Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 654 - 380: Before the Dragon Throne Council Begins (3)
The young man who rose to fame, his brother with the strength of a Peak Knight, commanded the battlefield with ease; both inside and outside the Imperial Capital called him "the one most like the Emperor."
He stabilized the army’s spirit, understood the people’s sentiments, and dared to take responsibility—he was recognized by both nobility and commoners as the true successor.
Kaelin never envied him.
As long as that genius was alive, he was willing to always be the one on the front line, bleeding for the Empire.
Until the Third Prince was assassinated in an extremely humiliating manner.
It was the first time in his life that he realized that power was not so simple.
What followed was the disappearance of his father, and the Empire’s authority scattered everywhere.
Kaelin suddenly discovered that the responsibility he thought would never fall upon him was forcibly thrust onto his shoulders.
Responsibility turned into obsession, obsession turned into an irreversible fixation.
The more Kaelin thought, the more he was convinced: the Crown Prince was too weak to live long, the Fourth Prince was only cunning and deceitful with no military spirit, and the others simply weren’t qualified.
Only he could stabilize the front lines, lock in the nobility, and make the military department unified again.
If he didn’t take control, the Empire would surely perish.
This thought burned in his chest like fire, keeping him awake in the pain and driving him to delve deeper.
Kaelin took a deep breath, but it felt like breathing ice shards, piercing his chest tight.
He knew very well what to do next, no need to make lists, no need for repeated weighing.
His heart had long led him to the end of the road, leaving only one direction:
At tomorrow’s Dragon Throne meeting, he must suppress Rhine.
Must make the military department believe he’s still the "Prince who can fight."
Even if he has to rely on the Spirit Fruit to hold on, as long as he can sustain at the critical moment, it’s enough.
Must regain absolute command of the military department, or else the military’s heart might be divided by other successors at any time.
The Regent King must hold for a few years; if he falls, the Fourth Prince could openly take over everything in a power vacuum.
Must find the people behind the assassin, even if the answer is already lurking in his heart.
Most importantly, must make everyone believe, only I can save the Empire!
This is not ambition, but a decision forced by fear.
And this decision is firmer than any ambition.
......
As the light from the pattern-carved window fell into the residence, the Fourth Prince Rhine sat behind the desk, perusing heavy tomes.
He disassembled every issue into controllable shapes, handling them one by one.
The room was quiet, only the sound of a feather pen softly brushing against paper could be heard.
The footsteps outside the door stopped very lightly.
"Your Highness." It was his mentor, Karen, voice restrained, as if afraid to disturb something.
Rhine looked up: "Enter."
Karen entered with a secret report box, placed a sealed gold piece on the desk: "A confirmed report from the Regent King’s palace... the spirit essence fruit was personally delivered by the Second Prince’s Personal Guard."
Rhine’s pen paused at his fingertips, he glanced at the secret report, then chuckled lightly, his tone carrying mockery and a bit of amusement: "Brotherly love, truly moving."
Karen nodded slightly, expression steady, he could discern that the laugh bore no warmth, only calculating calm and barely hidden ridicule.
Rhine placed the secret report on the desk, leaned back in the chair, as if discussing an irrelevant matter: "The Regent King can hold out for another day or two, better than collapsing tonight."
Karen pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "Your judgment is that him holding out instead favors the situation?"
Rhine shook his head: "Chaos is most fearsome when it arrives too suddenly."
He knew very well that if the Regent King passed away tonight, the military department would immediately force a coup.
The Fifth Prince and several regional factions would swiftly seize the chaos to act.
The civil servant system would be pushed to the forefront, and the Imperial Capital might split.
That’s not the chaos he wanted; he wanted controllable chaos.
The brief clarity brought by the spirit essence fruit just happens to maintain a day’s stability in the situation without changing the final outcome.
Rhine gently tapped the desk with his knuckles, voice calm: "The Second Prince giving the spirit essence fruit is to delay the Regent King’s decline. He believes if the royal power remains stable for a day, he has an extra day to win hearts in the military department."
Karen slowly said: "This step... do you see it as an obstacle or a buffer?"
Rhine instead gave a light laugh: "Precisely the opposite."
Because the Regent King will not die in the short term, the Imperial Capital will not lose control immediately, the Regent King will inevitably die in the long term, and the royal power cannot be stabilized.
There’s more time for the nobility and legion commanders to be gradually gathered by him, while the Second Prince cannot seize complete control of military power.
"Able to hold but unable to intervene in the political situation... this is the state most suitable for us." He closed his eyes as if he were talking about unrelated matters, "Tomorrow is the chance."
The Regent King seems able to hold out, yet cannot stand steady, and the military department cannot obtain legitimate authorization at the meeting.
Karen continued to ask, as if helping Rhine organize his internal thoughts: "Looking at the trends, you have the upper hand, but the situation is not yet at a decisive victory, is this correct?"
Rhine responded lightly: "High, but no more than fifty percent."
The nobility is watching, the military department does not listen to him, regional Lords are unwilling to bet rashly, any bit of an accident could reverse the situation against him.
Of course, Rhine cannot gamble on how long the Regent King can live, he must prepare backup plans. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
"Tomorrow, as long as the meeting cannot reach a conclusion, we win."
Tomorrow, when Inspector General Mei Si’s proposal to restore the Electoral Prince system comes forth, although it will be a temporary neutral option that all factions find hard to accept, it will make people realize the need to choose sides.
Rhine’s gaze fell outside the window, his tone sank slightly: "A shattered Empire is never what I wished for."
Karen raised his brows slightly, did not interrupt, just quietly listened.
"It’s just that the current situation," Rhine slowly said, "can no longer be stabilized by power, only by time... as long as another two years pass, royal power will naturally fall into my hands.
And it will be in a peaceful manner. No bloodshed, no battles, no further tearing of the Empire."
Karen looked at him, nodded slightly.
Rhine spoke calmly yet with a deeply concealed resolve.
To slow the Empire down, prevent a rapid unraveling, let various forces exhaust their possible impulses in the buffer.
Let the royal power, above the chaos, return to him in the quietest manner.
