Chapter 279 - Future Concerns

Entos did not want to explain, so he sat quietly for a while with his eyes squinting. He changed the conversation topic. "Professor did not want to tell you, but I feel I have to remind you. You are not a regular person anymore. You are a count of the empire. You obtained many secrets that are politically sensitive. I would recommend you talk less, make few people notice you when you go back to Sacred City. No matter what, do not show your opinions too much, do you understand what I am saying?"

"Sir, are you saying Sacred City is not enjoying peace now?" Anfey asked.

"Hehehe, Anfey, we are both students of our professor. We do not need to address each other in such a respectful way. Of course, if you want to, I am not going to against it." Entos smiled. "Christian and Riska call me Bro Entos. I like it better. It gives me a feeling that we are family. You may not know, but I am an orphan like Nana. I am just a little luckier than him. I do not have such low self-esteem as he did." Entos looked sad and could not continue talking any more.

"My bad, bro Entos," Anfey said smiling.

"Good." Entos smiled with Anfey. Then he frowned: "Oh, right, where were we?"

"I was asking whether there are riots in Sacred City?" Anfey asked.

"It is not like that." Entos shook his head and smiled. "Ellisen and Shansa Empires fell for Yolanthe’s faked death. You know about it, right?"

"Yes," Anfey said.

"Our king is wise, both physically and intellectually powerful. He had vision and had ability to predict danger. I am sorry. I got used to flattering him. I was carried away. Let me put it in a simpler way since there are no other people." Entos patted his forehead. "Our king’s plan was successful, but it also exposed his critical problem. Do you know what it is?"

Anfey thought about this question for a while. He seemed to get it, but he still shook his head.

"Our king does not have anyone to succeed him on the throne. If something happens, the whole country would be in chaos." Entos sighed. "For the past few days, the two prime ministers and minister of defense had appealed to him to asked him to decide who would be his successor. You know, any country under this kind of situation...this is just the beginning. There will be more people getting involved. Situations can change as well."

"What does the king think of it?" Anfey asked.

"The king has been keeping quiet about it. It is a big deal, since it could affect the fate of our country. He does not want to rush into making a decision," Entos said.

"How about our professor? What does he think of this?" Anfey asked.

"Professor did not say anything about it either. That is also the reason I warned you to talk less and making yourself less visible. Do not talk about your opinions too much when things happen. To most people, we might represent our professor. If we could not help the professor, at least we should not bring him any trouble."

"I understand." Anfey nodded again. "How many parties are those government officials divided into in Sacred City right now?"

"Those few, you know. The eldest prince, Wester, is good at socializing. After the king’s fake death, he was in charge of government administration. He gave out a lot of goodies to government officials and received a lot of compliments from two prime ministers and other government officials. The second oldest prince, Granden, is popular in the armies. He has been on the frontier every time there was a war since he was sixteen. He bonded well with many generals and soldiers. The third oldest princess is Rodhart. When the empire was under the most serious threats, he was still drinking and fooling around. He was never motivated, so government official had given up on him," Entos said.

Anfey was a little surprised, but did not show it. "So, there was probably tension between Wester and Granden, right?" Anfey asked.

"Not to that point. However, if our king keeps quiet about it, I think the tension is going to get worse." Entos heaved a sigh. "No one knows what the king is thinking now. Smart people would not get involved. Unfortunately, there are not too many smart people."

"Niya and Granden…shouldn’t our professor say something?" Anfey did not make it sound obvious, but what he was trying to say was obvious to Entos. Niya had been dating Granden. For Niya’s happiness, Saul should have supported Granden. Fights over the throne in the royal families were always bloody and cruel. There was no peaceful way to solve this problem. The losers either died or disappeared. If Saul did not want Niya to be a widow, he should help Granden to be the successor. This problem seemed very simple.

Entos smiled. "Anfey, do you think our professor is stupid?"

Anfey was shocked by Entos’ question. "No, why would you say that?"

Entos did not answer. He lowered his head and was lost in thought. He looked hesitant. He did not say anything for quite a while before he continued slowly, "Professor showed me the information about you. Anfey, I kind of know what sort of person you are. I should show my sincerity if I want to earn your trust. However…" Entos’s eyes laid on Suzanna and then back to Anfey.

"She is my wife," Anfey said quietly.

"I hope you can keep this secret. If this were known by others, I will be in a very dangerous situation," Entos confided.

Anfey was not so sure about this. He felt the pressure of the trust Entos passed on to him. For the sake of his future, he not only needed to experience this world, but also needed to get involved. It must be a top secret if Entos was so careful with it. Maybe this secret could allow him to see more clearly the situation he was in and allow him to figure out how he should be in the future, judging from the current situation.

Before Anfey could make a decision whether he would like to know about Entos’ secret, Entos had said, "Granden is three years younger than Wester, but was Wester’s first teacher."

"First teacher? What do you mean?" Anfey asked in surprise.

"Wester was a typical wealthy and spoiled kid. He was addicted to all kinds of entertainment. He was not motivated at all. Do you know he used to be a joke in Sacred City magic academy? He spent eight years in the academy before he could even graduate. If it were not because of his special family background, the academy probably would have asked him to withdraw a long time ago. Professor used to tell me to be fair when criticizing anyone. Only this way, the criticism is closer to the facts. I did not mean to look down upon Wester. I only wanted to give you a better picture of who he is," Entos said slowly.

"I understand," Anfey said.

"Granden was mature at a young age. When he was about twelve years old, he asked that they find him teachers in different areas. His interests were broad. He learned astronomy, geography, military, politics, and even poems. When was about 15 years old, he liked to read pleas from the government officials with Yolanthe. He even spoke out about his opinions sometimes. Maho Empire had serious drought in many places when he was sixteen years old. Shansa Empire took advantage of it and invaded Maho Empire. Granden volunteered to supervise the war in the name of Yolanthe.

It was a tradition made by Maho Empire ancestors that the future kings had to supervise wars in case they lost themselves in their luxurious lives.

Anfey listened attentively.

"As time went by, King Yolanthe liked Granden more and more. Granden was strong, brave, aggressive and had many other strong points. Well, it is not because I am in the habit of flattering others. I am telling the truth." Entos gave a fake smile. "Well, Wester has been scolded by King Yolanthe many times. Maybe he sensed danger. Without knowing from what time, Wester secretly changed. He still looked like a wealthy playboy, but that has become his camouflage. He could even receive two prime ministers’ compliments now. Do you know who contributed to his success?"

"Granden?" Anfey smiled.

"As I said, Granden is Wester’s first teacher," Entos replied. "It is really off topic. Granden has come to our professor’s house very frequently since he was fifteen years old. He was not coming to ask our professor questions. He just came to play with Niya. He started to write love letters to Niya when he was eighteen years old. Niya was only fourteen years old back then. What did she know about love? She was embarrassed and mad at Granden and scolded him for writing her love letters. However, Granden did not give up. He has been after Niya for a few years. If it were Wester who was after Niya, he probably would be a joke to everyone. Granden was so smart. Why would he risk himself becoming a joke to go after Niya? Was it about love or something else?"

Anfey sighed quietly, but did not comment.

"Granden has proposed to Niya three times. Niya felt she wanted to have more fun and was not ready to settle down yet. She agreed to date Granden, but she turned down his proposals. She did not think it would be fun to be someone’s wife and listen to her husband all the time." Entos looked at Anfey with a smile. It seemed that Entos and Anfey thought in the same way as Niya did about marriage. Entos said in a self-deprecating tone, "I thought our professor was too nice to see through it. In fact, our professor knows better than anyone else."

"Why did our professor not stop him?" Anfey asked.

"Why would he do that? It was not wrong if Granden wanted to succeed to the throne. If he could not use the resources he had, he would be overthrown one day. In addition, Granden is a nice guy. He is upright, but flexible; brave but does not rush into things; hates anything unfair, but knows how to control his feelings. As for the motivation to go after Niya, we can understand him. He may have had some other intentions toward Niya at the beginning, but he really liked Niya later. He cares about Niya and takes good care of her. The most important thing is Niya likes him as well," Entos said.

"Granden is too smart while Niya is so silly. Later…" Anfey said.

"She has me, and you in the future." Entos smiled.

Anfey heaved a sigh of relief. He nodded. "You are right." Anfey knew what Entos meant.

"The future is too far away and people are so complicated. Even the best astrologer could not tell what is going to happen to Niya. Our professor did not want much for Niya. He only wanted her to be happy. Right now, Granden has been doing well," Entos said.