Lord Richard was caught off guard by the question. Griffin was looking at him with that same annoying expression. Stories had it that Crescian royalties had some supernatural powers. Lord Richard had not believed it until now. The only person who could have done this was Griffin. The thought of it made his heart skip a bit. So it was true. All these years he had grown to believe that it was all but a myth, and now that he had witnessed it, it all turned true.

Still, they had accused a king of treason, and they failed to provide evidence. That was also treason in itself. And since Griffin could not execute them in their own kingdom, it meant that he would make ridiculous demands, or wage war against them. And judging his personality, he would ask for something ridiculous that Valoria wouldn’t be able to provide, or refuse to provide, and that would be a prompt for him to go to war. Lord Richard hated war but it was nearly inevitable right now.

"I am talking to you," Griffin said pulling Lord Richard back to the situation at hand.

"We are sorry Your Majesty. It must have been a misunderstanding." Queen Victoria defended her Kingdom.

"Was it?" Griffin asked smiling cunningly at her. "You of all the people know the rules if such a situation occurs. Or are you going to defy the law in front of all these people?" He asked turning around to show Victoria how many Kings, Lord and Ladies were present.

"Please forgive His Highness and My Lord," Queen Victoria begged. "They only acted this way because of those..." She didn’t even know how to call them. Were they knights or pigs? "Because those things wore Crescian knights’ armor."

"Is there any proof that they wore Crescian knights’ armor?" He asked.

Queen Victoria turned to face the knight who had brought the dreadful information. He understood what she wanted and came forward to report.

"The knights previously had Crescian armor but we found nothing when we went to fetch them. Only naked pigs," he said causing an uproar of laughter from the crowd.

"And you want to say that these naked pigs previously had clothes?" King Griffin asked sarcastically, adding to the laughter.

"Yes Your Majesty," the knight said and Queen Victoria gestured for him to leave. He bowed, ashamed before he walked out of the throne hall.

"I can’t understand how pigs get clothed, Your Majesty. You better have a good explanation for this," Griffin warned, slightly furrowing his brows before he quickly replaced the expression with that annoying face of his.

Alexander was watching the whole scenario with a calm face. He could detect that this Griffin was exuding an aura like that of his, but he was superior. How could he even turn humans into pigs? And it was with a thought because the guy had never left the throne hall. And he used that as an opportunity to attack the kingdom verbally. He could only guess what he was aiming for. And what were those rules he had said about?

"According to the rules that govern how kingdoms should relate, Valoria has been found guilty of bleaching one of them." Griffin began. "The punishment for breaking this rule is for the perpetrators to give in to the demands of the victim, failure to which war will ensue. The other states are required to help the victim state in administering justice upon the perpetrator."

The hall grew silent. Every Lord or King alike knew about this rule. They could only sympathize with Valoria.

"And what is it that you want?" Alexander asked. He didn’t want to beat around the bush.

Griffin smiled at him awed by the audacity of the crown prince. "I want a third of Valoria, especially the area rich in minerals." He said out loud. The hall grew noisy again. That was a ridiculous demand that no sane king or queen would consent to.

"That is impossible!" Lord Richard blurted.

"I can’t do that!" Queen Victoria added.

"Choose your words wisely Your Majesty. Remember the consequences." Griffin warned.

"Does anyone of you disagree with the rules of this continent?" Griffin asked loudly. The room grew silent. "Silence means no. So think of what you say, your majesty. All these Kings and Lords will ally with me if you fail to do your part."

"Why don’t you give us some time to think about it?" Alexander asked surprising King Griffin. Seems he had underestimated the wisdom of this boy. He was the only one acting rationally here. "Giving out land is not just something you can sit and do in a day," Alexander added.

"Yes. Give us time to think about it." The court officials joined the discussion. This was about their kingdom after all.

King Griffin didn’t seem satisfied by this but he knew the other kings would support Valoria on this. Not that they ever supported Crescia at all.

"Fine. I’ll give you one week only. I’ll be waiting for your answer." He said and started walking out of the hall. The Crescian knights followed after him. He was bored by the whole funeral thing and now that something new that ignited his mood had arisen, he was not going to sit and watch the boring coronation ceremony. And to make matters worse, watch Alexander being crowned? That, he could not withstand.

"One week?" Lord Richard asked once the stubborn king left. He paused in his tracks and looked at Alexander calculatingly. "You are not planning to give the land to him, are you?" He asked. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Of course not," Alexander said picking an apple from the basket as if nothing had happened. "Send the crowd away. We shall do the coronation our own way." He told Lord Richard before taking a bite of his apple.

Lord Richard hesitated but eventually adjourned the congregation. The people, especially the Valorian citizens left with a frown. It was a norm that a new king would be crowned the same day when the previous one was buried. But seems the crown prince wanted to do things his way.

"Do you have a plan?" Lord Richard asked once the hall was empty.

"Yes," Alexander simply replied.