The Age of the Electors

Floyd did not travel with Volvo.

He had no choice. The head of an Orc King would bring Volvo an enthusiastic welcome in the Imperial Capital. Why? Because their father, His Majesty Columbus III, had a head of an Orc King in his collection too.

To the nobles, Volvo looked so much like Columbus III.

Going with him would only leave Floyd humiliated by the comparison.

As for what Lord Lais had written in the Imperial House's records, Floyd was inclined to doubt it. Even if the Brilliant Monarch was alive, he might as well be dead.

Floyd traveled quickly, but Volvo took his time. The road from Twilight Province to the Imperial Capital was long, but distance was not the point. It passed through the lands of many nobles, and Volvo intended to visit them.

Political power often grew out of exchanges like these.

"Floyd, that fool, will never understand how this works."

Volvo emerged from a baron's estate with a smug smile.

But the smile soon faded into grief.

His father, the emperor, was dead.

In the Imperial Capital, the decisive victory in the Northlands left the nobles stunned. News reached them late: one dispatch had said the Northlands needed supplies to build defensive fortresses, and the next claimed the Orcs in Twilight Province had been completely cleared out, the Orc Royal Court routed, and its forces in the North too broken to pose a threat.

The reversal was almost too much to believe.

"Volvo defeated the Orc Army in seven days?"

Grand Duke Mayers shouted in astonishment at the Council of Elders, loud enough to make sure everyone heard.

Across from him, Floyd, who had already returned to the Imperial Capital, gave a cold snort.

"Grand Duke Mayers, nobles receive an excellent education. We can read