CHAPTER 1819 THE KING OF THE CLAN
Seeing all these people, Rocky greeted back and was later asked to sit beside Gilbert. Sitting next to the leader was a sign of special treatment. Hence, this gesture was enough to show Rocky's importance.
Then, Vivian sat down next to Rocky. Though they exchanged glances with each other, they did not really engage in any formal conversation. However, despite being very silent, Rocky noticed that Vivian let out a faint smile, something that could only happen rarely.
After a while, Gilbert turned to Rocky and talked with him.
"Odin, let me get this straight. Elder Leticia came to me earlier. She opened up the proposal of you and Miss Valeria getting married as soon as possible. What do you think?" Gilbert asked without further ado.
"Well, I don't see any problem. As long as Valeria also agrees, then we can proceed with it." Since this proposal actually came from Valeria herself, and the two of them had already agreed to it, Rocky also told Gilbert that he would go with it. This is from .
"Great! I'll announce this to the public later. Then, I'll personally start arranging things for the marriage ceremony as soon as possible." It was pretty evident that Gilbert was very delighted about this. After all, once the marriage was completed, the alliance between the Ghost Fief and the Flower Fief would become ironclad. Moreover, the relationship between the two fiefs would become more stable.
Rocky just nodded, entrusting these matters to Gilbert.
While the two were still conversing, Elder Leticia and Valeria also arrived in the hall.
At the sight of them, everyone from the Ghost Fief greeted and bowed towards them.
After Elder Leticia and Valeria had finally taken their seats, Gilbert stood up and addressed the crowd, saying, "Everyone, thank you for coming today. In addition to welcoming back the two remarkable Godly Geniuses, I also have another important announcement to make. I am glad to declare that these two will finally get married soon!"
Upon hearing this great news, everyone present quickly stood and extended their congratulations to the soon-to-be wedded couple. Of course, the people were joyous, knowing that once the marriage became official, the alliance would be greatly strengthened, and they would have an even better advantage in the battle among the Godly Geniuses.
Soon enough, the banquet was accompanied by singing and dancing. A group of performers took the center of the hall, dancing gracefully while waving their delicate hands.
At the same time, several people kept on coming to Rocky's side, giving him a toast. Since he was the center of the party, he had no choice but to entertain the guests.
However, after a while, Rocky began to feel bored already. He just wanted the party to end so that he could finally leave. But out of nowhere, he suddenly felt a faint killing intent from one of the dancers in the hall. Of course, he didn't show any expression on his face in case he was the one being targeted. Hence, he decided to stay behind, carefully observing the dancers at the center of the hall.
Then, a moment later, the dancers suddenly swarmed towards the guests, waving their sleeves. In a flash, Rocky clearly saw that a dagger flew out from one of them. It was not actually aimed at him but towards Gilbert.
However, at this time, Gilbert was still talking with Elder Leticia about the arrangements of the wedding ceremony, so he didn't notice it.
Seeing that the dagger would hit Gilbert, Rocky immediately threw the goblet in his hands towards the dagger.
Clang!
With a reverberating sound, the goblet managed to knock the dagger away.
Immediately after, the people realized what just happened and instantly became vigilant.
Seeing that the assassination failed, one of the dancers suddenly rushed out of the hall with lightning speed.
"Guards! Capture her!" Gilbert angrily ordered the first chance he got.
Vivian and several other Spiritual Emperors went outside in an attempt to catch the assassin.
"Thank you, Odin," Gilbert said with a sigh. He knew that if it wasn't for Rocky, he would have been hit by the dagger.
"Well, even if I didn't notice it right away, with your strength, you can successfully block it at the last second." Rocky was well aware that with Gilbert's ability, it would take more than a dagger to hurt him.
"I suppose that's true. However, it is surprising that no one noticed a killer sneaking in this place." There were many powerful Spiritual Emperors in their midst, and Gilbert himself was at the Shura Realm. Hence, he was dumbfounded that none of them even noticed the presence nor the killing intent from one of the dancers—except Rocky. That was why Gilbert felt that it was a bit strange.
"I only noticed it after she threw the dagger," Rocky quickly said, knowing that Gilbert was probably a bit suspicious of him.
After hearing that, Gilbert didn't probe further, deeming that it wasn't really the time to think about it.
Soon enough, Vivian and the other warriors came back, but it seemed that they were not able to catch the killer.
The killer might have already fled, but in order to ensure everyone's safety, Gilbert had to end the banquet ahead of time.
After talking some more with Rocky, Gilbert left with Vivian and several elders. Rocky could only assume that they would hold a meeting to discuss this incident.
Afterward, all of the other guests left one after another.
When Rocky was also about to exit the hall, Valeria suddenly approached him.
"Don't you find it weird? Why did that woman try to kill Leader Gilbert? Aren't we supposed to be the ones being targeted? I can't think of the motive behind this action..." Valeria tried to ask for Rocky's opinion, thinking that it was highly unusual.
"Well, it just means that this assassination attempt wasn't initiated by the Godly Geniuses," Rocky reasoned with certainty.
"Then, what was it all about?" Valeria queried further.
"Hmm. It might be possible that Leader Gilbert has offended some other fiefs. Or perhaps, this is the work of the members of the royal family..." Rocky said, making a rational guess.
"The royal family? Isn't he closely related to them? What makes you think that? That's impossible!" With furrowed brows, Valeria strongly believed that something was wrong with Rocky's speculation.
"The internal conflicts of the royal family may not be as intense as the open strife between the nine major fiefs, but they exist. However, I don't really know much about the royal family. Do you have any information that could probably help us solve this?" Rocky asked with genuine intention.
At first, Valeria hesitated a little. But since she already knew Rocky's true identity and plans for the future, she thought that Rocky might need every kind of information that could help him fulfill his promise. Hence, she deemed that the risk of telling him some classified information would be worth it.
"Nowadays, the king of the Shura Race is already getting old. Although his lifespan should be longer than ordinary members of the Shura Race, the king must choose a person that will be his successor. According to the tradition of the royal family, once the king reaches one hundred and fifty years of age, he should already determine his successor. However, the selection is not limited to the direct descendants of the king. He can choose anyone from the most respected and powerful members of the royal family..." Valeria recounted.
"So, you're saying that as long as someone from the royal family has superior power and talent, he will have a chance to be chosen as the successor?" Rocky clarified.
"Yes. If you are thinking that the royal family has something to do with the attempt to assassinate Leader Gilbert, then this might be the reason. He has the royal bloodline. Although he is just from the branch family, his bloodline is pure. Thus, he is a qualified candidate to become the next king," Valeria explained further.
"That must be it!" After hearing everything that Valeria said, Rocky came to understand the underlying motive in the attempt to assassinate Gilbert.
"However, I don't really see much hope for him. Although he is strong, I'm afraid that his strength is not enough to compete with the frontrunners for the throne," Valeria added. The reason why Valeria thought at first that the royal family would not be involved in the assassination attempt was that they did not have any reason to feel threatened by Gilbert at all.
"Then, who are the strongest candidates to be the next king?" Curious about this matter, Rocky continued to ask.
"Hmm. As far as I know, three biggest names are holding the highest potential. First is Prince Zain, the son of the king. He is currently holding most of the military power of the Shura Race's royal family. Moreover, he has a huge number of supporters. The next one is the king's younger brother, Prince Enoch. I heard that he has always maintained a close relationship with the Primitive Fief, and he also possesses a few powerful armies at his disposal."
"Who is the last one?"
"The daughter of the former queen, Princess Layla..." Valeria uttered with a bit of hesitation.
"Princess? They allow princesses to become the head of the royal family?" Rocky asked, not expecting about this.