Reind turned to look at Dannish who had not been doing anything until now, then looked down at the people below. He approached the people below, chanting:

“Arglohandre cannot go a day without a leader. There has never been a time when an Emperor was needed as much as now. I haven't been here for a long time, I need someone who can keep me updated."

A man stepped out of the crowd to meet Reind. He closed his eyes and said:

“I can help, sir.”

"Who are you?" Reind asked.

“Hello, Finn Highfortress. My grandfather used to be a historian in the Glamgmar Palace,” he replied respectfully. “He served the court of King Robert III and Lapunta for a while before being driven away by him.”

“The big houses, are they still there?” Reind asked.

“Arglohandre has eight territories, corresponding to eight Great Houses. With the exception of the Jaspien Royal Family and the Elderman House of Sandringdom that were wiped out by Lapunta, the other great houses remain.”

“Are they here?” Reind asked with a slightly pitiful expression.

"Yes, my lord."

With that, the six of those Houses stepped up from below to face Reinds. They were the heads of the six great families, guarding the territories of Arglohandre, and now the continent of Mascredyre. The first was Lord Robert Swift of Ubberst, whose crest was a White Horse. The second was Lord Edelain Blackmyre of Lanchester, whose crest was a silkworm wrapped around a sword. Next comes Valdemir Oderon from the Werricks, whose crest is a falcon and the flagstone is the mighty Heaven-reaching mountain range known as the roof of the Arglohandre. The only woman among the lords was Lady Katheryn Lancel of Varros. Her husband, Lord Maddox Lancel, had recently passed away. Lady Katheryn thus became a temporary lord because their son was only six years old. The Lancel crest is the head of an elk, endemic to Varros.

Lord Oberyn Warden stepped forward with a brooch bearing the crest of a large eel. He is currently the lord of the land of Strone, the largest natural lake in the system of the Five Lakes of ancient Arglohandre. The last is Lord Boris Edmund of Dorse, whose crest is a moth.

In front of Reind were now the lords of the territories. Inside he suddenly felt something difficult about the decisions to come. He turned his head to look at the ruins of Glamgmar and thought about something. After a while, he returned to them, saying with determination:

"We'll need a roundtable, my lords."

---

Having handed over all the cremation work to his wife and Phalanx, Reind led Finn, Dannish, and the other lords to the ruins that once bore the name of the Palace of Glamgmar. Thinking that there would be nothing but dirt and burnt bricks, the round table that sage kings and lords used to discuss politics is still there, full of challenges. Dannish and Finn quickly wiped the dust off the surface of the table, then frantically searched for intact chairs. Fortunately, there were only eight seats left, six lords, plus Reind, there was one seat left. Dannish and Finn will not sit, but will stand to attend.

The atmosphere was already tense. Reind recognized the power-hungry expression in each of them. Who doesn't want to be the new Emperor of the whole continent? Come to think of it, there was a time when these Houses couldn't sit together at the same table. The Eight Kings Rebellion in the past took place continuously for fifty-three years, just because of the fight for every inch. Blood must be poured down a river to end this chaos. By that time, the young warrior Sandler had unified all eight territories, starting the first official dynasty of Arglohandre called the Kingdom of Plamya(1). It was also the flourishing period of dragons. Sandler Jaspien was the first to tame Dragons, the first to ride them in the sky.

Reind looked a little nervously at them. At first, everyone just looked at each other and couldn't say a word. Everything seemed so sudden and Lapunta's influence was still there. The last time they were in the main Palace, right on this table, was to hand over the children to Lapunta's barbaric sacrifice. Even though he was dead, there was still a glimpse of the Emperor's figure and demeanor. Scary and horrifying!

Robert Swift, Lord of Ubberst spoke to clear this atmosphere:

“Do you have any intentions, Reind?”

“If nothing changes…”, Reind said slowly. “You will retain the right to rule over your territories.”

Finn Highfortress stood beside Reind and listened attentively. As a habit, Finn immediately jotted down Reind and the temporary lords' words on a pad of paper he always carried with him.

"We have no new Emperor yet," said Lord Edelain of Lanchester. “And the Sandringdom territory is still vacant for a lord.”

“Who was the previous lord of Sandringdom?” Reind asked Finn.

"It's Mordo Elderman," Finn replied respectfully. "He was killed, by Him."

“Does the Elderman House not have any descendants?”, surprised Reind.

"From old and young, Lord Mordo's paternal and paternal side have all been executed by Lapunta," replied Finn.

“Mordo planned to overthrow Lapunta, but it ended up like any other resistance. They are mercilessly oppressed,” replied Lord Valdemir of Werricks.

“He forced my husband to execute their whole family with his own hands,” said Lady Katheryn of Varros.

"Me too," replied Lord Oberyn of Strone, in a trembling voice.

“One by one. Every woman. His wife is pregnant, Lady Madelyn,” Lord Boris, with a look of horror on his face.

"You don't know how we all felt when he was dead," Robert said.

"We've never agreed like this before," Edelain nodded.

They all stopped and looked at each other, leaving Reind alone to be surprised. The other lords stopped at Oberyn. He gave a slight nod as if to signal, then drew in a long breath. Oberyn looked straight at Reind and bluntly declared:

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“We choose you, Lord Domingo. We choose you to be the new Emperor of Arglohandre.”

All the other lords nodded in agreement, but Reind alone didn't feel any joy or pride. He just shook his head gently, then replied:

"It won't be me, my lords."

"You're the one who led the army that killed Lapunta," said Robert, not understanding. “If not you, then who is suitable to lead us?”

“Yes,” Valdemir nodded approvingly. “We have chosen you, Reind. Apart from You, we will not kneel before anyone else.”

"I'm afraid that's the way it is!" Reind stood up firmly.

The six lords silently looked at each other as if contemplating something. Reind looked at them for a moment, then said:

“We are going to a place where no one knows where to live. The war is over, and everything is over. But rest assured, I have a worthy Emperor.”

“May we ask who it is?” Edelain said with a puzzled look on his face.

Reind nodded slightly, then looked at Dannish who was standing beside him. Dan faced Reind in surprise, a little uncomfortable being stared at like that. He didn't even know what was going on. They were clearly discussing who would be the next Emperor. Yet Reind turned to look at him right now. Who will be the one in the end? Wait! Why are you looking at him? Is it…?

Reind turned to look at the lords. Without a moment's hesitation, he declared to everyone with a fierce attitude:

“Dannish Howmen will be the new Emperor of Arglohandre.”

The whole Council was suddenly silent. They didn't know what to say. Even Finn couldn't put down his pen to continue writing. As for Dannish, he was in awe. The Emperor? Dannish Howmen? Standing in the same army as Reind, he didn't dare to think about it, let alone becoming an Emperor, unifying the Mighty Eights(2)?

Dannish asked in surprise:

"Aren't you kidding?"

Without waiting for Reind to reply to Dannish, Lord Edelain sitting below suddenly burst into a scornful laugh. He sarcastically mocked:

“Do you really think we will submit to this man? Someone who's only my youngest son's age?"

"I'm thirty, my lord," Dannish was offended by that arrogance.

“Then by my second son,” Edelain continued with a disdainful smile.

Robert seems to be the calmest one. He stood up, looked at Dannish once, then turned to Reind and said slowly:

“We respect you, Reind. We have chosen you, because you have given Arglohandre independence. But becoming an Emperor is not easy. You can't just casually suggest others."

"Dannish isn't anyone else," Reind said gravely. “He bravely entered the battle, and was the only survivor. I don't think there's anything unworthy of Dan."

“Not only that, my lord,” Lady Katheryn said. "We don't have to judge him less than you, but it's partly a matter of respecting the lords sitting here."

“What do you mean?” Reind asked.

“Sandler the Great unified the territory and was honored as an Emperor for his exploits,” said Oberyn. "He conquered those with the hardest heart, the most thorny at that time."

“Gandra Ice Bear, Andus the Skinner, Mormont the Raven, Carmen the Holy Maiden, Eddard the Judge… They were in a constant war to be the strongest, and the Great Emperor was victorious,” Valdemir said.

Robert didn't have an easy-going look on his face towards Reind. He growled and said:

“We only know you. We don't know this young man. So one is you on the throne, the other is one of us, or even someone else.”

"You're giving me a hard time, aren't you?" Reind smiled faintly.

“No,” Robert shook his head. "We simply don't trust him."

“Dannish is the Chosen One”, Reind tried to stay calm, but he seemed to be slowly losing his mind before them.

"According to whom, my lord?" added Edelain next to him.

"Jon, my son," he said, his voice rising with pride. “It was the boy who plotted this victory.”

"Then he seems more worthy of being an Emperor," Edelain replied with a shrug.

Robert shook his head dejectedly. He sat down, clutching the hilt of his sword. Reind also sensed tension, so he didn't forget to defend. The scribe Finn also automatically took a step back in the face of this disagreement. Robert said:

"We don't care what he said. We just want an Emperor that we can trust and we can submit to. Reind, this is not going to happen.”

"Dan is a worthy man."

A child's voice resounded behind them immediately interrupting the not-so-good conversation. It was Jon and Victoria walking slowly. Reind immediately felt like he was saved. The smile returned to his face. The other lords began to talk in low voices. Only Robert focused on the boy in front of him. There was something special about the boy that he couldn't understand.

The boy made his way to the round table, and Reind retreated to his wife. He leaned in her ear and whispered:

"I'm about to draw my sword and cut their heads off."

“Jon asked to come. He said there was something to be done,” Victoria replied calmly.

“What's about…?”

“I gave it to Phalanx. He's calmed down," Victoria said softly.

Reind silently nodded in response. At this moment, all his thoughts were focused on his son. He wanted to know what the boy would do to appease the hungry lions.

Edelain found the boy a little amusing. He held out his hand as if calling the boy to come. Jon slowly walked over to him. Edelain picked it up and sat on her lap. He asked:

"Are you Jon?"

The boy did not answer. He just nodded.

The atmosphere has calmed down somewhat. It seems these adults don't want to be rude in front of the child. Katheryn looked at the boy with an affectionate expression, and asked:

"What do you mean he's worthy?"

“He is the Chosen One”, Jon replied quickly. "He is Jaspien's descent."

“How?”, Valdemir doubted.

“We need something more authentic, kid!” Oberyn said.

"I have a way to prove he's the Chosen One!" Jon exclaimed.

"Tell us, Jon," Robert looked at the boy with a stern expression. But surprisingly, the boy also responded to him with a defiant expression.

Jon glanced at all of them sporadically. And then, it shouted, word for word clearly:

"The Dragon's Chamber!"