--Virgo City, Arcadina--

.

"Hahhahahahahaha!"

In a small but elegant office, 5 men were currently sitting across from each other while drinking wine and laughing their stories and lent up frustrations away.

This was the happiest day of their lives.

Only the heavens knew how much they had prayed for this day to come.

"Brothers, he's finally dead!

That bastard, Alec Barn is finally dead.

Now, we can begin our plans with brother Cain leading the way!" Viscount Poshtus said merrily while raising his cup in the air.

All 4 brothers praised and satisfied Baron Cain's ego merrily.

That's right!

Baron Cain had been a long-time frenemy with Alec.

Him, alongside the dead city Lord Shannon had been Alec's best friends back in the academy.

Well, it was more like they were his lackey.

They had always secretly hated him, and had been trying to rule Arcadina for themselves.

Of course, Alec wasn't blind.

He knew their goal.

And this why he kept his enemies closer while making sure that they would never rank up in terms of status.

Cain for one had accomplished so much over the years, and also had every making of a true Marquees, which was higher than a Baron, Viscount or an Earl.

But rather than giving him the title he deserved, Alec pummelled him down 3 levels to a measly Baron.

Nonetheless, no one ever dared Cain because they knew how powerful he was.

Cain's father died a Marquis.

So how could Cain who was now a Baron be weak?

That's why all these men who had higher titles still called him brother and looked up to him.

Again, with that Baron title, over the years, Alec had taken many of his official men away from him which led him to secretly build his own army.

But that wasn't all Alec did to him.

The bastard also made sure that he got the bare minimum from the empire, which infuriated him to death.

So how could he not be about the scumbag's death?

It was just that something didn't add up in this story.

.

"Hahahahhahahaha!

Eh?

Elder brother Cain, aren't you happy about his death?

I thought that you of all people would celebrate nonstop.

But does it seem like you're mourning his death instead?"

Everyone looked at Cain suspiciously.

Their sworn brother wouldn't have been in love with Alec all this time right?

After all, they had heard that when they were younger, this brother of theirs used to fawn over Alec here and there.

Could this have been love?

They knew that their brother has had intimate relationships with both men and women over the years.

So did Alec retaliate against their brother because he got confessed to by Cain?

With Alec dead, was their brother now heartbroken?

'Sigh... big brother, take heart.

There are many men stronger than Alec out there.

Don't give up.'

(T^T)

If Cain knew what these idiots were thinking about, he would definitely vomit blood in disgust.

Even if he had, it would never be his sworn enemy alright?

"Big brother Cain, if you feel depressed, just let it all out.

We'll understand you."

"Yeah brother, even though you have 5 wives, we understand where your heart truly lies.

So it's okay to let it all out."

"_"

.

Cain closed his eyes and trembled slightly.

He was surrounded by fools!

Some needed qualities of any lackey is that they shouldn't be too ambitious or too smart, and they should be easy to manipulate with their hot-blooded nature.

But sometimes, these qualities also make them quite annoying!

These fools would be the death of him!

Cain gritted his teeth and tried his best to calm down.

"What stupid thoughts are your heads filled up with?

How can I mourn that bastard?"

"Brother, they say that what you're doing right now is denial."

"Shut Up!!!!"

Everyone lowered their heads and only thought that their big brother was quite pitiful.

It's okay, it's okay, he'll get over it later on.

Cain looked at them and knew that if he didn't clear this up now, these fools would think that he really had a thing for Alec.

He took another big whiff of air and sighed.

"Brothers, how can I be sad?

Of course I'm happy about it.

But it's just that his death is a little bfishy." 

Everyone raised their heads in confusion.

"Eh?

Big Brother, how do you mean?"

"Do you remember that I came here in secret a month ago?

Don't you remember that Alec had taken my men away towards Baymard for battle?

So how is it possible that he would've been able to appear in the Capital and get executed?

From my estate in the West, it would take over a month to get to Baymard.

So I estimated that he would stay in Baymard for another month or so after his battle before taking 4 other months to get back to the Capital.

That said, I expected him back sometime in October earliest or December if something delayed him.

So how is it possible that he was here this July?

Does he have wings on his back or something?

This story doesn't add up at all!!"

.

Cain was really confused.

When Alec took his men away, he knew that he would be killed once Alec got back from Baymard.

After all, he had tried to assassinate Alec the first time Alec left Baymard.

And from Alec's body language, he was sure that the bastard was aware of what he did.

So how could he just sit there and wait for death?

That's why he rushed towards this city in the Central part of Arcadina.

He came here to get more men in preparation to battle against Alec.

This city was just 3 weeks away from the Capital.

So news of Alec's death had already circulated within this city.

Which brought shock to himself, since he just got here a few days ago after travelling for months.

This was sorcery!

"Brother Cain, believe me, I was there for the execution myself.

It's true, the real Alec Barn is dead."

"How?"

One of the men rubbed his chin in thought before his eyes lit up: "Brother, I heard that Alec Barn had many trained actor doubles that he sent out during missions just for face."

Cain looked at him curiously: "Really?"

"Yes brother!

It's said that his doubles were real assassins who had face paint on all the time.

They also turned to have the same body structure as he does so as to seem more convincing."

.

The more Cain listened, the more he believed.

After all, that was the only plausible explanation for Alec's locational sorcery.

"But how are you sure that they killed the real Alec?"

"Brother, they placed his head on a stick, and I personally had my men look at it in secret for any disguises.

It's definitely him.

There was no face paint or anything.

Plus, don't forget that Oden and his son had been planning their revenge all this time.

So how could they miss their target?

Even Alec was caught unawares by them."

Cain finally let his worries go after listening to his men.

It seems like he was worried for nothing.

Well, with Alec dead, now he could take over the Western regions of Arcadina.

He didn't fear Oden or William because he believed that they only won due to them catching Alec by surprise.

They had only accidentally killed captured Alec, so what could they do against him who now knew of their existence?

They had been lurking in the shadows for the past 20 something years, so skills could they have?

Now that he knew of their existence, he would send his spies to monitor them for a bit.

Of course he would send more people to verify once more that the real Alec Barn was dead.

More still, what happened to the princes?

Where were they?

They hadn't been executed yet, and there wasn't any news about them.

So where they now in hiding while planning to take Arcadina back?

There were just too many unknowns in this issue.

And his biggest obstacles were William and Oden. 

Was he just going to sit here and watch his dreams fly by?

No!

He had to go back to the western regions and begin conquest.

He didn't believe that he would lose to them.

No matter what, he must create his own empire.

And if William or Oden gets in his way, then you bad for them for them.

Because he would never give up.

He would call his new empire, 'Cain'.

Hahahhahahaha... long live himself.

The empire of Cain must be realized!

Cain's eyes flickered as he drank his wine slowly.

Soon, it would be his time to shine!