Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 178: Western Wolf

Following his chilling declaration, Tianlan stood up, proclaimed his joy for the foundation of our new found partnership and hope for our continued cooperation, before he then politely took his leave with Menghu a step behind.

Yet we remained mostly unmoving in our seats, with mere simple pleasantries sent out to accompany him out the door, as our minds were too preoccupied by stunning revelations to remember the obligations etiquette imposed upon us, not that we much cared for it either at that point, as I only spoke after the great doors to the hall had loudly closed, as I sombrely asked "What is your council?"

None immediately answered, as they all remained still in their silence, slowly brewing in the depths of the confusing concoction of clashing thoughts and competing ideas violently swirling in their skulls, before the first of whom rose from their mental quagmire, saying with a sombre tone "Though I would ordinarily advise otherwise, and immediately push for us to extricate ourselves from this noxious mire we have unwittingly stepped in, but I both believe it too late to do it cleanly now, as well as best to ignore the long term complications of the matter for the moment, to better deal with the imminent threat banging on our door."

"What do you mean Darius?" I asked, being surprised by his odd stance on the matter, which stood in complete opposition to what I thought he would say.

Darius remained silent for a moment his jaw moving ever so slightly, as if he were chewing a word, trying to better articulate his thoughts, but the eloquent man, a veteran of a thousand diplomatic conflicts and a million political struggles, the one and only Master Puppeteer who has reigned supreme over the political world of my grandfather’s, father’s and now even my own reign, at this moment found himself almost tongue tied, unable to accomplish what he has easily done an innumerable amount of times before.

Yet he eventually exhaled a defeated sigh, and said "My emperor... though I hold no tangible proof to substantiate my words, bar my centuries of experience and my knowledge of Marius’ character, but I have been assailed by this sinking feeling ever since last night when we faced off against the Luminous Prime Minister after your dance with her majesty, and I believe it to be a warning that a gruelling and unadventurous battle is on the horizon, one I fear we might not be fully prepared for, as we are blind to what the other side desires; so I believe it far more paramount to deal with that first, and then resolve the issue of the Yue Dynasty after the storm has passed."

Darius’ words rung true with an undeniable edge of graveness to them, as I trusted the old man’s instincts when it came to the political word more than my own in certain occasions, as the man not only possesses a terrifying talent and a prophetic eye for the art of statesmanship, but more alarmingly still, is his expansive collection of libraries worth of personal experience in the craft he has in his possession; painstakingly collected after having dwelled in those venomous halls of half hearted promises and guiled, greed laced smiles for far longer than I have, even when adding both my lifetimes; which is an undeniably dangerous combination.

Yet not everyone agreed with the old sage’s point of view, as Leonid worriedly argued, his brows frowning as he thought of his former employer siding with his most hated enemy. "But if we do that, wouldn’t we be effectively pushing the Luminous Empire to more aggressively try and secure their alliance with the Boreas Empire, so that they may be able to stand against us?"

"Only if the Frozen King would ever agree." Isaac commented.

"Even if he does, can the eastern emperor even provide such a hefty support to truly corner the Luminous Empire, when he can’t even maintain hold over his own domain?" Abraham then cynically stated, concerned with the state of our new ally.

"Yes, that may be true, but lord Octavian, Marius and the rest of their ilk don’t know that." Isaac pointed out, continuing "To them, a terrifying tiger has suddenly sided with us, even if only we know it is little more than a hollow, paper one."

"In either case it’s too late for that worry to be considered now, as we have already set them on that path the instant this meeting was held with the eastern emperor and his family, and I’m certain Marius and his emperor are speedily devising a new plan to both counter us, and lure the northern giant into their side of the fence." Darius quickly retorted after, his voice unfluctuating and coldly confident, as he could already see the strings of intrigue, made from the characters and interests of man, and maneuvered by our actions begin to quickly intertwine and entangle into a confusing ball of yarn, in which the crafty Marius and the Luminous Empire would join hands with their hated northern rival.

Following this, Horus chimed in, saying "But doesn’t the Boreas Empire despise the western hegemon just as much as we do, if not more? So they might not even be willing to accept such a proposition from the Luminous Empire. And weren’t they trying to barter more friendly relations with us not too long ago? I would find difficult to believe that they would so quickly abandon that plan to ally with their ancestorial nemesis."

"A naïve thought child." Abraham quickly admonished his subordinate, looking at Horus as he explained "You should have already realized by spending so long by his majesty’s side that nothing is permanent in the domain of statecraft but benefits. So if the Luminous weasels were to offer the northern giant a lucrative enough agreement, then who would care about a theoretical plan that might or might not come to fruition years or even decades from now, with even greater margins of error and uncertain rewards at the end of it."

"We should also not disqualify the fact that the Boreas Empire is the historical enemy of the Yue Dynasty just as much as they are the Luminous Empire’s, so I honestly doubt whether they would make such a distinction between whether they take a bite from the western hegemon with our aid, or from the eastern empire with the Luminous Empire’s assistance. Either way, I believe it beneficial to their cause, with little difference in their eyes." Darius then solemnly added.

"And we mustn’t forget that we have recently put into action a ploy to embarrass their crown prince as well; an affront that would undoubtedly anger the usually overprotective Frozen King if he were to come to the realization that we are the one’s behind his son’s soon to be tarnished reputation." Isaac reminded us.

"I would be surprised if the Frozen King is yet to have at least placed us in the top two of his suspect list for who might be the one behind the exaggerated rumours circling the Banquet." I then said, my voice calm and collected, as I lifted my head up to stare at the ceiling above, before continuing "But thankfully we have expertly hidden the traces of our orchestration from leading back to us, and I doubt he would tear all face with us over mere speculation with no concrete evidence, even if it was for the sake of his one and only son."

"Then is an alliance between the northern giant and the western hegemon impossible to impede by this point or not?" Horus asked, as we returned into the previous quiet contemplation of before.

"Though nothing is set in stone, it is still more than likely to occur." Darius replied a moment later "Especially as I am certain the Luminous Empire is undoubtedly ready to offer them a deal that they would hard for them to refuse."

"Then why don’t we offer them a deal of our own?" I then muttered, my head still inclined upwards.

"...What do you mean, sire?" Darius confusedly inquired.

"Exactly what I said." I replied. "We offer the Boreas men a pact as well, bargaining for their assistance against the Luminous Empire."

"But my liege, I’m sorry to say but we would most likely never be able to match the conditions the Luminous Empire presents, especially if they offer copious sums of Darr from their overflowing coffers and a promise of military aid to secure lands on their eastern borders. Something we could never match due to their far more powerful economy, as well as the Luminous Empire’s far lesser size in comparison to the Yue Dynasty and her allies, which would mean that only so much territory could be promised to them, even if we intentionally give them the lion’s share, in the occasion we actually do proceed with this plan." Isaac warned after a brief analysis.

"I do not think it wise to allow the Boreas Empire to expand beyond their already inflated borders, or they’ll eventually become like stone rolling down a snow covered mountain, quickly causing an ever increasing avalanche." Leonid then added to my Grand Chamberlin’s words.

"Indeed." Abraham calmly concurred "The Gods were merciful when they placed the twin mountain ranges, the Senna and Serra, that to this bar the Boreas Empire from proceeding further south."

Hearing all their words, I knew they misunderstood the aim of my plan, as I would never stoop so low as to hold hands with that rat, Nicholas’, nation; and nor will he now that his ancestors precognitive visions are once again shown to him.

So I decided to stop their worrying, as I simply clarified "Gentlemen, you seem to misinterpret the goal of my tactic; for we have no reason to bleed ourselves dry trying to outcompete the Luminous Empire in a bidding war in their own speciality, we merely have to make a show of it."

Hearing my words, Darius was the first to fully grasp the meaning of them, as his gleamed in a Machiavellian delight, as he muttered with a wicked smile stretching eerily across his lips "You mean to muddy the water, sow chaos and confusion were non existed, and then overinflate the price of the Boreas Empire’s cooperation, so that Octavian and the rest of his posy would have to bleed even more to prevent the unification of three of the major powers under one banner."

Nodding I continue "Which would encourage Mikhail to remain neutral longer in the conflict, as he would obviously wish to continue accruing more benefits for himself and his empire by doing nothing, unaware that all my promises would be akin to smoke in a headwind when he decides to finally capitalize on the moment. A realization he would uncover far too late to even regret, as he realizes he has been played as a fiddle this entire time."

All those present around me seemed more or less impressed and ecstatic by my chillingly devious strategy, but only I knew that a single variable exists in the equation of this apparently fool proof plan, and that is Nicholas and his prophetic dreams.

It didn’t matter that he was not the same man from my memories, still too inexperienced to perfectly utilize both the divine powers of his frigid heritage and the nearly unlimited fountains of forbidden knowledge and untold secrets he gains every time his ancestor pulls aside the curtains of fate for him to see.

And considering his father’s level of trust and adoration for him, it wouldn’t be too difficult for him I imagine, if granted the knowledge by his family’s esteemed progenitor, to leverage those same feelings against the usually unfeeling and logic oriented Frozen King, convincing his imperial father of my nefarious intentions, thus by dismantling the very foundations of my plan, as he so often did in our past lives. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

So as a primary precaution, I would need to poison his father’s ears against him, even before he could start spitting cautionary tails to him of my future treachery; and luckily I know the perfect person to help me do just that.