Soon enough, the presentation ended just like that. The Martial Masters dispersed, returning to their sects, and Rui was finally left alone with a little bit of peace. He had finished the final deadline that he had left. Thus, he was no longer under any pressure of ti.
He could fully dedicate himself to the four domain techniques that he had been working on for quite so ti.
Yet by the ti he returned ho, he found an angry Kane waiting for him.
"Rui!" He glared at him. "I know you're responsible for Princess Rafia wanting to marry ."
Rui burst out laughing as his machinations bore fruit successfully. "Stop laughing!" He complained as Rui wheezed, stumbling around. "I know you're responsible for that!"
"Man…" Rui finally gathered himself. "That's fucking hilarious."
Kane massaged his temples, heaving a stressed sigh. "Fae stopped talking to ever since that happened."
"What?" Rui burst out laughing again. "You have fun with those two. Who knows, maybe you can bag both of them and get a harem."
"Stop laughing!" Kane growled, earning more laughter from Rui. "Good luck," Rui patted his shoulder, laughing as he sky-walked away. He didn't want anything more to do with Princess Rafia. Her presence freaked him out, and he would rather stay the hell away from anything that involved her. Even though he wanted nothing to do with any of them, he knew that, for the things that mattered to him, he needed to make an effort to et one last prince.
He had already t Princess Raemina, Raijun, Rafia, Ranea, and Rajak.
The only ones he hadn't t were Prince Raul and Prince Randal. Though Prince Randal had certainly interacted with him using a mber of the Hawk Faction, the offer to join them was still open.
He had never once interacted with Prince Raul.
This was the final of the seven pri candidates for Emperor and the one that Rui was most hopeful of.
Prince Raul was the most unique of the seven pri candidates, in many ways, including his personality and temperant, according to the foundation information that the Martial Union and the Beggar's Sect, he was truly different.
On paper, he was the weakest candidate for Emperor. He had the least estimated wealth. He had the least number of Martial Artists. He had the least number of resources and general political capital.
Yet, he was deed by everybody to be an equal competitor for the throne as the others.
Why was that?
The answer was simple. He had the most powerful resource of a nation in absolute control.
Its people.
If there truly was a power bloc that was absolutely vital to the very existence of a nation, it was the people.
The Rafia Consortium, the Kandrian Seafare Association, the Martial Union, the Underworld, the Royal Army, and the Ministries of the governnt. These were the main six power blocs of the other princes and princesses. The cores of their factions.
Yet they were not absolutely important to the fundantal existence of a nation. Nations existed that didn't have these power blocs.
Yet every existing nation had one thing that defined its existence: its people.
That was what Prince Raul had firmly grasped with his hands. He had the people of Kandria in his hands. Every single common man and woman loved Prince Raul like a mber of their family. He truly was the People's Prince.
Rui recalled one incident that the Beggar's Sect and the Martial Union both ntioned in their information packages on Prince Raul.
Eleven years ago, when the Shionel Dungeon had opened up to the rest of the world, the Kandrian Emperor had passed a Royal Bill that would have reduced the subsidies to the agricultural industry to redirect funds to the Shionel Dungeon to procure certain esoterics that were necessary in artifacts and products that were commonly used in the farming industry to allow them to naturally sustain themselves as opposed to relying on bailouts from the governnt.
Yet, allegedly, Prince Raul disapproved of the legislative decision to remove support for the average farr.
He decided to act.
With a single command, the farrs across the entire nation gathered and united in a protest and boycott of all agricultural production. The Kandrian Ruffians relied on their treasury, which, while much lower than the other six princes and princesses, was more than enough to sustain the farrs in their boycott of any and all activities.
It was a blatant act of defiance to the Royal Emperor. It could even be considered treachery.
Yet the Royal Emperor was shackled in his ability to act. He could not do sothing as tyrannical as deploying the army to force the farrs to work against that will; that would be absolutely unprecedented and an even greater sin than Prince Raul's treachery. It would forever lose him any semblance of cooperation with the farrs of the agricultural industry of Kandria.
He could not arrest his own son, either. Prince Raul was not only beloved by everybody and their mother, literally but had also earned the absolute loyalty of many powerful Martial Artists.
Including Sage Farana of the Kandrian Border Patrol Force. The probability that at least so of the Martial Masters and Seniors would defy any legal action against him was high. And if Sage Farana herself decided to disallow his arrest, then it would be an absolute catastrophe. The Kandrian Empire could not allow a conflict between Martial Sages to unfold in the Empire. That was absolutely not tolerable.
He could not do anything to the farrs, he could not do anything to Raijun, he could not do anything to the Kandrian Ruffians that had embedded themselves amongst the people, indistinguishable. The Royal Emperor was forced to rescind the Royal Bill lest the Kandrian Empire be consud by what was an increasingly intensifying civil conflict. In this manner, Prince Raul had overwheld the Royal Emperor himself.
This was why, despite having the least amount of wealth, Martial power, resources, land, and authority. He was feared by the other six candidates for the throne.
Such was the power of Raul Viva Kandria.
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