CHAPTER 271: CHAPTER 261: A DIVIDED ROYAL COURT

"——The Second Young Lady and the King have never had children," Susan said.

Andrew was dumbfounded and wondered why this topic suddenly came up.

Susan repeated emphatically, "The Second Young Lady married into the Royal Court years ago, yet she has never conceived a child of the King’s."

Andrew’s heart stirred, and he suddenly recalled the "homework" he did on the way to the negotiations, especially the part about why Catherine married the King back then.

It was, of course, a political marriage. Not excluding the factor of love, but overall, it was primarily a political union.

On the side of the Warm Fire Commerce Association, through the union of the Second Young Lady and the King, they drew the Royal Court, originally taking a neutral stance between the east and west, to their side.

Conversely, the Royal Court also had demands in that union.

That is: the King needed to pass on his bloodline, he needed a child!

Being of Titan Bloodline, the individual strength of the Royal Family was quite powerful.

But the stronger the individual, the more difficult it is to pass on the bloodline.

Moreover, the Titan Bloodline is extremely dominant, and the chance for a woman to conceive a child with someone of the Titan Bloodline is already small. Even if she does conceive, she may not be able to withstand the domineering power of the Titan Bloodline, resulting in the inability to sustain the child in the womb, potentially even endangering herself.

Thus, a woman who is also a Professional, with excellent physique, and ideally has strength that matches the King’s, is needed to be the Queen of the Royal Court.

There are many powerful women in the Magic Guild, but due to the poor natural constitution of Earth Fire Professionals, each is extremely strong yet subhealthy.

Therefore, who could be a more suitable candidate than Catherine, a Warm Fire Professional with superb physique, and crucially, extraordinary talent and strength?

Hence, the King and Catherine became husband and wife.

That was actually a win-win marriage.

Considering Catherine’s popularity across the Flame Realm in her youth—even the Magic Guild has many admirers of her—many believed at the time that the Royal Court was the greater beneficiary in that union.

Quickly recalling this information that he had specially understood before coming to the Royal Court, and re-examining Susan’s repeated sentence "The Second Young Lady and the King have never had children," Andrew’s expression turned somewhat peculiar.

Could it be that the current strange and complicated situation in the Royal Court stems from the sole reason that... Catherine did not conceive a child?

If that’s the case, the reason is overly commonplace, melodramatic, too "not Otherworld-like," isn’t it?

This is practically a plot from the court and family dramas of the world before crossing over!

Honestly, Andrew found it hard to believe it was true.

His inner desire for more "magical" reasons.

However, Susan quickly shattered Andrew’s fantasy: "The King needs a child, yet the Second Young Lady has never been able to give him one.

And following the recent Double Flame War, the Magic Guild seems to have realized: Our Commerce Association’s strength has grown so formidable that they can no longer disregard its cordial relationship with the Royal Court; thus, the Guild carefully chose a candidate to marry the King, to replace the Second Young Lady’s position.

The Second Young Lady continued to be childless, while the Guild planned to send a woman with a high likelihood of conception to the King. These factors combined led the King to change his stance. Now, he is no longer the King inclined towards our Commerce Association, nor the neutral King before the marriage, but instead... a King allied with the Magic Guild!

The King is already the enemy!

This is the current situation in the Royal Court."

As Susan was speaking, Barbara was already trembling with rage.

Andrew sighed, raised his hand, and placed an Invisible Water Magic Barrier to separate the living room from the bedroom, then said to the frenzied Barbara beside him, "Feel free to vent, don’t hold back; you won’t disturb your sister..."

"I C&%&%%B!!!!"

Barbara immediately "obediently" vented out, her anger several times greater than when she confronted Capella at the Royal Court earlier, "Are they treating my sister as a breeding tool? Replacing her if she can’t have a child?! That bastard doesn’t consider the problem might lie with him? Does he think replacing someone will guarantee a child?!"

Having never seen Barbara explode like this, so fierce and firing curses at a rapid pace, Havier felt his ears ache, involuntarily shrank his neck, and looked at Barbara with horror.

"Ahem..." Dean Charlie lightly coughed, "Third Young Lady, calm down. Such words are for closed doors, not to be said in diplomatic occasions."

Andrew gently patted Barbara’s shoulder, quietly infused a "Seed of the Water Spirit."

Then he turned to Susan and asked, "Who does the Magic Guild plan to send to the King? Isn’t it said that Earth Fire Professionals don’t have strong physiques?"

Susan replied, "Originally, the Second Young Lady had the same confusion. But after I shared with her the intelligence you discovered, Andrew, regarding the new Dragon Transformation Combat Technique, it seems everything makes perfect sense—the Flame Warriors, after practicing the new Dragon Transformation Combat Technique, will have a significant enhancement in their physique, enough to rival our Warm Fire Professionals."

Andrew was taken aback, then understood, "Uh, so the woman the Magic Guild plans to send to the King is—"

"The First Saintess, Capella."

Susan sighed, "Don’t look at me with that expression. When the Second Young Lady told me, I felt the same as you all..."

The room fell silent.

Everyone was momentarily stunned! After the shock, came silence.

Finally understanding what went wrong in the Royal Court, and why.

The reason was indeed very... mundane.

Yet, upon deeper reflection, it felt terrifying.

After the recent Double Flame War, the Magic Guild, initially very proud and dismissive of the Warm Fire Commerce Association, has finally taken things seriously. This is the overwhelming sentiment in the room after hearing Susan’s explanation.

Andrew then recalled what Barbara said earlier: "That Saintess Capella deviated from her duties because of anxiety."

So what Capella is anxious about is that she, clearly esteemed as the Saintess of the Magic Guild and the strongest Saintess in history, is nonetheless used as a bargaining chip to win over the Royal Court, marrying the King of the Royal Court, is that it?

Upon entering the Royal Court, Andrew has been quietly using "Water Spirit Sensing" to remain vigilant.

Even if Catherine hadn’t suddenly vomited blood and fainted, Andrew would do this out of caution.

At this moment, through "Water Spirit Sensing," he overlooks the entire Royal Court from above, and Andrew seems to see: The fortress-like, yet manor-like, overall elliptical Royal Court is actually divided into two halves.

The western half has actually become the territory of the Magic Guild.

And the eastern half is the faction of Catherine and the Frost Guards in the Royal Court who support the beloved Queen Catherine.

What divides the Royal Court is that invisible yet truly existing separation line that splits the entire Flame Realm into east and west halves.

"...And what is the current strength of the King?" Dean Charlie silently pondered for a moment, then softly broke the silence.

"Like Peter, peak of Tier Nine, War God level." Susan replied solemnly, "The second young lady has just confessed herself; her strength is still slightly inferior to the King. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so anxious to improve her strength, which has led to problems with herself."

Havier exclaimed "Aha": "So still Tier Nine, right? Not above Tier Nine, is it? My aunt’s strength is already infinitely close to War God level, isn’t it? Even if she’s slightly inferior to that King, she doesn’t lack much, haha!"

Upon hearing this, Dean Charlie, Susan, and Barbara all looked at Havier as if he was an idiot.

Andrew couldn’t help but explain, "It’s not like that. There is an essential difference between being infinitely close to War God level and truly reaching War God level."

Havier squinted at Andrew, "Are you Tier Nine?"

"No."

"Then how can you be so sure if you are not?"

"Because I’ve seen it with my own eyes." Andrew said indifferently, "Falk grandpa, who is infinitely close to War God level, had almost no resistance facing that War God level Female Assassin above the Shield of Flowing Fire and was defeated."

Originally full of disdain, Havier’s face changed at this, his lips moved, but he was silent.

And then, this bear child seems to finally understand, his face began to turn pale.

Before Catherine and the King became husband and wife, the Royal Court was neutral.

After the marriage alliance, the Royal Court remained neutral on the surface but actually leaned toward the Commerce Association.

Now the King has changed his position, and at the same time, Catherine has gained a large number of supporters and followers in the Royal Court over the years.

This is why the Warrior Chief previously had a group of Frost Guards, and when Catherine arrived on the scene, she brought another group.

Theoretically speaking, the Royal Court is now divided into two factions, the King and Queen, which cancel each other out and merely revert to neutrality before the marriage alliance. —If that is truly the case, it might not be entirely unacceptable for the Nuan or Commerce Association.

But in reality, the King is War God level, and Queen is still slightly lacking.

This results in an inability for the two factions to cancel each other out.

"This means that the Royal Court is currently not neutral, not our home ground, but rather... the away ground then." Barbara murmured.

In simple terms, this place can actually be counted as the territory of the Magic Guild now.

Also, Catherine had just vomited blood publicly in broad daylight.

What does this imply?

This implies: The conditions to continue negotiations at the Royal Court are no longer valid, not sufficiently at least.

Yet retreating externally now isn’t an option.

Because retreating would plainly tell the enemy that we are scared, which might trigger greater danger instead.

"The only good news right now is that the King’s cultivation, like that of the second young lady, has some issues, and he has suffered some injuries. This is why he hasn’t appeared and has let the Warrior Chief temporarily handle the Royal Court affairs." Susan said, "The bad news is the King was injured while attempting to breakthrough into the ’Realm of Magic’ above Tier Nine, and although not severely injured. If he fully recovers and truly manages to breakthrough above Tier Nine..."

Susan did not continue.

Andrew and the others however understood very well: "Not only would our group immediately fall into extreme danger, but the entire world’s structure could possibly change completely!"

President Beiru, relying on the super-enhanced effect of the "Warm Fire Order," already faces an extreme limit scenario battling against three Earth Fire Scholars of the Magic Guild.

It would be impossible to face another super-strong entity who has reached above Tier Nine, in the ’Realm of Magic’.

Especially since the enhancing effect of "Warm Fire Order" only weakens over time and usage; it is a consumable item. This point was clarified by Barbara after special training ended on the airship.

In the room, everyone looked at each other without speaking.

But their thoughts were actually surprisingly unanimous —

Can today’s Royal Court negotiations still proceed according to the original plan?

"...Let’s proceed. It’s still necessary to continue negotiating."

After a long silence.

This time, it was Andrew who softly broke the silence.

"Although the situation is really unfavorable, I feel it can still be negotiated, and moreover..."

At this, Andrew paused, his visage like water, and his voice as clear water, serene and tranquil, "I believe we can still negotiate successfully."