《The War of Destiny (A Story from Vandaria)》


 The Lore of Beginning

    In the beginning ¡­


    There were only Light and Darkness, which reside together, balancing each other.


    Vanadis, The Light, the Creators. Residing in their thrones in Eden, they brought creation out of nothingness.


    Deimos, The Darkness, the Destroyers. They sought destruction to balance the creation of Vanadis.


    In the beginning,


    There was no right and wrong, or goodness and evil. There was only balance.


    One day, The Light and Darkness wished to reach a new level of balance, a perfection.


    Together, they created a realm where creation and destruction work together in a synergy, create a vicious cycle to reach perfection they dreamed about.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    However,


    The Light loved their new creations, loved them too much, and could not bear to let them face destruction brought by the Darkness.


    Thus, The Light sealed the Darkness in darkest and deepest realm of Reigner.


    Yet without the Darkness, the Light was unable to bring new creation to the world since creation requires destruction. Otherwise, the balance would crumble.


    The Light choose to wait in their throne for the destined day,


    While the Darkness vowed to destroy all things whom the Light wished to care and protect.


    That was how the things called goodness and evil were born in this world.


    In this world,


    There aretwo main children of the Light.


    Frameless, guardian of nature, direct children of a Vanadis. As stated by their name, their potentials are unlimited. They are blessed by power of water, fire, wind, and earth. They wield the power of the world which can be used to shape the world itself, the power of magic. However, their unlimited potentials motivate them to seek for peace and stability, a journey to limit themselves.


    Human, the bringer of changes. Created as a race with many weaknesses and limited potential, human always strive for advancement. They seek happiness by seeking changes and chalenging themselves, always try to break boundaries of their limit.


    This is another story of balance, a new story of creation and destruction.


    This is a story of a world where its tales were created by its people, not by its creator.


    This is the story of Vandaria.

 [B1] Prologue - A Spark of Rebellion

    The Mainland of Vandaria, the Age of Frameless Superiority.


    The blessed children of the Vanaadinn, the frameless, was the true ruler of the land of Vandaria. The frameless was the most superior race. They were blessed with magic and the gift of long life. They were also free from the shackles of emotion. Their decision and judgement were not subject of emotion, but they were born out of logic which always considers the greater good. Compared to frameless, human was clearly the lesser race. They were not blessed with magic and they let themselves to be controlled by their desire and emotion. Such a race could not be permitted to rule, even rule themselves. This was the main reason why the Vanaadinn declared that humans were born as slave and servant of frameless, since the latter was obviously the better race.


    This was the main dogma of the teaching of Vanaadinnahkah, the ideology of the Empire of Edenion and the most common belief in Vandaria.


    The Empire of Edenion was a frameless nation which was also the most powerful nation in Vandaria. Led by its immortal ruler, Queen Seraph, its political and military power were unparalelled. Its territory covered most of the Mainland and it also controlled frameless nations in other continents. All human nations were also subject of its rule. Thanks to its power as a superpower, it remained in control for the last three thousand years.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    However, everything changed when a frameless started a journey to challenge his destiny. The frameless was a former guardian knight of Queen Seraph who was sent on an impossible mission by the Council of Edenion because of his close relationship with the Queen. The knight refused to give up his love for his queen and wish to fulfill his mission by becoming the greatest champion of Edenion.


    In his journey, he found that humans and half-humans were nothing like what the dogma stated. He met three true friends in his journey; a young man who came from a wealthy merchant family, a half-human from aCursed Clan, and a mysterious half-human whose magic skills surpass his own. They were kind people who helped him to reach his dream and fulfill his missions. Nevertheless, fate was not kind and the frameless perished in the last part of his mission.


    The young merchant wrote a book about their journey to honor his deceased frameless friend and spread his story. Yet this act draw the anger of Edenion. Idea of friendship and equality between human, half-human, and frameless was forbidden topic. This idea was considered as blasphemy per the teaching of Vanaadinnahkah. Edenion seized and burned all the books and declared them as great lies.


    However, it was too late. The spark of rebellion had been ignited, and this was a story how it changed into a fire.

 [B1] Chapter 1 – An Audience (Irina)

    ¡°I wish to punch their impassive faces.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, you know we can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°How can you stay silent after watching this, Irina?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but I won¡¯t say anything about it. This is the national policy of Edenion and as foreigners we have no right to criticise it. And, we need to remember the most important thing when we are here. We are not here as guests ¡­¡±


    Irina stopped and glanced to a frameless who accompanied them down the streets of Edenia, the capital city of Edenion. The frameless ride his horse in front of their carriage. Their carriage was stopped because of an incident which block the traffic. However, Irina could not be sure whether he could hear their conversation or not.


    ¡°We are here as suspects who come to pledge our case.¡±


    The young king teared his gaze from the window and looked at Irina.


    ¡°I know that. I am not stupid enough to irk Edenion. One order from those oh-so-important people and our Blackmoon will be wiped from the map of Vandaria.¡±


    The king turned gloomy and mutter before closing his eyes and leaned back to his chair.


    Irina Hailstorm sighed while looking to her king. Alexius I Blackmoon was the newly enthroned king of Blackmoon Kingdom. Despite his young age, he had enough skill to fulfill the responsibilities of a king. However, he had to carve his current position with river of blood and mountain of corpse.


    Blackmoon was a human nation located in the north-west of the Mainland. However, its authority had always been under the threat of Edenion. The only reason Edenion let Blackmoon came into being was its reluctance to mess with a territory in the outer skirt of the Mainland. People would think that this situation would motivate all humans in Blackmoon to stay united and avoid internal conflict. However, fate was not that kind. Blackmoon was well known as one of the nation with the highest number of internal conflict. There were many noble families in Blackmoon and they were more than willing to tear at each other¡¯s throat to gain more power and influence.


    Irina came from this kind of family, too.


    However, she had left that part of her life when she pledged her allegiance to the young king.


    Irina moved her gaze out of the carriage window. She saw a pair of mother and son which were forcefully split by some frameless. They were crying and begging to the frameless. However, the frameless kept their face neutral and one of them dragged the son away from the mother. The mother slumped to her feet and cried hard before several humans came out from a nearby house and dragged her to the house.


    Neutral face? No, it was not. Those frameless, they did not hide their expressions. There was no need. There was no expression to hide. They felt nothing. They had no emotion, after all.


    ¡°That was terrible, wasn¡¯t it, Irina?¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°The boy looked like he was only around four years old. According to Edenion¡¯s policy, all slave¡¯s children who can take care of themselves need to leave Edenia. Children have very little value as slave. They will be sent to other territories of Edenion which may require children as slave. It was a cruel policy for all human slaves in Edenia.¡±


    ¡°You know a lot, don¡¯t you, Nathan?¡±


    ¡°I am supposed to be a King¡¯s Advisor. I need to know about this kind of thing.¡±


    Irina moved her gaze to another young man who sit beside the king. This man had pale skin who is usually found in the northern continent of Acro¡¯vel. He was one of the advisors of King Alexius and also the youngest one among the advisors. He was not a noble, but his skill and knowledge were recognised by most people. His name was Nathaniel Trace.


    Nathaniel sent her a wry smile.


    ¡°We can not keep the mother and the son together since it is against the law. However, it is possible for us to buy the son and save him from whatever fate the frameless had prepared for him. This incident left us with sour mood and saving the son will help us to ease our consience. I am sure this is what the King wish for, and ¡­¡±


    ¡°And, we are not going to do that.¡± Irina cut him. ¡°Nathan, stop babysitting him! I know that is what His Majesty want. That is what I want, too. However, we can¡¯t do that. If we do that, the frameless will think that we dare to critise them and their law. This opinion will make our situation worse than before. We are literally here to beg them for not invading Blackmoon, please remember that!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to be keep reminded of our purpose, Irina.¡± The young king replied Irina¡¯s words. ¡°I know what the best for my nation and I don¡¯t need babysitter to remind me that!¡±


    ¡°My apologise, Your Majesty.¡±


    Irina give the young king a slight bow. King Alexius answered her with a humph and closed his eyes again. The carriage had started to move. None started talking again. Irina observed the splendor of Edenia from her window. A bitter smile appeared in her face.


    Every second we spent in Edenia, we will be reminded that we do not hold a candle againt the might of Edenion.


    However, her musing halted when the carriage stopped in front of a magnificent building; Seraphion, the palace of Edenion. Irina looked at her king and companion. They exchanged glance for a second before she opened the door and got off the carriage. As her king¡¯s knight, she was supposed to do her best to ensure the safety of her king. No matter how futile her attempt might be.


    A frameless welcomed them in front of the palace gate. Irina observed her.


    All frameless have heterochromia eyes, silver hairs, and facial bones in their foreheads which look like horns. Among these characteristics, silver hair was the most important identity of a frameless. Silver hair was a symbol of pure-blooded frameless, the only recognised citizen of Edenion. A single colored hair for a frameless was an evidence of mixed-blood; a blasphemous and sinful existence who was born from a mistake. They were ostrasized and considered as outcast. These ¡®half-humans¡¯ faced terrible fate which was worse than even human¡¯s, expect for those who were born in clan with special privilege.


    This frameless was clearly a pure-blooded one.


    ¡°Greeting for Eden, representative of Blackmoon. We have been expecting you. Please, follow me to the Audience Chamber.¡±


    ¡°I heard frameless is really straightforward and have no-nonsense approach of things. I am glad that this information is not wrong. Here we are, and there is not even an offer for refreshment.¡± King Alexius gave her usual sarkastic response before Irina managed to stop him.


    The frameless tilted her head before responding.


    ¡°I am surprised that humans like to state the obvious. In our opinion, this kind of act is a waste of time. Or, could it be you just give us a so-called compliment? I heard that humans like to give those.¡±


    Nathaniel cut this conversation before it continued.


    ¡°Greeting for Eden, Honored One. Thanks for welcoming us. We are sorry for troubling you to be our guide.¡± He made a slight bow to the frameless.


    The frameless replied him with a nod.


    ¡°Please follow me to the Audience Chamber.¡±


    Irina¡¯s face turned solemn. She would be the only knight who guard her king and his advisor. However, she knew that her existence means nothing. This was the heart of Edenion. Those frameless could kill them as easy as lifting a finger.


    Wait a second.


    Irina realised something very important.


    ¡°Excuse me, Honored One.¡± Irina decided to ask their guide directly. ¡°Did I really hear that we are expected in the Audience Chamber?¡±


    ¡°Again. It seems that human really love to ask the obvious. I meant what I said, human. The Council are expecting you at the Audience Chamber.¡±


    This time, King Alexius and Nathaniel faced turned pale when they finally understood what it means.


    ¡°My apologise, Honored One. I thought we will only meet with the High Advisor. However, I heard that the Audience Chamber is where an audience with the Queen is held.¡±


    Irina tried to find words to convey her nervous question.


    However, the frameless cut her words.


    ¡°That is correct, human. You are very lucky to be granted an audience with the Queen herself. Most frameless never have an honor to meet her themselves.


    Irina knew this was the worst possible situation.


    They hoped that Edenion did not see the issue of Blackmoon as an important one. They wished that Edenion only saw the possibility of Blackmoon supporting rebelion movements as a small inconvenience. These situations would bring the greatest possibility of Blackmoon¡¯s survival.


    However, they were clearly mistaken.


    <hr>


    The Audience Chamber of Seraphion was simple. Frameless did not wish to spend their time to build extravagant things. All their buildings were made only to fit their purpose. However, it did not mean that it was not beautiful. The Audience Chamber was wholly made of white marble. There were several plants in all corners of the room, giving beautiful contrast to the white color. There were also several pillars and carvings in both sides of the chamber. According to what Irina knew, the carving symbolized some values of the teaching of Vanaadinnahkah. There were three pillars at the left side and five pillars at the right side, showing asymmetric preference of frameless.


    However, Irina did not care about them.


    There was a long carpet from the door to the end of the room. A podium was located at the end of the room. There were some seats located on both sides of the carpet. Most of the seats were occupied, although there were two frameless who stand. One of them, a male frameless, was standing in front of the podium, while the other frameless, a female one, was standing at the far right of the room. One thing who pick her attention is a valance which cover the throne located on the podium.


    The Immortal Queen of Edenion was clearly someone who could not be seen by mere humans like them.


    ¡°Greeting for Eden, Your Majesty the Queen, the High Advisor, and all Honored Ones of the Council. We, the Kingdon of Blackmoon, answered your summons.¡±


    King Alexius gave his greeting in front of the throne, accompanied by a deep bow. There was not even a bit of his usual sarkasm in his voice. He followed his bow with kneeling. Irina and others followed his lead. This was not a time for pride. This was the time for begging and licking shoes.


    They had no choice.


    ¡°You are allowed to stand, humans. Come and pledge your case to the Council.¡±


    The High Advisor replied the greetings and mentioned the topic of this audience immediately.


    ¡°Six months ago, a human rebellion erupted near the trading city of Zarkand, the central of Crystal Road. This impact of this rebellion was very sever. The Crystal Road was blocked and Zarkand was sieged for almost a month. The rebel was clearly an organised unit, almost as good as a trained army. The armies of Jade Kingdom managed to stop the siege and destroy the rebel army. An investigation was conducted and a truth was revealed. One of the leaders of the rebel was a Blackmoon noble and the core army of the rebel was a trained Blackmoon legion.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    He looked at King Alexius before continuing.


    ¡°How are you going to answer this, King of Blackmoon?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty the Queen, High Advisor, and Honored Ones. I refused to answer this accusation!¡± King Alexius replied. ¡°These were lies. We will never challenge the sovereignity of Edenion.¡±


    Irina kept her face neutral. However, she was very nervous. When they started their journey to answer Edenion¡¯s summons, they knew that they were accused for supporting a rebellion. Yet, they did not know the whole problem. They thought Edenion only captured a handfull of Blackmoon¡¯s citizens who support the rebellion. This issue was much worse than what they expected.


    ¡°These were not lies, human king.¡±


    A voice cut King Alexius¡¯ words.


    The female frameless who stand at the far right of the room finally moved closer to the throne. Her silver hair and facial bones showed her high standing in Edenion. However, the most obvious evidence of her position was the aura she released.


    Irina felt that she could read all parts of her mind and memories just by standing there.


    ¡°The noble came from House Tillius. His name was Valdio. The army was an official legion of the Reyd province under his direct comand.¡± She continued with a flat tone.


    How can she be very certain? What is her position in the Council?


    ¡°Honored One, it might be true that Valdio Tillius was one of the persons who lead the rebel. However, it did not mean that Blackmoon support this rebellion. Everything was just a coincidence.¡± King Alexius replied immediately.


    ¡°I found this explanation unbelievable, King of Blackmoon.¡± The High Advisor answered King Alexius¡¯s word with cold voice. ¡°Valdio Tillius was a declared heir of House Tillius before his disapperance a year ago. The army was clearly part of your Blackmoon¡¯s official army. How can you say that Blackmoon has nothing to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Because it was the truth, High Advisor.¡± King Alexius insisted. ¡°If it is true that Valdio Tillius supported the rebel, he did it on his own discretion. At most, this was an individual act of House Tillius. I, we, will never dare to give any order to rebel against Edenion!¡±


    Another member of Council who sit on the left side suddenly raise his voice.


    ¡°According to our information, House Tillius is well known for their hatred of frameless. This kind of family is permitted to rule over a province of Blackmoon. Does it mean that this feeling is shared among most of Blackmoon¡¯s nobles?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t give a definite answer, Honored One.¡± Cold sweat started appearing in King Alexius¡¯ forehead. However, he knew he should not lie in this situation. ¡°We, humans, are being who are controlled with emotion. Each of us have personal opinion which might be against the greater good of our people. However, we tolerated these people if they do not act. Accusing a person just simply because he harbors negative thought is illogical.¡±


    ¡°We beg to differ, King of Blackmoon. We believed it is the logical one.¡±


    Irina realised that this situation got worse every second.


    ¡°High Advisor, if I may speak?¡±


    She decided to try her luck. The High Advisor replied her request with a nod, indicating her to continue.


    ¡°My name is Irina Hailstorm. My family is the ruler of Valta province. As a born noble, I can attest that most of us, nobles, are selfish people who only wish to obtain personal interest. As lowly humans, we are easily controlled by our desire. We always wish for power, despite hurting fellow humans. Every family who rule provinces has major power and huge influence because of this. If you don¡¯t fight, you will get eaten. This is the main reason why every noble family harbor military power.¡±


    Irina decided to throw all prides of humanity to mud. This is her only card.


    ¡°However, there were several powers who try to do their best for our nation. The royal family is the obvious example. Generations of kings had tried to do their best to put these nobles on leash. They tried to direct the greed and desire of these nobles to benefit Blackmoon. The royal family is not alone! There are other noble families who share similar idea and try to help the king. However, others just too selfish.¡±


    ¡°I beg Honored Ones to understand that an act of a group of Blackmoon citizen does not represent Blackmoon. We, humans, hold different values because of different desire who control us. This is how the Vanaadinn made us.¡±


    She finished her speech by a deep bow.


    The room was silent for a moment.


    ¡°Your words were quite assuring, human.¡± The High Advisor broke the silence. ¡°However, I failed to understand why you let a family such as House Tillius to remain in power. Their hatred of frameless is not really hidden, does it?¡±


    ¡°House Tillius hold a province because they have enough power to do so. They kept order and enforce law for their territory. In our human term, they are a necessary evil.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you choose another family and hand them the power?¡±


    Whispers of agreement could be heard across the room.


    Irina lost words. She did not know how to explain the complexity of human politics to these frameless. If the King removed a noble family from their hardly-earned power simply because they harbor bad thought for frameless, other nobles would loath the King. The King would lose support from the nobles. At worst, this act would lead to an assassination or even civil war.


    ¡°Exar.¡±


    A feminime voice cut the ongoing interrogation.


    Irina held her breath.


    This one word silent the whole room. The High Advisor step aside and bow to the throne.


    One word was enough to emit an unreachable aura of holiness. The aura covered the whole room and left the three humans breathless. They felt like three insects who fly too close to the sun.


    This was Queen Seraph of Edenion.


    ¡°I believed that the answer of your question is something called ¡®human politics¡¯. It is a foreign concept for us. I heard it has something to do with balance of power, hidden words, and backstabbing among humans.¡±


    The Queen continued her words as if nothing happened.


    ¡°I agree with this young human. The participation of a Blackmoon noble in a rebel does not mean that the whole Blackmoon support the rebel, as long as this is what really happened. Do you have anything to add for this information, Queen Kirra?¡±


    All frameless moved their gaze to the standing female frameless.


    Irina was surprised. The female frameless had a much higher position than what she expected.


    A Queen? What does it mean?


    ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty.¡± The female frameless answered with another flat tone. ¡°The Irvana did not find any evidence or even indication that other Houses of even other members of House Tillius support Valdio Tillius and the rebel. We believed that he and his army acted alone.¡±


    ¡°Is it true that there are many nobles who harbor deep hatred toward frameless?¡±


    ¡°It is.¡±


    ¡°What is your opinion about them?¡±


    ¡°They are threat which should be eliminated.¡± The female answered without pause.


    ¡°However, it is impossible to fully eliminate this threat. Human always harbor negative emotion. It is also important to be understood that these nobles fear us more that they hate us. Our information showed that these nobles will never dare to raise a hand against Edenion, except for a very small number of people. However, these people do not have power to back their intent.¡±


    How can they discuss our fate as easy as that?


    ¡°However, we have a rogue noble who support a rebellion here.¡±


    ¡°This rogue noble was lucky to encounter a strong rebel movement. It is very unlikely another lucky noble will appear.¡±


    ¡°Very good. It means there is no problem.¡±


    ¡°I beg to differ, Your Majesty.¡± The High Advisor protested. ¡°As Her Grace Kirra said, it seems that the human Valdio Tillius acted alone. However, this incident showed that Blackmoon can not control humans under their auhority. Blackmoon let these humans think and act against Edenion.¡±


    ¡°I requested for these humans and their territory to be put under Edenion authority.¡±


    Irina exchanged worried look with her king and companion. This was what they feared the most.


    ¡°I understand you concern, Exar. However, why do we need to bother ourselves?¡± a soft reply can be heard from the throne.


    ¡°Blackmoon was located far in outskirt of Mainland. It takes weeks to travel from our border to that territory. That territory had nothing we need in matter of resources. Why should we bother to spend our effort for that territory? I heard human merchants explain this situation as ¡®cost outweight benefits¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Kingdom of Blackmoon help us manage humans in that territory by enforcing laws and maintaining order. If chaos happened in that territory, Edenion will be affected. We have no interest with that territory, but we don¡¯t wish for chaos as well. Therefore, the existence of Blackmoon is necessary.¡±


    ¡°I also understand what Queen Kirra said. Humans always harbor negative thought about us. It is impossible for Edenion to fully control all these humans¡¯ behavior. It is much easier to entrust this job to an existing human nation like Blackmoon.¡±


    Irina felt shiver down her spine. She felt that the figure behind the valance look at her.


    ¡°As the young human said, this is a necessary evil.¡±


    We might survive this ordeal.


    ¡°Of course, this judgement is under condition that Blackmoon will remain loyal to Edenion.¡±


    King Alexius knelt immediately. Irina and Nathaniel followed him.


    ¡°I swore that as long as my family remain in power, Blackmoon will never question Edenion¡¯s sovereignity, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Then, this issue is settled.¡±


    Irina shuddered. She heard a finality in these words, an absolute power hidden under the soft voice. She felt as if Vanaadinn themselves came down and gave this decree.


    Other frameless did not raise another question or accusation. Irina believed they did not dare.


    King Alexius, Nathaniel, and Irina rised and gave their final bow to the Queen before leaving. Irina observed the High Advisor. Her intuition told her that this frameless was the one who really want to subdue Blackmoon. However, Irina also saw that this frameless gave them indifferent look and it was possible he only performed his duty. She did not know why she had this unreasonable intuition.


    Yet she felt more comfortable when she looked at the female frameless, the mysterious queen. Despite her words which cornered them, she felt that this frameless simpy stating facts and did not harbor any thought toward them or Blackmoon. She also had no idea why she thought like this.


    Accompanied by their previous guide, they finally left the Palace of Seraphion.


    <hr>


    ¡°Two weeks of travel for attending an audience which last less than an hour, and they wish for us to leave Edenia immediately. As expected of frameless.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, please lower your voice. We have not left Edenia yet.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Irina. I simply stated the facts. This is what frameless do.¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to take any risk, Your Majesty. I wish to leave this city life and well.¡±


    ¡°So do I.¡± The young king mutter. ¡°Now that the crisis had passed, I want to rest before we start our journey back. Let¡¯s go to the nearest possible city and have some nice, relaxing rest.¡±


    The carriage boarded by King Alexius, Irina, and Nathaniel strode down the streets of Edenia. There were frameless who ride horses in front of their carriages. They said they were guides, but the three humans know that they were here to ensure that the Blackmoon representative leave Edenia as soon as possible.


    ¡°I am wondering if the crisis had truly passed.¡± Someone muttered.


    It was Nathaniel who look out of window with a worried look.


    ¡°What do you mean, Nathaniel?¡±


    ¡°I felt something is wrong, Your Majesty. I felt it in my gut. I felt that we are being played.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean that those frameless lied to us?¡±


    ¡°No, Your Majesty.¡± Nathaniel shake his head. ¡°Frameless do not like lying. Lies make them feel uncomfortable. However, a frameless whom I respect said that frameless have their own way of deception. For example, they do not mind hiding truth to deliver a completely different message.¡±


    ¡°Moreover, frameless in power are more inclined to hide truth and add lies into existing fact, if they believe that those lies are the logical choice. That is the reason why we need to be carefull when we deal with them.¡±


    The king throwed a curious look to Nathaniel.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know you have a frameless you are close with, Nathaniel?¡±


    ¡°I do not dare to say I am close with him, Your Majesty. However, I respected him very much and I believed that Your Majesty know that there are many nice frameless out there. They are not only consisted of arrogant bastard, after all.¡±


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go back. What problem do you find?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Your Majesty.¡± Nathaniel hesitated. ¡°When we received the summmons, I believed that Edenion want to make us as an example for humans. Our King of Blackmoon, rushed to answer the summon of Edenion like some loyal dog. Whether they will destroy us or not in the end, we will be set as an example for other nations.¡±


    ¡°When Edenion believed that there is a possibility of threat, they will destroy it immediately. They don¡¯t take mid-route. At first, I thought there were only two possible events we would face in Edenia.¡±


    ¡°First, our issue is not an important one which warrant the attention of Edenion¡¯s higher up. We will arrive in Edenia, eat dirt, and go back safe and sound.¡±


    ¡°Second, our issue has grave importance. We will meet Edenion¡¯s higher ups, declared as rebel, executed, and Blackmoon will be wiped out of Vandaria.¡±


    ¡°However, what we faced here was exacly a situation between these two possibilities. Our issue was considered as a very important one ¨C we even meet the Queen herself, for Vanaadinn¡¯s sake - but we survived and Edenion let Blackmoon go. What happened here?¡±


    The king faced turned grim.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what those frameless think inside their silver heads. I am just glad that Blackmoon survived this ordeal. The last thing I want is Blackmoon facing its demise under my rule.¡±


    ¡°There will be a catch for our survival, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. As long as Blackmoon stands.¡± The King gave Nathaniel a stern reply.


    Irina face turned solemn. She threw her glance out of window.


    She saw hundreds of frameless. Each of them possess power beyond human¡¯s understanding. A single trained frameless possess equal power with a squad of Blackmoon¡¯s trained unit. She remembered legends about immortal frameless. Every single one of them could wipe a nation alone.


    ¡°What do you have in your mind, Irina?¡±


    Irina noticed that her king observed her musing.


    ¡°We survive this time, Your Majesty. However, are we going to survive another?¡±


    Irina hesitated for a moment.


    ¡°Humans live under frameless¡¯ pity. The only way for humans to obtain frameless¡¯ aprroval is fulfilling their needs, like becoming merchant, artist, or crafters. However, people like us, who choose to dedicate our life for humanity¡¯s wellbeing, such as ruling and protecting human nations are looked with suspicious eyes. They saw us as threat.¡±


    ¡°We survive this time. Are we going to survive again when Edenion summon us next time? What will happen if Edenion summon Blackmoon in the age of your son¡¯s rule, Your Majesty? Will he make it? What happened if there is a rogue from my House Hailstorm in the future? How will it affect my little brother?¡±


    ¡°What I mean is, I just wish, I hope there is another way.¡±


    ¡°Stop right there, Irina.¡± King Alexius cut her immediately.


    ¡°I realy hope you do not think about what I thought you are thinking.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, I ¡­¡±


    ¡°And you just warned me not to say anything stupid when we are still in Edenia.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to endanger our situation ¡­¡±


    ¡°Irina.¡± The king cut her again. ¡°I think I understand what you have in your mind. However, it is a thought which should not be told to anyone. Don¡¯t say it. It is better if you don¡¯t even think about it. This is not like you to act irrational.¡±


    Irina bowed.


    ¡°My apologies, Your Majesty.¡±


    The carriage turned quiet. None started another conversation. The carriage finally pass the gate of Edenia and strode to another city. Several horse riders caught up with the carriage. They are soldiers of Blackmoon. They were ordered to stay out of Edenia when the king and his entourage answer Edenion¡¯s summons.


    Irina threw one last look to the city of Edenia. The shining city was the symbol of frameless¡¯ prosperity, but it was also the symbol of fear for humans across Vandaria.


    I just wish, that my friends and little brother can live with pride in Vandaria.

 [B1] Chapter 2 – A Disagreement (Exar)

    The representative of Blackmoon had left. Exar knew that they would be guided to leave Edenia as soon as possible. He was glad. Those humans were not worthy to bask in the radiance of Edenia.


    However, there was a situation which required Exar¡¯s immediate attention. He had no time for those humans.


    The Audience Chamber of Seraphion was quiet.


    He knew the reason.


    The High Advisor and the Queen of Irvana had a disagreement.


    Exar did not understand why the queen and him had disagreement. Both hold similar facts about Kingdom of Blackmoon and they used these facts to make conclusion. Yet, they came to different conclusion about what the necessary action was.


    He believed that it was necessary to punish Blackmoon and make it a prime example for humans. Everything had been planned properly. The summon was intended to show all humans that they are just puppets in the eye of Edenion, even their kings were just loyal dogs. However, Exar did not plan to use execution as example. He planned to show pity for letting the representatives live, yet he believed that it was necessary for Blackmoon to be under Edenion¡¯s direct control. Human nations were growing, and they need to be cut and skimmed. Blackmoon was a good start.


    However, the Queen of Irvana believed otherwise.


    The final judgement came from Queen Seraph, but it was obvious that this judgement was greatly influenced by Queen Kirra¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°If I may have a question, Your Grace?¡±


    Exar broke the silence. Frameless did not like hidden words and round-talk, especially for important matters. Questions and issues need to be settled immediately.


    ¡°Please continue, High Advisor.¡±


    ¡°I do not understand why you let Blackmoon go easily like that. They deserved proper punishment.¡±


    ¡®Why do you say I let them go? I simply stated the facts found by the Irvana, as ordered by Her Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace, you implied that those humans and Blackmoon should be forgiven because their mistake come from human¡¯s nature. I assumed that you propose to let them go.¡±


    The queen gave him a gaze which was colder than her usual.


    ¡°Your assumption is incorrect. The judgement of letting them go did not rest in my hand. It was Queen Seraph¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°And, she is right, Exar.¡±


    Another female voice cut the conversation.


    Exar looked to his back. The valance had disappeared. A female frameless rised from the throne and step down the podium. She wore a long blue gown which reach her ankle. Her long silver hair reached her knee and gave her a majestic appearance. She wore a knife sheath which was strapped in her sleeveless left arm.


    The Queen of Edenion did not wish to have a personal knight anymore. However, custom and tradition dictated that the existence of a knight was necessary. Thus, she was always armed to remind her people that she could protect herself and did not wish to be bothered by mere tradition.


    Exar felt unsatisfied everytime he remembered that.


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± He bowed to Queen Seraph who stop in front of him.


    ¡°Exar, your attitude to Queen Kirra is inappropriate. Apologise immediately!¡±


    Exar was surprised. ¡°Your Majesty, I don¡¯t mean to be disrespectful. However, I just wish to know the reason behind Her Grace Kira¡¯s words.¡±


    ¡°She gave you a proper explanation.¡± The queen¡¯s usual impassive face showed a bit of impatience. ¡°Queen Kirra simply stating facts obtained from investigation. She gave us her opinion because I asked her to. I am sure you know this already. You are not supposed to antogonise her simply because you have different opinion with her.¡±


    ¡°I understand why you did not like her words. You had plans for those humans and Blackmoon. However, her words made you lost your chance to enact you plan.¡±


    A slight smile appeared in the queen¡¯s lips. ¡°What if I tell you that this result is exactly what I want, Exar?¡±


    Exar was speechless.


    ¡°Lately, we faced growing number of human rebellions. We had tried our best to suppres them, yet their number keep growing. I found that these rebellions are a great waste of Edenion¡¯s resources. I wish to find the best method to reduce it.¡±


    ¡°Humans grow crazier and dare to take higher risk when they are threatened beyond a certain limit. We had tried to suppress them, so I thought let¡¯s try to show them pity. Let¡¯s show them the benevolence of Edenion. Blackmoon was a good start.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Queen Seraph threw a look to him. ¡°If you disagree, why don¡¯t you let your opinion known in the audience?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t let those humans think that we have disagreement, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The queen muttered. ¡°My apologise, Exar. I think I am supposed to consult you before deciding this.¡±


    Exar bowed. ¡°I will be glad if Your Majesty is willing to consult me in the future to avoid similar situation.¡±


    ¡°However, it is my responsibility to remind you of possible problems. I still think that we should not let those humans free and let them grow stronger. We should have learned our lesson with that Arkhan.¡±


    ¡°You. Will. Not. Talk. About. That. Again!¡±


    For the first time, Queen Seraph showed an obvious anger. The aura she emitted enough to choke everyone around her.


    ¡°My apologise, Your Majesty.¡± Exar apologised immediately.


    Your Majesty, you had grown more distant for the last century.


    This problem, it is caused by him!


    ¡°I believed that your decision was the correct one, Your Majesty.¡± Queen Kirra¡¯s voice joined the conversation, tried to diminish the growing tension.


    ¡°Why do you think like that, Queen Kirra?¡± Queen Seraph returned to her usual calm.


    Queen Kirra stopped a moment before answering. ¡°I thought High Advisor¡¯s method of handling these rebellions takes too much effort without touching the main problem. I don¡¯t know if the Council realised or not, but the Irvana need to warn you that human rebellions grow stronger. We even got impressions that most of these powerful rebellions were orchestrated by a certain power.¡±


    ¡°If we keep supressing them without understanding the main problem, they will keep appearing. Showing leniency might demotivate some hostile humans to rebel against us. This act will buy enough times to find the main reason behind their growth in power.¡±


    ¡°I really hate to say this.¡± The queen stopped. Her impassive face showed a bit of hesitation for the first time. ¡°However, we believed that it is possible that there are frameless who support these rebellions.¡±


    Surprised shouts can be heard across the audience room. However, all frameless¡¯ gaze fell to Queen Seraph immediately, as if they expect something.


    The queen disregard their gaze. ¡°Please continue.¡±


    ¡°Most powerful rebellions were backed by several frameless. The Irvana had noticed this pattern for several decades. We managed to capture those culprits, but we failed to understand their motivation.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t neglect this situation any longer. This internal problem of frameless need to be understood and settled immediaty. Otherwise, we might face another Union of Destiny soon.¡±


    Exar faced turned grim. He did not like to be reminded with the Union of Destiny.


    The Union of Destiny was the most powerful rebellion Edenion ever face in its three thousand years of supremacy. The movement appeared around eighty years ago. It was started by an influential human merchant who wrote a blasphemous book about friendship and cooperation among human, half-human, and frameless. A hilarious idea, yet there were many who believed it. Edenion shut this idea immediately, but they let this human merchant free because of his position and lack of evidences about his direct role in rebellions. Later, this human merchant managed to gather huge number of powerful allies and stroke constant campaign against Edenion. They called themselves the Union of Destiny.


    This movement was destroyed around fifty years ago, but its shadow remained.


    ¡°Fifty years had passed, yet we never understand why there were so many frameless who were willing to sacrifice their lifes for an idea. This trend, surprisingly, continues until now. This is an obvious threat. The Union of Destiny was the prime example. The frameless who support it were not only some random frameless, but our pillars. We are talking about several members of the Willhelmer clan of Heavenly Kings and the Holy Clan of Flavianus. Vhelturius Flavianus himself was the main supporter of Union of Destiny.¡±


    ¡°Keeping our attention to humans while neglecting possibility of internal threat from frameless will be a terrible mistake.¡±


    Exar observed that Queen Seraph was contemplating this statement.


    Her Grace Kirra was permitted to mention the Union of Destiny, yet I am not.


    A shred of dissatisfaction appeared in Exar¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Thanks for your warning, Queen Kirra. The Council will discuss this issue thoroughly later. This meeting is over.¡± Queen Seraph gave her final word.


    All council members rised from their seats. Queen Seraph took the first step to leave the room. However, she stopped in front of door and turned her head back to look at Exar.¡±


    ¡°And Exar, I never intend to let those humans of Blackmoon to be unpunished. House Tillius can not be permitted to live in Blackmoon any longer. Please take all necessary actions.¡±


    Exar bowed. ¡°I will arrange it immediately, Your Majesty.¡±


    The Queen of Edenion gave him one final nod before leaving the room.


    <hr>


    Exar was sitting in his office. He was reading a handfull of documents. A male frameless was leaning against the wall at the far-right side of the room. It was very difficult to determine frameless¡¯ age by their look, but careful observation would show that this frameless was a young one. He had shoulder-length silver hair and twin swords hanged in the sides of his waist. His body emitted cold aura, and there was a sliver of ice around his fingers.


    ¡°Ragnar, Edenion needs your service.¡± Exar¡¯s gaze finally left the documents and looked at the frameless.


    ¡°I would be glad to provide my service, High Advisor.¡± The frameless took a straight stance.


    ¡°As ordered by Her Majesty, House Tillius from the human Kingdon of Blackmoon will be punished for giving birth to a rogue who dare to challenge Edenion. I want you to bring several of your people and deliver the necessary punishment. I also want you to use the best method in delivering it, so it can also serve as good message for the human king who rule the kingdom.¡±


    The frameless gave him a nod. ¡°It can be arranged easily, High Advisor.¡±


    ¡°I know you will not face any problems, but you can not underestimate those humans. I also want you give good impression to the king. That young king of Blackmoon has some skills. Human¡¯s succesion always result in bloodshed, yet he managed to obtain the power to rule. I am sure he is not some docile young man. Thus, I need you give something good enough to ensure the message can be received properly.¡±


    The frameless¡¯ lips curled slightly in disdain. ¡°Humans never hesitate to destroy each otherfor obtaining power to fulfill their selfish desire. I can¡¯t help to be amazed everytime I see those humans tear each other¡¯s throat when they are supposed to ban together for their survival.¡±


    Exar nod in approval. ¡°That is what Vanaadinn madethem to be. We need to keep reminding them of that fact.¡±


    ¡°I want you to leave soon and finish this mission as soon as possible. However, don¡¯t forget to keep in touch with those usefull human nobles while you are there. We need to stay in good relationship with them.¡±


    Exar took a cup of tea on his desk and hada sip before continuing. ¡°This matter is finished and I will wait for your report. Now, tell me about this new mysterious power in Uthaym territory.¡±