It was honestly very honorable to see how much Baron Skarr was struggling with making a decision, and for a moment, Jason thought that he wouldn’t get the Baron’s support! But Baron Skarr was still a dragon, and just like Val’kat understood the importance of money, the Baron understood the importance of gems more than anyone else! Baron Skarr knew that the Aqualith gems would take the Primordial Expanse by storm, and if he didn’t take the hand Jason had just extended to him, then he would be missing out on one of the greatest Gem Rushes of this century!
"I, Baron Skarr, fourth seat of the council, and King of the Draconian race of Vulcan, nominate Jason Marc as the most suited candidate for the position of Overlord of the Sixth Domain. You’ve played a wonderful game here, boy. You should be proud."
Baron Skarr said those last few words to Jason, and Jason just nodded his head slightly in thanks without bothering to return the Baron’s smile. Now that Jason had gotten the support of seven of the nine council members present, Jason knew that he had more than enough nominations to be given the seat of the Overlord of the Sixth Domain. But even if Jason had already secured the seat, Jason was still not yet satisfied! There was one more person on the council that Jason was patiently waiting for an answer from, and Jason’s eyes travelled towards the second seat of the council and landed on Rak’hael with a narrowed gaze!
Rak’hael was conflicted. On the outside, Rak’hael’s hands were tightened into fists as she glared down at Jason angrily! There was an intense anger burning in her heart as Rak’hael realised that Jason had planned all of this from the beginning, and even though Rak’hael had a bit of respect for what Jason had accomplished here, Jason’s actions reminded her so much of an old friend of hers that she couldn’t help but hate what Jason had just done! Rak’hael knew that she was stuck between a rock and a hard place! On one hand, Rak’hael could refuse to give Jason her nomination! But by doing that, Rak’hael knew that she would be missing out on the important Aqualith stones that could help advance the research in her magic academies, and Rak’hael also knew that even if she refused to give Jason her nomination, Jason had already gotten more than enough nominations to become the next Overlord, so she would just be shooting herself in the foot!
But on the other hand, if Rak’hael accepted Jason’s hand of friendship and gave Jason her nomination, it would be an embarrassment! Rak’hael had been the most vocal criticizer of Jason all this time, and everyone knew that if Rak’hael had her way, then Jason wouldn’t even be on this nomination list! Jason would be in prison already! It would take a monumental amount of effort for Rak’hael to swallow her pride and accept Jason’s hand, and Rak’hael grit her teeth as she felt her ego and her sense of duty to her people battling against each other!
But after Rak’hael stayed silent even after a few minutes had passed, C’thlyanu was forced to come forward and speak.
"Very well then, if those are all the nominations –"
"I... I, Queen Rak’hael, second seat on the council, and Queen of the Angelic race of Eden, do not support Jason Marc as my preferred candidate for the position of Overlord of the Sixth Domain."
Everyone was shocked when Rak’hael’s voice suddenly cut through the hall to interrupt C’thlyanu, and Jason could feel a strained smile spreading on his face as he saw Rak’hael’s glare deepen even more! Rak’hael refused to do it! The temptation to support Jason had been extremely strong, but deep in her heart, Rak’hael knew she was right, and she refused to give her support to a man like Jason! It didn’t matter if her domain would miss out on the Aqualith stones! The stones would have been good research material, but it wasn’t as though the second Domain was desperate for the stones! Rak’hael refused to let go of her integrity to support someone like Jason!
’Honestly, what sort of woman is this?’
Jason couldn’t help but look at Rak’hael with some interest! Was it really possible for someone to remain this strong-headed even in the face of something this precious!? Everyone in the room knew that the only way to gain Jason’s favour in the future was to support him as the next Overlord, and Jason had already been prepared to get every single person’s vote since he knew that they would all want a piece of the Aqualith trade in the future! So right now, Jason didn’t know if Rak’hael was just too strong-headed to let go of her own pride or if she was simply the sort of person who stood by her beliefs no matter what! Was she refusing to give in to Jason’s offer because he was an Avaran!? But regardless of Rak’hael’s reason, Jason couldn’t help but be impressed! It was very rare to find someone who could hold on to their own integrity even in the face of something like this!
Jason smiled towards Rak’hael, and he gave her a small nod to tell her that he understood, and Rak’hael’s face soured as she turned away from Jason and leaned back in irritation! The other council members weren’t that surprised by what had happened since they all knew that Rak’hael had been Jason’s biggest criticizer from the start! It would have been more shocking if Rak’hael had actually supported him! But the fact that Rak’hael had refused to give her nomination didn’t matter, because during these nominations, there were always those who supported one candidate or another, and it always came down to a majority vote to determine who would become the next candidate! But this was the first time in history that nearly every single member of the council showed their support for one single candidate, and there was no doubt that Jason had won already!
C’thlyanu floated gently over his seat as he hummed curiously! This was truly something else! C’thlyanu wouldn’t deny that he had also been shocked when he saw the Aqualith stone that Jason presented, and even a Celestial like himself couldn’t help but imagine the benefits he could gain from this stone! It was obvious that the temptation would be far too much for the other council members to resist! But that was fine! Even though Jason had used some unconventional methods, C’thlyanu knew that Jason was the most qualified person for this seat! The Overlord of a domain needed to have both strength and wits, as well as the support of the other races in his Domain! The Overlord’s duty was to watch over their various worlds and judge issues that arose between those worlds, and in order to do that, the Overlord needed to be smart enough to uncover the truth, even if he was surrounded by liars, and charismatic enough to gather support from others! Every other candidate present also had great qualifications, but C’thlyanu knew without a doubt that Jason Marc was the only person present who they could entrust the Sixth Domain to without any worries at all!
But all of a sudden, all the council members looked towards the stands as someone stood up! Diane looked towards the council members with emotionless eyes that were narrowed unpleasantly, and she allowed her gaze to scan over them slowly before she turned away and began to walk out of the hall with her warrior women following behind her.