and I wish for his royal highness to enlighten me for the reason behind the sudden invitation.”
The churches and royal families acted as two separate entities that were extremely entangled. It would actually be wrong to view them as separate; a more accurate description would be that they were two faces of the same coin.
Furthermore, many royal members would become members of the church, and it's no surprise that, with such a system, the highest positions within the church were largely occupied by them.
The same went for the current pope, who happened to be the brother of the current king; he was among the fortunate ones at least.
Those who lost the race would either die in the pursuit of the throne or find purpose for themselves elsewhere. But even those so-called losers, if they survived the race or were wise enough to give up early on, would still live better than most commoners, as they had royal status.
"Royalty has no family; in the game of thrones their blood becomes filthier than that of peasants, it becomes the reason for their demise." This saying perfectly fits the situation that any royal family would go through.
Generation after generation, brothers would stab each other in the back like little goblins hungry for more power, hungry for the throne, and that damn crown.
Sollaria's competition was at least civil, focusing on knowledge, at least on the surface. Unlike the struggles in Vennturia, where they need to survive in deep frozen caves, or in Daybreak, where they fight to the death on the edge of a volcano.