"Father has really gone senile after his encounter with the guardian demon beast of the star Shattering Sect…" Muttering this to himself as he made his way out of the large main palace, the crown prince could not help frowning with an unsatisfied expression on his face. Not the slightest bit happy with the inaction of his father.
"Hm? That is…" Just at this moment, the crown prince froze on the spot as he spotted a tall man standing at the entrance gate to the wall surrounding the main palace.
Although his appearance was covered by a large cloak that made it impossible to discern his true appearance, his presence alone was more than enough to intimidate any of the servants passing by from approaching. Even making the guards standing guard at the entrance gate look the other way, as they were similarly intimidated by the tall man.
Noticing the crown prince at the same time that the crown prince saw him, a small smile made its way onto the face of the tall man before he began making his way towards the crown prince. "Your highness it's good to see you again."
"Greetings elder, it's great to see you again." Not caring about his identity, the crown prince respectfully bowed his head to the tall man with a respectful expression on his face. Allowing everyone watching the interaction from afar to understand just how important the tall man, while at the same time making them curious about who the tall man and where he came from.
After all, the crown prince was the most influential person in the entire kingdom and outside of the king, no one could make him bow his head in the kingdom. Meaning that the tall man who had just made the crown prince respectfully bow his head, should be a powerful person from one of the larger kingdoms!
"Your highness let's go somewhere more secluded where we can talk more privately. "Glancing around at the servants and guards observing them as he said this, the tall man signaled for the crown prince to follow him out of the main palace.
"Of course! We can go to my palace, there won't be anyone to disturb us there." Nodding his head obediently as he said this, the crown prince quickly jumped ahead of the tall man to lead the way to his palace, something that the tall man tactically agreed with, as both of them soon made their way out of the main palace and into the smaller palace belonging to the crown prince.
"So, have you come to a decision regarding the thing we talked about last time we met?" Coming to a stop inside a small, isolated room of the crown prince's palace, the tall man directly asked this with a serious expression on his face, causing the crown prince who to momentarily freeze on the spot.
"This… Is it really necessary for me to get rid of my father…?" Hesitating for a moment before he turned around and asked this, the crown prince quickly looked around himself with a nervous expression on his face after realizing what he had just said. Only relaxing again after making sure that there wasn't anyone secretly spying on him.
"Hmph! You think that father of yours would agree to go against the Star Shattering Sect? His weak mindset will inevitably end up ruining this kingdom and you know that as well. Only by displaying your strength and standing up against the Star Shattering Sect together with the large kingdoms, will you and your kingdom have a chance to rise up in this world!" Sneering disdainfully as he said this, the tall man looked directly at the crown prince for a response.
His terrifying aura made it clear that he would not accept anything other than a straightforward answer. Not wanting to give the crown prince a chance to delay the answer like he had done the last time they met up.
If father really doesn't want to fight back against the Star Shattering Sect and ensure the kingdom's prosperity and continued existence, it might be time for me to step up in his place and ensure that the kingdom remains strong. Maybe even growing strong enough to contend with the large kingdoms. Possibly even stronger than that!
Feeling like his ambitions to lead his kingdom to greater heights had been ignited, the crown prince turned to look towards the tall man, still hidden beneath a large cloak, with a determined look in his eyes.
"Oh? Have you come to a decision?" Not able to stop himself from smiling after noticing the determination of the crown, the tall man chuckled silently to himself as he asked this question. Even if he already knew the answer to the question.
"Yes! I will do what you said and lead my kingdom to fight against the Star Shattering Sect!"
"Hehe, great! I will be informing my master about this development so he can prepare the necessary things required for your kingdom to have the strength to fight against the Star Shattering Sect. Although… I hope you will have taken care of your father and become the king by the time I return. If not… My master will be forced to intervene and put someone other than you in the position of king!"
Whoosh-!
Disappearing from the room after he finished saying this, the mysterious tall man didn't leave any traces of him being there behind.
As for the crown prince… He was looking back in the direction of the main palace was located with a difficult expression on face. Although the man had not outright told him to kill his father, the crown prince understood that there would be no other way than this if he wanted to become the king.
After all, he understood his father very well and there was no way that his father would just hand over his position to him and make him the new king. Especially considering the current chaotic situation that was taking place due to the Star Shattering Sect starting to expand into the larger kingdoms that had previously been left alone for a short period of time.
"Haa… Father, I hope you will make the correct decision…" Muttering this to himself as he looked towards the large palace at the center of the capital where his father was staying, the crown prince turned around before making his way out of capital to make the required preparations for taking the position away from his father by force!
…
Not too long after the short encounter between the crown prince and the mysterious tall man, the citizen of the small kingdom, woke up to news of the king being poisoned to death by one of the factions that had been defeated by the king in the past when he ascended the throne.
Luckily, the crown prince was around at the time of the poisoning and managed to catch the culprit before he had a chance to escape. Executing him on the spot.
The heroic actions of the crown prince killing the assassin quickly spread through the kingdom and all the citizen and nobles gave their support to the crown prince as he smoothly ascended the throne without any problems.
Not a single person thought that the crown prince might have been behind the death of his father. The reason for this being that the crown prince was the only legitimate heir of the kingdom and would inevitably take over the kingdom in the future, there was no need for him to kill his father only to ascend the throne a few years earlier!
Like this, the small kingdom located in between three large kingdoms smoothly changed owners without anyone noticing anything odd about it. Even the people from the large kingdoms who had been friends with the now former crown prince's father did not think there was anything odd about his death…
…
"Hm? The small kingdom just next to the kingdom we took control of changed owners?"
At the same time that the information of the small kingdom started to spread out beyond the borders of the small kingdom itself, Elder Song who was currently focusing a large part of his attention on that specific area due to the large kingdom that had just entered the control of the Star Shattering Sect being located there, inevitably learnt about it.
"Yes, from the looks of it, it should be one of the factions that had been fighting against the now dead king when he first ascended the throne. The person in charge of the kingdom now is the crown prince, who would originally have ascended the throne in another five to ten years."
"Killing the current king who is already getting close to death, but not his child? How weird… Looks like there is something more to the death of that king…" Narrowing his eyes as he muttered this to himself, Elder Song did not waste any time in contacting the servant quarters to have them gather more information on the crown prince who had taken control of the small kingdom.
Part of him feeling that everything about what had happened in the small kingdom felt odd…