Within one of the small houses near the dock of Lioness port, four figures seem to have met secretly.
"Lord Fantumar, my king demands to know your standing on this matter."
Right after an audience with the king, the Cantiaci emissary secretly met up with the second most powerful person in Lioness, the wealthy Lord Fantumar.
It was a secret meeting that was attended by only four people, the two of them and Sir Breunor the Dread knight and Fantumar's son, Abe.
Abe was quite surprised to see that his father was more silent than usual, as he was disrespected by the Cantiaci family. He had expected a more visceral reaction.
"So, how will it be, Lord Fantumar? It has been 6 months and the Queen will not accept it! If this goes on any longer, she will not hesitate to break the agreement!"
Abe had always followed his father along on business related meetings since he was a boy, but for the last two years he had been accompanying his father more frequently. He needed all the training he could get, in terms of communicating and negotiating with powerful figures.
Lately, his father had increasingly been involving himself in politics. Each day, his father revealed a side of him Abe never knew existed. Recently, every meeting he joined was more surprising than the last.
For one, his father never wished for the throne. He thought it was merely a flippant display of power that only came with a horde of problems. His exact words were, "The throne is nothing but a big chunk of metal, a burden."
To Fantumar, the title of "king" was merely that: a title. One that evoked power and respect, but actually held none. For him, the real power came from money. With money he could buy loyalty. He had already bought the Dread knight and half of the kingdom's knights were similarly sitting in his pocket.
The only loyalty he really believed in was a loyalty to wealth. After all, even those allegedly honorable knights could be bought, and it was only easier to buy the corrupt ministers. Having pieces of land here and there would also buy the nobles, keeping them under his control as well.
In the past dozen years, he had managed to expand his power, even using the help of the marauders, clearing out some useless nobles and redistributing the land to those who supported him. This gives him a lot of pressure from the knight of the Divine order. But again with enough money, he could pay off for the order to look the other way.
Unfortunately, as of right now, he wasn't able to buy off more powerful figures without creating more tension between him and the current reigning nobles, and this tension would only mean less money.
His greed didn't stop him from becoming the richest man in Lioness, so his next target would be to become the richest man in the south of Briton.
Therefore, after years of planning it was finally the time to execute his plan. Having the two sides, Fantumar, and the Cantiaci to share the Lioness power.
With the Lioness having no male heir, it's apparent that whoever marries the princess would be the future ruler of the Lioness.
Prince Edward, the third prince of the Cantiaci. He was smart, good-looking, and quite successful being a champion silver knight of the divine order. The young prince has been friends with the princess for quite some time as well.
Matchmaking the two of them would be the best scenario for the Cantiaci and Fantumar. With this Fantumar wouldn't just keep his power in Lioness, he could even expand with all the land and business prepared by the Cantiaci.
This would be the fastest way to reach his dream. Having controlled the two biggest southern ports that were a gateway to the world would make him the richest man in the whole Briton.
At least that was the plan until the young prince of Cantiaci suddenly attacked the princess convoy after the tournament.
"If your stupid prince had just listened to my orders and follow the plan, then none of this would have happened!"
Fantumar's previously repressed anger suddenly boiled to the surface, infuriated as he thought about how that stupid prince ruined his plan.
At that time, The Cantaici prince was supposed to wait until the Dread knight came, but he was far too emotional after the utter shame he faced at the tournament.
"The Lioness king should be willingly giving up his throne by now. But no! He just had to be the one showing off his ego!... even if he had to, why does he need to show himself personally! Moron! He ruined everything!"
This time Fantumar was not concerned about showing his temper with the Cantiaci Emissary.
The rage was clearly evident in his face because the emissary unconsciously took a step back. The room was immediately charged with anxious energy.
"Lord Fantumar, please give us your advice, I am afraid the king will not wait. We, the Cantiaci, Might have to start preparing for war!"
Fantumar never wishes for war, he never really cares about the lives of the knights and the people. Mainly because war was always bad for business.
War would only make the trading stop and lead to less money, hence the reason why he had been preventing it from happening.
At least, that was what he always said to his son. But at this time, Abe looked on with concern as his father's expression was more calculative than usual.
Fantumar give a long sigh before saying
"Unfortunately, it seems war is the only option now."
This sentence shocked everyone in the room into complete silence. The emissary's eyes shifted around nervously.
Fantumar then began to explain.
"The problem was that princess, she has been slowly gaining support from the people and nobles alike. She also has encircled herself with her trusted knights."
At this time Fantumar stares at his son.
"How many are now under her direct command, son?"
"...ermm.. thirty father.. maybe more…"
"Huh.. you can't even get your number right Abe! Please don't keep disappointing me!"
Fantumar then asked the Dreadknight and he gives the full report. The princess has close to 50 knights that she recruited slowly, added with sir Yvain own knight, total there were about 200 knights plus around two thousand guards. That's from Lioness city alone. He starts counting the number of all knights and the militia the Lioness king could gather from all over the cities.
This line of discussion somehow worries Abe.
"Are you really considering war father?"
"Yes, you know I wouldn't resort to this unless there was another way. The problem is we are running out of time"
"What do you mean father?"
Fantumar took out a letter, it appears to come from one of his spies.
"A new piece of information had just come to light... King Uther of the Logress who will be stepping down from his throne has finally sent over his proposal to marry princess Gwenneth to the future King Arthur."
This time the Emissary was surprised
"How… How accurate is this?"
"Very accurate. And I am telling you right now that the princess will accept. She's very smart and she will not let this chance go."
"This… This is very bad news for us..."
"Yes! If this marriage actually does go through, then you can forget about Lioness, its territories will merge with Logress by then."
"Then what should we do…? What advice can you give, Lord Fantumar? Should we announce war now? Won't the Logress interfere?"
"No... Not that kind of war… to ensure the stability of the kingdom I disagree with a long open war, we should make a swift and decisive move!"
Fantumar was suddenly drawn to his own thought before he said
"Emissary, I will write a letter to your king. I will prepare everything. This needs to be done covertly and swiftly… We cannot let this information leak."
The emissary was elated after Fantumar write down something he said
"I need an answer from your King immediately"
He accepted the letter Fantumar handed him. He then hastily left the secret meeting place.
Fantumar turned around, and absentmindedly he rubbed his temple. He then faced the Dread knight and his son.
"This will be a great and vital turning point for the Fantumar family. Sir Breunor, prepare your knights and go wait for my instructions."
The black knight nodded and left the place promptly.
As for Abe, he appears to be hesitant, which was quickly sensed by his father.
"Son, this is a very necessary step for your learning. Some things need to be done this way, you must get used to the gruesomeness of it. Don't disappoint me, son!"
Abe nodded to his father but he himself can't help but feel worried.
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by NovelFull,