"Are you going to stare at that painting all day? You were looking at it when I was going downstairs as well."

Micah turned his head towards his mother, who emerged from the library, likely having gone down to the artifact sealing room below the villa. Knowing her, she wasn't one to spend time with Azgralos.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Her heels tapped across the stone floor, and she paused shoulder-to-shoulder with Micah. Her gaze looked forward at the floor-to-ceiling painting hanging on the wall.

"It's probably not anything how he looked like," she leaned toward Micah and whispered. "He was painted centuries after the fact."

"I know." Micah nodded his head.

Before them was a painting of Ethan Arankagul, charging to the right with a flag in one arm and an army of angry villages at his heels, following him into battle. Their enemy wasn't even depicted in the painting. Still, by the bloodied swords and clothing, they had clearly gone through war already.

Ethan had long, flowing blonde hair tied in a messy braid. His clothing was that of a farmer, but his expression was that of a general.

No, it's the expression of an emperor—a conqueror.

"He does look like you. Or perhaps you look like him," his mother cocked her head to one side. "I can see the resemblance."

"But he didn't take the crown when he had the chance," Micah said.

His mother turned her head and smiled at him. She was at eye level. Micah was an impressive height, but his mother wasn't short either. And she had the benefit of heels.

"No, but he did take a different sort of crown." She patted his shoulder. "Come, we have another afternoon full of visiting delegates and important figures to get through."

Micah nodded and turned on his heel, following her down the hallway.

She was, of course, correct. Ethan may have stepped down and given the throne to Lady Aurelia Octavia, but that didn't mean he gave up the influence he had garnered over the people of Adovoria. But it was a hidden and murky sort of influence. While the House of Octavia shone in the light, the House of Arankagul stood shrouded in darkness.

Half the crown, I take.

That was the saying passed down for generations in Micah's family, attributed to Ethan.

No one knows to this day what happened on that day; not even Ethan told anyone what he spoke about with Lady Aurelia Octavia. He had overthrown and taken control of the palace. Yet, after meeting with her for a private conversation, he appeared to announce to all that she would take the throne.

Micah gazed out the large expansive windows of the villa's hallway. Fields of greenery spread out beyond the Town of Ascot, eliminated in the bright light from the sun. However, on the far horizon in the east sat a dark shadow that was the Celestial Mountain Range. It was far away enough from here that a day of travel wouldn't have been enough time to get to it, but it was so prominent that it created an illusion of being closer than it really was.

Farmer Ethan and Lady Aurelia. It was an unlikely alliance. Except for a tiny detail that only the two families knew: both individuals had gone to and emerged from the Celestial Mountain Range. Whatever had happened there had united the two.

To this day, Queen Aurelia Octavia is remembered as Adovoria's most beloved ruler, for she ruled the kingdom with kindness and justice. And she could do so, for the execution and removal of any obstacles was taken care of quietly by the House of Arankagul, whose involvement had been erased from history.

Such was the invisible balance for many centuries. The House of Octavia ruled, and the House of Arankagul was its loyal watchdog that enforced the rules. They cleaned up the sort of messes that no one else knew about. The kind of troubles that were unimaginable to most people.

It was almost a cursed position. And they were like moths flying into the fire, unable to escape the responsibility of their role.

Perhaps that is why my mother had taken on the Frey name. Not that it allowed us to escape the duties of House Arankagul.

"I heard all of the mages that brought in the shipment from a few days ago all died," Micah said.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

His mother nodded.

"Is the artifact that dangerous, or was secrecy needed?" he asked. One of the mages on the job happened to have been trained by Ridley, and Micah wasn't keen on angering his most powerful mage acquaintance for no reason.

"Both. Five died in its transportation and sealing. The few remaining were taken care of," his mother replied.

Micah frowned.

He had studied all types of artifacts and was well aware that his grandmother procured and sealed away artifacts that were too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands. However, sacrificing so many mages for a single artifact was highly unusual.

Just what did we acquire?

"Madame Elizabeth," Ben appeared, interrupting their conversation. "Orla Rex is waiting for you. And Micah, one of the Daylan princes has arrived."

"The youngest one?" Micah guessed.

"No," Ben scrunched up his face, seemingly recalling an unpleasant memory. "One of the triplets, Emmett Daylan."

"I'll see to him," Micah replied, rubbing his hands together.

The fight for the Daylan Dynasty's throne has started and there was a fortune to be made.

There was the duty that the House of Arankagul maintained of cleaning up trash and peculiar troubles. And then there was the pursuit of expanding his own influence and making some coin. After all, Micah had no interest in remaining as a mere watchdog.

Half the crown, I will take through marriage. But unlike Ethan, I will also wear the crown instead of staying within the shadows.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

<< Did you get all of that? >> I asked the System.

I stood up and stretched out my tired arms and legs.

The lecture had gone for at least an hour, and for the first time ever, I had sat through and paid attention the whole time. Or attempted to. Oddly, having a pen in hand and scribbling nonsense on parchment paper helped me remember the information, even though I didn't take any legible notes.

[ Of course. What a silly question, Luca. I had thought your Intelligence had grown, but perhaps there's still much growth to be had. I record everything that you see and hear. ]

I nodded my head, unbothered by the System's remarks poking fun at me. I had grown used to it by now.

"I'll see you for tomorrow's lesson." Professor Whistle nodded his head of bushy white hair and walked past me out of the room. A subtle smoky smell followed him, likely having come from the purple grass that he was puffing the whole lecture.

"See you then," I replied, weary from the long lecture.

I still hadn't a clue who he was, but perhaps that was a question I could ask my information broker.

Tsk.

But I had to prioritize that against several other questions, including figuring out who Harley Whitmore was working for and why she kept torching Natalia Ashford's bakery, and more pressingly, who might have hired the Farmer to come after me in the previous round.

"Peep!"

That was more of a lesson on battle strategy than on history.

<< That it was. >>

Leona flew out of the room with me. Her mood had improved; she had relaxed half an hour into Professor Whistle's lecture.

He had covered how Ethan Arankagul had managed to garner and unite an army. It wasn't an overnight success either like the novel made it out to be. He was a mere farmer, after all. It took two years to gain allies and establish a network, and even then, his army was unskilled. He used them as intimidation props rather than an actual battalion. And he relied more on trickery than anything else. He targeted specific points and individuals, breaking communication streams and alliances between nobles.

Did you learn anything that you could use in fighting off the Kobar Empire?

I sighed.

<< Yes. To have a stupid amount of coin. >>

Ethan Arankagul may have been the face of the movement and the one that did all the heavy lifting to overthrow the current crown. However, no one remembered him apart from a fantasy novel and an ancient man's telling. The one that ultimately took the crown and went down in history was Queen Aurelia Octavia.

You want to bankroll the fight instead of participating in it?

I nodded.

I was dead serious.

Lady Aurelia had financed the whole effort. She had essentially bought her place on the throne.

While Ethan was getting his hands dirty with his fellow villagers, she was socializing and establishing connections with nobility. Those that were friendly to her were provided seats at the table, and those that gave her trouble, Ethan had discreetly taken out.

Of course, there was no opposition to her taking the throne because there was no opposition left.

Walking down the hall, I looked out the window into the training grounds. I saw Sir Edward working with our guards to improve their sword skills. While I planned to get my physique to a better condition than the pitiful state it was at currently, I had no intention of being down in the trenches and fighting for my life ever again.

Once was enough, and what's the point of having gone back in time if I can't take advantage of at least some of the knowledge of the future to ensure a life of comfort?

"Peep!"

How are you going to earn enough? From the sound of it, Lady Aurelia Octavia started out wealthy, as it were, and was extremely lucky in her investments to have obtained her enormous fortune.

Leona landed on top of my head and made her nest within my black hair.

"I just need to invest in some shovels…." I muttered, my eyes having landed on one standing against the training grounds' railing. It was one of the very niche but lucrative pieces of insights that I had regarding the future.

<< I know how to get extremely lucky in my investments as well, >> I explained to Leona. << And hopefully, the goods I put up sell well amongst other Players. >>

"Peep!"

Do you think they sold well?

<< Unlikely. It hasn't been that long. >>

I motioned with my hand, and the blue Game Store screen appeared before me.

I knew it was a tad early to check, as only about an hour had passed since I put all the goods up for sale. But I was curious nonetheless to see how this weird store worked.

I blinked.

That can't be right.

I squinted at the number of Nexus Coins indicated on the blue screen.

I had put 15,000 Nexus Coins worth of goods up for sale. So how was it possible that I currently had 24,722?