Published at 16th of January 2026 9:05 am

Chapter 1418: Duke’s Findings

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The following day, inside one of the many meeting rooms at the royal palace, the King and his close confidants had gathered.

Their topic of discussion was once again... Magus Nilrem.

Maximillian Fireborne had instructed the Duke to observe the wandering Magus and gather enough information to determine whether he was an enemy or an ally.

Twelve days had passed since then, and on this day, he would finally be able to know the Duke’s findings. The state of affairs in the capital was already messy enough. He truly hoped that Nilrem didn’t turn out to be the enemy.

"Go ahead, Tostig." Seated at the head of the table, the King gestured. "What have you found?"

Marlow also intently looked at the Duke, waiting for his answer. He already knew that the man had hosted the wandering Magus in his estate the previous night.

"Your Majesty," Tostig Quinn began, his lips curling into a faint, relieved smile. "Rest assured, I have confirmed that Nilrem is not an imperial spy."

The King deeply looked at Quinn for a moment and then silently nodded. This could already be considered a very good outcome. It didn’t matter if Nilrem wasn’t an ally. As long as he wasn’t an enemy, Maximillian was satisfied.

Marlow Fireborne, on the other hand, couldn’t help but frown. "Is that true? Is he really not the enemy?"

Although he was relieved to hear that Nilrem was not connected to the Empire, he still couldn’t help but feel a little cynical about how everything had unfolded.

After all, the Union’s war with the Empire had intensified in recent times. So when Nilrem arrived at the capital, he couldn’t help but feel deeply distrustful of the man.

"Yes, your highness." Duke Quinn nodded. "He took a mana oath and swore that he wasn’t related to the Haynam Empire. Also, this is the first time he’s set foot on this continent."

He then pointed to Tanner Bray. "The Duke can confirm. He was present in my manor last night, listening to our conversation."

Marlow turned to Duke Bray with slight surprise.

Tanner Bray, who, just like the Prince, was very suspicious of Nilrem, nodded in confirmation.

"Duke Quinn is right, your highness. I was there at his manor last night and witnessed their conversation from beginning to end. Surprisingly, Nilrem was quite candid about taking the mana oath. He truly had nothing to hide and is indeed a travel writer."

The creases in Marlow’s brows smoothed, and he leaned back in his seat, heavily sighing a breath of relief.

"That is good," he murmured.

The Dukes exchanged hesitant glances, wondering how to proceed with the information they had gathered from Nilrem. After getting drunk last night, the elderly Magus had shared quite a few interesting stories about his time in the Acadian Empire.

"What is it?" The King astutely noticed their expressions.

Tostig Quinn didn’t hesitate anymore and said, "Your Majesty, last night Nilrem mentioned the time he had spent in the Acadian Empire, and..."

Tanner Bray continued, "He claimed to have heard many stories about... the Dark King."

Maximillian Fireborne’s heart stirred, his pupils shrinking.

Meanwhile, Marlow Fireborne shot to his feet, his hands involuntarily pounding the table.

"What?!" He blurted out. "Did he say he personally knows the Dark King? What about Anna? Does he know her? Does he know where she is?!"

Tap!

The King rapped his finger on the table, causing his son to stiffen.

"Marlow," he began. "I understand your concern for Anna more than anyone else. But you must learn to keep your emotions in check."

The Prince gritted his teeth. He then took a deep breath and sat back down. His expression returned to normal, and he nodded. "Forgive me," he said softly.

No one judged his sudden outburst of emotions. They all knew how deeply Marlow loved and cared for his little sister, and how devastated he and the rest of the Fireborne family had been after receiving the news from overseas.

To be honest, no one in the room expected that this unknown wandering Magus would suddenly appear in their lives, carrying information about The Deceitful One.

All of them knew about the treacherous Dark King, about the man known as Adam Constantine.

After all, in the past, Anna had vehemently argued with them when she declared her intent to adopt Adam into the royal family. At the time, she had faced a lot of backlash from the King and his council. In the end, her mother, the Queen, had to step in and persuade Maximillian.

Adam Constantine would have been adopted into the Fireborne royal family if not for what had happened in the Battle of Ravenfell.

After that, forget about accepting the Dark King into the royal family, the Firebornes were instead consumed by fear for Anna’s safety.

Maximillian turned to Duke Quinn and asked in a solemn voice, "What did he say about the Dark King?"

"Nothing we haven’t heard already." Quinn shook his head. "He mentioned that Adam Constantine was the brightest rising star in the history of Ulier, that he was the youngest to become a Mana Vortex Magus."

"And just like all the other reports we’ve received from our intelligence network," Duke Bray continued, "Nilrem confirmed that Adam was indeed raised and trained by the Cult of Bones."

"These were his exact words," Quinn said. "I’m not absolutely certain whether Adam is truly the villain he’s made out to be, but if all of the Acadian Empire believes him to be one, then that probably must be the truth."

"Nothing about Anna?" Maximillian asked in an even voice.

"No, your majesty." Duke Quinn shook his head. "Nilrem is aware that the Dark King has a sister, but he does not know her identity."

Marlow couldn’t help but sneer. "That vile deceiver tricked my sister! And now, because of him, we don’t even know if she’s dead or alive!"

The room fell into silence.

Not only the Firebornes, but even the two Dukes’ family members were missing.

Maximillian had never stopped looking for his cherished daughter. Even now, his spies were scouring the Ulier Continent, and even Nahua, searching for traces of Anna and her entourage.

But till now, they had found nothing...

The King spoke up, his voice firm, "Now is not the time to grieve. Now that we’ve confirmed Nilrem is not an enemy, we must think of how to bring him into an alliance."

He turned to Duke Quinn and continued, "As our main point of contact, I want you to establish a strong rapport with him..."

The conversation continued as the King and his council shifted their focus to broader city affairs.

Unbeknownst to them, a tiny serpent lay coiled within Duke Quinn’s hair, listening to every word that was spoken...

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