Winter was the season for socializing.

Banquets and parties were held throughout the year, as a noble’s calendar was never empty, but the scale changed during the cold months. It was a time when people were flush with money, the laborers having worked throughout the year and the nobles having sold the fruits of those labors.

The cold kept them inside and they needed something to occupy them. Usually, it was food, wine, music, and gossip. Some parties could go on for days, each meal featuring a different array of foods, decorations, and musicians, all requiring different locations and attire. The merchants made a killing and the people had a good time.

As the leaders of the kingdom, the royal family couldn’t afford to be outdone by anyone else. For the sake of their reputation, they had to me more visible, more extravagant, and more frivolous than anyone else. A duty the palace took to with gusto. The king made it a point to reveal a new spectacle or curiosity every year. Presenting the unusual was one of the few ways known to receive Sebastian’s favor, as the man didn’t engage in the normal maneuverings of the political world.

As a noble of the capital, Jackal had a standing invitation to every royal banquet. For years, he’d stood against the walls and watched as others enjoyed themselves. His hungry gaze would scrutinize the exotic manabeasts and masterpieces of different disciplines, wondering if securing something similar would catapult him out of obscurity.

When the Grimoire family collapsed, he’d begun putting together a plan to do that. A proper showing would give him the chance to talk to the partygoers that never paid him any mind and Jackal was sure, that if he could just speak with them, they would understand that he deserved to move amongst them.

Many times, he imagined working his way around banquet tables and sitting rooms, building connections. With proper support, both political and financial, he would leverage his family’s legacy of summoning to improve their domain. Something that would be much more daunting without his brother to lead the project but Jackal was a Tome as well. More importantly, he was a far better administrator. Anyone with the knowledge could summon an elemental and secure a favorable contract. It took a keen mind to use them to their full potential.

Once he showed the value of summoning, the king would be a fool not to award his family more territory. It would mean moving further from the capital, likely to the south, but it was a sacrifice he was more than willing to make. He’d still return in the winter, as all the territory and power in the kingdom were pointless if there was no one around to recognize them.

By the time his head was full of gray, he would no longer have to run around. He could relax in a nice plush chair while the people of importance came to him…and perhaps another heir. Matthias was a good man, an honest man. Jackal had no doubt that he would care for the Tome name but he didn’t have a political bone in his body. The last thing he wanted was to build a new legacy for the family and have it taken from a man with no desire to keep it.

Fate had intervened. Jackal thought he would have to claw his way to the top, as many others before him. Instead, it seemed the king would pave the way for him. Things hadn’t gone according to plan but he couldn’t argue with the results. No longer did he have to worry about how he would buy his way in with the elite of the capital. To worry about weaving through a crowded party to secure favor like a bird frantically pecking at the ground for worms. He had the favor of the man who mattered most and the king had made no secret of it.

Jackal’s smile hadn’t abated the slightest since he walked into the palace’s ballroom. It couldn’t. Not when he knew that every table, every decoration, every servant scurrying through the room to put it all together, was there for him. The king had announced a banquet in his honor. It was written on every invitation in elegant cursive. Everyone who attended would know his name. They would be coming to see him, at least on the surface. Even those who had never heard of the Tome family would make time for a conversation, wondering what about him had caught the attention of the most powerful man in the kingdom.

He planned to take full advantage of it.

“Jackal!”

“Your Majesty.” Not even bowing to Sebastian could ruin Jackal’s mood as the king came strolling into the room with his manservant in tow. The king took a cursory look at the progress of the room before turning with disinterest. Jackal wasn’t bothered. It would take days before the ballroom was up to the standards of royal banquets, so it was nothing to look at it, and it wasn’t the king’s party to take an interest in. He needed Sebastian’s name, not his enthusiasm. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“We’ve drawn up a statement.” With a motion of his hand, the manservant handed over a folded paper. Jackal took it and quickly skimmed the contents. Most of it was the flowery nonsense required for anyone speaking to the upper class but the gist of it was what they had discussed previously. Jackal would speak on summoning and the danger of unregulated summoners. He would do his best to absolutely terrify the crowd for a few minutes with the worst possibilities. Without mentioning the drakkon. The king wanted them scared, not panicked.

Then, when they were properly terrified, he would present them with a solution. An organization that would identify, regulate, and train summoners. One that would use the art to improve the kingdom and their individual territories. How? The ways couldn’t be counted. There was nothing that could not be found in the vast collection of realms beyond their own. They wanted gold to fill their coffers? There were elementals that grew it the way people grew hair. Iron to outfit their private armies? The right elemental could make it spring from the earth with the ease of pulling water from a well. They could have eternal youth. Infinite knowledge. Everlasting joy and fulfillment.

He would present the organization as the answer to all their hopes and fears. As the head of that organization, Jackal would eventually become the most important man in the kingdom. Perhaps, one day, even more than the king himself.

Of course, his success was predicated on the success of his organization. On corralling all the independent summoners, drafting legislation to keep them in line, and enforcing that legislation. Then he’d have to search among them to find those with ability and find a way to ensure their loyalty before sending them to the territories of other nobles. His organization would become redundant if nobles had their own summoners to see to their elemental needs.

He would also have to figure out the hassle of tracking down rogue summoners, those too accustomed to their independence who wouldn’t be happy to relinquish it.

It was almost enough to make him sympathize with the Grimoires. Not the animals they became but the generation that first turned to the succubi. All his problems would be a lot easier if he had a creature that could reach into the minds of problematic people and make them obedient puppets. Or could hunt down secrets and conspiracies better than a hound chasing rabbits.

Jackal was already considering forming a contract of his own. It would be a little embarrassing if the head of summoners in the kingdom didn’t have a single elemental. Succubi were banned but there were dozens, if not hundreds, with their same abilities. The king’s bans were quite useless. The organization was for Jackal’s sake, but the kingdom certainly needed it.

“Of course, you don’t need to say it word from word. It’s just a framework.” And a guide. What went unspoken was if Jackal went against what they had outlined in the statement, the king wouldn’t speak to support him. For now, he was nothing more than a mouthpiece. While success had come faster than he expected, it would take time before it was his own.

“I understand. Is there anything else?”

“Mm. Tonight, your daughter will be released. As I said earlier, she will be driven outside of the city and advised not to return. We’ve provided her with enough funds to enjoy our wonderful kingdom. Or perhaps the world. I understand she wants to see the other continents and has connections to the Guiness family. It’d be quite fortuitous if your family managed to spread its name on two separate continents at the same time.”

Jackal called on years of control to make sure his expression showed nothing but bland acceptance. While he regretted his daughter’s…discomfort, he couldn’t let it breed distrust between himself and the king. Now wasn’t the time to be a concerned father. It might be hard for Jacquellin to understand but she’d come around when he had built enough wealth for her children and her grandchildren to live like royalty.

“If you would allow it, I would like to drive my daughter out the city. It will give me the chance to say goodbye and pass on a few words of advice.”

His request was risky, as it could easily be seen as trying to collude with her. Jackal could see the king’s suspicion but it was a smart gamble. If Jacquellin acted up, he could claim honestly that he did everything he could to convince her otherwise. If she obediently kept quiet, he could also claim his intervention had ensured her cooperation. He might get a few strange looks in the meantime but, in the end, it would strengthen his position.

“I wouldn’t deny a father a few words with his child. Edward will find you when it’s time. Be sure to let me know if there is anything you need for the party.” The king smiled as he patted Jackal’s shoulder. “Soon, you’ll be representing the crown. This showing must reflect a man of your importance.”

Jackal unconsciously puffed up. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”