Chapter 136: Chapter129:The demonstration part 1

The conversation continued long after the matter of the Coalition War letter had been settled.

For the first time since arriving in the capital, Lucien found himself speaking without any hidden agendas hanging over the discussion. There were no negotiations to navigate, no political traps to avoid, and no attempts to measure each other’s intentions. It was simply a conversation between three people sitting within the highest tower in the kingdom.

Naturally, the topic eventually returned to Elarion.

It always did.

Elena sat with a notebook open before her, occasionally scribbling notes whenever a particular answer caught her interest. What began as a few simple questions quickly developed into a lengthy discussion regarding industry, infrastructure, and economic growth.

"Your steel production doubled within two years," she remarked while looking through several pages of notes. "Most established territories would need at least a decade to achieve that."

Lucien shrugged.

"We had advantages."

"You always say that."

"Because it’s true."

The princess narrowed her eyes.

"No. It’s because you never explain anything properly."

A faint chuckle escaped the Guardian.

Neither of them paid attention to him.

For the next half hour the questions continued. Elena moved from steel production to transportation networks. From transportation she moved toward coal extraction. From coal she moved toward labor organization. Each answer generated another question, and every question revealed a little more about the machine that Elarion had become.

The Guardian remained mostly silent throughout the exchange.

At first glance he appeared relaxed. He sat near the window with a cup of tea in one hand and a book resting on his lap. Yet the longer the discussion continued, the more obvious it became that he was listening far more carefully than he appeared.

Occasionally he would interrupt.

Just enough to steer the discussion.

"How much of your annual steel production is allocated to military contracts?"

"More than 85%"Lucien answered.

The old mage nodded thoughtfully.

Several minutes later another question followed.

"And how much ammunition do you make per day?"

"Around 100,000rounds"

The Guardian remained silent again.

The pattern continued.

Every question he asked seemed unrelated to the previous one, yet Lucien quickly realized they all revolved around the same subject. The old mage wasn’t gathering information.

He was evaluating capabilities.

Eventually Elena noticed it as well.

The princess lowered her pen and looked between the two men.

For several seconds she said nothing.

Then a small smile appeared.

"You’re evaluating him."

The Guardian glanced up from his tea.

"I wasn’t aware I was hiding it."

"You weren’t."

Elena pointed toward him.

"That’s how I noticed."

The old mage sighed heavily"you girl,you are now siding with him"

Lucien almost laughed.

The Guardian set his teacup aside and leaned back in his chair.

For a few moments he remained silent while gazing toward the distant skyline beyond the tower windows. The capital stretched beneath them, its countless rooftops bathed in the orange glow of the afternoon sun.

Finally he spoke.

"I have read every report submitted to the Crown regarding Elarion."

His voice was calm.

"I’ve reviewed military assessments. Intelligence summaries. Economic forecasts. Border reports."

A brief pause followed.

"I’ve also read an unfortunate number of noble complaints."

That earned a smile from Elena.

The Guardian ignored her.

"The problem with reports," he continued, "is that they are ultimately written by observers."

His gaze settled upon Lucien.

"They describe results. They estimate capabilities. They offer conclusions."

The old mage folded his hands together.

"But none of them provide certainty."

The room fell silent.

The change in atmosphere was immediate.

This was no longer casual conversation.

The Guardian was speaking as the man who stood at the peak of Asterion’s power.

The man preparing for a gathering of the continent’s strongest figures.

"If I am going to present you before the Supreme Mage Council," he said quietly, "then I need certainty."

Lucien remained silent.

The old mage continued.

"I need to know exactly what your weapons can do. Not what reports claim they can do. Not what generals believe they can do."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"I want to see it myself."

Elena slowly nodded.

When she spoke, her voice carried none of its usual teasing.

"He’s right."

Both men looked toward her.

The princess closed her notebook.

"All of us are working from assumptions."

She gestured toward Lucien.

"You know what your weapons can do because you built them."

Then she pointed toward the Guardian.

"You know what the reports say."

Finally she pointed toward herself.

"And I know what the reports say."

A small smile appeared.

"But none of us have actually witnessed the reality."

"You have been waiting for it the whole time isn’t it grandpa"

That silenced the old mage.

Because there was no flaw in her reasoning.

The Guardian rose from his chair and walked toward the massive window overlooking the capital. For several moments he simply stood there, watching the city below.

When he finally spoke, his decision had already been made.

"We’ll arrange a demonstration."

Neither Lucien nor Elena looked surprised.

The old mage had clearly reached that conclusion some time ago.

"A private demonstration," he continued. "No crowds. No unnecessary spectators. Only those whose opinions matter."

His gaze shifted toward Elena.

"The King and your brother should attend."

The princess nodded immediately.

"The military as well."

Another nod.

"The Grand Marshal. Senior generals. The Crown’s engineers."

Then Elena added her own suggestion.

"The major noble houses."

The Guardian turned toward her.

For a moment neither spoke.

Then a slow smile appeared on the old mage’s face.

"An excellent idea."

Lucien immediately disliked that smile.

Because he knew exactly what it meant.

The demonstration wasn’t being organized to impress anyone.

It was being organized so that certain people could no longer pretend ignorance.

The Guardian folded his hands behind his back.

"Too many decisions are currently being made based on rumors."

His eyes settled upon the distant horizon.

"And you know I dislike rumors."

A faint smile appeared.

"I prefer evidence more."

The invitations left the Tower of Stars before sunset.

They carried neither explanations nor details.

Only a royal seal.

A location,A date.

And a single instruction.

Attendance was mandatory.

Within hours the first reactions began.

Grand Marshal Roland Ashford received his invitation while reviewing military deployment reports.

The veteran commander studied the parchment for several moments.

Then read it again.

The royal seal was genuine.

The handwriting belonged to one of the King’s personal secretaries.

Which meant the matter was important.

Roland’s eyes narrowed.

The invitation contained no explanation.

That alone irritated him.

Military men disliked uncertainty.

Still, if the King, the Royal Guardian were involved, then attendance was not optional.

The old commander folded the parchment carefully.

Then dismissed his aides.

For the remainder of the evening, he found it difficult to focus on anything else.

Elsewhere in the capital, Duke Valen Harcourt stared at the invitation in silence.

The elderly noble had spent months hearing rumors about Elarion.

Every report seemed more absurd than the last.

Now the Crown was personally summoning him to witness something.

The fact alone was concerning.

The Duke slowly placed the invitation upon his desk.

His expression darkened.

"The boy again."

His secretary wisely remained silent.

Not all reactions were negative.

Count Marcus Evermont practically laughed when he received his invitation.

Unlike many nobles, Marcus had long supported cooperation with Elarion.

He considered Lucien’s rise inevitable.

Now the Crown apparently agreed.

The Count leaned back in his chair.

A smile slowly appeared.

"This should be interesting."

The military engineers reacted differently.

Curiosity replaced caution.

One engineer spent nearly an hour attempting to determine the purpose of the gathering.

Another immediately began reviewing every report regarding Elarion’s factories but he apparantly couldn’t gain anything except loss of sleep.

A third failed to sleep entirely.

By morning he had convinced himself that the Lord of Elarion had somehow built an entirely new class of weapon.

As it turned out, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

Meanwhile, inside the Royal Palace, King Alaric was discussing several matters of state with Crown Prince Cassian when a royal guard entered the room.

Without a word, the guard presented a sealed parchment bearing the mark of the Tower of Stars.

King Alaric broke the seal and quickly scanned its contents.

A faint smile appeared on his face. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Cassian immediately noticed.

"Is it from grandfather?"

The King handed him the invitation.

After reading it, the prince raised an eyebrow.

"A private demonstration of elarion weapons?"

"Apparently."

Alaric folded the parchment and rose from his chair.

"If Father is personally arranging it, then it must be worth seeing."

For some reason, both men thought of the same person.

By the following morning, the most influential people in Asterion had all received the same invitation.

None of them knew exactly what awaited them.

Yet every one of them sensed the same thing.

Whatever was about to happen would be important.

Very important.

And none of them intended to miss it.