Abel Zenin was the second son of the previous family head, making him the younger brother of the current head. Because he was a male of the main branch, many elders had suggested that he be removed from the main family to start his own sub-family as an appointed elder.

​That was how it had always been in the Zenin family. In fact, in most noble families, if you lost the battle for succession, you were swiftly removed from the main family. Some would even kill their own brothers, unable to trust them, knowing that if given the chance, those brothers would surely stab them in the back.

​The exact same thing had happened to Alarick’s grandfather. He was also part of the main family and lost the succession. A few years later, he tried to assassinate the previous family head but failed and was killed on the spot.

​That bloody history was one of the reasons why Alarick’s childhood was so painful. He had awakened a magical talent at a young age and even formed a first-circle mana heart. Most noble families would throw grand celebrations for having a mage in their ranks, but in the Zenin family, it was different—especially for someone born from a traitor’s bloodline.

​Afraid that if they let Alarick grow strong, he would eventually avenge his grandfather, the family secretly orchestrated his downfall. They broke the mana circles around his heart, crippling his magic permanently and making it impossible for him to ever practice aura. The person who broke his circles when he was just a kid was none other than this cousin of his, Abel.

​Alarick knew the truth. Although his mana circles were destroyed during a "duel" between him and Abel—phrased to the public as a tragic accident for which Abel was lightly punished—Alarick knew that in secret, the main family had celebrated his demise.

​"Do you have to say ’trash’ in every sentence? I already have a basic understanding of what I am, since you made me this way," Alarick said, an ugly expression twisting his face.

​"I know, cousin, and I’m so sorry for..." Abel began with a playful, mocking smirk, but he was quickly cut short.

​"Spare me your sentimental words and save the preaching for the church," Alarick snapped. "Make it quick. I want to go back. It’s freezing out here, and I don’t want to see your smug face any longer than I have to."

​"Tch, fine. Still stiff as ever, I see," Abel sighed. "Very well, then. The issue is that my brother is not very pleased. You see, it’s been more than ten years since you married into that family, and we are not seeing the progress we expected. The original plan was for you to have a son in that family, have him succeed the current head, and then we would infiltrate them slowly until everything was ours."

​"It was a great plan for this era, especially since the current King banned territorial wars, meaning we can’t just march an army to their gates. But plans change, you know," Abel said.

​Alarick just stayed quiet, listening.

​"You could at least show some reaction or say something," Abel added, smirking again. Alarick remained completely silent, refusing to entertain him.

​"Fine. There is a rumor going around that the current King will not live much longer," Abel said, watching Alarick closely to gauge his reaction to the impending death of the monarch. To his surprise, Alarick didn’t show much emotion at all.

​"What does the death of the King have to do with us? If the King dies, the First Prince will just inherit the throne," Alarick replied evenly.

​"Wow, I guess living out here really has made you a country bumpkin after all," Abel laughed mockingly. "Don’t you know that the First Prince doesn’t have that much power over the Second Prince? And don’t forget, Duke Snow of the North is said to be targeting the throne too. It’s going to be chaos around the kingdom, maybe there will also be hidden nobles with some arterial motive for the throne also."

" The kingdom will be in flames... and while the kingdom is in chaos, you will attack the Thornes," Alarick said, a flicker of fear finally crossing his face.

​"You don’t have to worry. You will be back in the main family by then, safe and sound. We will tell you when to return, and you can bring that son of yours if you like. But as for that wife of yours..." Abel’s voice turned ice-cold.

​"You don’t have to worry about her. She won’t be coming," Alarick reassured him without a second thought. "About the current plan... what do I do? Are we just going to abandon it?"

​"Do you have any idea how much effort the main family has already poured into clearing your path?" Abel snapped, his patience wearing thin. "We assassinated the current Head’s wife years ago so he wouldn’t produce any more legitimate heirs. We poisoned his eldest son, tricked them into hiring a curse user disguised as a priest, and planted a curse on the boy. Now, his bones are decaying very slowly, maybe by next year or the other one he would be dead also! We even made that fake priest vanish just to terrify any other healers away. And just recently, we slaughtered the Head’s little brother! After all that, only his son, Ian, is left standing."

​Abel took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing. "We laid the groundwork perfectly. It would be better if we could occupy them slowly without drawing the King’s eye, but we are running out of time."

​Alarick looked up, a serious, dark expression on his face.

​"What if we put a lot of money into this and have the Eden Guild do the dirty work for us?" Alarick suggested. "Have them wipe out every member of the Thorne family, leaving only me and my son alive. My son would then inherit the family without much issue. Then, the Zenins can send our mages to hunt the Eden Guild down, killing every member of the guild to make it look like we are dispensing justice for the Kingdom."