Chapter 249 - Clearing Doubts

"Eh?" Erea raised her eyebrows in confusion. Even something simple like an escorting of guests to where the prince was had something to do with the war for the throne? With that in mind, she then asked the Ninth Prince, "How does it have something to do with the war for the throne, Your Highness?"

"Hmm…" Vanadir pondered over the right words to say, making sure that his explanation would be easy for someone like Erea to get. Eventually, he opened his mouth and asked her in response, "Remember what I said earlier regarding the winning conditions in the war for the throne?"

"The war for the throne is a competition wherein only one team survives…" Erea said as a reply to his question. After a few seconds, she went silent, pondering over the statement she had said. It took only a few more seconds for her to realize why the Ninth Prince was asking her the winning condition in the war for the throne, reading between the lines. Nevertheless, she was still unsure as to whether the conclusion she came to was right or not.

Either way, she still summoned up her courage as she took in a deep breath before asking in a tone of slight uncertainty, "Your Highness, do you mean that…the rule also applies before the war for the throne has even begun."

In response, Vanadir slowly nodded his head. Erea's complexion slightly paled from the nod, thinking about the sheer cruelty of such a mechanic. Before she could ask why this rule was set in place, the Ninth Prince opened his mouth and told her, "Unlike the start of the event, where only the princes that volunteered to participate in the war for the throne are the ones going to be killed, all of the princes are targets for killing."

Listening to Vanadir's words, she finally obtained the answer to one of her questions earlier, which had something to do with the situation wherein a malevolent prince decides to not join in the war for the throne.

'So this rule was made for that reason…probably,' Erea thought to herself, thinking that this was just one of the reasons why it was being done.

"The royal family is a neutral party for the most part," Vanadir continued with his explanation. "Of course, that only applies to the core of the royal family. The princes, knights, and other parties that are related to the royal family can opt to take on sides."

"As you can see, only a scant few have decided to join my side, with your mentor being the greatest example," the Ninth Prince said, pointing towards Dane, who was standing. In response, Dane let out a chuckle before looking at Erea. With Erea's attention now fixated at him, he opened his mouth and said, "Since you've asked that question, there's no point in hiding anything from you anymore."

He then let out a soft sigh before continuing, "Most of the guards that guard the gates of the palace have decided to support the Third Prince in this war for the throne. He also has quite a lot of people from the Arcana Tower that have opted to support him in the war."

"As for the remaining princes, the amount of support they have is nothing in comparison," Dane said as he shrugged his shoulders, letting out an aura that said 'There's nothing we can do about it'. "I'm pretty sure that you're asking yourself, 'Why is the king not meddling in this situation? Shouldn't he treat his sons fairly?'"

Taking a short breather, he looked at Vanadir for a bit and said, "According to the Ninth Prince in front of us, he thinks that the reason the king is not meddling with this great disparity of support is that this part is also a test to see who has the greater ability when it comes to diplomatic relations and relations in general."

"Then again, the king hasn't confirmed this, so even His Highness is not sure," Dane told Erea as a conclusion.

After Dane was finished explaining the situation to Erea, the young mage processed all of her mentor's words in her mind. She eventually understood everything that was said to her as she let out a sigh.

"Have any princes been killed before the war for the throne has even started?" She then focused her vision towards Vanadir and asked this question. With a sigh of slight melancholy, the Ninth Prince nodded and said, "Unfortunately, yes. In fact, three out of the twelve princes in this kingdom have already been killed."

Hearing that not only one, but three princes have been killed even before the war for the throne has started made Erea let out a gasp of horror. She could not fathom how one could be so cruel to those that have the same blood. But the words said by Vanadir after that made her realize that they were crueler than that.

"Actually, I was almost killed as well," Vanadir said a few seconds later, letting out a wry chuckle. "Fortunately, Dane was there while I had already ascended to a Rank 3 class. Add on the fact that it was a Void Assassin targeting me, who are at their strongest only at the first attack, I was definitely lucky."

In response to the Ninth Prince's words, Erea could not help but let out a long sigh, thinking that this current situation would not have happened if the Ninth Prince was killed back then. Composing herself by taking in a few soft breaths, she then asked the Ninth Prince, "Might I ask Your Highness who among the twelve princes have been killed? If possible, could I also know who killed them?"

"Er…" Scratching his head as he pondered, Vanadir eventually let out an awkward chuckle as he said, "To be honest, I don't know who killed them. I only know the princes that were killed."

"The Second Prince, Juris Seraph," he then started to enumerate the princes that were killed.

"The Fifth Prince, Syco Phante Seraph. No, wait…that was his nickname from back then. His real name was Marcus Excerial-Seraph."

"And the Twelfth Prince, Ortelion Causis-Seraph."

"Why do you want to know who among the twelve princes were killed, Erea?" Vanadir asked soon after, to which Erea let out an awkward chuckle as she responded, "Ahaha. It just made me realize that I need to know more about the twelve princes of the Seraph Kingdom, Your Highness."

"I see." Vanadir nodded in understanding. "It would be beneficial for you to know more about them since we're going to face them in the war for the throne. It will also allow you to be wary of your opponents before the war for the throne even starts."

"That was what I had in mind, Your Highness," Erea said as she nodded to his words. After that, she pondered over something for a bit before asking the Ninth Prince, "Now that I think about it, Your Highness, who are the other members of your team? I know I'm a part of it since I was invited by Teacher, but who else are there?"

"Uh…" Vanadir scratched his head as he hemmed and hawed. He then looked at Dane for a bit, to which Dane shrugged his shoulders in response. This non-verbal response did not go unnoticed by the young mage, looking at her mentor before looking at the Ninth Prince sitting opposite her. Taking a slight sip of the tea she had, she then asked both of them, "From what I'm seeing, it seems that Your Highness…doesn't have any other members yet other than me?"

In response, the Ninth Prince let out an awkward chuckle as he asked her, "Was my body language that obvious?"

He then chuckled for a few more seconds before letting out a low sigh. Looking at her directly in the eyes, he then said with a sincere tone, "Due to the huge amount of support the Third Prince gets, only he has a full team of members for the war for the throne. Mind you, the maximum number of members a team could have is 10, with the prince included in this number."

"The one with the second-highest number of members in their team so far is the Fourth Prince, already having 6 members in his team," he added. "As for my team, there are only 3 members."

"You…" He pointed at Erea as he said this.

"Me…" He then pointed at himself before pointing it towards a person Erea did not expect to be a part of the team as well.

"And your mentor, Dane."

"Surprising, isn't it, Erea?" Dane asked his student, to which he let out a light chuckle. As for Erea, from the show of power her mentor did a while ago lingering in her mind, it could be said that with him around, it would be simple for the Ninth Prince to win. With that in mind, she asked the Ninth Prince, "Might I ask what the minimum and maximum requirements for someone to be a part of a prince's team?"

"A holder of a Rank 1 class is the minimum, and a holder of a Rank 4 class is the maximum," Vanadir unhesitatingly replied. He then pondered over something for a bit before looking at Dane. He then asked him, "Speaking of which, did you ask that Elder if he could spare some Executives or Low Executives to fill in the remaining numbers?"

Dane nodded as he replied, "Indeed, I have, Your Highness. I told it through one of his executives. That executive said that he was not sure whether or not the Elder would spare some Executives to help you out, but he told me that he was going to try his best to send a few Battle Mages or Supreme Battle Mages to help us out."

"That's quite reassuring to hear," Vanadir said as he let out a light smile. Just as he was about to ask Erea whether she had any more questions to ask him, he recalled two certain people that would help his team turn the tides once the war for the throne comes. With that in mind, he then told Dane, "Oh, and also, remind me that in about a couple of weeks, we're going to head to the Astelia and Arcenon family."

At first, Dane tilted his head in slight confusion, wondering why His Highness would go to those high-ranking clans all of a sudden. It did not take long for the prince's words to click in his mind, letting out a light smile as he responded, "As you wish, Your Highness."

"Eh?" As for Erea, since she was just newly invited to the team, she did not know what was going on. But before she could ask either her mentor or the Ninth Prince regarding this, the Ninth Prince looked at her and told her, "It's better for you to not know for now."

With that said, Erea could only nod in response to his words.

"Do you have any other questions you want to ask me?" Vanadir asked her after she nodded, to which Erea unhesitatingly replied, "Now that I think about it, when does the war for the throne start, Your Highness?"

"Hmm…" The Ninth Prince tried to recall the exact date when it would start, before going ahead and calculating the remaining time before the exact date comes. After a few seconds, he then told her, "In about half a year or so. I'm pretty sure the king wouldn't hold on the first day of the new year, though."

"I understand," Erea said as she nodded in understanding.

"Are there any other questions you want to ask me?" Vanadir asked once more. This time, Erea shook her head as she said, "I have no more questions to ask the Highness. I am incredibly satisfied."

"I'm glad to hear that," the Ninth Prince said as he let out a slight snicker.

He then turned his head towards Dane and asked him, "How about you, Dane? Do you have any questions you want to ask me?"

"Nothing really comes to mind, Your Highness," Dane said in response to his question. "I pretty much came here just to accompany my student."

"So…does that mean you two are leaving?" Vanadir asked Dane, to which Dane looked at his student in response. With Erea nodding to the question, Dane responded to Vanadir and uttered, "That would be a yes, Your Highness."

"I see." Vanadir lightly smiled as he emptied his cup of tea before placing it on the table in front of him. He then stood up and said to the two of them, "Let me accompany you outside the pavilion. I'll be continuing my training after you two leave anyway."

…

Eventually, the three of them were not outside the pavilion, with Vanadir unsheathing the blade he was using a while ago from his right waist soon after. Looking at Dane and Erea in front of him, he gripped the blade tightly before saying, "Make sure you two work hard to improve your combat power."

"Especially you, Erea," Vanadir said in addition as he looked at Erea. He then continued, "According to your mentor, you've ascended to a pretty superb class. I want to see its power in action once the war for the throne starts, okay?"

"I'll do my best, Your Highness," Erea responded to Vanadir with a light grin. At this moment, she held no fear towards the Ninth Prince anymore as they were now acquainted.

"Make sure to meet me in a couple of weeks okay, Dane?" Vanadir then focused his attention towards Dane, to which Dane let out a giggle as he replied, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I'll come a few hours early just to make you be at ease."

The three of them then said their words of farewell, with Dane and Erea gradually making their way towards the gates of the palace. As for Vanadir, he looked at the fleeting silhouettes of the two for a bit before brandishing his blade with great gusto.

While he was doing so, he could not help but mutter to himself, "I wonder what kind of team I could create before the war for the throne starts?"

He then chuckled.

"I'm getting somewhat excited for that time."