Days had passed since the defeat of the Holy Allied Territories.

The city had now been rebuilding; it barely sustained any damage, but the stray trebuchet fire from the enemy's forces destroyed a few residential houses. But it wasn't a hard problem to fix.

Snowkeep already had hundreds of houses that were left unused.

Those who were simply affected were handed houses with a loan without interest; they had the freedom to pay it for as long as they wanted.

But in truth, Justinian really didn't care if they paid or not; it was for formalities. He was already swimming in so much gold that he couldn't possibly make his citizens try to give him more.

Because for Justinian, the best way for gold is simply trading, and with the siege now gone, trade had returned.

*** Throne Room

In the bustling throne room of Justinian, filled with courtiers and guests from all around the kingdom, most came of their own volition, some from Justinian's alliances when at the ball.

And the most luxurious of them? Julius and Augustus, the two brothers, their arms crossed.

"You defeated Raven's army...?" Augustus asked.

Both of them had already brought their armies, expecting to change the tides of battle; they had brought a whopping amount that could destroy Raven's army without so much as a thought.

So Justinian's already winning was a surprise.

"Yes."

"D-Do you still need our help?" Julius added, wearing one of the most protective pieces of equipment Justinian had ever laid his eyes on.

Even if it was still in the vaguely early arcs of the novel, he was already the chosen one golden boy he was destined to be.

"I need help with finishing Raven off."

Justinian stood up from his throne, meeting them eye to eye.

"He escaped, and I don't plan for him to get off scot free."

Augustus placed a hand on his chin, thinking about Justinian's proposal. "Won't that garner a lot of pushback?"

"They attacked first; the imperial law supports us."

"But what about the church?" Augustus added to his question; he wanted to make sure.

"I can answer that." Julius raised his hand. "It won't be as big an issue as you think. as far as I'm aware, Marcellus himself doesn't support this holy war."

"So we have justification?"

Augustus smirked.

"To be blunt, it's expected of us," Julius replied in neutrality.

But Augustus had a completely different reaction, cackling like a madman that only Justinian and Julius could hear.

"Great... I finally have an excuse to take out a trade rival." He ran a hand through his hair. "But why are you here?"

Augustus and Justinian were vassal and liege; he was expected to support them in their wars, but Julius? Sure, they were neighboring rulers, but he didn't have a reason to accept Justinian's call for aid.

"Raven and his allies have been pestering the church for a while; their excommunication has been long overdue."

"I thought they were holy territories?" Justinian couldn't help but snicker.

Those so called god chosen rulers weren't so holy after all in the eyes of the literal chosen one.

"That was the past Patriarch's decision."

"I see..." Justinian nodded.

"So what's the plan, my liege?"

"I still need to rebuild and take care of morale, and since you two seem eager to take them out for good, can you two handle it?"

Justinian offered; he was half-telling the truth. While his army definitely took a heavy blow from the fighting, it wasn't near crippling enough to completely stop him from contributing to a counterattack.

And either way, even without his help, they would surely win against a weakened alliance of nations whose rulers had just died.

"I have no complaints."

"Same for me."

Both replied; they were more casual about invading another nation for another duke's behalf than expected.

'No other sane ruler would agree to that... but then again, they're far from normal.'

"I'll leave Fenrix with you; feel free to ask him about any intelligence you may all need for your skirmish."

Justinian departed, immediately heading to where Cassia was in the throne room, casually talking with her father and the rest of the Vesuvian nobles.

It seemed like his two vassals, Elberich and Bjorn, had managed to fend off their own invasion force without any problem.

***

"I have to say... You have a good eye, brother."

Julius smiled, nudging Augustus's shoulder.

The two of them were heading to Snowkeep's court of shadows, undoubtedly named by Fenrix to instill fear in anyone who even heard the name.

While it didn't work on normal nobles, for the normal citizens and future corrupt rulers of the duchy? The name alone should prove as a deterrent.

"Anyone with a brain would know it would be a good idea to side with Thirell." Augustus clasped his hands behind his back.

"Still though... to have two arcanists in one duchy, that's unprecedented."

Julius couldn't help but feel cautious. He admired Justinian's way of ruling, but he was also growing too powerful, too fast; if he were to make a single mistake, there was a chance they would cross blades.

"Oh please... like you're the one to talk."

Julius laughed at his brother's casual response. After all, no one knew him better than his brother, and Augustus knows himself that while Justinian was terrifying, Julius was a different beast of an arcanist altogether.

CREAK.

They opened the door to Fenrix's so-called quarters.

"Hello?"

Julius entered first, hands instinctively on the hilt of his sheathed sword; the place itself was already giving him shivers.

"Please knock before you enter."

Fenrix muttered from the dark and, with a simple toss of a match, lit up all the chandeliers on the ceiling.

And from a normal dark room, turned into something more akin to a torture chamber, and the tortured? priests who had tried to commit treason while the siege was still ongoing.

"My... this is certainly... effective."

Augustus whistled.

"Please... don't joke about that, brother."

Julius sighed, letting go of his sword, with the potentially dangerous figure within the light's embrace, even if he did try to attack, the two of them could overpower him instantly.

"What is it that you need?"

Fenrix was looming next to a gagged priest, dagger in hand.

His goal? To simply send a message, the few simple unlucky ones who were here were particularly horrible.

One of the few priests who had genuinely gone insane and was deemed too unstable to even preach, if they were left alone, could potentially create dangerous cults that would only want the destruction of the capital.

And Julius could sense it using his gifts.

The Eyes of Truth.

A gift he particularly adored, an ability he often used when he was with Maria to be a tease, despite his power, he was still a protagonist of a romance novel, primarily, not an action fantasy one.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance then...?"

Julius nodded.

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