Chapter 229: 229 Kingdom’s Two Major Factions
The Franzer Family mansion, a separate residence.
It must be said, magic is truly a miraculous thing.
Especially the type that could create something out of nothing, the Structural Magic, which in some ways had touched the realm of the divine.
With such magic in existence, a mansion as luxurious as a manor, recently burned down to the ground, was rebuilt in less than half a month, exactly identical to the original without any difference. If this wasn’t considered miraculous, what would be?
Anyway, after Reiger and the others returned to this mansion, they didn’t find anything different from before, even the furniture was perfectly restored.
Thus, everyone hardly needed any time to adapt and quickly settled down.
However, changes were still present, just in some other aspects.
For instance, this time Yuri didn’t station the accompanying Knights at the royal training fields in the capital for training, but had Ai En and Ian station them in the mansion instead.
For instance, Yuri didn’t use the magical protection system set up by the palace magicians, but personally designed and busily modified this protection system extensively.
And then, the servants recalled by the Franzer Family were all under a certain level of surveillance, watched over by the Knights led by Ai En and Ian, not allowed to accept money from others as they had before.
These were intangible changes, detectable only by those with keen senses to understand the intricacies.
Mistis and Isu didn’t notice anything, curiously exploring the entire residence and moving around as if they were on vacation.
Yuri also had no intention of sharing the matters between her and Reiger with these younger siblings, thus she arranged for someone to accompany them for fun, with the stipulation that they must get her approval before going out.
Reiger then noticed that since their return to the capital, the Franzer mansion seemed busier than before.
This was not only due to the hundred Knights stationed there, but also because many nobles began visiting consecutively.
Over the past few days, carriages bearing the crests of noble families continuously entered the Franzer home to meet with Yuri.
Reiger also received many letters from the butler, all sent by various nobles from the capital.
Some were greetings, seemingly eager to establish good relations.
Others subtly expressed their intentions to meet to discuss matters, their objectives quite obvious.
After all, Reiger’s fame in the capital was now no less than Yuri’s. His dual identity as a True Swordsman and Tactical Level Magician made many believe he would inevitably become a noble as significant as themselves. So, whether it was to forge relationships or to court favor, the nobles of the capital were bound to take action.
Reiger even found a letter from Aquil.
In the letter, Aquil seemed as if he was reconnecting with a long-lost close friend, expressing joy throughout the letter. One would think Aquil considered Reiger a confidant, if one overlooked his continuous questions about when they could meet and his requests for help.
Later, Reiger learned from Yuri that Aquil had garnered considerable attention within his family due to his actions.
Aquil’s father had originally intended to designate his eldest son as his heir, but started hesitating due to Aquil revealing some level of a "friendly" relationship with Reiger.
In such circumstances, it wasn’t hard to guess what Aquil wanted Reiger to help with.
Reiger simply ignored him, not even bothering to send a reply.
What surprised Reiger was that apart from Aquil, someone else from the little group he used to mingle with had also sent him a letter.
This person was none other than Kaliya Liat, the object of the original host’s affection.
This lady, the only one in the small group whose status and heritage matched Aquil’s, had previously ignored Reiger and the original host indifferently. But now, she too had sent a letter, suggesting they meet for tea if he was free.
This made Reiger furrow his brows and involuntarily recall a conversation he had with Yuri before.
...
This conversation took place before they reached the capital, Yalev.
At that time, Reiger’s group had just disembarked from the ship and boarded a carriage, leaving Trantia and heading towards the capital.
The three days of sailing had left Mistis and Isu feeling exhausted; they fell asleep in Marilyn’s arms.
Reiger was chatting with Yuri, and during the conversation, Yuri began talking about the kingdom’s current situation.
"Actually, the situation of the royal family can’t really be considered good," Yuri suddenly said to Reiger.
Perhaps because they were nearing the capital, or perhaps because she knew Reiger would soon be dealing with these matters, Yuri brought up the topic.
"How so?" Reiger asked, quite puzzled.
Under such circumstances, Yuri explained to Reiger.
"Currently, there are roughly two factions within the kingdom."
"One is led by current members of the royal family."
"The other is led by a certain duke."
According to Yuri, the current King of the Ginas Kingdom and that duke were brothers. After the death of the previous king, both had contended for the throne, resulting in the current king’s victory and ascension to the throne. The duke, having lost the chance to become the king, was given the title of duke and a new surname—Codelion.
Thus began the struggle between the king and the duke.
"Duke Codelion has never accepted his defeat, believing he is no worse than the current king. He thought he lost because the current king was the eldest prince, the eldest son of the royal house, whose right to succeed was slightly greater than his, which enabled the other to ascend."
"The current king, aware of his brother’s discontent, has always secretly suppressed the development of the Codelion duke’s house to prevent any chance of rebellion or usurpation."
"While there has not been any overt feud, the underground struggle has always been ongoing."
"Originally, this would not have led to the kingdom being split into two factions because the Duke of Codelion never had the opportunity to develop."
"Until both parties’ descendants began to grow up..."
Yuri told Reiger that the Duke Codelion had a son and a daughter.
The son’s name is Saint Nidor Codelion, 22 years old this year.
The daughter’s name is Saint Charlia Codelion, 17 years old this year.
Although the duke only had two children, among many nobles this was considered very few, but these children’s achievements were quite remarkable.
Saint Nidor had practiced swordsmanship from a young age, displaying exceptional talent and effort. At the age of 13, he received the True Knight Medal, becoming the youngest True Knight in the kingdom. When the Codelion duke turned over the house’s knight group to him at 15, he trained this modest group of a thousand knights into the kingdom’s finest knight group.
This knight group not only included several True Knights but also a Sword Saint, reportedly recruited by Saint Nidor himself.
Saint Charlia showed a talent for magic from a young age and developed Tactical Level Magic by herself at 14, thus becoming a Tactical Level Magician. Like Yuri, she skipped grades and graduated early from the Splire Academy.
This brother and sister not only were exceptionally talented but also worked exceedingly hard, excelling in all aspects—be it combat, achievements, scholarship, or character—making them quite famous in the Ginas Kingdom.
"In contrast, the royal family’s generation is not on par with the Codelion siblings."
The king, unlike the Duke Codelion, had many offspring.
However, among these many offspring, only four are rather well-known.
Among the four, one is a princess, still very young; thus, let that pass for now.
But the other three princes are famous in various ways for not very good reasons.
"The eldest prince, Kuhart, has been frail and sickly since childhood, unable to practice swordsmanship or manifest any magical talent. Neglected within the royal palace, he has acquired considerable scholarly knowledge; he later discovered many errors in magic studies, published his findings, and was immediately recognized by the Splire Academy, becoming a modern magic studies professor there."
"The third prince, Solok, possesses the most remarkable swordsmanship talent, obtaining a True Knight Medal at 15, but he is cruel, jealous, and has suppressed numerous nobles for his personal gain, making him the most notoriously known among the royal offspring."
"The seventh prince, Boel, is one of the rare magicians among the royal offspring, with decent talent, though not enough to become a Tactical Level Magician. However, he has both Transformative Fourth Degree and Manipulative Fourth Degree magical aptitudes. He was once highly hopeful, but due to his timid and weak character, the king is very displeased with him and is quite indifferent toward him."
These three princes all have somewhat dishonorable marks against them.
"Many nobles within the kingdom believe that these three princes, representing the royal offspring, do not hold the qualities needed to lead the next generation of the kingdom; thus, many nobles choose to align with the Duke Codelion."
As a princely relative, the duke inherently carries royal blood and is also entitled to the succession of the throne.
Before becoming the duke, the current head of the Codelion house was already a member of the royal family, a blood brother of the current king, making the royal lineage very strong; this affords his children, Saint Nidor and Saint Charlia, very high positions in the line of succession.
Thus, the kingdom’s nobility was completely divided into two factions, one led by the current royal house, the other led by Duke Codelion.
Of course, there are also many nobles who are neutral, choosing neither side, or who have not yet made a clear decision.
"For example, the Franzer house has not yet made a clear alignment."
Talking about this, Yuri looked at Reiger with a somewhat meaningful expression and said,
"Isn’t one of your friends from the Liat family?"
Naturally, Yuri was referring to Kaliya Liat.
"The Liat house belongs to the duke’s faction, a vassal of the Duke Codelion house."
"Kaliya Liat was once an accompany scholar of Saint Charlia Codelion at the Splire Academy, and even though Saint Charlia has already graduated, she still reports about academy matters to her from time to time, helping Saint Charlia in her affairs."
"So, your friend isn’t simple, huh?"
Yuri’s somewhat teasing words deeply furrowed Reiger’s brow.