Chapter 159: [X] - 159: No Honor Required
The projection surface above the desk filled with light.
One by one square feeds resolved into clear images.
Faces appeared across the screen with each one framed in its own segment of the multi point link.
Red hair of varying shades.
Red eyes that caught the light from whatever rooms they stood in.
The shared Bloodworth features were unmistakable even through the slight distortion of the still connecting long distance connection.
Every figure on the feeds bowed their head at the same moment.
"We greet the Queen."
The words arrived in overlapping voices, some voices were deeper, some voices were sharper, and all the voices were carrying the same formal weight.
Valeriana noded her head once in acknowledgment.
"How many of your descendants will participate in this year’s Proving?"
The answers came one after another without delay.
"One of my descendants."
"Two of my children."
"Two of mine."
"Two of mine as well."
"One."
"Two."
The numbers continued across the remaining feeds until the total became clear.
A useful collection of participants.
It was not an army, but enough to matter inside the controlled chaos of the Proving grounds.
Valeriana waited until the last answer settled and then she spoke again.
"All of you, listen carefully because this will be an important task."
Everyone’s posture on the screen straightened immediately.
The casual readiness that had lingered after the initial greetings vanished out of everyone.
Their attention focused on her next words.
"Alexander Abyss is taking part in this year’s Proving."
Shock moved across the feeds in visible waves.
A few mouths opened.
One man leaned closer to his own projection crystal as if proximity might change the words he had just heard.
Another woman blinked once very hard and then went very still.
"The Third Prince?" someone said.
"At his age?"
"The CBI will make it hell for him the moment he steps inside," another voice added while already calculating the implications.
"We all know early entrants below 18 are given the worst combinations on purpose."
"Haha, this may be the end of his glory without any of us lifting a hand."
"Or it is a rumour," a third figure cut in.
"The Abyss household has used carefully placed stories before."
"I heard that he was seen at the registration hall, yes, but that does not guarantee he will appear when the Proving actually begins, it could be another ploy to draw attention while something else moves in the background."
A fourth voice which was quieter added from their perspective, "Even if he does appear, he is still only in the mid stages of Rank 1 from the reports and the conditions inside will not care about bloodline reputation."
Valeriana let them talk.
She did not interrupt any of them, she watched their reactions settle and the first wave of speculation run its course across every feed.
Some faces showed open calculation.
Others showed the particular caution of people who had already been burned once by underestimating the boy.
Only when the voices began to overlap without adding new information did she raise one hand in a small, silencing gesture that translated clearly even through the projection.
"It does not matter whether he appears or not."
The feeds went quiet again.
"If he does not appear, his public reputation takes a critical blow."
"He was seen registering by a hall full of witnesses."
"The news is already moving through Winterfang."
"Every tavern, every shop, every household that pays attention to royal matters will be expecting him."
"When he fails to show, the disappointment will turn against him and against the Abyss name that stands behind him."
She paused long enough for the point to land.
"If he does appear, the CBI will already do part of the work."
"They dislike early registrants and they arrange the conditions accordingly."
"That alone may be enough to break him."
"But why stop there?"
Her voice remained even and conversational as if she were discussing the placement of a single piece on a chess board rather than the coordinated targeting of a twelve year old child.
"Every one of your descendants who enters the Proving is to be instructed that the removal of Alexander Abyss is a priority."
"There is no need for honor in the fight, tell them that clearly."
"They may group together if numbers make the task simpler."
"They may use any approach that the Institution’s observers will not stop."
"The boy has been unexpectedly troublesome more than once, so no one here can claim to know everything he still has prepared."
"Treat him as a real threat until he is no longer standing."
She looked from feed to feed making certain each face registered the weight of the order.
"I expect good results."
"And those who succeed will be rewarded."
Every figure on the screen bowed again, deeper this time.
Valeriana reached forward and cut the connection with a single motion.
The square feeds collapsed one after another until the projection surface above the desk was empty once more.
The expensive hum of the device faded into silence.
She relaxed back into the chair.
The sharp edge of focus that had carried her through the call eased.
In its place settled a quieter, more personal satisfaction.
She reached for the small bell set into the edge of the desk and rang it once.
The same maid from earlier entered almost at once, head lowered.
"Bring wine," Valeriana said.
"I am in an excellent mood today and I intend to enjoy it."
The maid bowed and left.
She returned a short time later with a dark bottle and a single glass of cut crystal.
She poured the red wine with steady hands, set the glass within easy reach, and waited.
"You may leave."
The maid bowed a final time and withdrew.
The door closed softly behind her.
Valeriana lifted the glass and turned it slowly, watching the colour catch the light from the crystal lamps.
She took a measured sip and let the taste settle on her tongue.
The wine was expensive and it tasted good, giving her that perfect burn in her throat.
It was exactly the sort of detail she preferred when the day had gone in a useful direction.
She leaned back further into the chair and let her gaze rest on the empty space where the projection had been.
The Third Prince had spent years becoming a persistent headache.
First that unexpected early awakening of his, then his unusual growth, and then the public attention that refused to die down no matter how carefully certain parties tried to contain it.
Every time she thought the matter had settled, some new report arrived that forced the households to adjust their plans again.
Now he had walked into the one place where outside protection could not follow him, and he had done it in full view of the capital on the final day of registration.
This year’s Proving might finally deliver the critical blow she had been waiting for.
Valeriana took another sip of the wine and let the taste linger.
The private and sharp smile she had worn when she first opened the emergency letter returned without effort.
The pieces were finally moving.
She was content to watch him finally fall.
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End of Chapter 159: No Honor Required
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