BXBX NOVEL Chapter 114: Three Factions
****STAR OF THRONE HALL****
The nobles who were summoned by the Emperor are now inside the throne room waiting for His Majesty, the Emperor to come.
Also, within this assembly, not all nobles are invited to this important meeting and only a handful of noble household headmasters are present by the orders of their monarch.
From the Aristocratic Faction, there is only one Patriarch present and that was none other than…. Count DERICK ONYX CROWELL from the Crowell household.
He is Her Majesty, Queen Eula\'s father and the figurehead of the Aristocratic Faction.
Although his noble title belongs to the lower rank but because he\'s the father of the Queen, his standing within the Aristocratic Faction had risen, and his noble title should have been rose up as well, but the Count politely declined the offer and just humbled himself to remained as a Count and nothing else.
In reality, Count Crowell\'s intention wasn\'t to marry his daughter Eula to the Emperor, but he planned to marry off his eldest daughter instead but because of Empress Raziah\'s recommendation, Count Crowell had no choice but to comply.
\'Will that ungrateful b*tch appear in this assembly as well? Tsk! I regretted not to put a leash on that b*tch and now she had the backing of the Royal family and the Duke Marfa household, I don\'t have a choice but to retreat for now.\'
When her daughter Eula married the Emperor as the second wife and entered the Stellarus Royal household, that ungrateful daughter of his severed her ties within the Crowell household and that makes the Count fumed in anger because of that woman\'s insolence.
He was about to take matters into his own hands and was about to bring this up to the public to smear her reputation because of what she had done, but the Empress got intervene once again.
« ….. "If you want to ruin Eula\'s life and her future then, be my guest. However, I know you\'re smart enough not to make an enemy to the Royal family and the Duke Marfa household then, I suggest that you cease that ulterior motive of yours lest you wanted your household fell into ruin. Mark my words, Count Crowell. Touch a single hair of Agatha and you\'ll face the consequences. I\'m not joking, and I\'ll do it!" ….. »
Count Crowell suddenly remembered those words from decades ago and up until now, he felt threatened whenever the Empress was around and even though the Empress stopped from going into other banquets and tea parties for more than eight years but her influence within the noble society never fades away.
Count Crowell looked at the other nobles within this room who got summoned by the Emperor and he noticed there was only one person who seemed like he would be late for the assembly.
"I wonder when Marquis Chevalier would arrive? For what I heard, the Marquis had arrived at the central region few days ago from his journey to the academy as he serve there as one of the Instructors for three years straight and right now, he is now residing at his household in the Capital city."
The one who spoke out of the blue is none other than…. Duke RONALD QUINN MARFA from the Marfa household.
He is Her Majesty, the Empress\' older brother and the current political leader of the Imperial Faction.
The former Duke Marfa, the current Duke and Her Majesty, the Empress\' father had died years ago from his illness that plagues him for a long time and after that, the eldest son took the mantle of the Duke position and became its Patriarch in his early 20\'s.
Actually, in this assembly, only four noble household Patriarchs are summoned by the Emperor because the Emperor didn\'t want many nobles to know about the current situation that is happening within the Palace.
However, no secrets remained forever but as much as possible, the Emperor wanted to suppress the news about this matter and that\'s why he summoned the four noble patriarchs from the Aristocratic, Imperial and Neutral factions.
"There might be some delays for sure and all of us knew that the Marquis isn\'t someone who would neglect his duties to the Empire and not only that, but he is the type of person who separates work from personal affairs so please keep that in mind, gentlemen."
The other two patriarchs looked at the other person who just spoke to defend his fellow faction member and this person is none other than…. Count STEPHAN CALLENE LA FONTAINE from the Count La Fontaine household.
He is the grandson of the Headmaster of Lumen Academy, and he is the youngest amongst the Patriarchs present within this assembly.
Although he might be young and mostly unexperienced, but this young gentleman is the most cunning out of all of them and the other two Patriarchs didn\'t dare to underestimate this young man.
Because if his grandfather, the former Count, most notably known for his ruthlessness and calculative thoughts in dealing within the political intrigues within the Empire, his grandson, is also known for being a sly fox who would bare its fangs if needed and he is also a master for wordplay.
So, his statement from earlier isn\'t just for formality to defend his fellow faction member but also a warning for those two other patriarchs from the different faction.
Others often underestimate this young man because of his age but the other two patriarchs who had experience this young man\'s ruthlessness, just like his grandfather in the old days, they never dared to argue with him, and they just keep their mouth shut.
Duke Roland gritted his teeth as he glared at the young Count for his insolent but knowing his opponent, as much as he wanted to refute back because of his underlying hidden threats covered with those words of politeness, he could only shut his mouth and only clenches his fists to restrain himself and not to fall victim into his schemes.
Count Derick, on the other hand, just kept watching on the sidelines and he didn\'t want to become the target of this young b*stard and just took a sip on his tea to calm himself for a moment.
\'It is no wonder that the former Count appointed his grandson for the noble position since the young Count\'s father died when he was young. This young man who seems likely to resemble his grandfather that much but if I were to evaluate this young gentleman, he is much more cunning and sly than that old geezer.\'
The young Count\'s father, who is the eldest son of that old geezer, died from a sudden ambush when he was journeyed outside the central region and the young Count was around 10 years old from that time.
Afterwards, his biological mother, became ill because of the shock she received about her husband\'s sudden death and her illness took not longer and after a year passed that time, she died as well, living the young Count orphaned and that time, the former Count took him in and raised him as the heir of the household.
That old geezer had two sons and the second son wasn\'t interested in the noble title and only wanted to have a peaceful life as an artist but because of the sudden death of his elder brother, he had no choice but to took up the mantle temporarily until the young Count reached at the right age to inherit the noble title.
The second son, ERICKSON LA FONTAINE, was the one who represents the La Fontaine household in the Neutral Faction for years and did his duties in a serious matter, even though he didn\'t want to but right now that the rightful heir, this young Count in front of them, had reach the right age, he immediately hand over the noble title to his nephew and walked away from the political intrigues of this empire like a plague.
\'I suddenly remember that one event that Erickson would just glare at all of the nobles who dared to approach him in a calculative manner and sometimes I laughed on the sidelines because if that guy didn\'t manage his temper, then, he would likely to throw some tantrums around him.\'
Too bad that the La Fontaine household is one the neutral faction from the beginning and one of the pioneer households, together with the Chevaliers and it\'s understandable that these two households had a good relationship with one another.
\'There was a rumor from before that the second son, Erickson La Fontaine and the eldest daughter, Lady Marchioness Felicity Chevalier had an arranged marriage with one another because of how their both households had great relationship with one another, but they never clarified this rumor, and it became a hot topic amongst the noble society.\'
Count Derick wouldn\'t thought about that rumor to be true since the second young master Erickson isn\'t interested to integrate himself within the noble society since he prefers to live a quiet life, unlike the eldest young lady Felicity who already had much more influence within the socialite world, as well as the noble society and she is the sought-after bachelorette amongst her fellow peers.
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