"Quinten Amberguard."
"It is a na everyone fears for good reason."
"A peasant, a lord, or a king fear does not care about your social class or your status in society".
"It will co for you all the sa."
"And when that man’s true identity was revealed to the world."
"They realised just how terrifying House Aurellion could be."
"How their revenge is sothing to be feared, for it leaves no trace, no evidence that can be taken to court and no care for the laws of the land."
"Only speculation remained."
"Of course, evidence is only useful if you are lucky enough to survive."
"Not that many ever are."
Grand Duke Grentarion Greysteel of Grucia, also known as The South’s Stalwart Shield or The Lion of Grucia.
....
Vicecount Karstan Kale was sitting in his castle’s solar, looking out his window to the star-filled night, each star glinting like a small gem in the heavens as a silver crescent moon soared through the clear night sky while the Nathian noble sipped from his silver goblet filled with wine, a recent acquisition that he had bought using the money he now received every month from Amos Hosted and The Golden Goods rchant Group.
However, the gold that he received quickly beca less and less as Amos seed incapable of keeping the extensive network of contacts created by his brother and generating the vast profits that allowed the group to beco one of the most prosperous in the entirety of Nathia under its previous leader Declan Hosted and beco an existence covered even by those powerful prince’s fighting for power in the royal court.
An inconvenience, to be sure, but Karstan was still getting far more from the rchant group under Amos than he ever got under Declan, so even if Amos was less competent than Declan, at least he had a piece of the pie now, even if that pie was shrinking every month.
The Golden Goods rchant Group was a mountain of gold just waiting to be mined out.
The only problem they faced was that the previous head, Declan Hosted, wanted to take no part in the power struggles of the royal court and guarded this mountain of gold like a jealous wife did her husband.
The old fox was well aware of the dangers that he could face, especially as he was but a lowly rchant having no land or noble title to hide behind if things went poorly for him or for the man he supported and, as a result, decided to stay neutral doing nothing but pay his taxes as he slowly accumulated more and more wealth.
rchants and rchant groups like Declans make excellent scapegoats, after all.
When the kingdom is stable and peaceful, such an attitude uncaring about power and influence is praised, but when things get chaotic in a situation when the line of succession is far from assured, such an attitude will only frustrate those seeking to gain power, as even powerful counts and dukes salivated at the mountain of wealth Declan had created for himself.
And rejecting the olive branch and honeyed words of these ambitious people when they had found a powerful backer during chaotic tis was dangerous.
So dangerous it could even lead to the loss of one’s own life.
For there was no greater cri in so people’s minds than possessing great wealth without the ans to protect it or sharing a part of it with the giants residing within the royal court.
Unwilling to see such a gold mountain remain untapped, he made a sche with 4 other nobles and a landed knight to take leadership of the rchant group away from Declan and into the hands of his younger brother Amos, who was much more ambitious and pliable than his stubborn older brother.
A sche tacitly supported by the second prince, who ensured that the Nathian royal court did not intervene and even sowhat ordered Karstan to take action to secure this gold for their own use.
Thanks to the seamless cooperation of these powers with aligned interests, the sche was successful.
Declan’s wife and the clan leader supporting her tragically died.
They were the only real obstacles in the way of Amos assuming power over the rchant group with Declan abroad so often, each quickly succumbed to unfortunate accidents or sudden illnesses one after the other, allowing Amos Hosted to slowly take control of the rchant group by installing people loyal to him in key positions within the rchant group.
The final piece of the puzzle finally fell into place when, to avoid being charged with fabricated cris, Declan, still mourning his wife’s death, saw the writing on the wall and handed over his shares and control of the rchant group to his brother in exchange for his own safety and that of his beloved daughters the most precious gifts given to him by the wife he loved with all his heart.
It was an unpleasant and costly affair for all parties involved, but it was a necessary one in Karstan’s mind as it provided a steady stream of inco for not only him but also the prince he supported.
Money that could buy influence, weapons, n and the favour of other mbers of the noble class.
He was one of six n who each got a cut from the rchant group’s monthly earnings. Of course, a large part of these earnings was sent to the second prince to support him in the growing power struggle for the Nathian throne while at the sa ti raising Karstan and his conspirator’s standing in the second prince’s faction.
In exchange for favourable trading deals and a monthly percentage of the rchant group’s profits, Karstan and the powerful faction behind him would do all they could to support the rchant group in whatever way was needed.
By hook or by crook, Carstan and his comrades would ensure that the rchant group made as much money as they could, wielding their extensive influence both within and without the Kingdom of Nathia to help it have a smooth rise to prominence and as a result increase his own wealth and power substantially while using that sa influence to hinder their competitors.
Hence, the scheming and attacks on Kaila and the operations of Quintens Quality Goods, which until now had only resulted in one thing, sothing new and unfamiliar to soone as talented and ticulous as Karstan.
Failure.
A most unpleasant word to be associated with at the best of tis, which these were certainly not.
The first failure was when Amos proactively sent an expert assassin and a small group of sell swords to disguise themselves as bandits, leading to all their n’s disappearance or death.
’As if a few sellswords and an expert assassin could kill the n the crown prince sent to protect his latest endeavour.’
Vicecount Kale scoffed. Unfortunately, back then, neither Amos nor the nobles backing him had any idea who was backing this mysterious new company, so he sent a far less competent force than he should have; otherwise, he would likely have been far too scared to make such a move.
Sothing that Vicecount Kale was not, until a few weeks ago, that is, and Karstan couldn’t help but feel that he had made a terrible mistake plotting the pirate attack.
The new leader of the Golden Goods rchant Group was lucky when his attack failed as it seed that the mysterious backer of Kaila was content to let the matter end with the death of the sell swords and assassin, sothing that was very much in line with the way the crown prince did things.
It allowed both sides to take a step back and stop interfering with each other for the foreseeable future.
But an important question to ask is why was Vicecount Kale so sure that the crown prince was Kaila’s mysterious backer?
The answer was surprisingly simple.
Because he had been told so by his own faction that it was so, and when such a powerful faction gives you such information, it is usually very reliable!
They reported that Kodjis Kendari, the crown prince of Nathia, had used his influence to help the Quinten Amberguard of Quintens Quality Goods get a quick audience with a representative of Dominion Holdings to help set up a bank account and register with the rchants guild.
This was the sa Quinten Amberguard that had disappeared seemingly without a trace only a few days later.
Many people had tried to find this Quinten Amberguard; Amos Hosted other influential rchants and rchant groups. Hell, even the Duke of Ryre, a leading figure in the second prince’s faction, tried to find this mysterious person, but all failed. The man just seed to have disappeared into thin air.
During these forces’ investigation into the mysterious owner of Quintens Quality Goods, the only information they managed to get about the young man’s background was that he used to be a favoured disciple of Master Zhou, the master of a Dojo that had gained so prominence over the years.
He then reportedly wanted to go out into the world to forge his own path, only to disappear only a few months later.
Was such a sudden disappearance a coincidence?
Only a fool would think so.
No, this disappearance was planned, so the next question to ask is why.
Why would soone who seemingly wanted to forge his own path and have the backing of the Nathian crown prince disappear for no apparent reason?
The only answer Karstan and the rest of the second prince’s faction could co up with was that this Quinten Amberguard was a commoner and had been paid to be a front for the crown prince who was controlling everything behind the scenes.
This a conclusion that, even if logical, was unfortunately incorrect as yet more n are sucked into Railius Aurellions sches who wanted people to co to this exact conclusion so that he can move unnoticed and unhindered.
With how many people he had deceived, you would think he would be descended from a political family with a long and distinguished history, not a military one that fell within its first generation.
Not that anyone deceived would be aware of this much to their cost.
While on the outside, the 30-year-old Vicecount looked calm, on the inside, he was anything but, feeling like he was trapped in a sea of worry and insecurity because he had not heard back from the representative he and the other nobles had sent to the pirates to commission them to take out the apparent leader Quintens Quality Goods Kalia Hosted.
Kalia Hosted.
Vicecount Karstan Kale mused with a sigh.
She was an unexpected conundrum disrupting his well-laid plans.
A bomb capable of turning them all into smithereens.
One Karsten thought he had long dealt with, only for this inconvenience, to find a powerful, mysterious backer while sleeping in the slums who took in her and her family and used their experience and connections to create their own rchant group or company, depending on what you want to call it.
After spending much effort and coin to suppress Declan Hosted and his offspring from making a coback, forcing them to live in the worst of conditions, they suddenly managed to rebound.
Now Karsten knew that Kaila was not officially the one in control of Quintens Quality Goods. This new nuisance that had suddenly appeared and was rising far too fast for its own good was a testant to both her business skills and the formidable contacts she inherited from her father.
Instead, that title belonged to one Quinten Amberguard, whom Karstan thought was the crown prince, the man the company was obviously nad after.
However, for all intents and purposes, it was Kaila who held all the decision-making power.
Whether it was making deals with clients or choosing a particular product, all of that was in the power of a young girl who was not even 20 years old.
Kaila appeared to have sohow gained the trust of the crown prince, though how she did so was a mystery. All that mattered was that she had and was quickly leading Quintens Quality Goods to beco the fastest-growing rchant group in the country.
No doubt she was helped by the crown prince, but from what Karstan had heard, apart from the help the crown prince gave at the start, everything else had nothing to do with him.
The more frustrating thing was that there were no moves on the crown prince’s part, whether they were above the board or below it, that indicated that they cared at all about his new venture in the slightest.
This just made the situation all the more confusing and made it so that so in the second prince’s faction, including Karstan himself, were having doubts about the crown prince being the mysterious backer.
But if it was not him, then just who was this powerful backer who could fight against 2/1 odds and completely crush the opponent without allowing one to escape?
In addition, hadn’t they just thoroughly offended this person to the point that he may take the side of the crown price in the fight for the Nathian throne
The company had no connections to any foreign country, after all.
As Karsten was stuck in the question of Quinten Amberguards true identity, having been lost in thought for a long ti, a knock on the door drew his attention, and an old, wizened voice passed through the door.
"My lord, a package has arrived for you. Mathos has told to bring it to you."
Karstan was stunned for a mont when the words registered.
’A package? I have not ordered a package.’
Karsten thought, getting increasingly confused and suspicious.
"Are you sure the package is for ? It’s not for anyone else?"
Karstan asked, raising an eyebrow as he talked through the door.
"Yes, my lord, apparently, a rchant nad Jeor Scrooged wanted to send you a gift to gain your favour."
Karstan relaxed when he heard that, as it was customary for rchants to send him gifts to gain his favour, and his trusted butler Mathos knew he liked to be the one first to see what these gifts were.
Despite being on edge, he did not suspect that the crown prince would kill him through such a dastardly plot as it was not his style, for Kodjis Kendari was a man who ca after you using the law, not through assassinations.
"Bring it in!"
Karstan called out as the door slightly opened to reveal an old-looking guard who held a box in his hand that slled a bit off like there was sothing dead and decaying inside, but despite his reservations, he eagerly opened the box only to be shocked by the contents as a look of horror passed over his face.
The Nathian noble felt sick, and more than that...
He felt fear and a primal urge to run as far away from this room as physically possible and did not notice the small blood trails that were starting to trickle across the floor by the door.
Lying in the box was the severed head of the envoy he sent to the pirates, a piece of bloodied paper stuffed in his mouth.
Karsten shakily opened up the paper, which only contained two words, making him shiver.
We know.
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