Chapter 199 - Scenarios

All the four Princes found themselves transported to another location again. Yes, Azriel had indeed forgotten to transfer Adeline to the final location. He didn't want to accept his mistake so he just went with the flow.

The place that the boys were in was much grander than the room in which they were in the third level. It almost looked identical to the hall that had the precious carpet of Azriel. Those halls even had a replica of his carpet.

The only difference was that at the front of those illusion halls, there was a large platform. A huge throne sat on that platform. But it was no ordinary throne. It looked more like the life-size replica of a full-grown Wyvern, spreading its wings alongside the wall. And its belly was carved, making a seat for Azriel.

Nigel was mesmerized by that grand throne. His mouth was wide open seeing the beauty of that Wyvern, fierce yet majestic. And when Azriel climbed on that platform and sat down on his extravagant throne, the throne looked complete and even more beautiful.

"I never thought that our Deity's throne would be the Wyvern itself. But it makes sense though, he is the guardian of Wyverndale after all. I wonder who came up with the name of our Kingdom. Seeing how he sits on the Wyvern throne, maybe he was the one to name it."

Nigel looked around at the beautifully carved pillars, neatly painted walls, ancient decorative items, and also the interesting carpet.

He would have kept on looking around that grand hall if he was not interrupted by the Deity. "Congratulations! For reaching the final level of the test."

Azriel then explained the rules of the final level to the examinee, "This final level is called the Test of Leadership Abilities. In this level, I will give you a few scenarios that a real ruler and a real Kingdom can go through. And you will have to think carefully and then give your answer. You need to tell me what you would do if you were in those scenarios. Are you ready for this level?"

Nigel definitely was not ready for any of the levels. However, he didn't want to be rude. So he nodded his head and then said, "Yes, Dragon Immortal, I am ready."

"Very well then," Azriel already had that serious look on his face, and he gave the first scenario to Nigel.

"Imagine that you are a newly appointed King. You have two neighboring Kingdoms. Your Kingdom is on good terms with one of them while the other one is your enemy. You got a secret message that your ally Kingdom's ruler was ambushed by your enemy Kingdom, and the ruler of your ally Kingdom was killed.

It will take around three days for the enemy Kingdom's soldiers to march to the ally Kingdom and take control of the throne. But you can reach there within a day and seize the throne for yourself.

So my question in this scenario is, will you snatch the empty throne for yourself, or would you rather not involve yourself in the matter of those two kingdoms? Give me your answer with suitable reasoning."

Nigel sighed because now he knew that his chances of deliberately failing the test were already over. No matter what he would choose in this scenario-based question, his answer wouldn't be wrong. He wished that others would provide better reasoning than him so that he wouldn't actually end up passing the test.

And he gave his answer no matter how reluctant he was, "If there is a chance that I could seize the throne of my ally Kingdom then I would definitely do so. But I would do so only after gathering enough pieces of evidence that I was not the murderer of the ruler so that people would be willing to accept me as their King rather than being captured by the enemy Kingdom."

Nigel further added, rather confidently this time, "I would not sit and watch the enemy Kingdom taking over the throne and getting stronger and closer to my Kingdom. It would only make it easier for them to assassinate me in the future."

In another hall, Azriel was giving another case to Alan. "You want to go for a peace negotiation with your enemy Kingdom, which might or might not go according to your wish. But all of the councilmen strongly disagree with you. They want to continue the war and end it once and for all. Your Generals also feel the same. They are even willing to die for their Kingdom but they are unwilling to settle the matter through talks. What will you do in this situation?"

Alan thought for a while and then gave his answer, "Then I would listen to my Councilmen and the Generals and would pursue the war instead. As a King, it will be my duty to listen to what most of my people want."

"As you said, the negotiation might bring peace among the two nations or it might just be a waste of time. Even though the negotiation was successful, there is always a chance of war breaking out soon. Because as there was no clear winner in the previous war, the pride will always be there in people of both of the Kingdoms that they could have won if it wasn't for the negotiation. So rather than being arrogant, I would take suggestions from the majority."

Likewise, in Raphael's hall, the third case was being asked, "…what would you do if you were the King?"

Raphael was stunned after he heard that question because he was not expecting such an outrageous question at all. He was not even sure how that question was even relevant at this level.

After a while, he came out of his shock and answered with a somewhat disgusted look on his face, "If none of the Princesses from other Kingdoms are available for me to marry because of the enmity then I would rather marry a commoner from my own Kingdom than marrying one of my sisters. Sisters are as pure as mothers, they are not to be sinned with. And no, I don't believe in keeping the blood pure among the Royals."

Similarly, in the hall where Edwin was being tested, the question-answer round was already over. Azriel walked down from his throne and stood tall right in front of Edwin.. His calm eyes were now filled with fury and he frowned at Edwin. Then he asked Edwin in a growling voice that echoed throughout the room, "First-born of Dragomir, tell me why I shouldn't kill you right here and now?"