A man playfully laid on a black beautifully crafted wooden couch that had been covered with several large feather pillows.

In front of him were different foods and fruits, all lined up in well-crafted wooden bowls, as well as a jug of wine to quench his thirst.

The man was also the same age as Eli.

He had dark red hair, thick manly eyebrows and light green eyes that looked like a cat.

The man in the cage was called Slytherin Cord.

He was one of the top intelligence personnels in the empire.

Whatever you wanted to know, he would get the information for you.

His results were always 97% accurate.

Because his siblings had arrived, Eli didn't want to risk them finding out about his involvement with Slytherin Cord.

Although they wouldn't be able to recognize him, one should always prevent unnecessary situations from arising.

One year ago, Eli received shocking news about his father.

In all honesty, he thought the nan was an arrogant pig.

His father had another bastard son other than Landon, and this bastard son was older than Eli by a year.

The bastard went by the name 'the ghostly prince.'

His whereabouts were a mystery to those that try to find him.

He always wore a giant silver ring on his thumb, as well as a silver metal face mask no matter where he went.

It was only a struck of luck that Slytherin found out about him.

Slytherin was passing through the city of Ganjia and decided to lay low for a while since he was on a mission at the time.

He saw the metal-faced masked man by a stroke of luck and was curious.

After doing investigations for 5 months, he was disappointed.

This man had a tight network around him.

Slytherin then decided to kidnap one of the man's lower-ranked knights and tortured him.

Although the knight didn't know much, what he did know was still astonishing.

This man had been building his army for the past 4 years now. No one knows his base. Not even the knights. Apparently, he keeps knights in different cities and makes them blend in by letting them work with the city lords and barons.

So basically, the knights worked as double agents.

Even the king, City Lords and Barons didn't know about his existence.

From Slytherin's view, the Ghostly king was a dangerous one.

All the men Slytherin sent to locate him turned up dead.

'This man was a ghost alright,' thought Slytherin.

Ever since Eli had received this piece of news, he had been planning on killing his father and sitting on the throne fast.

Small fries like his royal siblings didn't bother him at all.

But this ghostly king was a hard nut that needed to be cracked A.S.A.P.

Eli didn't know what the Ghostly king was planning, and neither did he want to find out.

His father had to die fast before other bastard children pop out again to claim his throne.

.

"Did you finally locate his whereabouts?"

"Not yet. I think he knows that someone is trying to track him down. My next operation might be a setup. it's too risky." Slytherin answered.

"You're right. Lay low for a while before you begin again."

"As you wish, crown prince.

Oh, that reminds me.

There's turmoil in the capital.

The left minister has rallied up a lot of nobles to support Prince Connor as the crown prince."

"Hmm.

For my brother to make this move, it shows that he is confident about his strength.

"What about the Right minister?"

"Recently, our spies have also reported that he was successfully bribed to side with Prince James for the position of the crown prince... although you're the crown prince, your brothers are more popular in the capital than you are," Slytherin answered while crunching on an apple.

"That's a given.

After all, they took advantage of my absence and worked their way up."

"I also heard that Prince James and Prince Connor had been giving out money to a lot of peasants in hopes of gaining their support."

"Heh.

What a desperate move to make.

At the end of the day, the one who decides who becomes king and who doesn't, is still my father".

"True. I also thought it was stupid.

From what I can see, your real competition is the Ghostly king.

That man would be a hard wall to crack.

Even your father doesn't know of his existence."

"I know.

That's why I need to gather enough forces fast."

"What about your royal siblings and all the disturbances they're causing in the Capital?"

"Why bother over something like this?

What does it matter anyway?

Soon they'll all be dead."

"And your bastard brother Landon?

Do you want me to find out about his situation?" Slytherin asked.

"No, no, no, no, no.

That would be a waste of your skills and time.

What can a dying man do?

Besides, Baymard is a 3-month journey from here.

So why waste so much on that?"

Slytherin listened and thought that what Eli said made sense.

After all, Slytherin had personally witnessed Landon being poisoned at his 15th birthday feast.

Eli had sent him there to make sure that his knights did an excellent job of poisoning Landon.

So he had observed from the shadows.

He had also continued observing Landon within the 2 day period before his departure to Baymard.

Landon's complexion had changed to a pale blue-ish colour within those two days.

Even getting him unto the carriage required help from his knights.

Anyone who saw this would know that Landon was already a dead man.

There was no cure for that poison.

Only death awaited him.

"Besides, I need you around here.

I need you to keep tabs on Connor, James and Janette and find out about their every move.

I want to know where they go, who they see and what they're doing daily.

Don't worry about that bastard Landon.

Soon, I will take his land from him.

He is but the least of my worries right now".

"Not a problem.

I'll send my men to secretly follow them on their way back to their territories."

"As for the ghostly king, make sure no one finds out anything about him.... not even my father.

It would be better if his existence remained a secret.

And if anyone is curious about his background, come up with any story you want but never mention the fact that he is the king's son".

"As you wish, crown prince," Slytherin replied.

"Good.

Soon, I will take care of him as well.

By then, I would like to see just how powerful this brother of mine is."