Murmurs spread through the throne hall as dozens of middle-aged men and women quietly conversed among themselves. They had been summoned to the royal palace first thing in the morning without any prior notice, but even without further information, they all had an inkling of what was going on.

"Do you think this is about the Emperor's birthday?"

"Most likely. There are no other major events that would require us to be summoned so hastily."

"Perhaps, after our failure to secure the bone tempering liquid, His Majesty has found another precious treasure to gift the Emperor, and we're about to set off to retrieve it."

The majority of the elders agreed this was the case, as to their knowledge there was no other reason for them to be gathered in the throne room at the same time, especially after having already been summoned just days prior.

At that moment, the doors of the throne room opened slowly, drawing every elder's gaze.

When they saw Granier step inside, they began to bow slightly, expecting Wulfric to follow. But when, out of the corners of their eyes, they noticed two young men instead, they froze halfway through.

Under the nobles' watchful eyes, Granier walked up to the throne and took his place beside it.

Nova leaned toward Letto and whispered, "Start acting like a king now, make them either fear you or respect y—" He stopped himself with a slight shake of his head. "Never mind. Just don't mess this up. Come, you need to sit on the throne."

Letto had known this moment was coming since last night, but it was all happening too fast for him to adjust. Still, his body moved on its own, following Nova, who strolled toward the throne as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

When Letto reached the throne, he turned and faced the nobles. Their expressions were marked with frowns, but none dared to raise a question, not with Granier present. The presence of the court mage alone was proof that this was no sham, but an official setting.

Nova saw Letto standing there, frozen under the weight of countless stares, and thought, 'This guy…' He placed a firm hand on Letto's shoulder and pressed down, making him plop onto the throne. The nobles' eyes widened, and Granier's brow furrowed slightly.

The court mage had agreed to be present only to see whether Nova had truly earned the nobles' support. He had not yet consented to anyone replacing Wulfric as king of Lotra. Seeing someone who was not yet king seated on the throne irritated him, but he chose to let it slide and turned toward the gathered crowd.

"I requested your presence here to confirm something," Granier said, snapping the nobles out of their daze. "An unexpected situation has arisen, and someone has claimed the support of the majority of noble families." His eyes flicked toward Nova, prompting the elders to follow his gaze.

"Thus, you are here to either confirm the claim or deny it. Now, I ask you, are you supporting these two standing here or not?" Granier's eyes narrowed.

One of the elders suddenly blurted out, "I don't even kn—"

Nova chimed in. "Before you say anything, I have something to address." Once he felt he had everyone's attention, he continued, "Did your family elders inform you of what happened in the Central Forest yesterday?"

Realization dawned on the nobles, and their gazes, once fixed on Nova with confusion, shifted immediately. Yesterday, when their elders returned from the mission assigned by the king, they had reported a situation in which they agreed to submit to someone if they could ensure the safety of their young geniuses, and that was indeed what had happened. Yet most of the family heads had scoffed at the claim.

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They had never personally agreed to anything, so why should they willingly serve someone with no true power?

One of the elders stepped forward. "They did mention what happened, but those elders acted without our consent. That makes the agreement void, as they had no authority to make it."

Many other family heads silently nodded in agreement. They were keeping their composure only because Granier was present; without him, they would likely have ignored everything Nova said.

A sigh escaped Nova's lips. "I guess they either didn't tell you everything, or you chose not to listen, but that's easily fixable."

Just as he was about to act, a suave elder spoke up.

"We, the Areza family, agree to support you."

Granier raised an eyebrow. He had never expected Nova to have even a single noble family on his side, given his lack of achievements. Now, although it was only one family, it was one of the most powerful in the kingdom. Seeing them support Nova made him reconsider.

Before the other elders could fully turn toward the Areza family head to question their decision, another voice rang out.

"The Serpentis have never gone back on their word. We will also honor our agreement."

Soon, two more elders spoke up in favor of Nova, surprising everyone in the room.

Did I misjudge him? Although it's only four families, two of them are in the top five. Should I switch sides and abandon Wulfric? I just don't know how strong this young man is, Granier thought, keeping his eyes on Nova from the corner of his gaze.

Despite the court mage's high opinion of Nova after seeing who had pledged their support, Nova's own eyes turned cold.

When Letto noticed the change, he thought to himself, Why don't they listen? Now someone is going to suffer.

Nova scanned the crowd and asked, "That's all?"

Only four out of more than a dozen families had chosen to honor the agreement their right-hand elders had made to save their young geniuses' lives. He could understand if he had spoken to someone with no influence in their family, someone who couldn't truly represent it. But the people he'd spoken to were key figures, those whose words carried weight.

Nova swept his gaze across the crowd, and when he saw that no one else stepped forward, he nodded. "Your elders must not have told you the full story, but don't worry, I'll let you live through it."

His Aura spread swiftly, still invisible to the naked eye, enveloping the area where the elders stood. Before the family heads who hadn't spoken could even open their mouths, they felt as if a mountain had been dropped on their shoulders out of nowhere, forcing them down. Heavy pants and grunts filled the air as their knees sank lower and lower with every passing moment.

Among the elders, the Areza family head and the other three who had pledged their support remained perfectly fine, standing tall and staring in awe at the scene.

Next to the throne, Granier's only thought was, What a strong Aura. If he had known this wasn't even a fraction of Nova's true power as he was still concealing his Aura, nobody could guess how he would have reacted.

Meanwhile, the elders under the crushing pressure felt their bones creak. Only seconds had passed since the situation took a turn for the worse, yet several were already on all fours, gritting their teeth and struggling to stop themselves from collapsing completely to the ground.

Soon the one with the weakest mental fortitude spat, "I'll agree to any of your demands, please, just stop this!"

With one yielding, others quickly followed, echoing the same plea. Nova stared at the group in silence, his Aura still bore down on them, and instead of relenting, he intensified the pressure.

Granier looked at him and said, "Why don't you stop? I think they've learned their lesson."

A spurt of blood escaped from several elders as they collapsed flat to the ground, the room filled with heavy thuds.

Nova did not look at the mage, his gaze remained fixed on the family heads. "I've given these families too many chances. If not for me, they would've lost their young geniuses and close kin, yet they still failed to honor the agreement once the danger passed. It's better they suffer now than turn their backs on the new king at the first opportunity."

Granier grew pensive at those words.

The pressure became so unbearable that bones began snapping like twigs, and the elders cried out in agony as fear settled deep within them. They had no way to escape, their lives rested in the hands of a young man who could snuff them out in an instant. They had never felt so powerless, not even when facing the king, at least, back then, their status and background had afforded them a certain respect.

But none of that seemed to affect Nova. He was punishing them regardless of their rank, granting them no respect for who they were. In fact, their status now felt like a burden, amplifying the pain with every passing moment.

At one point, the torment became so intense that some elders showed signs of passing out. Then, suddenly, the pressure vanished, like snow melting under the summer sun, and a voice rang clearly in their ears.

"I believe we're all on the same page now."

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