Exiled Prince: I'm the Unexpected Extra in the Novel-Chapter 167: Council for the North

The War for The North [55]

Chapter 167: Council for the North

In a lavish hall on the upper floors of the Winter Castle, those who would determine the fate of the North had gathered.

Around the long, polished mahogany table in the center of the room sat figures who were each legends in their own domains.

Kevin, the Earl of Mooncrest, sat in his chair with impeccable elegance befitting a noble. He wore light but incredibly durable leather armor, adorned with a crescent symbol stitched in silver thread across the chest. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the carvings at the edge of the table, attempting to mask the anxiety lying beneath his calm expression.

Diagonally across from him sat Fredrinn, the Ruler of Veythral. He had his arms crossed tightly over his chest and his eyes closed. He detested such formal, political, and ornate environments.

General Hareth had taken his place near Fredrinn, his shoulders slightly slumped. The old wolf looked exhausted. His eyes frequently drifted to the door, searching for someone. Due to the busyness and the chaos, he hadn’t yet had the chance to see Cassian.

A growing sense of guilt was gnawing at his heart. He hadn’t been able to protect that boy; he couldn’t stop the witches from taking him away. He needed to apologize to him personally, perhaps even ask for his forgiveness.

Rowan, the Earl of Amberfield, displayed a relaxed demeanor that defied the tension in the room. He was slowly sipping dark red wine from a crystal goblet in front of him, savoring the taste. Unlike the others, he wore no armor; instead, he was dressed in a loose white shirt with the collar slightly open.

At the other end of the table sat Marquess Aldren Stormvale. Unlike the others, he was not nervous, but impatient. His eyes were fixed on the empty chairs at the head of the table. Duchess Cecilia, the Mystic Beast Cryomara, and Cassian...

Only a few minutes remained before the meeting was scheduled to begin, yet the hosts were still nowhere to be seen.

The silence was broken by the creaking of the massive doors. All heads turned toward the entrance simultaneously.

A boy, who appeared to be in his early teens with snow-white hair and blood-red eyes, walked in. He wore simple but high-quality clothes. There was an overwhelming confidence and ease in his stride that seemed impossible for a child.

Behind him, the rebellious daughter of Evershade, the Ice Queen Liora Stormvale, accompanied him.

Marquess Aldren’s left eye twitched the moment he saw his daughter. He had strictly ordered her not to come to this meeting and to stay in her room. Liora’s obstinacy and disobedience were testing Aldren’s patience. Just as he was about to open his mouth to scold his daughter and order her out, Lord Kevin of Mooncrest intervened.

"Who is this child?" Kevin asked, scanning Cassian with curious eyes. "Is he a servant?"

Paying no mind to anyone, Cassian moved to one of the empty chairs and sat down, slouching comfortably. He crossed his legs, stretched his arms out wide, and gave an exaggerated yawn. Then he turned to the lords, a look of pure confusion on his face.

"What?" Cassian asked, touching his cheek as if checking for dirt. "Is there something on my face? Why are you all staring at me?"

Rowan, the Earl of Amberfield, frowned. "Who are you, kid? This isn’t a playground; it’s a meeting of lords. Get out."

Most, if not all, of the lords here were seeing Cassian’s true form for the first time. In their minds, Cassian was a black-haired, black-eyed young man in his twenties—intelligent and dangerous. They couldn’t reconcile that image with this white-haired brat standing before them.

Cassian was aware of this, but he had no intention of spoiling the fun just yet. He pouted and rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean, who am I?" he said in a reproachful tone. "Have you really forgotten me so quickly? I’m heartbroken, truly. And here I traveled all this way for you, made plans..."

Cassian feigned sadness, placing a hand over his chest. The lords began to exchange glances and whispers.

What was this strange child babbling about? But considering he had walked into such a high-level meeting waving his arms about, and was accompanied by Marquess Aldren’s daughter, Liora... He couldn’t be just anyone.

Just then, Fredrinn, who had been sitting with his arms crossed and eyes closed, cracked one eye open. He let out a deep sigh as he watched the theater playing out in the center of the room.

"That is Cassian," Fredrinn said, his voice weary and flat.

The silence in the room shattered like glass hitting the floor.

Cassian slammed his hand onto the table.

"FREDRINN!" he shouted, all traces of his previous calm demeanor gone. "Damn it! You ruined the whole play! You annoying, stupid jerk! You won’t even let me have two minutes of fun here!"

Fredrinn shrugged and opened his other eye. "You were going to tell them anyway, or it would have come out somehow. What difference does it make? We are wasting time."

"Tch!" Cassian hissed, crossing his arms over his chest and sinking back into his chair.

The wave of shock in the hall continued to grow. Kevin, the Earl of Mooncrest, narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"Cassian?" he said in disbelief. "The sharp-witted, dangerous young man who convinced us to come here? This child?"

"Is this a joke?" asked Rowan, setting his wine down on the table.

Fredrinn intervened again before Cassian had a chance to reply.

"He has a strange, sometimes even annoying ability to change his appearance," Fredrinn answered. "This form you see is his original form."

"Hey!" Cassian hissed at Fredrinn. "Stop stealing my lines! Are you my spokesperson?"

Fredrinn looked at him with a mocking glint in his eyes. "Someone has to speak the truth. Otherwise, you’ll start telling fairy tales."

Rowan stroked his beard, his gaze wandering over Cassian. "Alright," he said, sounding unconvinced. "Is this your true form?"

Cassian took a deep breath and turned serious. His red eyes glowed.

"Yes, this is my true form," he said. "Before someone steals my role again, let me tell you... The reason I used my black-haired, adult form when meeting you was simple."

He looked at each of the lords at the table.

"I knew no one would take a child’s words seriously. If I had appeared before you like this, you would have thrown me out the door without listening. But in the guise of an adult... You listened to me, you respected me, and you came here."

The lords fell silent in the face of this logical and brutally honest answer. He was right. If they had seen this child before them, they likely would have mocked him.

At that moment, Marquess Aldren turned his attention to his daughter.

"Liora," he said sternly. "What are you doing here?"

Liora stood behind Cassian, upright as a statue. She met her father’s gaze with equal hardness.

"I am his bodyguard," she said clearly.

"Bodyguard?" Aldren frowned. "Bodyguard for what?"

The Marquess turned his questioning gaze toward Cassian. Cassian shrugged.

"Yes," Cassian said, defending Liora. "She is my bodyguard from now on. In this form... meaning when my mana reserves are a bit unstable and I am physically small, defending myself can sometimes be difficult. That’s why I asked this of my dear friend. She didn’t refuse me."

Although the Marquess was not satisfied with the answer, now was not the time. He knew his daughter’s stubbornness and didn’t want to start a family argument here.

Shortly after, the door opened again, this time in a heavier and more formal manner. A young girl entered, dressed in a loose, elegant gown that was a blend of noble blue and white.

Everyone stood up. Cassian adapted to the situation, slowly rising to his feet with a huff.

Cecilia Frosthelm... Her walk was noble, her posture upright and full of grace. Despite her young age, the burden she carried on her shoulders gave her an air of maturity.

Behind her came Cryomara. The moment the Mystic Beast entered the room, the temperature in the air dropped several degrees.

As she passed, Cryomara winked discreetly at Cassian.

Cecilia, however, didn’t even look at Cassian as she entered the room. She wore a professional, cold mask.

She simply took her place at the large chair at the head of the table and sat down. Cryomara settled immediately to her right.

"Please, sit," Cecilia said in an authoritative and formal tone. Her voice echoed through the hall.

After receiving the greeting, the lords took their seats.

A brief silence ensued. Everyone was waiting for Cecilia to speak. Cecilia clasped her hands on the table.

"First of all," she said, "I thank all of you on behalf of Frosthelm for heeding our call, gathering here, and extending your helping hand during these difficult times for the North."

Then she took a deep breath and got to the main issue.

"The situation... is more complex than we anticipated," she said. "According to reports from our scouts along the borders and our magical sensors... All traces of the Obsidian Dawn—their soldiers, their camps—have been wiped from Frosthelm. They have vanished as if they never existed."

Murmurs of surprise rippled among the lords.

"However," Cecilia continued, her voice hardening. "When Cassian appeared, two Demigods emerged to fight him. And those Demigods... were leaders of the Obsidian Dawn."

She cast a brief glance at Cassian.

"That is to say, even if they have withdrawn their armies, they are still in the North. They are hiding in the shadows and planning something."

"Does anyone have any thoughts on this matter?" she asked the table.

No one said a thing. The Obsidian Dawn was an unpredictable, chaotic enemy. No one wanted to offer an idea in vain and be wrong.

Cecilia turned to General Hareth. "General? What is the status of the army?"

General Hareth stood up and cleared his throat.

"The status of the army for the time being is, much like our people, not very promising, my Duchess," he said honestly. "The epidemic is spreading rapidly through the camps. A significant portion of my soldiers are bedridden. Morale is low. However..."

He turned his eyes to Cassian, hope in his gaze.

"If Cassian keeps his word and heals them... Then it is likely we will have an army larger, angrier, and more grateful than the enemy’s army."

Rowan, the Lord of Amberfield, raised his hand.

"Alright," he said skeptically. "Will young Cassian really manage to heal the entire populace, the entire army? Don’t misunderstand me; I don’t doubt his power. But the number of people, the soldiers... We are talking about hundreds of thousands. Is the mana of a single person enough for this? This is quite a dangerous gamble."

Cassian understood what the man meant. He was right.

In his Sovereign form, he used his power haphazardly, like a wild river. Unlimited mana capacity was ideal for destruction; it didn’t require much strategy or subtle thought. He just unleashed his power and destroyed.

On the other hand, healing human bodies... That required the precision of a surgeon. Touching each individual, rooting out the disease, using mana in a balanced way... This was much harder than destruction.

As if sensing Rowan’s doubt, Cryomara spoke up.

"There is no need to worry," she said with a nonchalant attitude. "The little lizard... I mean Cassian, already said he could do it. And he doesn’t make promises he can’t keep. Right, Cassian?"

She fixed her eyes on Cassian. There was a threat in her gaze that said, ’Don’t embarrass me.’

"Of course," Cassian said with a confident smile. "You gather the soldiers, leave the rest to me."

"If Lady Cryomara says so, we have no choice but to trust," Rowan said, seemingly convinced.

This time, it was Marquess Aldren who spoke. He leaned toward the table, his warrior instincts kicking in.

"So," he said. "Are we going to wait for the enemy to come to us, or do we go to the enemy? Defense or offense? Waiting in this silence makes me uneasy."

Cecilia spoke. "It is difficult for us to decide on this yet. We don’t know the enemy’s location. Our intelligence is lacking. But..."

Cassian raised his hand, cutting her off.

"By all means!" he said cheerfully.

Everyone turned to him.

"May I answer that, my Duchess?" Cassian said without leaving his seat. "I have a few small matters I need to share with you!"