Chapter 369: 367: Going Separate Ways

Maerr-viki Continent, Seraph Kingdom, at Vanadir's pavilion.

"How about it, Ninth Brother? Would you like to form an alliance with me?" Zeldrion looked at Vanadir with a smile as he redirected the offer that was given to him. Of course, hearing how his offer was redirected back at him could not help but make Vanadir slightly frown, pondering over the possible reasons as to why Zeldrion would do something like this.

"Is the reason why you've given me the same offer related to that reason you can't speak of yet?" Vanadir asked, to which Zeldrion lightly nodded, a calm smile still plastered on his face.

"Well, there's that. There's also the fact that if we team up together, with both of our brains and brawns, it wouldn't be impossible for us to take the crown at the war for the throne," the First Prince replied, trying to persuade his younger brother to accept the offer.

Noticing that he still wasn't biting, Zeldrion continued to talk. "I promise that if I win the war for the throne, I shall give you a level of authority near what I would command once I become the new king of Seraph Kingdom. Not only that, but I'll even give you ownership over a great portion of the states making up the kingdom, given how you're going to be the first one to become a member of alliance."

"So, how about it, brother? Would you like to join my alliance?" Zeldrion asked once more, thinking that it was highly likely for Vanadir to accept his offer after the promises he had made. Though, beyond his expectations, the Ninth Prince slowly shook his head as a slightly apologetic expression appeared on his face.

"I'm sorry, First Brother. I cannot accept your offer," Vanadir said as he looked at Zeldrion straight in the eye. In response, Zeldrion let out a light chuckle as he shrugged his shoulders, saying soon after, "Well, it was worth a shot. Although I felt that the chances of you accepting my offer was quite high, I'm still somewhat surprised that you declined it."

"Tell me, brother. Is there a reason as to why you've declined my offer? Why you've decided to ask me join to your alliance instead?" Zeldrion continued as he asked Vanadir these questions. Though, throughout all these questions, Vanadir just remained silent, staring at Zeldrion, as if he was letting his eyes do all the talking.

Of course, just like all the other princes of Seraph Kingdom making moves in preparation for the war for the throne, Vanadir also had his own reasons as to why he joined in the war. Although the position of king was a tempting position for most people, to Vanadir, it was just a tool for his plans that covered not just Seraph Kingdom itself, but perhaps even the whole continent of Maerr-viki.

If he had not seen that certain piece of paper with his own two eyes, then he might have just abstained from the war as a whole, possibly even dying under the machinations of Arshe, just like some of his other brothers.

In any case, he had no intentions of telling Zeldrion the reason why he wanted him to join his alliance since he knew very well that the less people that knew of the matter, the better.

Seeing that Vanadir wasn't going to talk about it just like him, Zeldrion decided to crack a little joke as he instead asked him, "So, I guess your pride is the reason?"

"Well, you could say that," Vanadir responded as he lightly chuckled, making the mood in the atmosphere somewhat lighter than before. Soon, he added, "And there's also the fact that I would be more assured of victory if I'm the one calling shots."

"We feel the same way, then," Zeldrion said in response to Vanadir's statement, letting out a peal of laughter. "Other than the reason I can't talk about for now, I also feel more assured of victory if I'm the one calling shots."

"Well, you know what they say," the Ninth Prince said soon after. "Birds of the same feather…"

"…flock together," Zeldrion continued where his younger brother left off, making the two of them laugh for a while as they felt that they actually had a lot more things in common. Though, soon after, the two of them instantly went silent as they stared at each other with solemn expressions.

Although it might seem like the two were holding a staring contest in the eyes of a bystander, in actuality, they were feeling out the limits of both sides, wondering how they could help each other out without having to force one side to join their alliance. After all, there was still strength in numbers.

Eventually, after a couple minutes of silence, Vanadir extended his hand towards Zeldrion as he suggested, "How about we form a mutual agreement instead?"

"The clauses?" Zeldrion hastily asked, thinking that a mutual agreement wasn't far off from the idea he was about to suggest to Vanadir.

"First off, we should help each other out as much as possible in the preparation for the war for the throne. Of course, that help is only limited to information and resources. Combat techniques and other similar things are not included," Vanadir started to explain how their mutual agreement would work, making Zeldrion lightly nod in agreement as he said, "Sounds good to me. Anything else?"

"Second, we need to establish a direct method of communication between us two in the case that there's urgent information the other side must know," the Ninth Prince continued before asking, "I'm sure you have a person on your end that's well-versed in that regard, right?"

"Yep." Zeldrion nodded.

"Lastly, once the war for the throne starts, we should help each other until we're the only two teams remaining. Once that happens, the mutual agreement is said to be over," Vanadir said, allowing Zeldrion to process the information for some time. After a minute or so had passed, he then asked him, "Do you have any problems with the clauses?"

"Hmm…although I do have a few problems, it's just mostly on the level of nitpicking. For the most part, I have no problems at all," Zeldrion said in response to Vanadir's query. "In short, let's form the mutual agreement."

Nodding in agreement to Zeldrion's words, Vanadir then beckoned Dane, who was by his side all this time, to cast a spell that would more or less turn their words into a strong binding contract. Taking out a piece of parchment from a rift he had briefly opened, Dane then inscribed a small yet dense magic circle on it before infusing it with a great amount of mana.

Swoosh!

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Not long after, the same magic circle on the parchment appeared under the feet of the two princes, prompting Dane to say to them, "Please dictate all of the binding clauses of your mutual agreement."

With a nod, Vanadir then voiced out all of the clauses he had mentioned to Zeldrion before. After he was finished, Zeldrion then made a few minor changes to the clauses, to which Vanadir did not find a problem with since the effects of the clauses stayed more or less the same.

After double checking that the clauses were the ones they had mentioned, Vanadir then nodded to Dane, allowing the latter to continue with the process as he tore the parchment with the magic circle right down the middle, infusing more mana into it in the process.

Then, he started to mutter the incantation that would form the binding contract.

"Let the heavens be the overseer of this binding contract, and let this mage be their representative."

"Under the name of the heavens, I, Dane Grossezauber, shall now announce that the contract between the First Prince of Seraph Kingdom, Zeldrion Seraph II, and Ninth Prince of Seraph Kingdom, Vanadir Seraph, has been formed and will not be dissolved until the right conditions are met."

"4th Circle. [Century Seal]!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

After Dane was finished muttering the incantations for the contract, the two halves of the torn parchment then turned into multiple strands of energy, giving the two princes a feeling that they were being looked at by the heavens. Soon after, these energy strands entered the bodies of the two princes, instantly making them feel like their insides were being locked up with chains.

Eventually, the process was over as the magic circles under their feet gradually disappeared, as if nothing had happened at Vanadir's pavilion at all.

By this time, the two of them looked at each other with more amicable expressions, knowing very well that they were now bound by the contract. Of course, with the contract, they now had the confidence to share a bit of the information that prompted them to join the war for the throne, but they knew very well that it was better for them to take their time in that regard.

Seeing that he had been somewhat successful in his trip to the Ninth Prince's pavilion, the First Prince let out a light chuckle as he said, "Well, I guess this is better than us becoming enemies. There's still Arshe we still have to worry about."

"That's true," Vanadir responded as a light smile was plastered on his face. "In any case, there's not much else to talk about between the two of us, so you can take your leave."

"Ah, right. Remember to tell the person on your end to talk with Dane to create that communication line between the two of us," Vanadir added soon after, to which Zeldrion nodded in agreement before turning around.

Just as he was about to bid farewell to Vanadir and Dane, he stopped in his tracks for a bit, a pondering expression on his face. After a while, he looked back at the two, specifically at Vanadir. He then told him, "Before I leave, let me warn you that you should stay away from Arshe as much as possible. Although it might look like he's just a scheming bastard, there's actually more to him than we think."

"Hmm? Why would you say that?" Vanadir asked in response, slightly surprised that his older brother would say something like that out of the blue. Though, as Zeldrion responded to his question, it seemed like Arshe had more secrets than he initially thought.

"Well, let's just say that he's slightly related to the reason I can't tell you yet," Zeldrion said before adding, "Even though we're now bound by the contract, I still feel like it's not the right time to involve you into this reason I have."

"Just like how you don't want to involve me in the reason you have," he continued, to which Vanadir shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "You're still saying more things than me when it comes to the reason why we've joined the war for the throne. With that, I can't help but feel a bit guilty that I'm not telling you my reasons."

"Unfortunately, just like yours, it's also not the right time to tell you what's on my mind yet. At the very least, it would have to wait until the war for the throne is near," he continued, prompting Zeldrion to let out a light chuckle as he waved his hands, saying, "That's fine. I wasn't planning on reveal everything about my reasons until the war for the throne is near as well."

"In any case, I should really take my leave." With those parting words, Zeldrion finally bade farewell to the two, leaving both Vanadir and Dane off to their own devices.

After asking Dane if Zeldrion was still near the pavilion, the two of them then sat down on the sofas at the guest room as Vanadir let out a light sigh. After that, he decided to make him and Dane a cup of tea to ease their minds for the night.

Giving Dane his cup of tea, Vanadir then sipped on his own cup before asking the former, "Do you think it was the right decision to not tell him about it yet?"

As his advisor, Dane also knew the reason why Vanadir joined in the war for the throne. Placing his cup of tea on a nearby table, he responded, "You made the right decision, Vanadir. If anything, the only other person that should know of this other than you and me would be the king himself. Of course, I'm certain that the emperor already knows of what we know."

"Well, you might be right there. As a king of the Seraph Kingdom, I'm sure he already knows of it," Vanadir said in response for drinking all of the contents in his cup in one gulp before letting out a long sigh.

After that, he stared at the ceiling for a bit before muttering, "A continental war, huh…"

"I just hope I can make a change on the continent before that happens."

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