Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World - Chapter 259

Chapter 259: Halden – The Chancellor and the Duke of War
The Duke of War’s estate was drowned in the sounds of agony. The entire front courtyard had been turned into a nursing field, if it could even be called that. Makeshift beds covered the ground, soldiers lay packed shoulder-to-shoulder, their bodies burned to the flesh. Gauze, made of fur, clung to open wounds, peeling away skin each time the healers tried to change it. The sight alone was nauseating. The smell spread through the castle, even reaching other nobles’s estates.

“Kill me… please… just kill me…”

Cries like these echoed constantly, but the physicians only clenched their jaws and continued working, pulling away soaked bandages and applying salves that made the wounded scream louder.

Up in one of the tower balconies overlooking the courtyard, Chancellor Halden, also known as the Duke of War, stood with his hands behind his back. Middle-aged, heavy-eyed, with a sharpened mustache, he watched the scene below with a cold, unreadable expression. Behind him stood another noble, his back stiff and with a look of deference.

“Everything proceeds exactly as you planned, Chancellor” – the man said – “Lighting the walls on fire was a brilliant move.”

Halden did not turn. His gaze stayed fixed on the sea of writhing bodies – “It was not my doing.”

The noble blinked. “Y-Your Grace?”

Halden’s voice lowered, a murmur meant only for himself – “Who attacked, then…? I have spent months trying to pry the Grand Protector away from the king’s side, and even longer searching for a way to seize full control of the other nobles’ troops. Until now, Emerik still hesitated to act forcefully, waiting foolishly for the Second Prince’s movements.”

He paused, eyes narrowing as he watched a pair of healers hoist a screaming soldier onto a makeshift stretcher. Knife in hand as he forcefully cut dead skin on the man’s cheek.

“But this…” His voice darkened, a glint appearing in his gaze. “When the Prince sees this carnage, he will surely take a decisive action.”

A thin, cruel smile curved his lips as the last light of day struck the gray streaks in his hair.

The noble behind him swallowed hard. He had worked under the Chancellor for years, yet the man’s thoughts still ran deeper than he could ever grasp. Halden was the puppeteer behind nearly every recent event in the kingdom. He pulled the string behind the scenes, no one could escape his reach.

“How is the situation with the Second Prince?” Halden finally asked, turning his gaze toward the young noble, a boy who took to his father’s seat entirely through Halden’s machinations.

“According to our intel, he is in the western territories, conscripting nobles and recruiting troops” – the young man reported – “He intends to tighten pressure on the capital.”

“I should have strangled that brat when I had the chance” – Halden muttered, his gloved hand curling into a fist – “We wouldn’t be dealing with this mess if I had just killed him the day he crossed my path.”

Silence fell over the tower.

“Then this-” – Halden gestured toward the burning courtyard below – “—is not the Second Prince’s doing. Someone is moving my pieces on my board, and I cannot see whose hand it is.”

The young noble hesitated. Then a thought hit him.

“What about the Grand Protector?”

Halden’s eyes narrowed. He lifted a hand, allowing the boy to continue.

“He has remained at the king’s side all this time” – the noble said quietly – “However… some of our men reported that he left the palace and the king’s side for several hours about a week ago, right before the explosion in the Outer District. Maybe the events are connected.”

“You are implying I have been dancing in that old man’s palm all along?” Halden asked.

A smile crept across his face.

Then he laughed. Loudly. Hysterically. As if the very idea was a joke crafted for his own entertainment.

The young man clenched his fists behind his back, staring at the floor, not daring to interrupt. He regretted opening his mouth.

Halden wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter faded – “That old man does not scheme in the shadows. It’s not his style, and he has no reason to. If he suspected me of anything, he would walk straight through my gates, sword in hand, and take my head. For a man like him, numbers do not matter.”

The Grand Protector had served the royal bloodline for three generations. Most nobles didn’t know where he came from, or why he remained loyal to Askiv’s crown. But everyone, especially Halden, knew of his power.

The old generation of nobles still whispered of the day he erased an entire army of treasonous people. Mages, warriors, generals, it hadn’t mattered. Every one of them died under his blade. Some described him as a Demon or a God.

“Keep watching over the situation and let me know if anything changes.” – Chancellor Halden ordered a clear gesture for the man to leave.

“As you command, your Grace” – The noble said, lowering his head, before leaving the room. However, as he left, he saw a smirk on the Duke’s face, the same one he saw when he told about the theory of the Grand Protector.

-x-

Night settled over the improvised nursing field. And, using the darkness of the night, six figures slipped away unnoticed. The healers had already withdrawn to their quarters, exhausted, and those still lying on the makeshift beds were too delirious with pain to register anything beyond their own suffering. Even if they had seen something, they wouldn’t have cared, pain made them oblivious to everything, desiring only death.

Agusa and the others moved like shadows, using walls, crates, and crumbling buildings as cover while they vanished into the maze of the Inner District. Their goal was only one: the estate of Conradin Stann, the noble house which Ayla, Mara and Lysa, three spies of the Shadow Guard, had successfully infiltrated.

Their mission was clear. Find out everything the Viscount knew. By any means necessary.