Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

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Miss Evergreen smiled helplessly.

"Well, my parents had their own considerations and come by from time to time. But given the weakness we were left with after losing two important members, I had to step up to make up for it," she said and sat down in the chair the guard had prepared for her.

"But I'm not as good as the old folks yet. So I must ask: Can you guess what they want?"

Robert smiled. "Well, just a little. What I do know is that we can't let ourselves be intimidated. Look at all the power they have on their side," he said.

Three castles in the North. Four Great Noble Houses of the North. And the Royal Castle, plus its affiliated nobles who are also Great Noble Houses of the Capital.

On top of that, the academic side, not counting one peculiar character, joined them. There was also the academic side of the North and East.

On this side were only Priestley, Evergreen, and Neville. The other Noble Houses, although they sent representatives, did not seem very interested in this, as they were only low-level ambassadors or something similar.

The difference in status was heavily skewed toward the other side. And that was without even counting Lady Loren, whose status is more than impressive.

"Do you think Lord Hardrial will take her side? He's in his own room, not moving," Evergreen asked.

"He won't. Lord Hardrial doesn't get along with academic leaders, and the Emperor himself is trying to close doors on him so he can't grow," he said.

"I see," she nodded. "What exactly do you plan to do, in case what you think they'll do comes to pass?" she asked, curious about his plan.

"I know it's difficult for Magic and Money to work together again because of past encounters, but right now Velharthe could be stripped of great power if we don't unite."

She stared at him. He wasn't looking to answer her question; instead, he was trying to get her on his side.

"I won't take your side if you don't tell me anything about your plans, you know that, right?"

"Haha. Have you ever heard of the February of Decadence?" he asked.

"You mean...?" Evergreen frowned and remembered the past.

Many years ago. Robert Priestley wasn't even born yet. In fact, neither his grandfather nor his great-grandfather had been born yet.

More than three thousand years ago, the Priestley Family and the Evergreen Family managed to forge such a powerful alliance that it shook the empire to its core. Three castles in the North joined forces and attempted to seize the Western Capital (the Royal Capital) and the Eastern Capital by threatening the castles in the Southern Capital (then Habsburg, Priestley, and Evergreen). These threats were tangible and certainly dangerous.

Had they succeeded, the North would possibly be the current supreme ruler, below Lockward.

But they did not count on a card up the sleeves of the Priestleys and Evergreens: the leaders of both clans married on one night, the night of February 3rd of that year.

And with their wedding, the economy and magic of the empire trembled.

The Priestleys closed their coffers and the resources they had, from mines to land, were completely shut down. Nothing was produced. Nothing was exchanged, because more than 80% of the money was locked up in Priestley banks and the investments in land were incredible.

Meanwhile, Evergreen made a masterstroke with all its magicians around the Empire: they ceased operations and entered into closed-door training at Evergreen Castle. And all this until further notice.

With the economy falling so dramatically in less than a week and the Priestleys, the Empire's largest producers at the time, not producing anything, everything collapsed and misfortune struck the empire.

In addition, the lack of wizards led to a drastic increase in insecurity and also made rival nations take an easy interest in them. Many believe that the spies that those nations sent into the Empire's lands since then continue to send information about them abroad.

It was at that moment that everyone realized that the Priestleys were too powerful. The decline of the Empire's economy also affected the economies of neighboring nations and even caused them concern.

But the situation worsened when those in the North refused to budge, thinking that the Priestleys could not afford this for long. After all, each passing day meant multimillion-dollar losses for the Priestleys.

Who would put up with all that, simply to defend themselves against them?

They thought they had the power to take on one of the greatest hegemonic powers that had ever existed in the Empire.

But they failed.

On February 27 of that year, they had to surrender. They canceled their operations and retreated north, forced to give up due to the enormous blockade they were facing.

They realized that on their own they could not cover the immense number of Evergreen magicians, and they also realized that it was impossible to face the Priestleys in a battle of attrition.

Because those guys knew no bounds.

The Priestleys and Evergreen cornered them and made them sign agreements, but they also realized the power they had in their hands, and to avoid inequalities at the table, Lockward forced them to make concessions as well.

There was nothing they could do, but they had won.

They created the worst month that one of the richest empires could experience.

Even so, the losses were terrible for them too, and subsequent generations of Priestleys were not allowed to do that again. Furthermore, after that time, the struggle between Evergreen and Priestley began, and it was not until Robert's grandfather's generation that those struggles ceased.

But the friction still remained, and an example of this is that the Evergreens consider it a great insult for anyone to say that Miss Evergreen is "the second pillar of magic, behind Rebecca." Even though it is obvious, none of them will accept it.

Robert nodded.

"Back then, both clans suffered terrible losses. We lost our hegemony, and now an individual is able to rival us where we are strongest. Meanwhile, you lost power. Many positions you once held have not been filled again for thousands of years."

"That situation kept us even, but we still have enough power to recreate it. We'll make them all suffer losses if they dare to move, and we'll also attract Lockward's attention, which will give us more room to maneuver. How about it?" he asked.

Evergreen remained silent.

That was too difficult a decision to make.

What makes him think that would be a good idea? Even he would suffer greatly if he did, because of the losses his clan would suffer.

She knew there was something he was missing and didn't want to tell her.

The plan was on the table, but what were they defending themselves against with that clan? What was the rival side looking for to make him think about doing that? And why?

She had all these questions written down at home, so that Robert could easily read them.

"There are several reasons that make me think about doing that. In the best case scenario, it will just be a false alarm and we won't do anything. But they may ultimately intend to bring the Royal Academy under their complete influence."

"Under their control?" She frowned and suddenly realized the situation. "Do they want to start slowly consuming us?"

"They're already doing it. Three of the Four Noble Houses are under their control, as well as Velharthe Cathedral, the main cathedral of the empire. Don't you see?"

Finally, Evergreen realized the gravity of the situation.

It's true.

The Asoist Church is gaining more and more ground in the religious sphere, and the main Cathedral is located here, ruled by none other than Lady Loren, the same one who is now sitting next to the Emperor!

Now, what would happen if they took complete control of the largest Academy in the Empire, whose headquarters are located here?

All new generations of all powers pass through that place, and all of them graduated from there. In addition to being the Academy that has the Teleportation Sites to the Red Sun Tower, the main ones in the Empire.

With all that to its credit, practically the entire future of the Empire revolves around the Academy.

The Empire's economy is greatly affected by the Tower and what happens there. The powerful of the Empire train at the Tower and graduate from the Academy. Practically everything is there.

The gravity of the situation was such that repeating a February of Decadence does not sound far-fetched.

The rules that Lockward had them sign back then stated that, in the event of a serious threat that upset the balance between the castles and could lead to the loss of one of them, other castles could form an alliance to take action and prevent it.

And this was the right moment.

"The second reason..." Robert spoke. "It's because of Lord Dan."

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