It's been over a week since the fall of the Black Rose Mercenaries by the city of Ironside. When a group of three cloaked figures made it to the outskirts of the capital city Tairal.

Their destination was a big manor that has the Duke's insignia on it. The group stopped outside of the mansion and waited for the door to open In the middle of the night. Once it did, a guard stepped outside and bowed before them.

"Welcome to Divalo Manor. Please follow me."

The guard led the way to the great hall where two guards were standing near the side door. One was a tall muscular man in fine clothes and the other was a short balding man with a full beard.

"So, you three made it back. His lordship has requested your presence in his chambers." One of the guards said.

"Thank you, sirs," The leader of the group spoke up, he had shoulder-length black hair and a long scar down his right eye.

"The Duke is in his usual spot. His butler will show you to him." The second guard said as they walked past the guards into the side entrance to the manor. They followed a path through the gardens until they reached a large oak door that lead into the manor itself.

This mystery group consisted of a woman and two men. The woman was the Speaker Mage that connected Rodulf to the Duke. The other one was her bodyguard and the third man with the scar was the leader of the group. They only had a fourth member that was back at Ironside watching the crown prince.

"How mad do you think he'll be?" The bodyguard asked the man with the scar.

"It's guaranteed that he'll be angry," The leader replied.

The bodyguard sighed, "I hate this part of the job."

The mage was silent as she kept a calm face.

***

They opened the door and entered the duke's chamber. There was a large chair in the center of the room that looked like it could fit a king. On either end of the room stood one man that looked like a butler and an older noblewoman.

"My lord," The leader of the group said as he bowed deeply, "We have returned and brought news from Ironside."

Duke Alaric Revelia looked at the three with anger in his eyes. "If you three are here then that means Rodulf and his misfits of overhyped mercenaries have failed."

The man with the scar swallowed hard while keeping his cool.

"That is correct, my Lord," The leader said with a bow.

The noblewoman looked angered and sad at that same time.

Duke Alaric Revelia leaned back into his chair, "How did he fail?"

"When the Black Roses enslaved that Dark Elf, it seems that the crown prince raised an army almost immediately. They were ready to face the Black Roses head-on from the start, my Lord."

"So, Rodulf was outnumbered from the beginning, wasn't he? But you said it yourself...they should've been slaughtered like chaff!" The Duke said.

"They looked like they were about to claim victory even with heavy casualties. But the fates smiled on the crown prince as his army was able to knock out the Dark Elf with a rare sleeping arrow," The man with the scar said with a nod.

Duke Alaric Revelia raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean? Even if that Dark Elf was asleep the slaver tool should have kept her in the fight once the sleeping agent wears off?"

"From what we were able to tell is the crown prince has a unique ability to... destroy slave collars," The bodyguard added.

"Destroy them? Tch! So my pathetic nephew had a trick up his sleeve. But how did he survive the fight with the Kings Slayer?" Duke Alaric said confused and annoyed that his nephew was still alive.

"He was about to die when the Dark Elf intervened when she created a golem. A really powerful golem that she turned on the main forces destroyed half of the Black Roses within minutes. They tried to retreat but she created more golems and hunted them down," The man with the scar added.

Duke Alaric closed his eyes, "Tch! So, the Kings Slayer couldn't take care of a Dark Elf? After dealing with so many Kings, it was a little elf that done in the terrifying Jeremiah?" Duke said with anger.

The man with the scar shook his head, "No, he was doing well, your Lordship. During the battle, we finally found out how he was able to kill all those Royals. He had a unique ability to send whatever melee damage inflicted upon him back to his attacker. It seems that a golem just regenerates its wounds. It was only a matter of time before Jeremiah used up too much of his mana from all the fighting and died to the Dark Elf."

Duke Alaric stayed silent as he digested what the man with the scar said.

He mumbled to himself, "Why have the fates gone against me and my family!? I've done everything to get my boy the throne. I poisoned my brother's wife Rianna so she couldn't bear children. And she birthed that kind-hearted brat of a boy. I hire the Black Roses to aid Marcus in hopes of upstaging and abandoning Quinus in the labyrinth. And that weak heart fool of a nephew finds a Dark Elf to protect him. This boy that destroyed everything I care about!"

Finally, Duke Alaric opened his eyes again and stood up, "I will deal with this insolent brat myself! No more will I allow the fates to toy with me like some child. When I am done with this boy he will learn what the true meaning of pain is! Belial get my general, I want to send my private guard to finish Quinus even if I need to go through the Ironside forces!"

The man with the scare was hesitant to interrupt the Duke. But he needed to tell him the most important information.

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"Your lordship, it would be ill-advised to send your army to Ironside!" The man spat out as fast as possible.

The Duke stopped and stared at the man with the scar. His face became pale.

"What do you mean ill-advised? Their forces shouldn't be at full strength yet. They must be recovering as we speak!" He yelled angrily.

The man with the scar held his hand up, "Hear me out first. The Dark Elf was not only a powerful earth mage but..."

The man hesitated for a moment, "She's a healer that this continent has never seen before. If she wasn't a healer the Ironside army would have been around one-fourth its strength but they have been fully healed by her and only lost almost 20 percent of their forces. They might have lost none of them if the Black Roses didn't have her enslaved at the beginning of the battle. You would be walking into a slaughter, my Lord!"

The Duke turned pale as all the blood left his face.

"This is unfair," he whispers to himself, "Why didn't this Dark Elf choose my son instead of that weakling nephew?"

He clenched his fist and slowly walked back to his chair.

"So, going out to Ironside would be handing over the throne to my nephew as a gift. Is that what you're saying?"

The man with the scar nodded his head.

Duke Alaric stayed silent as he was trying to think of another way to keep the throne from Quinus.

After a few minutes, the man with the scar opens his mouth to speak but Alaric holds his hand up to stop him.

"Alac, if you wish to keep your tongue? I advise you to tell me something that I can use against my nephew."

Alac took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

"My lord, we left Douglas behind to spy on Quinus and the Dark Elf as we traveled here. And we received a few of his messenger birds right before we arrived. There are a few interesting things. First, it seems like Quinus is not in a hurry to come back to the capital as he is letting the Dark Elf, also known as Saintess Rya to the citizens of Ironside, go to the Mages Guild. We don't know when they plan to come back but it seems we have time. Secondly, he spotted this Rya coming out of the Guild with a demonic tome in her possession. He doesn't know what type of magical spell it may contain. But if it's a text from the Demons, it can't be good. Thirdly, he's witnessed Quinus sharing the same bed with Rya. Douglas was able to get close enough to hear the screams of pleasure coming from Rya. The prince is soiling his royal oats with her. And the last message we got was Quinus has been secretly going to a jeweler. Douglas found out it was an engagement ring. It seems like the prince plans to wed the Dark Elf?"

The Duke's eyes lit up with hope for the first time in a long time.

He mumbles, "Finally something I can use."

The Duke looks at Alac as he had a nervous look on his face. He asks, "Is there anything else?"

Alac bowed and said, "This is all we know of as of right now, your Lordship. If I receive another message from Douglas. I'll report it to you right away."

The Duke looked at the three people in front of him with a stony face.

"You three may leave."

The three people bowed their heads and left the room.

*BANG! SHUT!*

The door shut and the Duke just sat there thinking about the information Alac gave him.

The noblewoman to his right asked, "Alaric! We can't let that monster live! I know he must have killed our boy!"

Alaric turned to her and yelled, "SILENCE!"

His voice echoed through the room.

She backed down and closed her mouth.

Alaric stood up and walked to a window looking out over the city.

"I understand how you feel, Leandra. But as long as that Dark Elf is by our nephew's side, he is invincible. There's nothing we can do to kill him unless you know a Dragon on the Continent of Silvana that would come to our aid? That is if it doesn't eat you and won't start claiming the Agon continent for itself?"

Leandra looked at the floor and clutched her fist.

Alaric continued, "That's what I thought. So, we can't fight him on the battlefield. That means we must fight him on the court of public appeal. He still has a kind heart and he listens to what the mob says about him. And if we can get the citizens of the kingdom to not follow him, then it will be easier to remove him from power."

"But he has a healer! How are you so sure he won't try to unify the continent as the emperor of Agon?"

Alaric chuckled and said, "He has the body of a great lion but a heart of a small child. His weakness is that he cares too much about those around him. He doesn't have the will to do what is needed to become an emperor."

Leandra looked at her husband and asked, "But how do we convince them that he is not good enough to be the next King? Surely the mob will side with him after defeating the labyrinth."

Alaric looked at her and sighed before answering, "The key is the Dark Elf, my dear. A Dark Elf that is reading ancient demonic tomes for evil things. A Dark Elf that stole the heart of the crown prince, that is using him for her own purposes. Most liking by inciting a war between the human kingdoms as she riles up the Divine Three. A Dark Elf that is interfering with the arranged marriage of Princess Hilda Stoneworthh that's supposed to bring peace between the Alliance and Fiafyr. The people will see the danger that comes with having a Dark Elf in the royal family."

Leandra looked at Alaric with a frown, "But he will still be alive while our son is dead!"

Alaric took his wife's hand and kissed it before saying, "I love our boy, but I'm sure he would have done something stupid to give up the throne. Most likely to the Divine Three bastards. I don't know how they got to the Prime Minister. But once the harlot gives birth to a boy the Alliance of the Divine Three will claim the Fiafyr Kingdom as their own territory. And I'll be damned before I let those zealots control this beautiful land."

Leandra looked away and tears fell from her eyes. "I'm sorry I was only able to give you one son, Alaric."

Alaric cupped Leandra's face in his hands and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, "No need to apologize, my dear, you still created five girls that we were able to marry off to some powerful foreign countries for our benefit... Speaking of which that gives me an idea."

Leandra looked curious and asked, "What idea?"

Alaric said, "I didn't like the idea of that Princess being married to Quinus. So, I had my men do some digging into her personality. Turns out she's just a pawn for her brother. Women have fewer rights in the Alliance and she is no exception. So, if she doesn't marry the crown prince she will be severely punished for failure. And she seems to be a cleaver girl from what my men could find out. So, I propose that we help aid her in getting Quinus to love her or let her use whatever means necessary to drive a wedge in between the Dark Elf and Quinus. That's where you come in Leandra. You need to befriend her so I can give her some foreign... Gifts to help her."

Leandra looked at Alaric with curiosity, "Gifts?"

Alaric smiled at his wife and said, "Yes gifts from the island nation of Ryliss. I'm sure our daughter's husband will send us some helpful gifts that will help our cause. After all, his father is the head noble of the Pleasure Alchemist of Ryliss. I think we'll get along well."

Leandra looked back at Alaric with a smile and said, "Aphrodisiacs? Well, I will see if Princess Hilda will seek an old woman like me as her friend. I will start planning our next move."

"Good! And once the Dark Elf is gone I will kill that boy the first chance I get," Alaric said with a sinister tone in his voice.

***