Adrian now had three loyal guards.
Three.
He still needed ten.
Seven more.
And for someone who wanted to eventually overthrow the King and become the greatest ruler Asterra had ever seen, that was nowhere near enough.
Adrian sat in his room, thinking.
How do I recruit the remaining seven?
He had already tried several methods.
Money.
Opportunity.
Medical treatment.
Now he needed to find people whose loyalty could be secured through something else.
And then he heard about a knight.
The man was deeply religious.
He was also a complete failure as a knight.
Despite years of service, he had never risen through the ranks.
His background was unimpressive, his achievements were few, and his career had practically come to a standstill.
Adrian’s eyes lit up.
Religion.
Of course.
If Ronald could be influenced through faith, perhaps this knight could be as well.
Adrian immediately began preparing his plan.
A few days later, the knight entered the temple as he did every day.
He knelt before the statue of his god and began praying.
Adrian was already there.
Hidden behind the statue.
He had even prepared a primitive megaphone for the occasion.
He waited patiently.
The knight clasped his hands.
“God, please show me the right direction.”
Adrian smiled.
This was his moment.
He placed the megaphone near his mouth.
“Thee shall follow the Thirty-Third Prince, for he shall lead thee to greatness.”
Silence.
The knight froze.
His eyes widened.
He looked around the temple.
“God?”
Adrian remained silent.
The knight waited.
“Lord?”
Nothing.
“Please… speak to me again.”
Still nothing.
Adrian resisted the temptation to answer.
Don’t overdo it.
The knight prayed for several more minutes before finally leaving the temple.
Adrian waited until he was certain the man had gone.
Then he slipped out from behind the statue and returned to the palace.
He was ecstatic.
Perfect.
Now all he had to do was wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Days passed.
The knight never came.
Adrian eventually became suspicious.
He asked around.
And when he finally discovered what had happened, his expression went completely blank.
The knight had joined the Third Prince.
Adrian stared into the distance.
How?
Then the realization hit him.
How did that idiot confuse Thirty-Third with Third?!
Adrian had completely forgotten one crucial fact.
The knight was illiterate.
He could barely count beyond three.
And apparently, “thirty-third” was simply beyond his intellectual jurisdiction.
Adrian returned to his room in silence.
His brilliant divine revelation had accomplished him absolutely nothing.
He was back to square one.
Then Ronald mentioned another guard.
The man was a gambler.
He gambled so frequently that his own family had become sick of him.
Ronald had already dismissed him.
“Your Highness, that man is hopeless. I doubt he is of any use to you.”
Adrian, however, saw an opportunity.
He went to meet the guard with Marcus and Rowen.
The moment the guard saw him, he immediately bowed.
“Your Highness.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Do you wish to quit gambling?”
The guard’s expression changed.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Do you wish to live a normal life again?”
“Yes.”
“Very well. For I shall help you achieve your goal and you mine.”
Adrian turned toward Marcus and Rowen.
“Follow him for the next twenty-five days.”
Both guards nodded.
“And whenever he goes gambling…”
Adrian paused.
“…cut off his head.”
The guard froze.
Marcus and Rowen stared at Adrian.
The gambler’s face turned pale.
“Your Highness?”
Adrian looked at him calmly.
“Don’t cry. This is for your own good.”
The guard began trembling.
“If you fail, you will never be able to gamble again.”
Adrian turned around.
“And if you survive the twenty-five days, you will never be able to gamble again either.”
With that, Adrian walked away.
The guard remained frozen.
Marcus and Rowen exchanged a glance before following him.
Adrian smiled.
Another one.
Perhaps not exactly the recruitment method he had originally imagined.
But effective nonetheless.
Adrian then decided to search among the knights.
There were several exceptional knights who had been overlooked because of their backgrounds.
Three in particular caught his attention.
All three were talented.
All three had been denied opportunities that nobles with inferior abilities had received simply because they were commoners.
One of them had suffered another humiliation as well.
His wife had abandoned him after running away with another man.
His social standing had fallen even further because of it.
Adrian didn’t care.
Talent was talent.
He hired all three.
Seven.
He now had seven guards.
Only three remained.
But those last three were proving difficult.
Adrian didn’t merely want guards.
He wanted people who would be willing to take lives for him not just give.
People who wouldn’t abandon him when things became dangerous.
People who would follow him into hell itself.
Then Adrian had an idea.
Life insurance.
Adrian promised all seven of his guards that if anything happened to them while serving him, their families would receive financial support.
The idea spread quickly.
And soon enough, someone came to him.
But this person was different.
He was an assassin.
His name was Evran.
He had actually been watching Adrian for some time.
Originally, he had been assigned to keep an eye on Lady Elara.
The reason was simple.
After Elara had presented the King with financial reforms, several people had begun wondering where such an idea had come from.
Evran had been ordered to investigate.
But the more he watched, the more he noticed.
Elara wasn’t the one making the decisions.
Ronald wasn’t the one making the decisions.
Someone else was pulling the strings.
And eventually, Evran realized who.
The four-year-old prince.
The Thirty-Third Prince.
Adrian.
Instead of reporting everything he had learned, Evran became increasingly interested in the prince himself.
Then Adrian announced his life-insurance arrangement.
Evran had no family.
So the promise meant nothing to him.
But he had another problem.
He was a low-ranking assassin.
He wasn’t permitted to form or command his own assassination unit.
And he wanted one.
So he decided to approach Adrian directly.
It was late at night when Evran entered Adrian’s residence.
A knife was hidden in his hand.
Adrian noticed him immediately.
Yet he remained completely calm.
If Evran had actually intended to kill him, he would have done it secretly.
There would have been no reason to announce his presence.
Adrian looked at him.
“So…”
He paused.
“What is it that you want, Mister…?”
“Evran.”
The assassin bowed slightly.
“I have come to strike a deal with you, Your Highness.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“Go on.”
“I want my own assassin squad.”
Evran looked directly at him.
“And you will fund it.”
Adrian stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because I am willing to serve you.”
Adrian’s expression changed instantly.
His eyes became cold.
He snapped his fingers.
Before Evran could react, the guards in the room tackled him to the ground.
His knife clattered across the floor.
Adrian walked toward him.
“Your skills are pathetic.”
Evran looked up in surprise.
“I noticed you the very first day you came to watch my mother.”
Evran’s expression changed.
“I allowed you to continue because I wanted to know who you served.”
Adrian looked down at him.
“But you’re an idiot.”
He gestured toward the guards.
“Not only did you walk into my residence carrying a weapon, you also spoke to your future master without even showing the most basic manners.”
The guards immediately began beating Evran.
Evran groaned as he lay on the floor.
After a while, Adrian raised his hand.
The guards stopped.
Adrian looked down at him.
“I will give you what you want.”
Evran slowly raised his head.
“But there are three conditions.”
Adrian held up one finger.
“First, you are loyal to me and only me from this day onward.”
A second finger.
“Second, you will train your squad under my guidance.”
A third.
“And third…”
Adrian smiled.
“I control you and your squad however I see fit.”
Evran stared at him.
Adrian continued.
“In return, I shall fund the squad you want.”
There was a moment of silence.
Then Evran began laughing.
Not nervously.
Not fearfully.
He laughed with genuine excitement.
“This…”
He grinned.
“…is going to be so much fun.”
Adrian smiled.
His search for loyalists was becoming far more interesting than he had expected.