Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 198: Clandestine Barters and Shadow Masked Eyes

Yet just before he reached out his sweaty palm to turn the knob of his door open, he suddenly paused, as his mind lit up with the luminescence of abrupt recognition, shining past the lingering remnants of fog obscuring his trains of thoughts, fully dispersing the last stubborn wisps of sleepiness' mist, and finally remembering the present predicament in regards to his intentions; which was how to even begin dealing with a man such as tyrannical despot of the south, Alexander the third.

He who is both celebrated and feared as the Mad Monarch, the Bloody Emperor and the Ruinous Dragon, the master of the southern realms and ruler of the Eclipse Empire, whose reign is all but guaranteed to usher in a new golden age for the previously waning southern realm; blinding achievements that were alone more than enough to honour a legacy for a thousand years in the prestigious annals of the Eclipse Empire's storied history, crowning him one of the finest offspring's his ancient family ever produced, that dragged the dying embers of their empire back into a roaring fire that none dared even approach let alone tread upon, and all emphatically earned before the age of twenty, a monument of his sheer talent that has now been all but recognized by every sentient being who has heard of his harrowing exploits.

And yet even more problematic still, was the fact that he was fully aware that Alexander was the one man on the planet that he could not presently convince his father to act against in any capacity.

For despite all the love his father held for him, and his immovable, and enviable position of crown prince of the Boreas Empire, his current title afforded him little privileges and power, beyond a firm promise of future dominion and the right to stand at his father's side when his council's been called.

And it was due to these same council meetings he'd been a part of that he was aware of his father's want to recruit the newfound power of the Ruinous Dragon to pincer their long time enemies, the Luminous Empire, and divvy up their rich and fertile lands between them.

Remembering this, he staggered back to his bed and sat, his head clutched between his hands, racking his mind to think of a way to act upon the messages of his ancestor, but the question remained how, when he was without any loyal, effective retainers, significant assets or influence, and even money.

This was something he'd never truly considered or even realized before this very moment, but it now became eerily clear to him that without his father, he had nothing and was worth nothing, literally; as the loyalty of his maids and guards that followed him around since birth, were in fact his father's, and they obeyed his orders not because he was Nicholas, but because he was Mikhail's son; similarly his always overflowing coin purses were also not his own, but were instead assigned to him from the budgets of palace, meaning that even if he wanted to buy something miscellaneous for himself he obviously always could, but it was always reported back to his father.

'To think there would come a day I would envy the random vagrants and street urchins of the capital.' He thought self deprecatingly, for at least they could confidently say that the couple of Darr rattling around in their pockets were undoubtedly their own, and could spend it how ever they pleased with none their to police it.

Nicholas found his sense of self being put to the test with the passage of those thoughts, but he then quickly shoved them to the back of his mind, since now was not the time for such cumbersome and prolonged lamentations, as his priority for the moment has to be the answering of his current problem.

But despite himself, his first thoughts again drifted to seeking his father's aid, showcasing yet again how much he unconsciously relied upon him, thinking he could convince him using the leverage of his trust and love for him, or by properly explaining to him all he'd experienced in the past week or so, burrowing the name of their esteemed ancestor to further assure him, but then he threw that the notions aside, reminding himself that it was a fool's errand.

Because even if his realist of a father would believe him, his pragmatist approach to everything in life would never allow him to act upon such untested claims and the impossible to verify ramblings of his recently insomniac son, especially when said prattle stands so parallel to the logically correct decision one often needs to defer to when deciding the fates of nations.

'If only I had strived to claim more merit for myself in the last few years, rather than waste them in pointless tasks and lessons.' Nicholas thought in regret laced with unacknowledged envy, knowing that if only he had a fraction of the achievement's Alexander had, his father would never dismiss his concerns and assertion of prophetic dreams.

If only he had argued more vehemently against his father's will a few years ago, when he was afforded the chance to follow the army in smashing a growing horde of bandit led rebels in the east, if only he had not buckled under his father's persuasion and his mother's tears to remain safe in the capital and further his studies while slowly cultivating the skills they said he needed before embarking upon such bloody ventures, conveniently forgetting the fact that he was a year older than the at the time upstart Alexander, who was reaping souls like a farmer reaps his ripe crops in the lands of the Luminous Empire.

And so he continued to push his mind to engineer a new design to enact the will of his ancestor's prophecy, but his lack of funds, influence, power, prestige or retainers who were solely answerable to him thwarted his every idea, until finally like an enlightened sword cleaving past the veil of surrounding his frustrated mind, a devious thought came to him at that moment, punctuated with a single phrase.

'If I don't have the strength to stand before him, then why not borrow the might of others for the time being.'

And who were those this plan of his would be hinged upon?

His eldest sister Elisabetta and Octavian, the hegemon of the west, and his obscenely wealthy empire.

And so without further adieu, he decisively rose from his bed, threw open the doors of his room and rushed to his sister's quarters, dismissing any servant or guard along the way, who wished to obstruct him or question why he was in such a rush in the dead of the night.

And when he reached her room, he found himself pausing for a moment, taking a deep breathe to steady his nerves, before gently knocking on her door, wanting to neither startle her nor awaken any other members of his family, especially his father.

Thankfully his simple light knocking was enough, as he then swiftly heard the sound of rustling sheets soon after, before the door's knob and hinges then opened to reveal the image of his sister in her nightgown, her ordinarily well groomed hair and appearance slightly dishevelled by sleep, but her eyes were as cold and sharp as usual, as she looked at him questioningly.

A silent query Nicholas instantly answered, as he unceremoniously made his way in "Sister we need to talk!"

"What happened?" She asked half in surprise at her brother's unusually pushy actions, half in alarm, at what could possibly tempt him to come to her in such haste in the middle of the night.

"I need a favour." He whisperingly answered, as he turned to look in her in the eye.

"...What manner of favour?" She asked a second later, as she finally closed the door behind him, offering them more privacy.

"I need you to covertly contact the Luminous Empire for me, and arrange a meeting." He straightforwardly said.

'What?!' Her mind roared out in an exploding question, feeling as though the shock was delivered to her with the force of a physical blow, yet she allowed none of it to show upon her features beyond a raised eyebrow and slightly widened eyes, as she asked "Why?"

And upon hearing her question, Nicholas contemplated if he should reveal to her his secret, but then decided otherwise, knowing how it would sound without concrete proof, something he planned to begin collecting from this very moment, so that when he eventually utters his newfound secret visions, they won't think him an attention deficient fool, or just simply a mad man who fell for the delusions of his dreams.

So in compromise he uttered this vague sentence in response, hoping to begin planting the seeds of confirmation in her mind "Because if I don't, something terrible will come to pass."

"What do you mean?" And as expected Elisabetta furrowed her brows and asked for further clarification, yet Nicholas he couldn't offer her them right now, so he decided that now was the moment he would use his trump card, as he said.

"If you do this for me sister, I promise you that when I ascend to the throne, I will grant you what you desire most."

Those words froze Elisabetta in her tracks, as her mind seemed to expel all else from within it, and focus upon his earnest voice and candid eyes.

"When do you want it done?" She resolutely asked a moment later.

"The sooner the better." He answered with a relived smile.

"...Did you tell father about any of this?"

"No." He honestly admitted to her.

"Very well, I'll see it done then." She assured, as he slightly bowed in gratitude, saying.

"Thank you sister."

A smile broke through her frigid exterior at this, as she beheld her earnest younger brother who she both envied and loved in equal measure "Just remember you words tonight."

"Of course." He replied with a beaming smile, before he began to make his way out, while muttering an apology to his sister; not because he planned to renege on his promise, but because he always planned to give her and his other two sisters what they always wanted, but he had to use it as leverage against her this time for necessity's sake.

And after another sleepless night, Nicholas awoke to the great news, of his sister's speedy success, as she had already organized a meeting for him.

One that would take place in an hour from now, in a secluded sector of the now barren Royal Gardens of the Thuella Fortress, as today would mark the first day of the Quest of Crowns, the final event of the Banquet of Concordia.

Rushing to the agreed upon sight, after quickly freshening up and donning a white, ordinary looking cloak, with the company of his sister's most loyal men, he found himself face to face with an expected individual, even if his features where covered behind a thick cloak; Aurelius, crown prince of the Luminous Empire.

"Wait for me." Nicholas commanded the two who followed him a moment later after he regained his bearings, as he made his way to the prepared chair standing opposite his golden haired counterpart.

"I must confess that I was surprised when we received your message, your highness." Aurelius calmly said as he took a sip of his steaming cup.

"When mutual profit is afoot why hesitate?" Nicholas affably replied, his armour polished and undaunting.

"Mutual profit you say?" Aurelius smilingly mused, before asking "And what would this shared benefit look like exactly?"

"I can tell you where the Eclipse Empire has gained it's recent economic boons." Nicholas calmly replied, as he nonchalantly reclined back in his chair.

And despite himself, Aurelius' eyes shook in response to his words, as he asked "And where did gain such information?"

"Trade secret, but I guarantee it authenticity." Nicholas responded with smile, knowing he'd hooked his prey.

"And pray tell, what would the price of such information entail, lord Nicholas?" Aurelius asked, not bothering to hide his interest in acquiring such information, since trying to seem uninterested in such a thing would be nothing more than a waste of time. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Five hundred thousand Darr, seamlessly smuggled into the Boreas Empire under my direction." The northern crown prince answered.

He initially thought to ask for more, but he didn't want to jeopardize the deal by pushing his luck, besides he estimated that those funds would be satisfactory to lay the foundation of his future power base.

"Deal." Aurelius swiftly agreed, since even though such a sum was not insignificant even before his nation's immeasurable wealth, but if they could confidently ascertain the source of their foes sudden increase in power, then it was hardly worth mentioning.

Yet all the while, as the two princes were engrossed in their closeted talks, they never once noticed the pair of jubilant eyes, that literally lay in shadowed delight under their noses this entire time.