A young brown-haired knight appeared before the Crystal King's illusory form. He placed a hand over his chest and saluted the other High Kings, nodded to Isabeg Rom, then turned to the assembled lords with a confident flourish.
"Everyone, I am Leo Pine Shield, a member of the Tower Knights."
"My heavens, a Tower Knight..."
"He's a candidate for High King. Is a Tower Knight really that surprising?"
Discussion broke out across the hall. Annan felt lost. He had no idea what the Tower Knights were, and he was too embarrassed to ask. They sounded impressive, though...
Next came the Golden King, the first High King Annan had gotten to know. Thanks to their past dealings—if those could be called cooperation—trade between them had gone well over the last two years. Among the High Kings, only the Empire did more business with him.
And that wasn't even counting his tangled relationship with Aidan.
The Golden King put on no airs, either. He had tried several times to introduce his daughter to Annan, even promising that a child Annan had with her could become Crown Prince.
What he hadn't expected was that Annan thought waiting for his child to become a High King would take too long. He had decided to do it himself.
The Golden King's candidate turned out to be the Nineteenth Prince. Whether he was merely there to join the spectacle or the Golden King wanted a hand in choosing the next Mud King was anyone's guess.
Annan studied the Nineteenth Prince, who looked somewhat like Aidan, only younger, and guessed it was the former. After all, he had already seen the Paem Kingdom's warped order for himself.
"I can't believe it! It's Prince Bliss!"
"Even the Nineteenth Prince couldn't stay out of this?!"
Annan glanced at the