Seated with a cup of tea in my hand, I settle into the amazingly comfortable chair a quiet servant boy brought for me as Talia dives into her explanation. “I suppose the first thing is to ask how much you know of the royal family?”

“Um. They are rich and powerful and it’s best to stay far away from them? The king is Sebastian kor Harvest, long may he reign yada yada. Oh, last year I met a prince. I think his name was Bastard? No, Bastian. He was a bastard though. Was involved with the Grimoires.”

“Ah.” Is that a disapproving look? Really hard to read this woman. And no Bell, I don’t want to know. “Then you need to know everything. The royal family is quite extensive, having a surplus of heirs and bastards to support the managing of the kingdom. There’s no need to discuss the many concubines and offspring so we will discuss the main branch.

“The king is indeed Sebastian kor Harvest and he has reigned for the last twelve years. He is married to Angelleen Tulopia-Harvest, a girl from a branch family of the Rosefields. They have five children. The first prince, Dowager. The second prince, Samuel, who you are quite familiar with. The first princess, Selestia. The third prince who you’ve met, Bastian. Finally, the second princess and their youngest, Angelica.”

“Uh-huh.” Saints. This is going to be long. We’re going to need another pot of tea at this rate. I take a long sip of my cup before passing it to Bell. Hehe. Everything she does with those little hands is so adorable. “I’ve got it. Please, go on.”

“To understand the possible plot behind an assassination of Samuel, you need to understand the movements of the factions. Do you know what they are?”

“Yeah. The nobles, the military, and the merchants.”

“In high society chatter, they are referred to as the Traditionalists, the Militants, and the Expansionists. The Traditionalists are mostly comprised of old families whose main goal is the preservation of their power. The Militants are more focused on expanding the kingdom, specifically on this continent. We have audaciously named it the Harvest Continent, after our vast kingdom, but there are still places blocked off from us. Specifically, the north. Then there are the Expansionists who want to move past the Great War and reconnect with the world. Motivated by profit and a sense of adventure, I suppose.

“Normally, the royal family is the center of the Traditionalists. They need to be firmly entrenched with their vassals, after all. However, Dowager, the Crown Prince, is a supporter of the Militants. Whether it is for profit or pride, he plans to make his mark on history by conquering the north, pushing into the Bleak Peaks alongside the James family.”

Miss Talia pauses to take a sip of tea. “As the firstborn, he is guaranteed the right to take the throne. He even has a solid support. Many old nobles are rather upset with him but he has the Militants’ love and the Expansionists have pledged their considerable wallets to his cause, hoping to sway him into supporting their campaigns across the sea.

“The problem is that Samuel also has a strong faction supporting him. The Traditionalists can rival both factions alone and the second prince is their ideal king. The family itself is split as the king must support his first son but the queen firmly supports the second. The king tried to ease tensions by engaging Princess Selestia to Duke Rosefield’s, the head of the Traditionalists, second son. A futile gesture. They want the throne.”

“This is why royals scare me. Why are the people in charge of this country so divided?” I let out an explosive sigh to vent the growing sense of dread in my gut. I’m not going to escape this situation, am I? “So, Samuel wants to be king and has the support of the strongest families in the kingdom. That means the most likely people to want him dead are either Prince Dowager, the Militants, or the Expansionists. Any number of people.” More enemies than I want to fend off. “This is when you tell me I don’t need to get involved.”

“Hm. The commonly held opinion is that Dowager is the more stable son. Neither is significantly more capable than the other. Samuel is attending the Grand Hall to raise his esteem as a caster but is of mediocre talent. Though he has a large coefficient and a double affinity of water and air, he doesn’t have the coveted light affinity of the Founder. Either would make an acceptable king, accompanied by the appropriate advisors.”

“So, the fallout from this assassination would be minimal?”

“It could be but there will always be consequences when a member of the royal family is killed. The Traditionalists will be out for blood. They will no doubt try to bring it upon the head of Dowager, aggravating the conflict between the three factions significantly. If they don’t receive satisfactory compensation, and nothing will satisfy losing their desired king, it could lead to all-out conflict between the factions.”

“Civil war,” I groan. Saints protect me, this is not what I want to hear.

“Not a high chance in my opinion. Far more likely the old nobles try to make things difficult through trade.”

“People will kill for gold.”

“Which is why the chance of war remains. There is a worse possibility. Should Samuel be killed, the Traditionalists may make an attempt on Dowager’s life, greatly increasing the chance of armed conflict. Also, should the attempt on Dowager’s life be successful, the throne would fall to Bastian and that would doom the country.”

“He’s that bad? Don’t get me wrong, he did less than impress me when we met but he’s a prince, isn’t he? He was raised to rule.”

“My information on the third prince is rather lacking but from what I know, he is a waste. With a healthy and able Crown Prince and Samuel as a spare, he has no real value to the country as a prince with no redeeming talents. He spends his time immersed in hedonistic pleasures. If he ever becomes king, this country will become his playground. One of his advisors will turn him into a puppet for whatever agenda if he proves pliable. If not, he will be killed as well.”

“Which ends in, again, civil war. Why me?”

“A rather low possibility there as well. If Bastian is killed, Selestia’s husband will become the king. Enough blood will have been spilled to satisfy all parties as long as no one is being opportunistic and the son of a duke will be able to unite the nobles. And these are only the worse possibilities we are discussing.”

I lean backward, shutting my eyes while I think over everything she’s said. All low possibility this, slim chance that, but the fact remains that if this situation goes the wrong way, the Harvest Kingdom can go up in flames. Here at the Grand Hall, I’d be sheltered from the worse of it but could I honestly do nothing?

Let’s think in benefits and losses. If I intervene and save Samuel, then I will prevent armed conflict between the factions, might possibly gain the favor of the prince so he doesn’t despise me, and could maybe wrangle a reward out of the king. Not like the royal family lacks gold. It might also win me some points with the Traditionalists, who probably also hate me due to the Pottoculli incident. Huh. Since when do so many people hate me?

I guess having the people running the country like me could be good for something down the line. And I wouldn’t have to worry about the situation blowing up in my face down the road. But is any of that worth the potential pitfalls?

There are so many bad sides to this. The royal family will know me. All of them. That is a horrific thing to contemplate. I’ll make an enemy out of whoever is planning this, which can be either the battle-happy Militants or the Expansionists who control the country’s wallet. Or both, saints help me. Being tied with the Guiness family, I’m loosely allied with them, aren’t I?

Not to mention the possibility that whoever is trying to kill Prince Samuel tries to kill me and I bite off more than I can chew. I’m hard pressed to think of something that can get past my wife and my contracted elementals, but they aren’t infallible. Nothing is absolute.

Except Cosmo.