Six years ago.
"Your greed knows no bounds. You made yourself my enemy, so see you on the battlefield."
These words sounded from several sound transmitters, reverberating throughout the central continent.
...
On the outskirts of Northgate, a town in the territory of the royal family.
"Is that the transmission from the banquet held by Duke Vulcan?" a brown-haired man said to his colleague as he sat on a large stone, wiping the sweat from his body with a dirty rag.
"Yeah…" his colleague responded, his voice a low growl, as he held a boulder over his head.
His muddy brown hair disheveled.
With a thud, the boulder fell to the ground, making a dent in the stony field. The man with the towel rising to his feet to join his comrade.
"He sure is rich. I heard this is being broadcast across the whole continent," his colleague added, looking up at the giant ivory acoustic horn positioned several meters away in the town square.
"It seems a war will be breaking out soon by the sound of it…" the man with the towel said to his friend, his arms clenched into fists.
With a decisive strike, he struck the boulder, perfect straight cracks spreading to form the outline of a rectangle.
"It is just propaganda. It will blow away in the morning," his colleague shrugged, lightly tapping the outer edges.
The stone surrounding the perfect rectangle crumbled, falling off it and leaving behind a perfectly rectangular block.
"But the Duke is not one to talk about war, especially when the war with the demons is still ongoing," the man with the towel said as he approached the rectangular boulder, raising it with little effort, the barely noticeable brownish aura around him proof he was using magic.
He moved toward neatly arranged rows of similar rectangular blocks, his colleague following behind with another rectangular boulder.
"They are all the same, do you not think so too, Mark…" his colleague said to another as he skillfully placed down the boulder.
"It might be serious. I hear the Duke is not one to even speak in public settings. I heard he is a pacifist," the rust-colored-haired man they had addressed explained.
"Really? You think so…" the colleague could not help but ask, turning to another.
They all agreeing with the man with the towel.
"What will a civil war mean for us stonemasons?" the colleague gasped, his attention drawn to the ivory acoustic horn, his expression grave.
Across several parts of the continent, similar conversations were being held, the Duke's declaration the center of attention.
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In the city of Dominus, the capital of the central continent named after the royal family, a magnificent castle stood, the epitome of glamour.
Built with rare sunstone, it shone under the brilliance of the sun, its brilliance gentle like the moon, yet shining for several miles for all to see.
This gave it the nickname, the Yellow Moon.
In this magnificent castle sat the ruler of the central kingdom, Leon El Dominus.
Blue eyes, gentle brows, a squared face, and flowing golden hair falling to his shoulders like the mane of a lion.
Adorned on his head was a slender gold-toned circlet with vine motifs.
He looked like an Olympian god looking down on his subjects.
He sat at the head of the giant conference table, his council of elders discussing with him.
"Your Majesty, we should request an audience with him to clarify this misunderstanding…" one of the elders said politely.
"There is no need for that. Who does he think he is, just a duke threatening the royal family of an empire…" another elder said, his red hair so dark one might mistake it for black.
A sixth resonance mage, one of the few on the continent.
Sigmund Agni, the abdicated patriarch of the Agni house.
"Hey, we cannot act like that. We need to know why he is doing this. Maybe it is a misunderstanding. For all we know, this could be the demons working behind the scenes," the man who had spoken earlier said to Sigmund.
His hair was silver despite his young appearance, its color a testament to his wind affinity.
"The Vulcans have always been arrogant, believing they are untouchable. If he wants a war, let us give him a war. There is nothing to discuss," Sigmund said, folding his arms, leisurely leaning in his chair, brows furrowed in annoyance.
He had made his stand and he was not backing down.
"Your Highness, what he is saying is unreasonable. Let us talk this out…"
"We should talk to…" the king paused, his attention turning to the door, the elders also turning toward it.
An intoxicating smell of flowers wafted through the slightly opened oak doors.
A beautiful woman entered, her green hair cascading over her shoulders and falling to her heels.
She was adorned in a translucent gold gown, loose yet unable to hide her voluptuous figure.
Her oval face coupled with monolid green eyes made her a beauty that could overturn nations.
"Greetings, Queen Mother," they all bowed in respect as the woman stepped in, even the king doing the same.
She waved her hands, gesturing for them to sit, as she too took a seat
She sat on the king's lap.
"I understand your concern, Aeolus, but Agni is right. The dukedom is too arrogant, not to mention they have been growing too rapidly. It is time to clip their wings permanently…" she spoke, her voice gentle and warm, seemingly pulling everyone in.
"I understand…" Duke Aeolus, the silver-haired elder, gave in without a fight, a wry smile on his lips.
"Good. Then, my son, we move to war…" the Queen Mother turned to the king, pressing her lips against his.
No one commented, and no one side-glanced, as if this was a normal occurrence.
"Their arrogance ends now…" with these words, she left the room, leaving silence behind.
"Let us prepare for war…" Sigmund broke the slience, the rest rallying behind him.
They changed their discussion to preparations against the Vulcan Dukedom, the most powerful house after the royal family.
To most, they were modest enough to place the royal family first.
Some believed them to be the true pillars of the central continent, these rumors not entirely baseless as the majority of the military of the empire was under Duke Vulcan, not to mention most industries.
They seemed more affluent than the royal family, the royal family eyeing their power for a long time.
They might have failed to swallow them, but this was another chance to bring them down.
"Is this really the right choice when we are still at war with the demons?" Duke Aeolus thought to himself as he watched his colleagues plan a war that could be avoided.
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A/N
Sorry for missing updates.
I was overwhelmed by work and didn't even notice my stockpile was empty. (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞
I sincerely apologize to my loyal readers (´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ)
I promise to make it up to you.
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