The sound of Provincial Governor Drag pounding the table caught his son's attention.

"What happened?"

Provincial Governor Drag looked up at his son standing at the door of the room, pondered briefly, then waved his hand and handed over the letter, "Soon, you will sit in my position and make decisions. Share your views."

Everyone has preferences, which is normal, even for a father; he will have children he likes and those he doesn't.

In the heart of Provincial Governor Drag, his eldest son and youngest son are undoubtedly the ones who win his favor.

The eldest son has been with him the longest, which is almost the advantage all "eldest children" have; they come into the world earlier than other siblings and, as long as they do not behave too poorly, they will be loved by their parents.

The affection for the youngest son is simply a form of doting, or rather a change in himself. He was strict enough with other children and has grown tired of being that way. Besides, he was a bit older when the youngest was born, which made him love and spoil him without much reason.

As for the second son, he doesn't like him much; he cares too much about calculations and ignores the advantages of being a ruler.

It's not that scheming is bad; it's just that such methods are not really suitable for a ruler to govern subjects. Whatever a ruler needs to do, they simply need to post a notice to achieve; no need for conspiracies and cunning tactics.

Using some conspiracies and strategies to realize the ideas of a ruler, to change people's minds to actively cooperate with the ruler, indeed seems to reduce the coldness and ruthlessness of power on the surface, but once uncovered, it instead becomes more troublesome.

People might detest a tyrant, but despise the ruler who is calculative, insidious, and cunning.

As for the third son... the one in front of him, he seems quite smart, able to summarize the thoughts of other brothers, find their strengths, and add his own ideas. No matter the test, his answers are the most prudent, yet Drag simply doesn't like him.

Likings for someone don't require many reasons, dislikings for someone, then the reasons are plenty.

He dislikes this son for lacking a personal opinion; he always takes pieces of elder brother's and second brother's ideas and combines them together but never delivers his own perspective.

If there's no opinion from the eldest and second brothers requiring him to express his own thoughts first, his speeches often fall short compared to the eldest and second brothers.

He even managed to rope in Provincial Governor Drag's favorite youngest son as his protective talisman, which often forced Provincial Governor Drag to lean towards the third when considering the recommendations offered by different brothers.

He constantly seeks to win favor from Provincial Governor Drag, pretending to be excellent, but Provincial Governor Drag can simply see through him, which makes him dislike the child even more—having schemes even among brothers, how could parents possibly like that?

So, the last time he had to make a choice, he sent the eldest, the youngest, and the second to the Federation, leaving only the third behind.

All three children were a bit disappointed, especially the eldest; he was the most let down, but he never understood that this was genuine protection for him.

As for the third, who always dreams of inheriting the Provincial Governor's position and power, this isn't genuine affection, but an act of giving up, though unfortunately, the third simply cannot realize this.

The third respectfully took the letter, quickly read through it, and gave him an answer with unexpected speed.

"Father, I think we should be the first to propose seceding from the United Kingdom.", the third's response was so quick that Provincial Governor Drag hadn't reacted yet.

In his expectation, after seeing the letter, his son's emotions would be solely "fear" and "unease."

Fear because the letter actually instructs his father, the most powerful man in the region, in this province, to do things, and the tone is very disrespectful.

Some contents within should also make his son feel that, even a family like theirs needs to be subjected to the Federation's grip, bringing a feeling of helplessness that causes fear.

Then the betrayal to the country would cause one's conscience to be uneasy.

But none of these, only a young man suppressing his excitement swiftly made a decision Drag most dreaded yet had no choice but to face.

After a moment of silence, he raised his head, looking at the son who was trying his utmost to appear very calm, asked, "Why did you choose this answer."

The third son almost without thinking began to respond to this question, "Father, everyone knows that the power of the Federation in Nagariel will only become stronger. You haven't been out much lately. If you had gone out, you'd understand, everything's different!"

"I don't know... how to describe everything happening, the whole society is quickly turning from an old man nearing death, into a youthful, vibrant entity!"

"When passing by the streets, you no longer see lazy people sitting on the sidelines chatting and sunbathing; people are all busy looking for jobs."

"When people are free, their conversations have shifted from mundane topics to work and life matters."

"What I say may not be to your liking, but it is a fact: the Federation and the influence it brings are replacing us traditional rulers. The coming era of Nagariel will belong to the Federals!"

Watching the boastful child, Provincial Governor Drag felt as if he were seeing him for the first time, which made him realize the terrifying influence of the Federation—so terrifying that it had begun to affect those around the rulers.

Suddenly, he realized that whatever he chose no longer mattered to the Federals. Their plans and layout were already taking effect, and at this moment, no one could easily block the changes of the era, the societal transformation.

People no longer cared about what traditional rulers said, nor did they respect them anymore. Behold, this is what the Federals are doing.

They are attacking the royal family. Once the royal family falls, the authority symbolizing secular power in traditional powers will be removed from people's hearts, followed by religious aspects.

By then, Nagariel might become a "mini-Federation," and neither he nor other provincial governors or even the royal family could do anything, as these were the choices of the people, things they desired themselves.

His gaze involuntarily fell on the newspaper at the corner of the table, with the title "Who Is Hurting Us" half-concealed. Who else but rulers like Provincial Governor Drag could so wantonly harm the people?

This is the choice of the era. Perhaps there will be some ripples during this transformation, like the Nagariel Youth Party, but they are merely ripples and won't affect the flow of the tide.

When heavy words like history and era begin to manifest their strength, human will seems particularly insignificant.

"Go about your business," Provincial Governor Drag sighed somewhat disinterestedly, as the deep impression left by the old Kingdom began to blur. He felt like laughing—how could people like them resist the volcanic eruption from the lower echelons of society, suppressed for hundreds of years?

The third son bowed and left, and just as he was about to leave, Provincial Governor Drag spoke again, "Be prepared, let the tailor complete your clothes."

The third son turned sharply to look at Provincial Governor Drag, a bit at a loss, his face filled with uncontrollable joy, "Father, you..."

Provincial Governor Drag said nothing, just waved his hand, letting his son leave.

His meaning was actually quite clear; he was ready to "step aside."

Watching his son leave joyfully and with light steps, Provincial Governor Drag suddenly found it absurd and comical.

A son overjoyed because his father is about to lose power—this... is probably what power is!

He sighed heavily, glancing at the letter in his hand, his mind recalling the words of the butler—"The third young master has recently been reading many books from the Federation and has befriended some young Federal merchants."

Life is a series of choices; no matter how lost, fearful, or helpless you are, you must make a choice.

At this moment, sharing a similar decision with Provincial Governor Drag was the High Priest.

Under his "throne," priests from all over the province had gathered. Staring at these sinister and icy faces, the High Priest felt a sense of discomfort for the first time.

He licked his lips, his expression suddenly becoming fervent.

"The deity told me in a dream last night that it wants to choose a new High Priest. After returning, each of you shall cast a golden idol for the deity and send it to me."

"Whoever has their idol chosen by the deity will be the next High Priest!"

He opened his seemingly unable-to-open eyes, the tattoos on his face, made grotesque by his slack skin, appeared somewhat disgusting, yet his eyes were vibrant, their gaze tangibly falling upon everyone.

Whenever he looked at someone, that person would lower their head, pressing their forehead to the ground, to show respect for the deity.

After all, to some extent, the High Priest represented the incarnation of the deity walking in the human world. Respecting the High Priest was respecting the deity.

"This selection will not include anyone by my side; the final candidate must emerge among you, understand?"

Previously, the priests weren't too enthusiastic. Every time an elderly High Priest would pull such a stunt, it was essentially just a way to gather money, and in the end, it was always left to their own designated person. It never fell to outsiders.

But now, everyone was galvanized; the High Priest's words implied that a religious ruling family was about to withdraw from the stage of history.

At the same time, a brand-new religious family would be born!

They would surely spare no effort to deliver heaps of gold for the High Priest to ultimately choose themselves!

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