Chapter 4: Kaiser

Kaiser slams his palms onto his desk hard. Clearly, the news of his engagement to that foolish Princess did not make him happy. "So that cowardly King has decided to give me his Princess. What kind of insult is this?"

"But what is the King thinking, wedding you to a Princess?" Raphael asks. He was confused as to how marrying the Princess to the Duke would even benefit the Royal family. "Wouldn't marrying a Royal only gain you more power?"

"He is probably planting the Princess here to find dirt on me. To keep an eye on me and restrict my movements." Kaiser says in after gathering his thoughts. His tone now calmer than earlier. "That, or he is trying to control me by marrying me to the Princess. The power I would gain is only the authority a measly princess has. I won't be able to gain new allies if I'm married to the Princess. Those who also oppose the crown will not want to work with me." Kaiser tries to control his temper as he explains his theories to Raphael, his right-hand man.

Raphael nods along to Kaiser's theories. "So the King thinks that by marrying the Princess, your allies will also be the King's allies. That, and if they oppose the King, they won't work together with you because you're engaged to the Princess. What do we do now?"

Kaiser lets out a deep sigh. His eyes close gently, relaxed. He was silent for a moment, before opening his eyes again and standing from his desk chair. "There's not much we can do for now. The King is absolute, and if it's what he wants, then I can't refuse." Kaiser walks up to the giant window of his office, looking far off into the distance. "But I do wonder what his reaction will be like if I completely crush his precious daughter in the palm my of my hand. I'll have to return his gift back to him in pieces." Kaiser makes a fist, envisioning the Princess trapped in the palm of his hand as he crushes her. Though his expression remained calm and collected, his voice was filled with rage.

Raphael says nothing. He, himself was afraid for the Princess. But now was not the time to be feeling sorry for the blood of the King's.

In about a month from now, Kaiser and Princess Blair's marriage ceremony will take place. The whole kingdom knows of this news already, as the news was spreading fast. Kaiser did not let this bring him down, he was also just as impatient as the King for the arrival of his new wife. Carefully planning out just how exactly he would break her before sending her body parts back to the King in pieces. Kaiser was angry enough that he did not even think of the consequences. He only wanted to see the King cry and beg for his precious daughter back.

Kaiser did not know much about Princess Blair. Only that she would pop up everywhere the King was. It would seem that Princess Blair was very clingy with her father. And that the King truly adored and spoiled her. She did not have any outstanding features about her besides her beauty. Other noble ladies had better manners compared to the Princess herself.

Knock knock.

Kaiser and Raphael looks back to the door.

Arlo, the Butler calls out from behind the closed door. "Duke, Prince Igraine requests your audience."

"Let him know that I will be there soon."

"Will do. I will take my leave." Arlo responds from behind the door, walking away.

Kaiser listens to Arlo's footsteps fade away as he walks away from Kaiser's office. Without wasting another minute, Kaiser makes his way out of his office. Raphael following closely behind him with the report of their research in his hands. Before he meets with the Prince, he calls for a maid to prepare tea and some snacks. Ordering for it to be brought to the guest lounge where he will be meeting the with Prince Igraine.

Part of him already knew what Prince Igraine was here for. And it was most likely about the new drug that they had discovered while out by the borders. Kaiser had no particular reason for taking the responsibility of researching the drug. His team just did it better than the Royal Mages. He also did not trust those corrupt Royal Mages. So far, all he knew about the drug was that it was used to strengthen the beasts outside the borders. The drug also affected their aggressiveness. At this moment, his people, a team of medical experts and mages are researching the drug. And all they have found so far is the possible ingredients used to make this drug. He needed to figure out the after affects of using the drug and how much of a threat the drug can pose.

Kaiser enters the guest room where Prince Igraine was sitting relaxed on the luxurious furniture. He greets the Prince, confidence in his stride and posture. Kaiser sits himself across from Prince Igraine. "What brings your Highness here today?"

"I'm sure you know already what I'm here for. The drug and Blair." Prince Igraine comments.

"Princess Blair?" Kaiser questions, he did not expect a conversation about the Princess. But he did not let his confusion show on his facial expression. Kaiser plays it cool as he continues. "What are you coming to me about the Princess for?"

Prince Igraine sighs, he brings his palms up to his face, massaging the stress on his forehead. He then combs back his bangs with his hands, letting out another deep sigh. Something about this topic did not seem to sit right with the Prince. "I know how you feel about Blair. You think nothing of her." He starts.

Kaiser doesn't say a word. Prince Igraine was right. It looks like he was worried about the Princess.

"I know that you resent my father, and us along with him. I can sense it. I have never called you out on it, I have never thought bad of you and your opinions. And I don't blame you for resenting us. But Blair... She doesn't deserve to be punished for our sins."

Maybe the Prince wasn't as dumb as he looks. But he seems to be revealing his true colors, that he was just playing the fool. However, Kaiser thought the Prince couldn't be any more dumb to reveal such emotions to him. So what if the Princess is innocent? She's still the flesh and blood of that pig King.

"Blair is dumb. She may be pass the age to marry, but she's still childish and immature. And I can see how much she obsesses over you and crushes on you. My pleads may not be much, but I hope for you to treat her well."

Kaiser is silent for a long while. He does not break eye contact with the Prince as he gathers his thoughts in silence. The Prince also remains cool, even though he was pleading with Kaiser himself about not hurting the Princess.

Kaiser didn't even know the Princess had feelings for him. This was the first he ever heard of such nonsense. But even if the Princess had feelings for Kaiser, he was not going to let her live an easy life. After a moment of silence, with his poker face and calm tone of voice, he responds to the Prince's plead. "I cannot promise you anything."

Prince Igraine slightly nods. He already knew Kaiser's answer. But he had still wanted to try and convince him even if Kaiser wouldn't ever open his heart. Prince Igraine straightens himself up, as if the conversation about Blair never happened.

Just then, there is a knock at the door.

"May we enter?" The servants ask.

"Come in." Kaiser replies.

The servants roll in a cart of snacks and tea. They gently place everything nicely onto the coffee table in between Kaiser and Prince Igraine. After setting the table, the servants softly bow in respect and back off, scurrying back to their duties. Kaiser motions for the Prince to have some snacks. "I apologize for the not so fancy snacks. Feel free to snack on them whenever." He says, taking a sip of tea from his teacup.

Prince Igraine is back to business mode again. Thanking Kaiser for the snacks before taking a sip of tea from his teacup. "What have you found about that drug so far?"

As if Kaiser was waiting for this question all day, he readily explains his research. "So far, we don't have much about it. We have a few clues on what was used to make the drug. We both know the drug is what caused the beasts to go on a rampage. I would guess that a human consuming the drug would kill them. I don't have a good feeling about this drug, but we're still looking in on the dangers it could threaten the Kingdom with." His voice was almost a monotonic tone. He motions for Raphael to hand over the paperwork that he brought for him.

Raphael swiftly hands over a report on the current findings of the drug to Kaiser. And Kaiser slips the report over to Prince Igraine. "This is a report of our current findings and the ingredients possibly used to make the drug. We both know that it leaves the wild beasts starving and feral. We don't know how long the drug lasts until they go back to normal. My team is going to try and recreate this drug so we can test it out on wild beasts. And we're also researching a way to counteract the drug, or find a cure for the drug."

Prince Igraine takes the report, scanning through it all as he continues to converse with Kaiser. "Whoever is creating this drug is still out there planning something and potentially harming the people of Rothnia. Do you have any clues on them?"

"I have people tracing their whereabouts. But whoever this person is, they're skilled. We have no tracks of them whatsoever." Kaiser adds on.

Prince Igraine nods in understanding. He lets out a long sigh, clearly stressed and overworked. "I don't have any clear leads on them either. I suspect it to be another mage to have come up with this drug. But it couldn't be just one person if it was mass given to all of those beasts by the border. I'm planning on traveling to neighboring kingdoms to find out if the production of the drug is from anywhere outside of Rothnia."

Kaiser thinks to himself. Both the Prince and Kaiser knew the drug was used by bandits outside of the borders to try and attack the kingdom. The bandits didn't particularly belong to any kingdom, in fact some of them were from Rothnia. But it couldn't hurt to investigate other kingdoms. "I can send a few of my knights to help you with your investigation."

Prince Igraine accepts Kaiser's offer. He knew fully well that the knights trained under the Rinehart family were the strongest and most intelligent compared others, including the Royal Palace's Knights. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.

Kaiser and Prince Igraine end their meeting there. Prince Igraine quickly finishes the last of the tea in his teacup before standing up from his seat.

"I will be heading back to the palace. You do not need to walk me out." Prince Igraine says, excusing himself.

Kaiser says nothing, allowing the Prince to make his way out of the Rinehart property. He was also exhausted from work, his mind was empty yet busy. He stands from his seat and makes his way back to his office to continue working on the papers stacked on his desk.

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