A trusted spy tasked with monitoring developments in the fief knelt on one knee and gave Grand Duke Andrei a detailed report of Sergei's recent activities, including his vigorous promotion of a peace-loving image, the vast sums he had spent ransoming prisoners of war, and his secret efforts to organize and train his former troops.
After listening to the report, a complicated expression crossed Grand Duke Andrei's face.
How could he not know what his eldest son was doing? Even if he no longer valued him, he had never relaxed the basic surveillance.
"Hmph. It seems this setback didn't crush him completely." Andrei's tone betrayed neither pleasure nor anger. "He still knows to find ways to save himself and build up his strength so he can compete with his younger brother. He has a little more promise than I thought."
The spy below asked quietly, "Grand Duke, with Your Highness's eldest son acting this way in his fief and his influence growing by the day, should we impose some restrictions or steer him in another direction?"
Andrei pondered for a moment, then waved a hand. "No need. Let him make a go of it. If he can establish himself through his own ability, or even surpass that useless younger brother of his, it will prove he still has some value. Better that than collapsing like a good-for-nothing and never getting back up."
He mistakenly assumed that Sergei was doing all this merely to distinguish himself in the competition within the Lineage and regain his favor. At most, he thought, Sergei wanted to compete with his younger brother for the right of succession.
It never occurred to him that, under the influence of his "dear master," Sergei's ambition had already swollen to the point of wanting to overturn his table outright