Chapter 25: A 3 step plan should be easy, right?
The more Cass read up on his new family, the more he was glad he was an orphan. Parents and family lines felt like a lot of damn work. At least when it was just him and his sister, he didn’t have to pussyfoot around and guess if she liked him. They could have a civilized conversation, sometimes with their fists, and that would be the answer.
When it came to the Blackburn’s?
It felt like someone should have at least done an underground fighting ring or something. There was so much angst, rage, and betrayal in the family line that it felt insane.
Apparently, like he had heard in the novel, the Ridgewood’s, Vespertine’s, and Blackburn’s had helped the royal family form this country. That was why they were given the title of Duke, and also how they had slowly whittled away all of the power that the royal family had over time.
The Vespertine’s were involved with the official religion of the country, and several countries around them as well. They had far reaching power when it came to faith, and that was a threat.
The Ridgewood’s were a little different in the way that they were tied to the royal family as guards. Most of the heads of the family became the bodyguards of the next monarch of the country, while also having an absurd amount of military power. More than any other noble was allowed.
The Blackburn’s were a classic merchant family type. While also being book smart and knowledgeable. They often took on the position of financial backers or heads of the magic tower. It was only Cass’ generation where everything was so messed up.
Cass wasn’t the head of the magic tower, despite his level of magical prowess, Lord Ridgewood wasn’t the bodyguard of the next monarch, and Lord Vespertine wasn’t the next head of the family, i.e., the next High Priest.
This was due to the Demon King appearing, and the declaration across several religions of a noble quest being handed down to a hero of legend. That hero, of course, was Lady Fiona. Who, like Cass knew because he read the book, was secretly the bastard child of the current King.
If the Demon King wasn’t defeated then it could lead to the end of the world. That, of course, was what the ’gods’ didn’t want, and so, Lady Fiona was given the divine marker, and a group was formed.
Lord Blackburn wasn’t actually supposed to be in the original group, but he’d petitioned quite hard to join. They technically already had a magic user in Draken, but he was just a guy who had shown up with Lady Fiona that no one knew. Using that excuse, Lord Blackburn had gotten himself onto the team, and thus, the story began.