CHAPTER 163: NIGHTS OF MASQUERADE 6

"Fatigue?" Darius parroted, as we all looked at the ancient shadow of the empire in undisguised perplexity.

"Are you saying that he’s been laid so low... because he, a second gated demi-God, who can remain awake for weeks on end with little care, was just... tired?!" Horus asked in disbelief.

"...Yes." Isaac replied, aware how ludicrous his words were.

"Shade Corps Commander, it seems your reliability has taken a such severe blow in these past few months, that you can’t even distinguish worthless drivel from truth anymore; or have you grown so comfortable with your current position that you no longer feel the need to break sweat toiling for the empire?" Darius ruthlessly criticized the distinguished elderly assassin, as his cold eyes bore into him like the venomous fangs of a malicious serpent tearing into tender flesh.

"My lord Grand Vizier, Isaac has been a loyal servant of the empire his entire life, who’s contributions outweigh even mine." Abraham rushed to defend his old friend, making even his usually stoic contort into a small frown.

"I need no reminding Palace Guard Captain, and I never questioned the Shade Corps Commander’s loyalty, merely his current ability." Darius corrected, strings of manipulating light flashing in his calculating eyes.

"Is that not the same?" Abraham bit back, ruthlessly retorting the Grand Vizier’s words.

"That’s enough Abraham." Isaac’s voice then coldly echoed out. "I do not deny the Grand Vizier’s allegations, since none can deny my failure in accomplishing several of his majesty’s demands in recent times, especially when it concerns the future empress, so if my resignation is demanded I will not contest it, and if my life is required I will not barter for it; but I have never once taken my position and responsibilities lightly, as I have always performed and upheld them to the fullest of my abilities, and any shortcomings I have shamefully displayed in the past, were all born out of a lack of skill, not a sickening sense of security or arrogance."

The room was hurled right into the embrace of a dreadfully pregnant silence, after we bore witness to the old assassin’s words, yet only a light laugh managed to escape my lips, as I reclined back in my seat and rested one leg over the other, saying "I have no use for your life, and I have no intention of mangling my own information agency by removing from your current position. Besides, I don’t believe that your intel this time is without merit."

"My liege, do you perhaps know something we don’t?" Darius then asked with furrowed brows as he looked at me.

"Yes." I calmly answered, before sternly continuing "For the time being just think of this as a matter relating to the Gods, but now isn’t the time to speak further on it, so shelve it for now." I then returned my attention from the still frowning others, and back onto Isaac, as I asked one final time "Are you absolutely certain of the intelligence you’ve reported to us today?

"Of course, sire!" He instantly answered with no hesitation, his back straightening as he did.

Smiling maliciously, I say "Then I have a new task for you, and though this will might prove to be more tedious work thrust upon you and your men, you must not fail in this task."

"Understood, sire. It shall be done." Isaac gravely saluted, as if I were about to command him to accomplish a suicidal mission.

"Relax Shade Corps Commander," I said waving my hands nonchalantly "as I said earlier this task will incur boredom onto you than anything else. For I want you to aid in the propagation of the recent rumours spread by princess Elisabetta, but with a slight alteration. I want you to remove the slight uncertainty from within the spoken words of Nicholas’ ascension to the third gate, and instead advertise it as a certified guarantee that he would succeed; all of it in time for his coming nineteenth birthday in a few days."

"You wish to embarrass him." Darius instantly deduced, though he seemed slightly uncertain as to why I would go to such lengths to humiliate the northern crown prince.

"Yes." I did not deny it, as a cunningly crooked smile etched itself across my lips, twisting my face into a monstrous, mocking mask of sadistic contempt, before continuing in an eerily ecstatic voice "And Darius, I want you to subtly implant the idea of a celebration in the name of both the young prince’s birthday and new found ascent into the minds of the king and queen of Astrapi. While naturally, erasing all evidence and traces linking this back to us."

"As you command sire." He replied with a slight bow, probably thinking that this was a justified reaction to their offense of daring to scheme against us, even if it was a fairly minor affair that could do no real harm to us, but I didn’t blame him for that simplistic thinking, since the man was still unaware of the whole truth, and the upcoming events I had personally lived through in my past life.

Nicholas managed to triumph over me in my prior existence, not because he was more powerful than me, if anything I held a slight edge over him in battle instincts due to my propensity to fight on the front lines, and his own inclination to only fight when he deemed it necessary, preferring to sit back on his high thrown and silently scheme against his foes, while letting others do the dirty work for him; and it also wasn’t solely due to his powers of precognition, which undeniably gave him a terrifying edge over me, as that allowed to always remain a step ahead of me, but if his ancestor’s cheating gift was his primary cause of his victory, then his tight knit and expansive web of alliances and affiliates was undoubtably the second, as that allowed him to smother me from all sides, while stripping me of any aid or fall back point, with the added point of causing the complete crippling of my economy; isolating me in a world that wanted me dead and buried, with no escape.

So I plan to rid him of this advantage ahead of time, before a repeat of my past life occurs, and he can grow wise enough to exploit it to it’s full capabilities, but I wasn’t foolish enough to believe one minor embarrassment would be sufficient to make a reality my distant vision, in fact I doubt that any one event could truly rupture such a thing from happening, no matter how devastating and expansive it may become, but if it’s one step at a time, block by block, even if it’s single grain’s worth, it would naturally begin to stack on top of each other slowly but surely, to eventually topple his global supremacy, if only partly so, enough to not completely oppress me with it’s vastness, while I would make up for the rest.

Returning my attention from the future and back to the present, I ask the still present Isaac "What of the second mission I tasked you with? Have you uncovered any truth behind the western emperor’s withdrawal?"

Showing a troubled expression, Isaac replied "No, not yet sire. It is proving to be especially vexing, since the western hegemon has seemingly condemned himself into a pseudo self-isolation, only appearing for a couple a day in the gardens with his wife, before promptly returning to his quarters again."

Frowning at his words, I asked "And he seemed normal? Without any oddities to him?"

"None, sire." Isaac shook his head, leaving perplexed and annoyed at my inability to interpret Octavian’s seemingly incomprehensible actions.

And with that final statement the third night ended, giving way for the fourth night to take it’s place, which proceeded in the same manner as before, with the continued escalation of everyone’s extravagance, while Octavian, Roxana, Nicholas and his parents maintained their absentee streak, before closing the day’s celebration with Weixiao’s customary talk.

The only disobedience to the established norm today being the increased circulation of my desired version of Elisabetta’s words, which the silly girl seemed to not have grasped yet.

The fifth day then passed in a similar fashion, with me even lending a hand to the currently most talked about subject in the Banquet, much in part to Isaac’s masterful manipulation of public sentiment, and as the man who was second most mentioned to in these talks, my word was especially sought after and anticipated.

So when, on the fifth day, I simply said "It would be interesting to have a compatriot on the same level as I." The people’s excitement turned into a fever pitch, as many took my words and translated it to me recognizing my Nicholas as my equal, something which meant a great deal, since the three heirs of the three other cardinal empires were awarded titles they had clearly not earned, so with this, Nicholas would prove himself worthy of stand next to me and Maximillian, and become recognized as a true dragon.

This momentum only surged when on the sixth day, our host, king Aegaeon the fifth, stood on stage and announced that on the day of prince Nicholas emergence from his secluded training as a third gated demi-God, a special celebration meant to honour the monumental twin events of him unlocking his third gate and reaching the age of nineteen would be held.

All the while, Darius and I shared a knowing smile, as we happily saw the completion of our inextricable trap, and now simply awaited our prey to forcibly enter it, having no other choice but to do so.

On the seventh day, we decided to maintain a low-profile, wanting to remain inconspicuous to not activate any of our prey’s alarms, making them suspect that we had a hidden hand in what was about to inevitably happen.

Yet with the lack of objectives to occupy my mind, it naturally began to gravitate towards her again, stifling my breath like a boulder pressing down upon my chest, as this day would designate the twelfth day since my arrival to Katai-Verta, the capital of the Astrapi Kingdom, and yet not a sign of her had appeared.

’Maybe she truly did not come to this Banquet, like she did in my past life.’ I depressingly thought, as I excused myself from Darius and the envoys we were speaking with, entrusting him with the remainder, claiming to want some fresh air.

I then made my way to the dozens of balconies lining the walls of the Banquet hall, specifically heading to the eastern terraces, where both Cyrus and Nizam recommended I go if I ever needed some peace and quiet during the ball, for they claimed it gave the best view of Katai-Verta, especially at night, when the massive city is almost completely lit, on account of the month long festival the commoners will be hosting for the duration of the two hundredth and nineteenth Banquet of Concordia.

And once there, I drew the blinds of the glass doors, a universal sign of the balcony’s occupation and want for privacy, before I made my way to the stone railing, and I had to admit that my beloved brothers were indeed right, that it was a sight to behold.

Yet at that moment, I heard the doors behind me creak open, making me wonder who was bold enough to dare follow me here, when I so clearly signalled my desire not to be disturbed.

And in entered a woman in a modest dress of black and red accents, that perfectly hid her figure from unwanted eyes, with earth brown hair that was tied in a long braid that reached her lower back, and a black mask with thorned roses drawn upon it.

Yet oddly enough I noticed, that the mask possessed no eye holes for her to see, making me wonder who this mortal woman was, since she did not give off the usual feeling of divinity, we demi-Gods feel when faced with another of our kind.

"You are?" I coldly asked, frowning at the intruder, who ruined the small fragment of peace I had just begun to enjoy, yet when I heard the woman’s answer all went blank in my mind.