Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 1187

Today marked the opening of the Hamparvo Kingdom's Ice and Snow Festival, Ruen's most significant secular holiday and an event renowned throughout the continent.

Tourists from across the globe flocked to Ruen, joined by the kingdom's finest ice sculptors and artists. From what Jenkins understood, the festival was less a celebration and more a grand art exhibition.

The weather was perfect for the occasion; despite it being early spring, a fresh blanket of snow had fallen. Dressed warmly, Jenkins grabbed a newspaper and joined Alexia in the carriage, ready to head into the city where Dolores was waiting for them.

"You heard about what happened last night, didn't you?"

As the carriage lurched forward, Jenkins gestured with the newspaper he was holding. The headline featured a photograph of the devastated Hall Number Three of the opera house.

"I did," she confirmed. "I wasn't there, but I know the whole thing was very strange."

"Strange is an understatement. Why would the second prince bring that many bodyguards to an opera? And a heavy machine gun, of all things. The army itself barely has any of those, does it?"

Jenkins figured the question was obvious enough for anyone to ask. After all, nobody brings a heavy machine gun to the opera.

"I don't believe it had anything to do with Dolores. You two were just in the wrong place at the wrong time..."

"This is a power struggle between two Stuarts—Dolores's eldest and second brothers. In fact, their rivalry is far more intense than any threat Dolores might pose. Both princes have been involved in politics for years and command factions within the military. More importantly, unlike your Fidektri Kingdom, Hamparvo has had very few reigning queens. In their eyes, Dolores probably isn't even a contender."

The newspaper offered a very "circumspect" report on last night's incident, sharing the front page with news of the festival's opening. The article on the opera house downplayed the event, merely mentioning that there were no major casualties. It conveniently omitted any details about the attackers' origins or the "heroic prince who saved the day."

Even an outsider like Jenkins could read between the lines and sense the strangeness of the affair and the complex power plays hidden beneath the surface. It had nothing to do with him, of course. He was merely a spectator to a bizarre local drama.

"But what could possibly drive them to cause such a scene in a crowded part of Ruen? That seems incredibly audacious, don't you think?"

Alexia asked, a hint of confusion in her voice. "Didn't Dolores tell you?"

"Tell me what? Yesterday, she just showed me around the outskirts of the city, and then we had dinner and went to the opera..."

Alexia's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, a reaction Jenkins missed.

"It seems she forgot to tell you... or so you might think," she began. "Here's the situation: last Wednesday, His Majesty King Salsi II collapsed in his study around noon. He didn't regain consciousness for three hours. According to the physicians, there's something wrong... here."

Alexia tapped the side of her head, then elaborated.

"To maintain stability, the public hasn't been informed. For the same reason, only a handful of people know the full story. The physician gave a more detailed diagnosis: King Salsi II has until the end of the year, at most."

Jenkins's interest was instantly piqued. So, all three major kingdoms were now officially in turmoil.

"I took a look myself, and the conclusion is largely correct," Alexia said. "There's something... unusual growing inside King Salsi II's head. I'm no physician, so I can't say whether it's a tumor or something else entirely. But given its precarious location, living until the end of the year is not what I'd call a conservative estimate."

While the news was a state secret of the highest order, Jenkins suspected Dolores's omission wasn't about keeping him in the dark. A young woman's heart was a mystery, and he wasn't about to try and solve it.

As for treating such an illness, Jenkins's own [Life Source] ability would be useless. That didn't mean he couldn't cure it, however. A simple, direct method came to mind:

He could use his power to keep King Salsi II alive while performing a rather... forceful craniotomy to remove the growth, and then heal the skull afterward.

The risk, however, was immense. His ability could sustain life and accelerate growth, but for an organ as exquisitely complex as the human brain, the results were unpredictable. It would heal, certainly, but whether it could be restored to its original state was another question entirely.

"So if the king's life is in peril, I take it the struggle for the throne has reached a fever pitch?" Official source ıs novel✶fire.net

"Yes, and it happened almost overnight," Alexia confirmed. "Before this, King Salsi II was in excellent health—better than many men half his age. No one saw this coming. I imagine the Stuart children were preparing for a long game, perhaps even planning to see who would outlive their father."

For an ordinary person in this era, a strange growth in the brain was a death sentence. While the myriad divine arts, spells, and rituals of Enchanters held the potential to cure all sorts of bizarre ailments, Jenkins had never heard of one that could reliably treat the brain. No one would dare make such a claim.

Even if King Salsi II could find such a ritual, the cost would likely be exorbitant. Most abilities and rituals weren't entirely benign; their side effects were simply negligible to other Benefactors, but not necessarily to ordinary mortals.

When it came to curing diseases, in particular, the most effective methods involved making offerings to unknown entities or engaging in the equivalent exchange of alchemists—both of which were exceedingly dangerous.

Seeking help from the Orthodox Church was out of the question. Jenkins might be able to requisition numbered items from the Church of Knowledge and Books for use outside its walls, but that was an exception. In truth, the Church handled every single one of those items with extreme caution. Even those with the lowest risk classification were not to be used lightly.

Furthermore, the High Tower Accord expressly forbade the Orthodox Church from providing any aid to royalty that might extend their lives. Even if the king were to ask a priest from the Church of All Things and Nature in some remote village to cure a common cold, he would be refused.

It was clear, then, that the Hamparvonian court would know no peace for the foreseeable future. With the other two major kingdoms also plagued by their own internal and external crises, it seemed the entire material world was teetering on the brink of chaos.

"Which is why the Church of Knowledge and Books's suggestion for you to openly associate with Dolores makes perfect sense," Alexia mused. "While the Orthodox Church won't interfere in royal succession, should this power struggle lead to any... unforeseen complications—and given the ruthlessness of the Stuart children, anything is possible—the Church would at least have a justifiable reason to step in."

She continued, and by "unforeseen complications," Jenkins surmised she meant the kind of disaster that erupts when mortals, driven by ambition and greed, meddle with the supernatural.