The Reincarnator's Inauspicious Route to Finding Love-Chapter 64: A Father’s Helping Hand (2)

He brought his hand up off the table and that small movement caught everyone’s attention, effectively shutting everyone up. "There is nothing to worry about. As you can see, the Royal family has been closely monitoring the situation."

All eyes in the room were focused on their king as his quietly controlled words demanded attention. They were left sorely disappointed when nothing else was said after that small statement.

"Ahem. Ahem." The clearing of the throat rang out in the air of the awkward silence. "Other matters of notice in the North–"

The assembly carried on as they wrapped up conversing about the four regions. The topic of conversation moved toward the happenings outside of their Kingdom and the lands surrounding their borders.

The biggest concern had been the Shigaron Kingdom. After the crowning of their new queen sixteen years ago, the Velron Kingdom had seen a steady rise in population as citizens of Shigaron– both nobles and commoners alike– had packed up their belongings and applied for citizenship within the Velron and Korazin Kingdoms located to the Southwest, and the Nice Kingdom located to the Northeast of the Shigaron Kingdom.

It was to be expected with the current Queen’s reign since she implemented heavier taxes on her citizens. She was also known to carelessly spend that money on the lavish parties she would hold where she would commit all sorts of acts of debauchery.

It had been a heavy blow for the Shigaron Kingdom and its people. The previous Crown Princess had gone missing nearly nineteen years ago and was presumed dead after two years after finding no trace of her. And not long after she had been presumed dead, their King ended his life, death by suicide. And after a year of back-and-forth politics, the current Queen was finally crowned.

Aster found himself withholding a sigh. It was only a matter of time before the heirless queen ran her kingdom into the ground. It was something that he and the other Kingdoms were keeping a close eye on since the Shigaron Kingdom’s inevitable downfall will place heavy strain on them.

"I have a proposal," Asher spoke as the meeting slowly came to a close. "The Palace Physician came to me the other day. It seems he wishes to hold a recruitment period to find fresh blood to occupy the empty positions. I’m proposing that we do something unprecedented and hold a competition for those who have studied in the field of medicine no matter their background. If we hold the competition two months from now, that should give time for word to spread all over the kingdom."

"What-?!"

"Your Majesty! That is unprecedented!" Asher found himself tsking when he heard his words being thrown back at him.

"We could be inviting foreign spies into the palace!"

Aster held up his hand to silence the abruptly rising complaints. "I do see the dangers that may lurk in this proposal which is why each participant will be vetted once they sign up."

"How long will the sign up period last?"

"Hmm? How about we close the signing period the week before the competition, which will give us time to vet the participants. We’ll have posts set up in each major city where people may sign up." Unfortunately, the back-countries and smaller villages outside of major cities may not hear about the competition in time, but it will be fine. Asher’s only concern was having a person Mikyle trusted by his side.

I believe the person Mikyle wanted was the apprentice of Henry’s wife. I have no doubt that the girl will be able to blow through the competition with ease if Meredith was the one teaching her.

Meredith had been one of Asher’s own people along with Henry. The woman was a talented herbalist who could produce both medicine and poisons with her eyes closed. It had actually pained him just a little to send her away.

I’ll have to send word to Meredith later. He would normally send word to Henry first since it was considered the polite thing to do since Henry was the head of his household, but Henry was currently away to personally carry out a task that Mikyle had given him.

I can’t even ask Henry about the tasks since he and Meredith had pledged their loyalty to Mikyle after I sent them Mikyle’s way. When Asher had first had the idea to set Mikyle down on the path of an information broker, he had released Henry and Meredith from their duties and had the two stay in the capital until they could catch Mikyle’s eye. And just as he had predicted, Mikyle had sought them out first after hearing rumors about the woman with the magic touch for medicine and her husband, the local tavern owner, who had his hands dipped into the underbelly of the Capital.

"This could be a good way to grow closer to our citizens," someone voiced optimistically.

"It will definitely boost morale. . .but I’m not sure if the lower-class stands a chance if they’re going to be compared to those who can easily receive the education and materials needed for a competition like this." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"I’m not so sure about that. I’ve heard of several doctors who have surpassed many in their field who just so happen to come from humble backgrounds."

"How many winners should we choose?" The Council members grew excited as they made verbal plans while bouncing around their ideas and thoughts on the matter.

"Hmm? Five. We shall have five winners, and the top competitor shall be assigned as the Second Prince’s personal physician since he is the only one of my sons who does not yet have one assigned to him." Asher spoke off-handly, acting as if this decision had come as an afterthought and not as if it were his true intentions at all.

. . . . .

Adrien watched as Prince Nathaniel and Lady Lianna left the cafeteria while whispering among themselves.

"Do you know what Aisley is planning?" Adrien asked Mikyle, turning his eyes onto the thoughtful expression that Mikyle was wearing.

"Hmm. No, though I do have a few guesses."

Adrien gave him a look as if to press him to finish what he was saying. Mikyle released a small chuckle when he saw the way Adrien was looking at him. "I want to wait until I’m absolutely certain before I tell you anything. But what I can tell you, is that Lady Aisley is more-and-likely doing this to help you in some way."

How would supporting Prince Nathaniel and Lady Lianna be of help to me? Wouldn’t supporting Mikyle be the most logical choice? Or is she trying to help me by keeping me out of the spotlight?

Adrien had been spinning two theories around in his head while leaning more towards one of them. But if Aisley was truly trying to help him while keeping him out of the spotlight, then the least likely probability is probably closer to the truth.

Adrien glanced around their surroundings. There were quite a few students in the cafeteria and they were all surprisingly seated far away. He really should start paying more attention to his surroundings.

"Do you want to leave? We have enough time to go out to the gardens before our next classes," Mikyle suggested after watching Adrien for a few seconds.

They could have their conversation there, but Adrien was afraid to have it where someone could over hear them. "Sure."

The two of them got up and left. The surrounding hallways were quiet and devoid of others which was unusual.

Mikyle brushed the hair out of Adrien’s face, startling him. "You have something on your mind, Kitten?"

Adrien looked around them once again to make sure they were truly alone. "Does one of your guesses have something to do with me maybe not being Duke Ceciles’ son, but maybe the son of the former–"

"There you are!"