RISE OF EROS

Silence fell in the office and after a few minutes, Zelfit said, "I can't say for sure completely, but I think Marques Valoid." After Zelfit proposed this name, everyone fell silent again as if evaluating what he said and Arturios, broke the silence again by asking, "Reasons?".

"Marquis Valoid has always been looking out for the betterment of the empire, destroying suspicious characters and criminal organizations on several occasions. In fact, the affair with Gistaly was also discovered by him," Zelfit said instantly.

"Well, I agree with Zelfit. While it is true that the whole affair with Gistaly blew up because he attacked his wife, the reality was that Marques Valoide was already investigating him and it was out of fear of being discovered that he attacked Marques' wife, hastening his downfall," added Prime Minister Vermut.

"I am also of the opinion that Marques Valoide is to be trusted, as I myself have witnessed his work for years, not to mention that he is one of the biggest contributors to the empire's commerce," said Marquise Alcaly minister of the national treasury.

"Why don't I know about a character like him?" asked Arturios quizzically. As one of the guardians of the empire, he is always looking at the characters who support the empire and he doesn't know anything about Marquise Valoid, which makes him strange.

Hearing this, no one knew how to respond, but this time it was the king who intervened, "That is not strange, as Marquis Valoid has not been awarded for any of his contributions, so he is always out of the public eye."

This comment, made Arturios' already furrowed brow even more pronounced and in a reproachful voice he said, "Augustus, that's not good, why is a person who is so supportive of the welfare of the empire treated that way?".

Arturios is the only one who can reprimand the king in this way since he is his master, but the king does not lose his composure and says smilingly, "Master, make no mistake, it is not that I did not want to do it, it is that the Marquis has refused whenever I propose it."

No one in the room knew this, so the surprise was not only Arturios'. In fact, all the ministers had always found it strange that with all the contributions made by the Valoid Marquis, he was never rewarded. They always thought that the king had some animosity towards him, but it did not seem to be the case and expectantly waited for the king to explain.

Knowing everyone's thoughts, the king continued, "Marquis Valoide has always told me that, being behind so many criminal organizations, he has made many enemies and it is best not to attract unwanted attention."

The king paused and continued, "For this reason, the only thing he has asked me to do is to look after his family in case of an eventuality." Everyone was surprised to hear the king's words because many of them were not so selfless in their actions.

Certainly, they were loyal, but they always sought recognition, so hearing that the Valoid Marquis who had made similar contributions to theirs, preferred to remain hidden of his own free will, earned the respect of those present.

Even Arturios was surprised because unlike the others present, he did not seek glory, he was the protector of the empire of his own free will, like the Valoid Marquis.

Many did not know this, but Arturios did not even have a noble title or live among luxuries, so upon hearing about the Valoid Marquis, he could only express admiration because that was what he expected from the nobles of the empire.

Stay with m _v _l _e _mp _y _r.

"I assume you are fulfilling that request?" said Arturios with a deep tone that showed he would not let a refusal pass. He did not know the Valoid Marquis, but if what they had said about him was true, he would never allow such an exemplary character to suffer, even if it was the king who hurt him.

Everyone in the office felt a cold sweat run down their backs because the implications of Arturios' question were obvious, but the king remained composed and replied, "I would be foolish not to take care of such a benefactor. I have a special squad of Hell always taking care of his family members."

"Since you always have them protected, you are also keeping an eye on them, so I can assume you are certain of Marques Valoid's loyalty, right?" asked Arturios.

"Yes, to him I would trust my life without hesitation." Such a statement by the king caused even more admiration from those present at the Valoid Marquis and Arturios nodded with satisfaction, as he asked again, "I assume the strength of the Valoid Marquis is not small is it?".

"It is on par with the ministers present, perhaps superior," the king replied, which again surprised those present because it is known that the 5 ministers are the owners of the most powerful forces in the empire after the king, so to learn that there was a sixth power of the same level was no minor revelation.

"Perfect, I think he should be informed of this matter. Especially since he is focused on pursuing these kinds of conspiracies. He will be a valuable asset," Arturios said more like ordering than proposing.

Despite the surprise and possible rivalry that had been aroused among the ministers upon learning of Marquis Valoide's power, they all nodded validating Arturios' words because while rivalry among nobles is normal in all countries, the ministers were loyal to the empire and knew to look at the general state of affairs.

After that, they continued to talk about other nobles who were trustworthy and the meeting went on for several hours. While they were talking about countermeasures to deal with the kingdom of Tripia, in the royal castle of Tripia, the king of that country was also meeting with his advisors, discussing the consequences of his failed plan.

Belenius Tripia, king of the country with the same name was meeting with his trusted advisors discussing the failed monster stampede plan in the Cannaris empire.

"The stampede plan failed and we lost Goston and N°15," Belenius said emotionlessly. Certainly, the plan had failed, but he honestly didn't have much hope for that plan. In fact, he only approved it by trying to make Cannaris' empire feel pressure knowing that they have internal problems.

What he and his advisors didn't know was that Goston had been captured not killed, and now the empire knew there were more infiltrators, which was not good for them, as they wanted the empire to be uneasy about internal enemies, but not to know that this enemy was planted by them.

"Well, that plan served its purpose, no need to be sorry," said one of their advisors, who was an old man with a long beard and decrepit body. "Right, now we should focus on the second phase, I think the other agent in the capital of the empire has played enough, it's time to put him to work," said another of the men present, who had a goatee beard and bulging eyes.

"Yes, send the message, so he can start moving," decreed the Belenius without changing his attitude. This meeting also went on for a while, but they did not really establish any plan of action, since these had already been established and they were only waiting for the order of Belenius to initiate them.

When the meeting in the royal castle of Tripia ended. A hawk flew out of the castle's message tower towards the capital of the Cannaris empire. All plans were proceeding according to what each side had established, or at least each side believed so.

Andrew and his companions in the Heavenly Palace had no idea of the great events that were approaching, much less that they would be dragged into them without realizing it.

After the meeting in the Heavenly Palace office, everyone went back to their tasks. Andrew and Aki were the only ones who remained in the office since that was where Andrew worked most of the time and Aki was in charge of his security.

Since they hadn't had time to talk about the training issue with Oliver yet, Andrew took the opportunity to talk about it, "Aki, Oliver told me in detail what happened and recommended that you train with him to strengthen yourself."

Aki was surprised at the sudden topic of conversation, but quickly recomposed her posture and adopting a look of seriousness replied, "I was thinking of doing that and had already discussed it with him yesterday. Starting tomorrow I will be training with him every morning, so Marie will take my place for that time."

Andrew didn't know that Aki had already gone ahead, but it didn't surprise him either, as he had seen the state the girl had ended up in because of the experience she went through, so he knew that even without him mentioning it, she would go to Oliver, he just didn't expect her to be so quick in making her decision.

He smiled and kissed her tenderly giving her to understanding that he supported her and they stayed hugging for a while as if they weren't going to see each other for a long time, which wasn't true, because she would only train with Oliver in the mornings, so they really just wanted to be together.

While they were doing their thing, a peculiar character arrived at the city gates. If Andrew were here he would be surprised to know who it was, but it wouldn't be until some time later that they would be able to meet.