The Martial Unity

The cold war of the Kandrian Empire was just that; cold.

It was also a deadlock. None of the seven princes and princesses were able to gain a decisive advantage over their siblings. Each of them made progress at a similar pace, for the most part. They all had their strengths and shortcomings.

The deadlock didn't seem like it was going anywhere or to anyone. It seemed almost impossible to grow faster than they were and go ahead of their siblings. The possibility of one of their siblings shooting forward seemed rather impossible.

Until, of course, it happened.

Prince Raijun had gained an alarming boost in his ability to pull over the members of the Martial Union. He had always been stalled and unable to pull a greater proportion of the Martial Union to his side, but things had changed.

None of his siblings quite understood what happened, but in each meeting that Prince Raijun had with members and the portions of the Martial Union that he was previously unable to win over, he slowly started to earn their support.

The meeting was clandestine. He took every ounce of effort to hide what it was that he was doing. But by the time a certain Master exited one with him, they were already a part of his faction.

For some time now, Prince Raijun had also made an effort to hide himself even physically, refusing to allow anybody to get a good glimpse of him.

Almost like he had something to hide.

It was due to these measures that the other princes and princesses were unable to get a concrete grasp on what exactly happened. It appeared that the Martial Prince was extremely determined not to allow his siblings to learn what was happening or why he was able to suddenly make such progress.

He had learned from Princess Raemina's fiasco with the Beggar's Sect. He had minimized his staff to those who were personally vetted by high-grade Martial Masters. He had decided to get off his high horse and personally do the tiresome work that he would normally delegate to other people to minimize the possibility of leaks.

With extremely tightened and even somewhat impractically heavy information security measures of the highest caliber that a member of the Royal Family was able to muster, he managed to successfully contain the information that he sought to hide from the others.

Yet this only worried them even more.

"Based on these projections, accounting for a diminishing returns index of about zero-point-five, it can be inferred that the Martial Prince may have complete support and allegiance over seventy percent of the Martial Union within three years," Princess Rafia explained.

Her face didn't so much as twitch.

Her voice didn't so much as quiver.

She monotonically explained her estimates of Prince Raijun's future progress based on past data made with some simplifying assumptions to convey the gravity of the situation.

"Seventy percent…eh?" A burly man narrowed his sharp eyes, stroking his beard. "That would be game over. I question the accuracy of these estimates, Rafia."

The burly man eyed his emotionless sister with eyes glinted with disgust and disdain.

"As I informed you at the start of this little presentation, these are not predictions, these are possibilities, Randal," Princess Rafia blankly corrected him. "The purpose of this presentation is to highlight that even in the worst-case scenario, Raijun has the power to win the Kandrian Throne War once father dies."

Prince Randal narrowed his eyes, yet he didn't attempt to refute her words.

It was not only futile but counter-productive. One needn't be a data scholar to realize that Prince Raijun's pertinent acceleration in political expansion was a trend of concern for those who sought to win the throne.

"I, for one, am rather curious about the driving force behind his recent progress in the past few months," Princess Raemina remarked.

She skimmed through the data with wide eyes, and a strange, soft smile rested upon her face. Randal's eyes deepened with disgust as they beheld his other sister.

"It's obviously related to Martial Art," Princess Ranea remarked with a bored expression. "Not that I care. It's actually amusing to see all of you fret over it. What's the matter, scared you'll lose?"

A smirk appeared on her face as she taunted her three siblings.

"Of course, you wouldn't care," Prince Randal snorted with contempt. "You've got protection from all offense from him. Your bravado is as ridiculous as your ambition."

"I don't want to hear that from a warmongering fool who seeks endless conquest," Princess Ranea's eyes sharpened to slits.

His eyes glinted with rage and bloodlust.

"You should watch what you say."

"Or what? You'll wage a war against me?" She snorted with derision. "We're literally at war, you fucking oaf. You assassinated my chief of staff!"

"You took out my personal advisor," Prince Randal glared at her.

"I see neither of you has lost your propensity for pettiness," Princess Raemina chirped with eyes widened with inhuman interest at the joust between her siblings.

"Enough." Princess Rafia's emotionless tone cut through the taut atmosphere. "Abstain from engaging in meaningless discourse. I did not call for this meeting to indulge this belligerent confrontation. "

"And just what is it that you sought to achieve by calling us here?" Prince Randal glared at his emotionless sister.

"My intentions should be rather transparent," she replied in a monotone. If left unchecked, Prince Raijun will win the Kandrian Throne War. That is an outcome that must never occur, no matter the cost."

Her eyes steadily met those of her siblings one by one. "…No matter the cost. Even if it means forming an alliance between us, it is the most rational and logical course of action."

An air of seriousness overtook the other three.

"Why only us four?" Prince Randal narrowed his eyes.

"Rajak and Raul refused my invitation," She informed them in a monochrome fashion.

"Good," Princess Raemina remarked as what appeared to be contempt flashed across her face. "I refuse to ally with that piece of filth covered in the sewage of the Kandrian Empire."