I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha.

A bishop vaguely noticed some subtle details in the formation's positioning—unlike the wizards, the Draculas stood beside the prince like the most loyal servants.

The prince holds the future of all the nobles and priests in the hands of the prince.

Wizards and pagans alike were about to become part of the church and have territory in the south.

Smart people know how to choose.

Since the prince is so intelligent, he should know that he has the ability to become a true god, rather than a puppet of the Thousand-Eyed King.

The leaders of the Southern Order exchanged glances. Then, after exchanging pleasantries with Princess Twilight who was approaching, they bowed slightly and kissed Prince Alaye's hand.

Immediately afterwards, the other bishops and generals seemed to remember something and hurriedly and respectfully surrounded the prince, each of them respectfully kissing the back of the prince's hand.

This was a perfectly normal and impeccable courtesy that ministers showed to the prince.

After all, as the emperor about to ascend the throne, he should indeed be respected, at least superficially.

Yesterday, everyone talked for so long at the negotiation meeting, all to get the powerful and influential people in the south to become the emperor's ministers.

But at this moment, subtle changes appeared on the faces of many people.

Because this prince was not an ordinary emperor about to ascend the throne, but a puppet emperor about to ascend the throne.

The envoys from the south could not possibly be unaware of how sensitive his position was in the east.

Therefore, they were expressing their support for the prince in a very subtle, yet not obscure, way.

Or rather, they are sowing discord—a tactic that is often very crude and straightforward, but also often simple and effective.

If the Twilight Princess, who is in charge of overseeing the future puppet emperor, is as petty as rumored, and if the Thousand-Eyed King is as cruel as rumored, this sowing of discord will become even more effective.

If the prince were even slightly wise, he would know that he should leave himself a way out.

If he had even the slightest ambition, if he wanted to gain true freedom, he would have responded to the southern envoys.

They might even take this opportunity to announce their true identity.

To the bishops' utter disappointment, the prince secretly glanced at Princess Twilight's expression—how the hell are you afraid of her?!
Clearly, this prince was extremely timid and utterly hopeless.

But that's understandable. He's lived in the shadow of the Thousand-Eyed King and his daughter for too long, and his ambition has probably been completely extinguished. It's unlikely that things will change anytime soon.

However, there's plenty of time in the future.
The bishops lowered their expectations of the prince, and some no longer anticipated his public response.

After all, today's objective has been achieved. Regardless of Prince Alaye's true thoughts, the wizards have already seen the olive branch extended to him by the Church of Light and Shadow.

Next, this future puppet emperor will spend a long, long time in the Holy Court with the bishops who are trying their best to support his escape from the control of the Thousand-Eyed King.

Perhaps this is nothing.

But what if the gods bestowed great favor upon Prince Alaye, and verifiable rumors continued to circulate from the Holy See, and Prince Alaye ultimately accepted the daughter of the sun god with pleasure?

What if his political views gradually become incompatible with those of the Thousand-Eyed King?
What would the Thousand-Eyed King think? What would Princess Twilight think? What would the wizards think?
A puppet emperor and a powerful minister are like fire and water. As more and more ambitious people gather around the puppet emperor and their power grows, he will gradually be forced to align himself with them. Both the wise minister and the wise emperor will make their own choices.

After exchanging pleasantries, the wizards began to load Roland's luggage onto the train.

Roland took the reins of 'Foxfire' from Baal's hands, patted its neck, and looked somewhat sentimental.

This horse has always stayed in the Hall of Sanctuary. Yesterday, when Catherine brought her people here, she rode it into the city.

It is over thirty years old, but it is still very young and strong.

Catherine has been feeding it very well these days, and it is already faintly exuding the aura of a dragon.

Originally, Catherine had almost forgotten to give the horse to Roland to take away, but Bal remembered it, so she brought it over today.

At that moment, Roland and Catherine's eyes met.

Under the affectionate and reluctant gaze of senior student Catherine, Roland was filled with many emotions.

Roland's journey to the Holy See was like venturing into a tiger's den. Countless people there would want to kill him, while many others would try to win him over—or rather, sow discord among him.

From the bishops' behavior today, Roland could see how despicable and dirty the methods they would use in the future.

If only I were truly a puppet, rather than a key partner who was in cahoots with my father-in-law.

If he truly had a problem with Catherine, rather than being her absolutely trusted comrade and pillar of support...

If they hadn't already conspired to make me a traitor, then my father-in-law and senior would likely have developed some suspicion and doubt about me in the various actions I took within the church.

Just now, during the exchange of glances between Roland and his senior (which the bishops saw as him secretly observing his wife's expression), the senior repeatedly urged Roland to express his attitude, to put on a good show, and to humiliate this princess who could never distinguish between the king and the queen.

But Roland did not respond.

On the one hand, such an act would seem too low-class.

On one hand, his public persona is that he's afraid of his wife. This doesn't fit that persona. Ugh, he's really not afraid of his wife.

Roland patted Foxfire on the neck and said to Baal, "Baal, my future queen needs it more than I do. Send it into her hands."

Upon hearing this, Catherine could barely contain her smile—Roland hadn't even ascended the throne yet, and a queen hadn't been chosen. But here he was, making his stance clear. He was telling everyone that his queen was right here.

The expressions on the faces of the many bishops became somewhat subtle—don't you have any backbone at all?

"As commanded."

Earl Barr respectfully took the reins of Foxfire and asked with a puzzled look, "However, forgive my ignorance, should I put it on the train or send it back to the castle stables?"

Upon hearing this, Catherine and the others were slightly taken aback.

Following Earl Bal's gaze, Catherine and the others looked at a lady inside the carriage through the glass window, and then at Foxfire in front of them.

Instantly, everyone's expression became extremely subtle.

Catherine's expression turned somewhat ugly, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in her eyes as she looked at Earl Barr.

Belinda glared at Earl Barr, her scalp tingling – you really know how to rub salt in the wound!
Belinda thought that Count Barr was unaware of the relationship between Roland and Catherine and was being foolish.

But then she suddenly realized that Count Barr had done it on purpose—this lunatic was once again imagining the 'deeper meaning' in Roland's words!

Roland just said something like, 'My future queen needs it more than I do. Send it into her hands.'

Barr believes that Roland deliberately left the question of 'who the queen really is' unanswered.

After all, Catherine was right beside Roland, and the horse was in Roland's hands, yet he sent Earl Bart to deliver the horse. Wasn't this deliberately leaving room for interpretation regarding 'who Prince Alaye truly wanted as queen'? This statement was indeed ambiguous, but... suddenly, Belinda paused, slightly taken aback. It was unclear what she was thinking, but fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on her forehead.

This statement is indeed highly ambiguous; Roland couldn't have done it on purpose, could he?
His position is rising higher and higher, and he is gradually breaking free from the control of the Thousand-Eyed King.

In Belinda's view, there is a huge conflict between Roland and the King of a Thousand Eyes.

That is, Roland represents people like 'Merlin's Mentor'. They are representatives of the 'New Wizarding Community'. These people do not advocate the development of the individual, but rather the development of the entire civilization.

They all hoped to invest their limited resources in the development of civilization, benefiting all apprentices, rather than supporting the top wizards and gods.

The King of a Thousand Eyes represents the old wizarding forces, such as the 'top-tier wizard gods,' who need to draw nourishment from the entire civilization to sustain themselves and continue moving forward.

As long as the Thousand-Eyed King and his group want to continue moving forward, conflict between the two sides is inevitable.

Unless the King of a Thousand Eyes and others are willing to be sacrifices to civilization and be abandoned and replaced by the new era, the conflict cannot be resolved.

The contradictions between these rulers of the old era and the rulers of the new era are irreconcilable.

Therefore, Alaye and the Thousand-Eyed God are not a united front.

The Church once wielded immense power, while Roland was incredibly weak, needing to survive by clinging to the shadow of the Thousand-Eyed King.

Now that he's grown up, he has his own ideas. He's bound to become independent.

The current situation across the continent is a three-way standoff between the Church of Light and Shadow, the Alaye Dynasty, and the King of a Thousand Eyes.

The ultimate goal of the Alaya Dynasty is to eliminate both the Church of Light and Shadow and the Thousand-Eyed King. To achieve this goal, it can use the power of the Thousand-Eyed King to deal with the Church, so why can't it use the power of the Church to deal with the Thousand-Eyed King?

Belinda's heart started pounding.

She cried out in her heart, 'No, impossible! Even if Roland wanted to do this, he wouldn't allow someone to send the horse to Olivia in public!'

Because this would mean a complete break between him and the King of a Thousand Eyes—the time is not yet ripe!

Moreover, once Roland did that, he would be dependent on the church—he was most valuable before he made the choice to depend on the church and the Kingdom of Heaven!

The wisest choice is not to make a choice! Therefore, Roland could not possibly allow Barth to publicly deliver the horse to Olivia!

Belinda breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to herself, 'That lunatic Barr must have misunderstood.'

Thinking of this, Belinda became nervous again. She looked nervously at Roland, wanting to know who he would have Bal deliver the horse to.

At that moment, everyone looked at Roland, seemingly waiting for his answer.

However, Roland did not provide any answer.

He looked solemnly at Count Barr, bypassing the previous topic, and said the following:
"Baal, on behalf of the Holy Kingdom of Tadar, I welcome the return of the Dracula family. During my absence on my journey to the Holy Throne, you must obey all the arrangements of His Highness Prince Renard, the Hand of the Empire."

He is my father-in-law and my most loyal prime minister; his opinion is my opinion.

The Saint-Tadar Empire was once established by the Alaye royal family. It was also an empire to which the Old Church once belonged.

When Roland first arrived in Vermec and moved into the summer palace, his registered address on his identity document was listed as 'Santa Dar'.

Today, Santa Darya no longer exists; the name only exists in ancient texts. Therefore, Roland is the only one in the entire world whose registered address is listed as 'Santa Darya' on their identity card.

The wizards are now operating under the banner of restoring the Alaye dynasty, so it's perfectly reasonable for Roland to say that he represents the Holy Kingdom of Tadar.

Therefore, his words seemed to be telling Baal that he and the King of a Thousand Eyes were of one mind, and that after he left, Baal should listen to him completely.

But no matter how they listened, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

Because all along, they have only had one ruler: the King with a thousand eyes!
In fact, after the wizards began to raise the banner of the 'Alaye Dynasty', the title of the Thousand-Eyed King gradually became a taboo subject.

Because the King of a Thousand Eyes has joined Aleye's ranks, and nominally there can only be one emperor in this dynasty.

The throne is currently vacant; how can the King of a Thousand Eyes be addressed as Your Majesty?

But if I call him Your Highness, are you plotting a rebellion?!

What kind of being is the King of a Thousand Eyes? He is a tyrannical monarch whose name even wizards dare not utter. He is the absolute ruler of the Eastern Realm. He is the supreme deity of the wizards.

Now, Roland publicly tells people that the King of a Thousand Eyes should be my follower, that he is just someone who works for me. To be honest, what he said is indeed correct.

In name only, the King of a Thousand Eyes is the prime minister of the Alaya Dynasty, but this cannot be said openly!

At least you should address him as "Prime Minister" or something like that!

This term appears in the Old Scriptures. Historically, the young rulers of the Alaya dynasty had a regent!

Or you can call him father-in-law instead of his title!
So, Roland was obviously doing this on purpose, wasn't he?

What is he planning to do? Rebel?
But does this count as treason?
Would you call this a heinous act?
If Roland's words constitute treason, then the Thousand-Eyed King should be considered the traitor, right?!

The expressions on the faces of the many wizard lords were quite interesting, and their minds were racing with various thoughts.

They wished they could tear their ears apart and pretend they hadn't heard a thing today.

As fate would have it, the ill-intentioned Baal bowed slightly to Roland and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. Dracula will follow Prince Leonard's arrangements."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a sudden darkness before their eyes and their scalps tingle.

His Majesty?

Your Majesty Roland?

Did we hear that right?!
Roland hasn't even received the baptism of the gods yet, what is Baal trying to do?!

Are we going to make a fool of ourselves in front of the church?
Many wizard lords couldn't help but look at the church members, only to find that their expressions weren't one of amusement, but rather of embarrassment or confusion.

Some of the bishops couldn't help but whisper among themselves, and the keen-senseed wizards overheard their conversation.

"The banner of Alaye was raised in the Eastern Territory a few months ago. So, has Prince Alaye already been placed on the throne by the wizards?"

"—Yes, we're still using diplomatic language from six months ago, referring to him as Prince Alaye."

"Don't panic, don't panic, there's no problem. The Dawn Society was a rebel group before, so although Prince Alaye has long been king, the church has not yet recognized him."

"That's right, and the Dawn Society hasn't issued a public statement either. Besides, strictly speaking, there was a process to verify Lord Roland's identity before his baptism at the Holy See. Otherwise, who would dare to say that the Alaye the wizards found is the real Alaye?"

"—We should still call him Prince, and His Majesty the Thousand-Eyed King. Until the baptism ceremony is over, let's each address him as we see fit." (End of Chapter)