Chapter 126: Factional Entanglents
“Her Highness’s people have arrived,” Ilis said, looking directly at him. “Before the ruins open, Her Highness will direct matters from the shadows. She will not appear publicly.”
Ryan nodded. That was entirely within expectation.
“Her Highness has prepared a booklet with the banquet roster and the distribution of forces.” Ilis drew a thin roll of parchnt from her sleeve and handed it over. “The Second Prince’s people and the Third Prince’s people have already settled into the West Court. The representatives of the Fla Duke and the Gale Duke arrived this morning. The people from Marquis Wilier of the Northern Border… only arrived at dusk.”
“Miss Eleanor of the Sword Duke’s household is staying alone in the North Court.”
Ryan accepted the parchnt but did not open it at once.
“The list is too long. Even if you read it now, you won’t rember all of it.” Ilis’s voice remained flat. “I’ll take you to recognize the faces tonight.”
She paused, then continued.
“As for the main factions—the Second Prince’s people and Marquis Wilier’s faction from the Northern Border are the two most likely to strike hard this ti. The Third Prince’s side has soone keeping records. The Fla Duke’s people are pragmatic and do not stir up trouble. As for the Gale Duke’s side, there is a genius with a wind-attributed sensory talent. You should pay a little attention to that one as well.”
Unfortunately, there were too many nas. Ryan could not match a single one to a face yet.
“These houses are determined to secure gains from the ruins. There is no ruling out extre asures. Which people are likely to make a move, and which can be worked with—you’ll know once you’ve seen them tonight.”
She lifted her eyes and gave Ryan a glance.
“Her Highness said you need only keep it in mind. There is no need to deliberately make allies, and no need to deliberately avoid anyone either.”
Ryan gave a quiet hum.
The amount of information was not small. He lowered his eyes, unfolded the parchnt, and quickly skimd several lines beneath the veranda lamp.
Ilis did not leave at once.
She stood beneath the corridor outside, her violet eyes turning slightly sideways—past Ryan’s shoulder, toward the simply furnished sitting room behind him.
That dark gray set of ordinary clothes hung from the rack, quiet in the dim room, like an old thing soone had forgotten.
Ilis looked at it for perhaps two seconds.
Then she withdrew her gaze and said, in the sa utterly unchanged tone,
“By the way, do you have formal wear prepared for tonight’s banquet?”
Ryan lifted his eyes from the parchnt.
“No,” he said calmly. “I’m wearing that.”
He tilted his chin toward the rack.
Her violet eyes rested on the clothes for a brief instant, then moved away.
“…Understood.”
She turned and left, her footsteps soundless, her black hair tracing a slim arc beneath the veranda lamp. Soon that dark blue figure disappeared into the night at the end of the path.
Ryan shut the door.
The parchnt was still in his hand. He did not imdiately spread it open and study it in detail. Instead, he walked to the window and, by the last thread of fading daylight, slowly unrolled the thin sheet of paper.
The handwriting on it was elegant, the ink still fresh, clearly copied in haste during the night before departure. Na after na, faction after faction, chains of allegiance and interest spread across the page like an opened spiderweb.
Ryan read three lines.
Then, leaning against the window fra, he spent about the ti it took to drink a cup of tea storing the entire web inside his mind.
The Empire had originally had four Dukes.
That had been the rule laid down by the founding Emperor—one to anchor each cardinal direction. In the east stood the Gale Duke, whose line held dominion over sea trade and shipping. rchants and diplomats were common in that house, and three-tenths of the Empire’s tax lifelines ran through their hands. In the south stood the Fla Duke, whose lands were rich in volcanic veins. They excelled in forging and fire magic, and seven-tenths of the Empire’s standard military weapons ca from their domain. In the west stood the Frostleaf Duke, whose lands bordered the legendary old Elven territories. For generations, that house had studied herbs, healing arts, and ancient relics; half the Imperial Court Physicians ca from disciples of Frostleaf. As for the north…
The north had once had a Duke as well. But three hundred years ago, that title had been stripped away for treason. The bloodline was extinguished, the lands were reclaid by the Crown, and later parceled out among several Marquises who had rendered distinguished service in suppressing the rebellion. House Wilier had risen during that very ti.
That was the origin of the Four Great Dukes—but as for the four who stood openly within the Empire now?
The one added less than a century ago did not belong to any of the four directions.
The Sword Duke.
Ryan’s gaze lingered for a mont on that na written upon the parchnt.
Leo Astrea.
A hundred years ago, a Beast Tide broke through the frontier, and three northern cities fell. The Empire’s main battle legions were surrounded in the Ice Spine Mountains. At the mont of greatest peril, the head of House Astrea led three hundred personal guards and used the family’s inherited Sword Formation to smash head-on into the vanguard of the Beast King, slaying commanders and seizing banners, buying the relief army two full days.
After that battle, House Astrea was elevated directly from hereditary Viscount to Duke, with the title of Sword.
It did not guard one of the four directions. It stood over the military itself.
For generations, the family had held authority over the training and mobilization of the Imperial Knights. They had no domain, no tax revenues—only a Tiger Tally of command, and the Frostsigh Sword Art, said to be capable of cutting through anything, passed down from generation to generation.
Ryan’s eyes moved downward.
Lillian Rosedale—her father was a Count, with lands lying at the edge of the Fla Duke’s sphere of influence. House Rosedale was neither rich nor especially powerful, but it had long been known for never becoming a wallflower swayed by whichever way the wind blew. To remain standing for three generations between two stronger powers was an art in itself.
No wonder that young lady had such a fierce temper and yet no one touched her.
Ryan kept reading.
The Second Prince, Keynes, had maternal relatives among the great rchant houses of the east and maintained close ties with the Gale Duke. The Third Prince, Aster, had lost his mother early, and had been raised for three years in childhood by the Duchess of Frostleaf.
The Fla Duke had sent a collateral son nad Sutherland. The Gale Duke had sent an adopted daughter nad Vera. Marquis Wilier’s side…
Ryan read line after line.
Nas, ages, records of accomplishnt, family positions, each party’s likely objectives in this ruins expedition.
By the ti he reached the final corner of the parchnt, only a single band of dark gold remained outside the window.
He rolled the parchnt back up and laid it on the table.
Cecilia’s intelligence network… truly had substance.
A factional account this detailed was sothing even the Imperial Intelligence Office might not have compiled so clearly in less than a month.
But what caught his attention even more was the way the docunt had been presented.
Not a single sentence said this one can be used, or this one must be guarded against. It rely laid out the facts, the connections, the motives—and left all judgnt to him.
Her Highness said you need only keep it in mind. There is no need to deliberately make allies, and no need to deliberately avoid anyone either.
Ryan turned that sentence over once in his mind.
Then he turned and went into the bath.
When the hot water poured over his head, he closed his eyes.
The nas on that parchnt were still circling in his thoughts.
Dukes, Marquises, Princes, Knight-Commanders… every one of them was a piece placed upon this board called the Starfall Ruins.
He too was a piece.
But if one could see the entire board from above, was one truly still just a piece?
Two hours later.
The dusk had gone fully dark. The clusters of purple flowers outside the window had lost their color, leaving only their cool, ghostlike fragrance. In the distance, the Main Hall blazed with light, and the sounds of musicians tuning their instrunts floated faintly through the air.
Ryan changed into that dark gray set of ordinary clothes and stood before the mirror.
The collar was slightly worn, and the cuffs had faded pale from many washings, but it was clean.
The man in the mirror looked calm, with no sign of how he judged the outfit one way or another.
He reached for the door handle.
At that mont, there ca a knock.
Again, three tis. Short and even.
Ryan opened the door.
Ilis stood beneath the veranda.
The lamp there burned dimly yellow, and she stood at the boundary between light and shadow.
Her long black hair fell over one shoulder, the ends swaying gently in the night breeze like traces of water left behind on a shore after the tide had gone out.
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