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(3rd Person POV)

Aston Phoenix was sitting in his room, pondering on one of his ideas. His butler was standing behind him, waiting patiently for his master's order.

Aston asked his butler, "Have all the preparations been done?"

Edmun replied, "Yes, my lord. Everything has been laden in the royal carriages. The letter has been sent to the Agriches and they will know that you are visiting them."

Aston chuckled as if he had remembered a hilarious event, "Lant Agriche would be scared to shit. Also, have you taken the current situation from our spies posted there?"

"Yes, my lord. All information has been sent here. There are rumours of a beautiful and handsome toy for the Agriches being caught by the head of the house. He has bluish-white shiny hair. So, the chances of him being the prince of the blue is 100 per cent."

Aston leaned on his hand and looked at Edmund with a smirk, "Edmund, I have been thinking about something. Give me your honest opinion about it."

"Of course, my lord."

"You know that I don't like Pedelians, right?"

"Yes, my lord."

"What if I want to kill the Prince of the Blue? What will be your opinion on it, considering the current landscape of the noble world?"

Edmund's eyes widened as he said with a gulp, "I will follow all your decisions, my lord. But I will suggest to be careful about that. If the Pedelians get a hint of it, then the result might not be good for your reputation."

Aston smiles satisfactorily as he said, "Very good, Edmund. Continue that faith and I might even start to trust you. Also, bring all the courtiers to me."

Edmund asked in confusion, "Ok, my lord but can I ask for what purpose?"

"I was thinking that Agriches have a very dark and dreary place. It will be fun to have someone to keep the atmosphere light. Send in some people who can entertain me."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"But my lord, can't we arrange for some professional entertainers? Why only courtiers?"

"Edmund, it's because I said so. You want to question my decision again?"

Saying that the eyes of Aston got a different and much more threatening shine.

Edmund didn't reply back but just shook his head slightly.

"Good."

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Aston was sitting in his office while another person was seated in front of him. He had a short build, white curlish hair and a face that still had some baby fat. In short, he was a childish-looking person.

He was younger than Aston by 1 year and was 16 years old. He was not one of the courtiers but the son of a courtier. His father had forced him to try to be an assistant to the crown prince of the empire which can help them raise their family status in the noble society.

Aston asked him courteously(the tone that he used to maintain good relations with other people), "What is your name?"

He replied in a nervous tone, full of innocence, "M-My name is Panem."

"Ok, so Panem. Do you want the role of my assistant? I can see that you have good enough skills regarding management, you passed at the top of your class from the Royal Academy."

"Y-Yes, the crown prince.

"Ok but why should I hire you? You have a minuscule amount of experience, there are better candidates outside who have much more experience than you."

Hit with a reasonable question, Panem went into thought, his fingers fiddling on his lap.

After some time, he said with determination burning in his eyes, "I know that I am less experienced than them but I believe I have more potential than the other candidates. I would like to have a chance so I can prove myself to you."

Aston sat still for a few minutes, increasing the suspense of Panem who had thought that he might have overstepped his bounds.

Aston started clapping lightly with a wide smile on his face.

"Very good, I wanted to see this tenacity from you. You are my assistant from now on. Go to your home and pack your bags. Come to the royal gateway in 2 hours. We will leave for another place."

When Panem heard this, he was on cloud nine. His face had a smile, free of any evils of the world. He bowed down and said with respect, "I am thankful for this opportunity, my lord. I won't disappoint you at all."

Saying his words, he got out of the room with pure happiness radiating from his eyes and almost skipping all the way through.

After he had exited, Edmund came from the shadows and asked his lord, "My lord, why did you take him in? Can I know the reason behind it?"

Aston turned his face towards him and had a normal expression on his face but Edmund sensed something.

He bowed on the ground and started to say, "I am sor-"

Before he could complete his sentence, Aston willed his power to make Edmund feel pain, extreme pain. It was the same pain that Roan felt earlier.

Edmund tried to scream but Aston restricted his vocal cords and there was no sound coming from his mouth.

After some minutes of that agony, Aston receded his ability and allowed Edmund to be free from his grasp.

*Gasp*

*Puff*

"Haa, Haa. I apologize for asking you too many questions, m-my lord."

Aston smiled a pleased smile and then said, "Edmund, I know that curiosity is humanity's core trait and you are a human too but know your limits."

"And as for your question, you should know that I hate people who only think about doing good things, right?"

"Y-Yes, my lord."

"Panem is also a person who believes that everything is flowers and rainbow but I don't detest him. He doesn't try to put his strength into being upright, unlike the blue hounds. Who makes me vomit with their hypocritical agenda? Panem's attitude amuses me and that's why I chose him. And he is quite brilliant. I can see him becoming the chief strategist of the empire. It would be good to retain the talents of the empire for myself. Understood everything?"

"Yes, my lord. I once again apologize for questioning your purpose."

After a couple of hours, the trio of Edmund, Panem and Aston are near the carriages.

Edmund sits on the front to protect his lord if needed. Panem, nervously sat in Aston's carriage when Aston requested it to him.

While Aston was in the carriage, he was going through some documents containing the information about the Agriches.

While viewing it, his eyes glanced a tad bit longer for some reason on the name, Roxana Agriche.

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(End of the Chapter)