Being stared deeply, Griffin woke up from his sleep. The soft moonlight seeped into the bedroom gently. The silk curtains were swaying in the caress of the night breeze.
The point was, the window was opened. Only his breathing was heard in the quiet night. Griffin calmed his heart by controlling his breath.
In the dark, he saw a woman sitting on the couch staring at him with an expressionless face. Assassin? Wrong!! Which assassin would stare at the victim without stabbing a few times when there was a chance.
"You woke up pretty fast.."
The melodious voice entered his ears making his blood cold. That woman started to glow in the dark, her appearance and her voice were ethereal.
"Who are you?"
"Snap!!"
The answer to his question was the snapping sound of her fingers. Griffin's eyes closed against his will. When his eyes reopened, there was a brilliance shone in them.
"Goddess of Earth, why are you here?"
"I'm here to ask you, God of Light… When will you end your petty bet?"
Her fingers snap temporarily awaken the will of God of Light hidden in Griffin soul. He let out a chuckle at her question.
"What did the Water guy say?"
"He is willing to end it when you stop."
"Am I so easy to settle? Ha.."
Looking at his unruly face, the Goddess of Earth wanted to slap his face. When she said he was petty, she meant it literally.
"It's you who started it. Because of your pettiness, you started the bet. After betting, you didn't compete fairly. You kicked the upright god into the Abyss to be born as a devil. You disturbed the timeline of your believer's Empire by robbing the throne from the righteous owner. You have gone too far …"
Under the offensive words, he didn't seem to feel that he was wrong. All she got was a sneer from this arrogant god.
"I'll compensate him after I win the bet."
"Can it be the same? You robbed his throne. His mother is gone. He didn't just lose a throne, he also lost his family. The traumas are hard to compensate. Now, he is likely to lose his life too because you are still hunting him down. The destiny of this Empire became a mess just because of a playful god.."
"If you want me to go back, it's not impossible. Go tell the God of Water to admit he is a loser, and this game will end…"
With a lazy smile, he leaned back on the pile of pillows, his hand supporting the temple. Two bright flowers caught his eyes as the sleeve fell.
"Bloodline induction?"
His golden eyes shone brightly, penetrating the space and searching for his offspring. Everywhere the light exists, his gaze falls. It was a pity. He could see nothing.
"Snapped!!"
The Goddess of Earth snapped her fingers again in disappointment. If he was not distracted by the offspring, he would find his enemies with this temporary power. This shameless man can really do it.
Griffin fell back on the pillows, sleeping soundly. His power was also sealed back in his soul. He won't remember anything when he wakes up.
The Goddess of Earth's consciousness spread towards the whole Palace and Capital city. After searching for a while, she sighed and left in the same way she came.
"Tsk… As expected of a rascal god, he pulled the two Archangels into the water with him. I really want to see what will happen when the Archangel Michael regains his memory. I'm looking forward to it… Can he still be loyal to you after that kind of thing happens?"
She caught the two Archangels' aura, one in the Palace and one in the city. Of course, she was interested in the one in the Palace.
*******
"Prince Evan.. Welcome to the front line. I'm Falcon."
"Welcome. Your Highness.."
Soldiers of the Bright Sun Empire were standing in line, welcoming the prince's arrival. The one who greeted him was General Falcon, one of the four generals of the Bright Sun Empire.
"At ease. General Falcon, I don't need preferential treatment. I come here as a Priest, not as a Prince."
Returning the greetings, Evan was led to the biggest tent in the centre of an area where the flags with the symbol of sun were fluttering. The barracks were divided into five parts for five Empires, surrounding a big tent used for meetings. Bright Sun camp was in the middle of Sylvia and Grizzlehold camp.
"That won't do. You have to take responsibility as a Prince, Your Highness. The other four Empires have Princes in charge. It's such a hassle to discuss things with princes as a general for me. Not that you are here, I'm at ease. Please rest for a while, Your Highness. We have a meeting this afternoon."
General Falcon left some documents for him to look at while resting. He dumped all the negotiation tasks on Evan's head and left happily. Negotiation with the Princes was such a pain in the ass. Now that his own prince was here, don't even think about being a pure Priest.
In the afternoon, Evan had to don the Prince's attire rather than the Priest. He should give face to his own generals. Other four Empires had princes on the front line while the Bright Sun Empire's camp had only two generals. They were aggrieved under the slicked tongues of the Princes in negotiations and divisions. They could argue but couldn't raise their voice too much at the Princes.
When Evan entered the tent, more than half of the seats were filled. To avoid offending each other while cooperating, the seats were arranged in the shape of pentagon. Representatives of five Empires took each of the five sides.
All the seats were filled in a few minutes. Military men were more unpretentious than the politicians. Five seats on each side were occupied by a prince, two generals and two adjutants. The seats of adjutants were right behind their respective generals. Evan's seat was in between General Falcon and General Hawk.
General Falcon stood up before the meeting started.
"Your Highness, since we have to entrust our back to our allies when we fight, let me introduce you formally… This is Crown Prince Ezra Ray Levine, of the Sylvia Empire. Prince Edward Tellus, of the Grizzlehold Empire, Prince Felix Snow Solace, of the Ice Paradise Empire, Prince Brandan Moonsmith, of the Iron Hills Empire and this is Prince Evan Light Lewis, of the Bright Sun Empire…."
After announcing the prince's names, the names of generals followed. Evan was a little surprised. He didn't know his own general was a socialite. The Empire didn't lose out even without a prince in charge just because of him. He regretted feeling bad when this man showed the aggrieved face. He talked the most in the meeting.
The meeting was just a formality. The division of the troops, ration distribution and the shifts of sentries and standing guards were finalized in the meeting. For standing guards, the guards were responsible for their own camp but sentries were a combined force of five Empires.
The strengths of the five Empires were not equal. Thus, forming the endless cycle of negotiation and arguments. If the Iron Hills Empire was the top destructive force, Grizzlehold Empire was the weakest one out of five.
Bright Sun Empire was best at purifying the dark magic and healing, Sylvia Empire accounted for logistics, Grizzlehold Empire was responsible for defensive measures as they had most of the earth mages. Since Ice Paradise Empire was average in all aspects, their group didn't have much say.
The scouts consisted of mages from Sylvia and Ice Paradise Empires. Wood magic of the Sylvia Empire could detect the slightest disturbance from afar and ice magic of Ice Paradise Empire could help delay the enemies by freezing when running away.
Sentries were from Grizzlehold most of the time. Detecting the enemies' movement by hiding in the earth was perfect. The Iron Hills Empire and Bright Sun Empire became the main fighting forces.
With the agreement of the five princes, the adjustments were fixed.
However, if you really thought the five Empires were harmonious, you were awfully wrong. They were, in fact, backstabbing each other like crazy whenever they had a chance. The illegitimate daughter of Grizzlehold Empire once tried to get the Bright Sun Empire's throne. The nobles of Grizzlehold Empire and Sylvia Empire were driving the refugees towards the Bright Sun Empire without accepting them in their territories. They were outwardly prosperous but in reality, the whole Empire had been infested with termites.
The Ice Paradise Empire was in a semi-close state. Due to the treacherous Seventh river acting like a dividing line between it and Grizzlehold Empire, only the small elite troops were sent to the front line. To be honest, they were perfunctory. Can you imagine the mages specialized in ice magic can't cross a river?
Actually, the Bright Sun Empire was also not a good ally. The priests were working hard, healing and purifying. However, some of the nobles and their knights were rotten. The Empire needed major cleansing.
Only the stupid and strong Iron Hills Empire was stubbornly fighting the demons with all strength. The dwarves were the most warlike creatures among the five Empires. The words "warriors are the most straightforward" could only apply to them. The clean eyes of Prince Brendan did show the straightforwardness of a warrior.
Walking back to the tent exclusive to him, Evan felt ashamed. On the negotiation table, the four Empires fought with wit and courage on how to shrink the responsibility. His time in the big tent was spent by looking around the generals fighting in a word game better than the physical fight. Can't learn.. can't learn…
"Your Highness, can I come in?"
"General Falcon? Come in.."
The general opened the curtain acting as a door and entered the tent. This general came from a famous military family. He could be called die hard royalist of Evan's own brother, Griffin.
"What's the matter?"
"Reporting the current affairs in the camp under the order of the Emperor… Your Highness, the Emperor ordered me to treat you as him. You are my direct superior now.."
Evan pointed towards the chair and let him sit. He also sat on another chair after taking off the cape. The Prince's attire was not as comfortable as the Priest's robe. Evan let out a long breath, loosening the tight belt.
"Reporting the current affairs? Heh… What do you think about the current situation?"
"I should say… like clowns jumping around? It should be called like this. Isn't it, Your Highness?"
"Your vocabulary is very poor, General Falcon."