The Martial Unity

An uproar had sparked in the political sphere of the Kandrian Empire.

One that shook the entire political landscape and the dynamics of the Kandrian Throne War.

Prince Randal, Princess Ranea, Princess Rafia, and Princess Raemina had each abruptly forfeited the Kandrian Throne War!

The announcements spread like wildfire as each of the four royals released statements to their respective factions. The entirety of the upper echelons of the Kandrian Empire was utterly bewildered by the simultaneous decisions of the four royals to forfeit their claim to the throne.

The ones who were most shocked, of course, were the closest patrons, donors, and benefactors of each of the four royals. None of them were able to understand what was happening.

"What is the meaning of this, Randal?!" Grand General Aramoeus bellowed at the royal prince.

"I have taken some time to introspect," Prince Randal replied calmly, closing his eyes. "I have decided that I no longer wish to ascend the throne. I appreciate all the time, effort, and capital that each of you has invested in me, but unfortunately, I am unable to return it. I hope you understand."

"What?!"

"Come back!"

"How dare you?!"

The entirety of the war room stared at the Military Prince with shock as the man quietly left the room, ignoring any demands for justification.

Similar scenes unfolded in the other three factions as well. Each of the other three royals broke the news quickly and clinically and departed once the message had been conveyed. Not a single one of their patrons, donors, and benefactors was able to maintain their composure.

They were even more bewildered when they learned that similar things happened in three other factions.

Yet, they were helpless. Once a donation had been made, they could not pry it back; they would have to live with the fact that each of the four had simply walked away with all that wealth.

Once the shock wore off, each of them very quickly began to curse the four royals with deep frustration. The investments that these donor patrons had made to each of the royals were not small. Some of them had even bled for the royals in hopes that it would increase the chance that they would ascend the throne and fulfill their promises.

Now, all of those hopes had gone down the drain.

Yet, that wasn't even the worst part.

The worst part was that the four royals were spotted in one of the Martial Union's most luxurious guest estates, used to entertain important and powerful international guests visiting Kandria on business with the union. Allegedly, the Martial Union had gone out of its way to put up a display of Martial Art to entertain them.

That was when the final pieces clicked.

It made no sense for the four royals to randomly abandon their lifelong ambitions and then coincidentally live it up at the Martial Union's expense when they were previously adversarial with each other.

A spark of understanding formed in people's minds.

Everything could be explained if the four princes had been bought by some powerful incentive from the Martial Union. It would explain the otherwise odd sequence of events.

It was still shocking. Just what kind of mind-numbing offer had the Martial Union made to each of them?

The four royals already lived in royal luxury; whatever the Martial Union had offered must have far exceeded anything they could even imagine, so much so that even the four royals had willingly abandoned their ambitions.

That was the most reasonable explanation when one applied Occam's Razor.

Regardless, the Kandrian Throne War had been shaken.

The number of prime competitors for the throne had reduced from eight to four in a single day!

The remaining competitors were the allied princes; Prince Raijun and Prince Rajak, as well as Prince Raul and Prince Rui.

Anybody looking to support candidates with political philosophies most beneficial to them was left with four choices. Many powerful people in the political sphere of the Kandrian Empire had just been deprived of their supporting prince or princess with the removal of the four royals from the race. Each of them reluctantly returned to considering which of the remaining princes they ought to support with a hint of caution.

Although many of them had lost trust in the Royal Family, with half the prime royals dipping from the race and running away, they had no choice but to partake in the race.

It was too important. Whoever would ascend the throne gained enormous power that made even the Martial Union wary and apprehensive. They could not allow themselves not to influence who the next ruler was, however little they could.

They were very familiar with three of the four candidates, having considered and very quickly rejected them in the past.

The fourth candidate, however, was quite new to everyone.

Not that there was a single person who was unaware of the youngest Senior in history. Up until the revelation of his royal bloodship, they were only aware of him in the capacity of an extraordinary Martial Artist.

Nobody knew nearly as much about him as a potential candidate for Emperor.

That was why a large number of them revisited recordings and transcripts of his press conference, going over every word he uttered.

His political doctrine was that of harmony.

He was a prince who sought to maintain the existing status quo.

That was not ideal to them, but…

It's not bad.

This was the thought that flashed through many of their heads. The status quo that existed in the Kandrian Empire did not strictly favor any one power bloc of the Kandrian Empire over another.

On top of that, if the Final Prince was as competent as he seemed, then the Kandrian Empire might experience a period of growth similar to what it experienced under the rule of the Emperor of Harmony.

That was not disagreeable. It certainly was infinitely more alluring than a vengeful psychopath, an ignorant saint, and a plummeting Martial Prince.