Age of Adventure 301 THE WAYS OF THE WORLD 2

'At least, I pass their inspection'

He had passed the fortress and the checkpoints in Karak and Veranis and have arrived in Veranis.

The ally of Vanheim, Greater Veranis.

He did not have power and information to investigate who kills the Vlad family and it would be disadvantageous for him to stay in Karak right now.

And as for Vanheim?

Someone is plotting against him, against his reputation.

Karak Three noble houses could also sense that they are being mired in a framing conspiracy.

They themselves did not want being dragged in this hidden battle.

Aero could understand why. they did not want to be dragged on inside this confusing plot because if somehow these are the plots of the Two Imperial brothers in the capital, then if they choose the wrong side, they probably would have their heads rolling down the stairs of their ancestral house

But they also did not want to offend him. They know who is the true real power behind the Imperial Court of Vanheim.

And if somehow he could go back to Vanheim first and regain control of the Six Council, the three noble houses that accuses him of exterminating House of Vlad, they could just imagine their fates in the coming days.

As Chancellor, Aero would never let them get away with it. He knows it and those three knows it.

They are in an impossible situation which is why they are doing their best to cover the incident up

 But Aero knows a leaf couldn't hide an elephant.

Vlad family is a respected scholar family in the Vilajeri Continent. Sooner or later, some sons of noble houses would found out that he had visited the Vlad castle before the massacre and suspicions would fall on him

That does not go well with his personality. He never liked being led by the nose

Before that happens, Aero also have a plan of his own. As he just falls down into the Vilajeri Continent, he still did not know who is his enemies and his foe.

A lot of thing could change in a few months that he was not there in the Imperial Court.

He did not even have the time to relish on the encounter he had in Purgatory and now he had to run to avoid being framed.

If the attack was direct, it would be easier. But these people attack his reputation and wanted him to become the enemies of the whole Continent.

A tyrant could conquer kingdom but sooner or later, his tyranny would end. And he is not liking the events that had happen after he was absent in the imperial court

Prince James is now the King of Niovar and the church is in disarray with the Bishop trying to usurp the title of Pope.

The North halted their military machine and Nero Republic regains its independence

In other words, chaos appears in his orderly plans for unification of the Continent.

This plan had been setup since the occupation of Niovar.

He still remembers how enthusiastic he was during those times, he and King George would spend many night speaking about their ambition, to unite all under the sky under one banner.

King George untimely death had made him hesitant to share the plan of the unification with the Emperor and the others.

He was hesitant at that time whether to continue in the path of hegemony or be content with the prosperity of the Empire and rules as a wise Chancellor of the ages.

But then when he thought about the Vilajeri continent as a whole, he knows that with Zeus in the North and that Holy Maiden in the South, that even if he wanted to do that, these two people wouldn't let him.

They all wanted to rule the world.

One had the desire to conquer everything under the Heavens, and the other wanted to spread her religion because she believes that it would bring salvation.

He never liked to serve under a tyrant and he hated even more to serve under a zealot. Thus, he had no choice than to keep walking the path that he had laid out for Vanheim glory

And since he was the one in control of the Six Councils, he had no problem in executing those plans by himself

And the more he become successful, the more powerful he became in the Court, so much so that his existence and power eclipses that of the Emperor himself.

If the Emperor was George, such thing would never happen because Aero know he would not need to overstepped his boundaries of powers to execute the plans.

But since the relationship between him and the imperial family is not that good, Aero political and military moves sometimes lashed with the Emperor and his ministers.

Edward wanted to be a peaceful King and wanted to enjoy the status of being the Emperor. He wanted to stop the expansion but what Edward failed to see was that Vanheim had gone too far to turn back.

There are certain things that should have been done if they wanted to turn back and acquiring Duvar is that one thing that should not have been done if Edward only wanted to be an Emperor of half of the continent.

At least if that was the case, Vanheim could still negotiate. But since he had taken Duvar, there is no turning back and they must see it till the end.

In this three-way battle, only one would gain the world.

And that is why he did not stop and could not stop. The fate of Vanheim had been written the moment it takes Duvar and claimed themselves an Empire, inheriting the wills of the Old Empire.

There are only two possible fates waiting for this Empire. either Vanheim would unify the Continent or perish in the long annals of time.

And unfortunately for the Emperor and James, since he holds the most power in the court, every time he argues with the Emperors and his minister, he would win and as such, people in the court shifts their support.

To them, they could see that the one that truly holds the real power in Vanheim is him and as such, the people in the Court were loyal to him and not to the Emperor.

Of course, their loyalty is dog fart since they would change their loyalty in a heartbeat if the situation changed

Loyalty had to be proved by actions, not words. Aero knows they are bonded to him in this mutual benefit quid pro quo relationship.

But Aero knows better than to throws them away. After all, there are some talented people even if they are disloyal and ambiguous.

He did not really need their loyalty in the first place. He had always been the one to trust in himself while appearing to be magnanimous and trusting to others in the surface.

He need their obedience and cooperation, not their loyalty. As long as he has power, most of those minister would never dare to betray him.

There is a reason why the common people view him as loyal and honorable subject of the Imperial court and why the politicians and minister of the imperial court views him as duplicitous, opportunistic and cunning

It is the persona he had embodied when dealing with different thing that gave him two different image to the many people that see him

He needed the support of the people which sometime seem weak but could be strong support if provoked in the right manner

As for the ministers and politicians, even though he treated them badly, the common people would still praise him, because to them many politician is corrupt and self-serving.

Of course, not all politician is like that. Some of them were truly sincere in joining the imperial court to serve the people.

but for those who Aero had imprisoned and framed, he always had them charge under crime that would make the common people interest tied to them.

There was a minister in James side that is growing too strong for his own good in the Imperial Court so Aero had him framed embezzling the golds that was supposed to be used in the flood relief.

The truth was that; the minister did not embezzle it but of course he did other bad things. It was the Emperor that embezzle it.

At that time, he wanted to warn the Emperor that he knows of his deeds and at the same time cut off one of James allies from him

Usually such a minister would not be executed but Aero insisted for the minister to be executed so it would serve as an example against others who might think to do such transgression against the common people ever again.

And when the news spread, the people in the affected areas of the flood send complaint to the Imperial Courts and some even formed mobs crying for justice

So, the imperial court could no longer just swept it under the rug. The ministers and the Emperor know how King George regain back the kingdom.

It is true the people and the Empire drew its power from the support of the people. Even if they are not, they need to show in the surface that they care about the common people.

There is a reason why Aero framed that minister to embezzle the flood relief gold.

Because none of those bad thing he really did would incite such an approval of executing this ministers as the crime of embezzling the gold of the common people.

Aero knows the terrifying part of human nature and desire.

He knew how such a crime would incite the populace.

And Aero had always said this to the Emperor, be lenient with the common people and be strict with the officials. That is the way for prosperity.

As such while his action had earned the ire of the politicians and ministers, in the common people eyes, Aero had been fighting for them.

This is the great use of the reputation he had built since the rise of King George. He had put himself as the symbol figure of fighting against the corrupt power that exist in the government.

And as such it made it easier when he had to frame someone out of the Imperial Court since not only he had the power in the Six Councils, he also had the support of the people on his back.

This support of the common people is weak…. but that is only if they are not given support.

A mob could be dispersed by killing them. And if no one knows about it and no one incites them, they might be quiet and accept what have they been ordered to do.

But, it only needs a spark of fire to incite another crowd to create another mob.

That is how rebellions of the common people have always started and how it had engulfed the north in constant alerts of rebellions.

Aero had always recognized the power of the common people when it is used against the powers that be.

But that could only be considered power and support if they gather in substantial amount.

If not, it is like wind rustling pass the King ears, insignificant and drowned by the sound of politician talking

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Chapter end