The crowd was stunned… he spent all that forethought and planning just to say that Head Sinaht wasn’t responsible?

The truth behind the death of Aeson and the destruction of the orphanage was something that would have completely buried the Sigebryht family and their hopes of gaining ownership of the Kingdom through the acceptance of its citizens.

Although the major families cared little for the commoners on the outskirts of their cities, elves still had a deep sense of kin. This was clear by the sentiments Sinaht played to in his speech… killing the innocent for the sake of power would be looked down upon no matter what. In fact, it was part of the reason the Sigebryht family had lost their backing from grand elder Cormyth.

Originally, the members of the alliance had assumed that Dyon had been responsible for the death of Aeson and the attack on the alliance headquarters… after all, no one else made sense… who else had knowledge of the location and the motive to betray them? To make things worse, he disappeared!

But then, they started doubting themselves when Dyon appeared with the Princess. If Dyon had only wanted the benefits provided by the Sigebryht family, wouldn’t he make sure everyone continued to think the Princess was dead? Nothing was making any sense!

Suddenly, someone from the Aedre family spoke out. It was a lady who seemed to have aged a lot recently. Wrinkles of worry lined her face… it was clear her emotions were getting in the way of her health.

Streaks of white tainted her once deep blue hair, and her hands shook violently as she spoke… but she was stabilized by a tall and stoic man who sat beside her. However, the calming touch almost made her break out into sobs again.

“You’ve mentioned so many names,” she said softly, “and yet, why is my daughter not amongst them!? What did Primrose do to deserve death? Did you kill her just because she was friends with Mithrandir?! How dare you talk down to Head Sinaht if you’ve acted just as egregiously!”

The poor lady trembled, shaking violently. .

Mithrandir snapped her head in the direction of the Aedre family, a sudden realization hitting her.

‘Primrose?… is dead?…’

Tears streamed down her face. She had once assumed that Primrose hadn’t come because she wasn’t willing to face her in this situation… come to find out that she never had the choice to attend at all.

But, the pitiful Mistress of the Aedre family wasn’t finished venting…

“And you!” she said turning her anger towards the Princess, “Primrose used to be a good friend of yours in your youth! Did you really sign off on her death?! The Acacia family backstabbed this Kingdom once before, it’s clear nothing’s changed!”

The Princess looked like she wanted to say something, but Dyon put his arm out in front of her, shaking his head.

‘Not now,’ was what he motioned.

“My little girl had nothing to do with any of this…” The pain in Mistress Aedre’s voice was palpable. In all of this fighting for the kingdom, a death had slipped through the cracks and no one was even aware of it.

Dyon sighed, steeling his heart, “Mistress Aedre, you say your daughter used to be good friends with the Princess, and what happened since then?”

Head Aedre’s faced darkened as his deep voice boomed, “you dare question my wife in a situation like this? What gave you the nerve!”

A formless pressure rushed forth, seeking to end Dyon’s ability to ever speak again…

However, Dyon remained calm as a familiar figure stepped in from of him, dispersing the pressure with a wave of his palm.

“I think you were very much aware of the fact I wouldn’t allow you to lay a hand on my son-in-law, no?” Uncle Acacia’s voice boomed.

The crowd froze… when had Headmaster Acacia gotten so powerful? Peak Sainthood?!

A deep frown etched into the features of Head Aedre, “what a good Acacia family you are…”

Despite Head Aedre’s words, Dyon continued.

“Since you don’t want to answer the question, I can let you know.

“Because of your bias, your deeply ingrained hate, and your baseless prejudice against the Acacia family, you drove a wedge between your family and theirs.

“But now that it’s convenient for you. Now that you can play on the heart strings of those around you. You want to make use of a relationship you yourself destroyed? If you’d like to align yourself against the benefits of your own kingdom because you lost your daughter, have at it. But, don’t try and claim the moral high ground. I won’t let you.”

Dyon’s words were sharp and held no sympathy. Even Ri and Princess Alex couldn’t help but cringe.

They had never told Dyon anything about this, but wasn’t the story behind this clear? Why else would Ri, who had grown up as the cousin of the Princess, and the Princess herself, seemingly have no close friends? The only explanation was that they were driven away.

Ri and Alex hadn’t been born in the time King Acacia and Uncle Acacia were commoners… therefore the only world they knew were that of nobles… Yet they had no relationships with them? It made Dyon’s blood boil with rage.

Mistress Aedre seemed to react violently to Dyon’s words, trembling in her husband’s embrace. She lost all strength to do anything but stare blankly at the table in front of her… she had many children, but that didn’t mean the loss of one hurt any less…

But, although Dyon’s words rang true… his lack of sympathy and tact seemed to breathe new life into the Sigebryht family. If both sides had committed atrocious acts, didn’t that mean that it was still okay to choose either side?

Suddenly Wyn Eostre spoke, “doesn’t this make it clear that neither the Acacia nor the Sigebryht families are fit to lead?…”

His voice was faint but cut through to a real point. What he said was right! Why were they pretending as though there were only two options? There were 9 major families, including the Acacia family, there were 10 choices, not two!

Dyon smirked, unable to hold himself back, ‘how predictable…’ .

“Mm,” Dyon hummed, “your words do indeed make sense.”

Wyn Eostre anger flashed toward Dyon, “your opinion is irrelevant to me. If it wasn’t for my being of the older generation, I would have already killed you for what you did to my daugh –”

“I think it’s about time you shut your mouth,” Dyon’s pressure was nowhere as impactful as Wyn Eostre’s, but it seemed like when he spoke, people listened.

“YOU!” Wyn Eostre nearly snapped in his rage.

He shook as he watched tears fill Jade’s eyes.

“Dyon… I know you don’t want me… but is there a need to treat my father this way?…”

Faint sobbing noises came from Jade as she gripped her dress at her knees… unable to look up at Dyon.

The major families began to turn on Dyon violently. He was so arrogant, and yet he was clearly the weakest existence here! Array alchemy genius or not, what right did that give you to speak to your elders like this!? Especially when Wyn’s anger for his daughter was understandable!

Kymil and Darcassan trembled from their kneeling positions… in too much pain to rise but raging too much to calm themselves. Jade was amongst the queens of their generation! And yet Dyon captured her heart and still stomped on it like this?!

Sinaht watched all of this play out with a confused look that slowly became more and more thoughtful in his enlightenment, ‘you… how deep was this plan… how’d you figure all of this out?!’

Dyon noticed Sinaht’s reaction and smiled.

“You’re quite smart old man,” he said sending his voice through wind will while the experts were distracted in their anger, “play your cards right and I’ll crown you interim King.”

Sinaht trembled at Dyon’s words, ‘this isn’t a child… this is a monster…’

Suddenly Dyon spoke again, “I guess my words were a bit rude, hmm?”

Even Ri who had the utmost confidence in Dyon was shaken in the beginning… But she was slowly beginning to piece together what Head Sinaht had… and she couldn’t believe it…

“I guess that seems true from your point of view. But let me ask you a few questions then…

“The orphanage was attacked supposedly as an act of revenge against me… yet the only person that was killed was an old lady with information about my whereabouts. The kids weren’t touched… Why is that?

“Aeson Acacia was killed. He was a genius, yes… but why kill him? Was his talent really that much greater than those here right now? What changes in this banquet should he come vs should he not?”

The more questions Dyon asked, the more confused the crowd became. Truly… what was the point?…

“The Princess was targeted for assassination, yet much of you disregard her existence now. To you, she’s just an interim leader with no true power… and yet the Sigebryht family supposedly still tried to kill her, yet hinges their argument and their ideals on the betterment of the kingdom and the uselessness of the Acacia family…

“Wouldn’t that point be more profound if Princess Acacia was alive and still had no power to stop this coup? Wouldn’t killing Princess Acacia mean that the Sigebryht were still afraid of the Acacia family? Wouldn’t that destroy the whole point?”

The crowd trembled at Dyon’s words as Wyn Eostre’s face darkened.

“I wonder… what family is seen as the most selfless… the one who gave up the most for the kingdom… the family who gave up even their own longevity for the sake of a better future?…

“What family would have the most to benefit from the villainization of the Sigebryht family and the elimination of the Acacia family?

“What family would want nothing more than for you all to think that Sinaht orchestrated the fall of the Celestial Deer Sect… the destruction of an orphanage… the death of a genius?…

“To think that the Acacia family killed a member of the Aedre family?…

“What family fits this description more than the Eostre family!”

BOOM!

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