The Rise of the Black Plain

After the previous situation, the day of celebration in Vogel went smoothly, with the public feast quickly unfolding to the citizens' happiness.

The more private occasion for the high-ranking people of this kingdom also continued for several hours, following the opening of the parades, to a large banquet that took place later in the royal palace.

Minos and his wives attended every part of this event, mostly paying attention to the behavior of those present, particularly those of high rank.

They did not miss the opportunity for conversations with royalty and low-level nobility members who attended the event. But those conversations mostly covered their purpose of spying on the Spiritual Saints in those areas.

But after breakfast, their group had little result in looking for suspicious signs. Instead, they at most finished identifying each of the underlings of the royalty present at that event for their action that would come in the next few days.

And so, after a long day of celebrating with the royal family, the Spiritual Church group returned to the local temple with Minos and his wives.

"Well, now that we have the basic information about our targets, this city, and local powers, let's get ready to act in the coming days," Minos commented to his wives as they walked at the end of the church group.

"Do you think 'he' is the culprit?" Abby asked, already knowing who Minos' suspect was.

"I don't know, but he is my main suspect. After I mentioned the Black Plain, he did not show any signs. But I noticed that for the rest of the event, he seemed to have had his mood affected by something..." Minos said as he looked at Abby.

"It could be that it is something else, and he has no involvement in it. But I don't know. He seemed odd to me."

"But what about you?" He looked at Gloria and Ruth.

Gloria then said. "I noticed a few Spiritual Saints watching in our direction during the event. Some were probably just curious about us, but others seemed to have something on their minds."

"Hmm, I noticed the same thing," Ruth said. "Some subordinates of the royalty also did the same."

"Let's get ready to act as soon as possible. If the other party is guilty, they might try something too!" Minos said before their group entered the Church temple.

...

Meanwhile, in the royal palace of the Vogel family...

Abe was with his staff in his office at this very moment, expressing his problems in his expression.

Each of the six individuals in that room knew he was not in a good mood and waited for his orders in silence to avoid irritating him with other problems or possibilities.

After a while like this, he opened his mouth and said. "Did you guys notice that group of four masked people from the Spiritual Church? They looked very suspicious to me... I can't tell, but the way that person talked to me seemed like he wasn't afraid of me."

"Oh?" One of the men who had not been present at most of today's celebrations exclaimed upon hearing that. "But that's normal, isn't it? He's a member of the Spiritual Church from a branch outside our state. So, it should be normal not to be afraid of the local royalty."

Another who had heard Minos' comments earlier disagreed. "No, I think His Highness is right. When he answered the earlier questions, his words seemed to have a trace of defiance or audacity."

Silence returned to that place until Abe stated. "And their identity is very mysterious. The Church members themselves did not want to talk about it for some reason..."

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"I'm afraid they are the ones who said they were part of Iron Hearts!"

Hands clenched together, making the sound of leather rubbing together, as sweat began to form around the bodies of those individuals.

Abe ordered. "Keep an eye on their movements. At the same time, try to find out as much as possible about them in the next few days and prepare a plan of action if the threat becomes true."

"If they are just after someone unrelated to us, leave them alone. Otherwise, we'll have to blow it up and risk everything on our emergency plan!"

Gulp!

The people there swallowed their saliva, praying so that they would not need to go to such an extreme.

"We will do our best, Your Highness!" They said before leaving in a hurry from that office, leaving an anxious and sighing man there.

...

On the other hand, at King Vogel's residence, this man was standing next to his only wife, sipping a glass of wine as they stood in the bathtub in his courtyard.

"I feel that Abe did not enjoy the party today..." The crown prince's mother commented while she had a worried look on her face.

"Are you worried about the rumors going around?" The king questioned his wife while having a relaxed expression on his face.

She nodded in agreement. "The bad tongues say that our son is planning something big and that it may not be favorable for you, dear..."

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"Sigh!"

"Even a coup has already been suggested as a possibility among our intelligence experts." She sighed, thinking that her family was in a delicate situation.

That was a problem constantly faced by royalty around this violent world.

Princes and sometimes princesses were born on the premise that one day they would become pillars of their state, surrogates, and natural heirs to their parents' positions. And as much as some of them were not interested in positions of power, there were almost always those who were ambitious and strove to reach the top.

Unfortunately, reaching the top meant replacing at least one of their parents, something problematic in a world where parents could live for thousands of years...

There was a real risk that the children of a king would not have the opportunity to rule, often this being the award to their children, not themselves.

Because of this, sons who wished for their parents' deaths or acted to hurry their deaths were not uncommon, leading to that woman's concern.

"And from what I've been told, he's playing with some hazardous things so that he can rise to your position..."

The king then stopped his wife from continuing. "That can't be true! He wouldn't be able to risk the whole family's good and still betray us!"

"Perhaps..." The queen said in a low voice, regretting that her husband did not see the true colors of their eldest son.

But she, who had a personality more like Abe's, was not wrong. 'I have to do something to protect my family, even if I have to act against my own son...' She looked at the king. 'I can't lose the only person I've ever really loved in this world!'