Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 215 - 214 - Ambiguous Royalty

The castle was not as impressive from outside compared to the Heavenly Maiden Sect headquarters or Cimmerian branch nor the Starfire House floating complex but inside it was still a long walk to ascend the tower to his quarters.

The guard seemed nervous for some reason but Lind ignored him and examined the building with his Eyes.  There were some normal arrays for gathering Qi and defending the structure but he also noted a strange array that was inactive.

He let his Qi flow over it and was surprised when it reacted to him.  The guard jumped as an invisible wall suddenly appeared in front of him and could not advance.  Lind kept moving and was not impeded but the women were stopped the same as the guard.

"I see, a family array.  Odd."  Lind waved his hands and the wall disappeared while the guard's attitude changed instantly.  He was no longer nervous and bowed deeply to Lind before smartly marching ahead.

Lind studied the array and understood that it was keyed to royal bloodlines but he was unclear on how it confirmed it.  Why was the Regent not living in these quarters?  As they ascended, Lind noted the complete lack of servants and signs of dust that made it clear this part of the castle had been left to rot.

"Why has the Regent not used these quarters?"  Lind asked and saw the guard flinch but not answering was not an option.  A space of silence passed before the voice came from the helmet in front of them.

"The lord Regent rules but he is not royal.  He is a believer in our traditions and only royalty can live here.  Even his son cannot claim these quarters until he is crowned king."  Lind could see the logic a bit.  On Earth, Regents would reside in different quarters from normal royalty they may be representing until they were of age.

It meant, however, that the true power would be with the Regent wherever they were until the royal ascended to the throne.  Lind smirked as he both was royal and did not exist politically at the same time.

After several more flights of stairs, they came to a massive open floor that clearly was the royal suites.  Dust was covering everything but Lind did not mind.  The women with him went to work as the guard bowed and left.  No guards for royalty? Lind smirked and began to help clear the mess.

The women were long used to Lind working so did not bat an eye as he produced some tools to clean and they began to air out the quarters.  Lind was actually surprised at how minimal the decorations were in the quarters compared to the receiving hall below.

The main chamber was quite large with a bedroom, bath, and meeting room.  It was all enclosed by the black stone of the castle but the arrays were more of the royal bloodline and Lind finally saw how they knew what he was.

There was a feedback array that resonated with his blood.  There must be something imbued into the inheritors from the founding family member that passed from one son to another to identify who they were to the arrays.  It now made more sense why the Regent was not up here.

He could not be.

"A bit paranoid of the royal family it seems, but expected."  Lind mumbled but ignored it as he finally lit a fire and opened the balcony doors to let sunlight in.  He saw it was only late afternoon but night would be there soon enough.

It was his last week before the trial and he intended to lay some groundwork.

"Reya, you have the list?"  She had set herself up by his entrance but now she produced a scroll with a list of names and handed it over.  Lind looked at it and smirked at how many were there.  He had not simply deflected the nobles but examined how they approached him.

"Should I send a messenger?"  Reya seemed reluctant to do so and he agreed with her reasons.  He shook his head and instead began to go over a jade slip in his hand before handing it to Reya.

"You know who is close.  Use this information to help break through.  Once you are stabilized, I will make the next move."  Reya smiled at him and took the slip to find her fellow servants ready to attempt to enter the World Realm.

Lind did not expect the next 5 days to be quiet and he was certain his little demonstration would bring some nobles calling.  He also knew some would come to 'claim what was due.'

His examination of the arrays made him alter his plans slightly as he doubted anyone really understood what they had allowed.  It was clear the royal family had never revealed that piece of information or they would have never allowed Lind to take up residence there.

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"The barriers did not trigger until you were on the last stairwell?  He was able to pass right through?"  The court was silent as they heard the guard's report.  They had known he was the son of the 2nd Prince but to have the arrays and formations acknowledge him was firm confirmation of his identity.

The Regent's questions were met with solemn nods that sent the nobles murmuring.  It was not like the Regent had not tried to enter the royal quarters but the insurrection had neglected to see if there were any secrets to retrieve from the former king and crown prince.

The Regent had regretted not having access to the main branch secrets.  When he tried to activate any of the formations in those quarters, the defenses activated to expel all intruders until the Qi exhausted itself.

Despite several attempts to have a specialist examine them, they could not find the source of the trigger that caused the issue.  There were legends the founder tied it to the bloodline somehow but the Regent was from a branch family and some nobles had royal blood in their veins as well.

None of them could get it to work, but Lind had no issues at all.

"He manipulated it somehow!"  Lewis was angry as he had been expelled even after surviving the Trial of Stone.  It had been supposed that one had to survive the Trial but that had not resolved the issue.

"My lord, he was able to cancel the barrier with the arrays I could see.  I recognized it from when his majesty would do it to keep people out."  The guard spoke up but his words made the Regent both angry and nervous.

The Trial of Stone was a known barrier to be the heir but now, if Lind Frey survived, he would have very few obstacles left in the noble court.  Lind's attitude and work ethic were some of the most well known things about him.

His status as a low grade 4 elixir master and rumors had begun to spread that he could Forge at low grade 3 were all things in his favor already.  The Regent could see the calculative looks in the various nobles.

Lind was not tainted by the older generation, if anything he was far more open minded and welcome across the world, and his own skills could bring in vast flows of resources to the barren kingdom.

He was half way on the throne in their eyes but the Trial was the last obstacle rather than the beginning of the path.  The Regent felt sweat breakout on his back as he could not think of ways to stop it.  Lewis was looking more enraged by the moment which when compared to the imperious air of Lind when he was just there was not flattering to his son.

"You are dismissed."  The guard bowed and left while the court chatted quietly in their various groups.  The Regent raised his hand as silence descended on the room once more.

"There can be no doubt of his bloodline.  However, you all saw how he treated you or your envoys on his journey here.  He is not a proud member of our Kingdom, but an invader that wants to destroy our long history."  There were frowns on their faces but they were also seeing how they were trapped.

They had used Lind as a pawn in their political games but when they thought he was dead they had pushed hard to get their agenda advanced.  When Lind returned, it was clear he was done avoiding engaging them.  Worse, he had met the requirement of cultivation to become a true contender for the throne.

"He protects those women from our rightful claim to them!  He had no right to do that!"  The head of Ba house spoke up but the Regent knew he was trying to get revenge for his son's embarrassing failure.

The Lotus Academy gains had been wiped out in 1 month.

The months since had seen the members from Altair still being valued by the Academy but their plans to be leaders of their generation had been completely destroyed by Lind Frey in a single move.

Further, there were now many eyes moving towards Altair as Lind had made a public statement of his intention to ascend the throne he had been offered.  It made things nearly impossible to undermine Lind even in backroom dealings!

Only a madman would offend a Forger let alone a grade 4 elixir master and Lind was both!

On every front, the once pawn had suddenly become a massive threat and only a single Relic stood between him and true power in Altair.  The Regent knew he would be on the chopping block and his son would be lucky to be spared.

Various noble houses were just as nervous and worried about what would come.  It would not be like before when there was a mad King and his son trying to bring disaster to the Kingdom.  Instead, it would be like the long suffering would come to an end as resources and alliances would rain down on Altair to win Lind Frey's favor.

The thing they all understood though, was that the likelihood of the Kingdom of Altair as they had known it would come to an end and a severe amount of changes would be instituted.  He would also have the greatest leverage with the resources and alliances to dole out to secure his ascendancy without question or objection.

"Father, we must do something!"  Lewis was wise enough to whisper but there were several low Gold Tiers with sharp hearing in the court.  Thankfully, they agreed with Lewis.  Still, their options were severely limited.

The Trial of Stone was not strictly controlled.  They could only initiate it and then monitor the trial.  The conditions for passing were public knowledge so it could not be changed.  If one survived for a week, they passed.

"Wait.."  The Regent suddenly recalled something.  The nobles stopped as a smile spread on the Regent's face.  His body began to shake and even his son looked at him oddly.  Had the Regent gone mad?

"We will follow the manual for the Trial of Stone, exactly.  Exactly!"  The Regent's words confused them all at first until the older houses began to smile as well.  It was not something well known but the Relic could be simply set up to stop after a week but if they set it up properly, they had no idea how long it would run.

"Brillant father!"  Lewis was cackling as the Regent sent out orders to pull World Stones from the treasury and get the Trial setup for full power.  The court relaxed as the death of Lind Frey was now certain and no one could touch them as the Relic was not known in detail to anyone.

They all looked forward to the end of their current headache forever.  He would die for certain this time.