While Livius cleaned the palace from the inside, the High Inquisitor, Draken, was busy in the shadows of the city. He didn't believe in "Ghost Princes" or "Dragon Miracles." He believed in power, and he felt his own slipping away with every "repayment" Livius enforced.
Draken met with the remaining leader of the Guardian Family in a damp cellar beneath the city's old cathedral. The air was thick with the smell of wet stone and treason.
"He is a child," Draken spat, slamming a dagger into a wooden table. "A child who lived in the library while we fought the wars. He uses tricks—optical illusions and stage magic. The 'Blood-Axe' was probably rigged with magnets or mana-conductive wire."
"And the eyes?" the Duke of the South asked, his voice trembling. "I felt the pressure, Draken. That wasn't stage magic. That was the 'Sovereign's Presence.' My ancestors spoke of it."
"Then his ancestors were demons," Draken countered. "We have the support of the Foreign Embassies. They don't want a 'True Dragon' on the throne; they want a weak Argentine they can control. If we can prove he isn't the 'True Heir'—if we can find a flaw in his bloodline—the people will turn on him."
Draken's plan was simple: he would find the records of Livius's mother. He believed that a commoner woman couldn't possibly give birth to a perfect heir. There had to be a secret—a forbidden ritual, a deal with a dark god, something he could use to delegitimize the new King.
But Draken didn't realize that every word spoken in that cellar was being recorded. In the corner of the room, a small, unremarkable spider sat in a web. It wasn't an insect; it was a "Mana-Ear," a device designed by Livius during his years in the archives.
Back at the palace, Livius listened to the recording through a crystal. He didn't look angry; he looked disappointed.
"They still think this is a game of blood," Livius said to Cian. "They think my mother was my weakness. They don't realize she was the only reason I survived this long. Cian, prepare the 'Ghost's Gambit.' If they want to look into my mother's past, let's give them a tour they'll never forget."