'Right, that's what I came here for, didn't I?'
This battle wasn't something out of the ordinary for the soldiers of their glorious kingdom. And while the number of active frontiers still infested with monsters continued to decrease with each passing year, the work was still not done. And even with everyone putting their best efforts, it would still take at least a few more generations before the kingdom could be declared a zone free of monsters.
Gracian, however, didn't really care.
With his status of a royal, one with a realistic shot at taking over the throne, he couldn't afford to do anything that wouldn't serve his cause, his bid for the throne.
Which is exactly why he picked this spot, this particular, narrow stretch of land between the two peaks that led into one of the more valuable areas in the entire kingdom.
Not only would he score some brownie points with his father if he defended this place, keeping this headache from ever reaching the king's ears, not only would he get the rights to the spoils from the battle…
Gracian could also build up his legend among the simple troops, making it considerably more likely they would stand to support him once the king would sign his abdication or outright pass away. And to win the support of the troops that stood guard over one of the kingdom's most prosperous areas…
This was the kind of power move his older siblings would usually pull, long since embroiled in their own war between the "old guard," the three oldest sons of the Valor family. And now that it was all done, Gracian finally found some time to do some thinking…
Even if the worried looks of his guards continued to annoy the hell out of him, making it increasingly hard to focus.
"Go and carve out the spirit stone from that Bies for me," Gracian took several minutes of rest before finally moving ahead with his agenda.
"And what should we do with it then, sir?" Leno asked. "Would you like to use it to cultivate?"
Gracian gave the idea a moment of thought before shaking his head in denial.
"No, that won't do. Thinking about it… There's the matter of that arranged marriage, isn't there?"
Leno bowed down.
"That's true. You've put it off for later by claiming you were busy with the monster subjugations, but…" Leno hesitated for a second.
"Speak," Gracian didn't give his man the chance to self-censor his words.
"Every excuse you use exhausts the number of plausible reasons to put it off for later," Leno stated, standing up straight only to then bow down even deeper than he did before. "Which is why, I beg of you, unless you want to lose the connection to the duke, there's no more time left!"
Gracian raised his eyes and looked into his officer's face for a while, before lowering his eyes back down with a deep sigh.
"Theo's really going to hate it. Me marrying that childhood friend of his, you know?"
Gracian, more than anyone else, was aware of the injustice in the upbringing of the royal heirs. He was the first one to see the difference between the treatment of his older siblings and his own. And it was from this perspective that he came to learn the plight of his younger siblings and Theo in particular.
Still, unable to change the reality and struggling to bear with the shame of enjoying the benefits that inherently meant taking away from what Theo needed to properly grow, he could only distance himself not only from the youngest of his siblings, but from the rest of his family.
What he was going to do now, however…
Gracian gritted his teeth.
'It's all for the better future. Only by gaining real power can I ensure nothing like this will ever happen again to anyone else,' he thought, clenching his fists so hard, his nails started to cut into the skin of his palm.
"Leno," Gracian suddenly raised his eyes, his face turning all serious, as he called for his officer.
"Yes, my prince!"
Sensing the change in his liege's tone, Leno, an eighth-rank cultivator himself, dropped down to his knee.
"Take the Bies' core, take enough men to form a proper escort and then go to the Slevian sect, to where Theo is supposed to be. Let this spiritual core be my apology to him for taking away what's most precious to him."
There was no warmth in Gracian's tone, only poorly concealed guilt and the determination to push through it, to the future he envisioned, the vision that granted him Leno's absolute loyalty.
"Sir, that's a high-rank spiritual stone," Leno raised his head, his face twisted in surprise.
This wasn't a royal kind of gift, but an imperial one! A price most of the cultivators would happily offer their wives, sweethearts, and even daughters or sisters for!
"I know. But that's the least I can do to show my remorse. That's the least I can do to compensate for all the resources I've consumed in the past, effectively depriving him of what he needed to grow to the limits of his talent."
Gracian closed his eyes and breathed out, his face losing its edge and vibe of determination the very moment he opened his eyes again, now replaced with just a simple plead.
"Can you do it for me, Leno?"
This wasn't an order, even though Gracian had all the rights to command Leno as he wished.
No.
This was a request.
One made by a friend in desperate need.
"Your will is my future, your grace," Leno lowered his head as he reaffirmed his bow, "and I will deliver the Bies' core to your brother myself!"