Chapter 83 - Archer and Scout
"Me? On Vensalor Island?" Panpan repeated Tave’s question with a soft chuckle, bowing her head just slightly. Her voice carried with it a kind of serenity that seemed to blend perfectly with the breeze and the quiet stillness atop the tower.
"I’m one of Lady Elincia’s disciples, Tave... but probably the weakest one," she said with a humble smile. "Still... Lady Elincia is terrifying. Strict, harsh. But she has a soft spot for the people under her wing."
Tave nodded slowly, confirming what he already knew, that was exactly Elincia. Among the five Imperial Knights of the Vensalor Kingdom, she was undoubtedly the most straightforward and blunt.
Elincia didn’t play games. She acted for the kingdom. Always. And when she chose to do something, she never hid her intent. She didn’t manipulate. She didn’t scheme. She simply acted, because it was right, or because it was necessary.
And that made her... surprisingly trustworthy, especially compared to the others.
Tave sighed quietly as he tucked back a strand of his hair, his thoughts drifting.
The rest of the Imperial Knights? He’d written them to be far more complicated.
Especially the strongest among them. The one just beneath the King. That knight was a master of strategy, politics, and manipulation. Dangerous, brilliant, and always several steps ahead of everyone else.
Tave grimaced slightly at the thought.
Unfortunately, the other four all had wildly different goals and loyalties, which made them distrust each other at the core. And that rift, between the very pillars of the kingdom, was the very thing that made Vensalor so fragile in the absence of its king.
Without a unifying force, they fractured.