When Allen pushed open the door, this was the scene before him.
The snarling head of a werewolf, preserved as a trophy, hung on the far wall. Three candelabras flickered endlessly before the long table of the hall, their crimson wax pooling heavily at the ornate bases.
By a rough estimate, this meeting—one held without his presence—had lasted at least three hours.
The expressions of those seated around the long table were even stranger.
Sol and Vera avoided his gaze, deliberately or otherwise.
Aristo had his head lowered, but his face was flushed red, his beard bristling like an enraged lion's mane.
Vesemir and Danthe smiled awkwardly.
One of Vesemir's hands was pressed on Aristo's thigh, the other clutching his leather armor. Danthe was doing the same.
It seemed they had just managed to quell a war. But…
If Aristo was one side of the conflict, and Vesemir and Danthe were the ones holding him back, then the ones he had been aiming his fury at could only have been Vera and Sol.
What had happened?
"Al… Allen, you're here?" Vesemir noticed his look, quickly pulled his hand back, and greeted him. "Danthe and I just came back from Kaer Village. We were just about to send someone to find—"
Then, following Allen's sudden shift of gaze to the wax-dripping candelabra beside him, Vesemir's voice faltered. He changed his words: "The matter with the refugees is… troublesome. We discussed it for a while. You must be here to see Sol and Lady Vera, right? Then we'll take our leave."
As he spoke, he exchanged a glance with Danthe, then tugged at Aristo to leave.
Aristo didn't resist. He glanced once at Sol and Vera with a blank expression, then forced a dry smile at Allen as he rose from his chair.
"Wait!" Allen raised his hand to stop them. "It isn't just Sol… I need to speak with the Grandmaster, Lady Vera, and especially with Master Aristo as well."
Aristo paused at that, lifted his head, and looked at Allen. The others exchanged looks among themselves.
"What is it?" he asked.
Allen didn't answer immediately. Instead, he walked to Vesemir's side and shifted the subject: "What's changed with the refugee situation? This morning, Clay told me the situation had already stabilized."
Vesemir froze mid-step, instinctively glancing at Aristo, then at Sol and Vera at the far end of the table. He quickly arranged his words in his mind.
"Uh… the flow of refugees has stabilized, yes. But other factors have made the situation… troublesome again."
"What factors?" Allen asked calmly, taking a seat.
Vesemir drew a long breath. He decided not to conceal it—if this festered further, Aristo and Sol would clash over it again. The School of the Wolf might not even last until the year's end.
But even if this problem was solved, could the school truly avoid breaking apart?
Vesemir sighed. "It's Lado. Kaer Village has seen many spies lately. Lado is a dangerous, unstable factor."
Allen looked at Sol, then at Aristo. He understood that the source of this awkward atmosphere must have been Lado. But the cause of conflict between Aristo and Sol could never simply be an exiled king.
"This is my fault," Allen said after a moment's thought.
The others around the table all raised their heads to look at him.
"Lado's matter is actually already resolved," Allen chose his words carefully. "Philippa Eilhart has been in contact with him these past few days. It won't be long before he leaves."
A few days ago, when Vilgefortz and Tissaia de Vries came, Allen had heard about Lado from them. He had immediately known Philippa would never let this opportunity slip away.
Sure enough, after vanishing for a few days, she appeared before him yesterday, probing his opinion.
But in truth, during those missing days, she had already prepared everything.
Whether Allen agreed or not, she would seize Lado for herself.
That was Philippa Eilhart—burning with ambition, matched by the power, decisiveness, and will to act.
"Philippa Eilhart?" Vera asked in confusion. "This is Tissaia's idea?"
"No," Allen shook his head. "This is Philippa's own idea. Tissaia does not agree with Aretuza getting involved, but Philippa's Aretuza is clearly more ambitious than Tissaia herself realizes."
"Some sorceresses, led by Philippa, believe they can use Lado as a bargaining chip."
Even Tissaia de Vries lacked the ability to keep Aretuza entirely stable… Danthe glanced at Allen, and a thought suddenly flashed in his mind.
Vera, however, remembered Mary suddenly being brought into the mission to rescue Hen Gedymdeith, and frowned.
The rescue of Hen Gedymdeith was imminent, yet Tissaia couldn't even control her own people.
That was not a good omen.
Vesemir spoke thoughtfully: "So your idea is neither to take in Lado, nor to drive him out. Instead, you plan to place him under another power, and let him leave of his own accord."
"Exactly." Allen nodded, sweeping his gaze over those seated at the long table. "Lado's identity is far too troublesome for the School of the Wolf."
"If we drive him away outright, we create an unnecessary enemy."
"Our vengeance has already been settled with Henselt. We have no feud with Lado, no reason to provoke him."
"But if we accept him, and help him rebuild Kaedwen, then—even without speaking of neutrality—there's no foundation of mutual trust between us."
"I believe that's also why Lado, even after staying in Kaer Village for so long, never sent anyone to contact us."
Allen paused, his gaze sliding toward Aristo and Sol: "The only direction forward for the School of the Wolf is to strengthen ourselves, and to build ties with other witcher schools."
"A self-absorbed, exiled monarch offers us no benefit, only the risk of offending Aedirn. He isn't worth it."
"Better to hand him over to Philippa Eilhart and the Aretuza behind her, and let them owe us a favor."
"The research on secondary Mutations, relying on me alone, will take far too long. I cannot stay at Kaer Morhen forever."
"Philippa promised that once this matter is done, she'll recommend some sorceresses skilled in genetics to come to Kaer Morhen to assist in the research…"
"Tissaia knows about this?" Vera interrupted.
"She doesn't know," Allen shook his head. "But this matter wasn't something we forced on Philippa Eilhart. It was her own idea, and we simply went along with it."
"Lady Tissaia has no reason to blame us. She wouldn't refuse sorceresses skilled in genetics joining Kaer Morhen either."
"Will Lado follow Philippa Eilhart?" Aristo asked.
"Lado has no other choice," Allen shook his head lightly. "It may look like he could go anywhere—Redania, Temeria are both waiting for him, welcoming him. He could even take the chance to settle in northern Kaedwen and then move south."
"But in truth, whether in Redania, Temeria, or among Kaedwen's great lords, he would be nothing more than a puppet."
"The sorceresses led by Philippa Eilhart also want to control him, yes, but the nature of control differs. Nobles devour real land and population, while the extraordinary factions only want a ticket into secular power—at most a seat as magical advisors and tax exemptions."
"As long as Lado and his advisors remain clear-headed, they won't refuse."
The long table suddenly fell silent.
Sol's gray-blue cat-like eyes sparkled. Usually indifferent, Vera squeezed Sol's hand hard under the table, her lips curved into a smile, her face full of the pride of "this is my child!"
Vesemir clapped Aristo's shoulder, laughing heartily: "Looks like our ancient sea fortress has given birth to a natural-born politician."
"Truly remarkable," Danthe also praised.
He had no idea how, in the rough-and-tumble Wolf School, such an all-rounder, a genius versed in everything, had appeared.
Oh! No, he knew.
Danthe's gaze shifted toward Sol and Vera, lost in thought.
Aristo stayed silent for a long time, then finally sighed with both admiration and resignation: "I have no objections. Let's settle it this way."
Thus, Lado's fate was decided.
The rest would depend on Philippa Eilhart's performance.
But Allen had great confidence in her.
After all, Philippa Eilhart had risen from advisor to King Vizimir of Redania, to convener and leader of the Lodge of Sorceresses, to joint regent of Redania.
The deaths of King Demavend of Aedirn and King Foltest of Temeria were also tied to her.
And though in the "future" Philippa stumbled—blinded by Lado V, "the Stern," the very king she and Sigismund Dijkstra had personally nurtured—that too was a kind of success.
In some ways, Allen had more faith in Philippa than Philippa had in herself.
But still…
Where would the political landscape of the Northern Realms go from here?
Would Philippa continue down the path of royal advisor, sorceress leader, and regent?
The future had already grown uncertain with the existence of the "Child of Miracles."
-----------------------------------
"By the way, Allen, didn't you say you had something to discuss with me?"
Aristo's voice pulled Allen back from his thoughts.
Allen nodded, then explained the incident with the apprentices at the castle gates. Seeing that Aristo, Vesemir, and Danthe were unconcerned, he lowered his voice: "Today I 'saw' that Sunny ordered his men to unleash the war beasts of Rissberg Group's Civil Cooperative Organization against Kaer Morhen…"
"'Saw'? Another prophecy?!" Vesemir froze, then exclaimed.
Allen nodded, seeing Vesemir, Danthe, and Aristo looking somewhat uneasy. He waved his hand dismissively: "No need to worry. If we were caught unprepared, then yes, there might be danger. But since we already know, Sunny's attack will only bring him heavy losses."
That was why, after waking from the prophecy, Allen didn't take it too much to heart.
Kaer Morhen now had two witchers who had undergone second Mutations, three witcher masters, and a host of younger witchers all battle-ready…
Mage Vilgefortz and Lydia van Bredevoort had returned to Ban Ard a few days ago, but Tissaia de Vries—the strongest sorceress in the North—was still here.
And then there was Vera, and Mary, whose mastery of air magic had just undergone a major breakthrough…
Allen honestly couldn't imagine how the Wolf School could lose. If one war beast came, they'd kill it. If two came, they'd kill them both.
His only concern was whether there would be enough war beasts to go around for everyone.
The only true risk was that, after Sunny's defeat, Ban Ard would scrutinize them more closely and grow hostile.
But that was inevitable, and besides…
Once everyone had calmed, Allen said softly: "Tonight, I need to go down the mountain…"
Go down the mountain…
In the chamber, the others, who had just steadied themselves after that shocking news, froze and turned sharply toward Vesemir.
"I knew it!" Vesemir looked into those bright azure cat-eyes, but inside he felt nothing but a chill.
-----------------------------------
Half an hour later.
Bang.
The door closed softly. Candlelight flickered from the branch-shaped candelabra on the oak table.
Through the wavering light, Aristo stared at the now-empty seat. "You shouldn't have agreed to him. That's war we're talking about!"
"No one agreed to him, Aristo," Vesemir drew in a long breath. "We just couldn't convince him otherwise. Neither could you."
Aristo fell silent.
"You'll get used to it," Danthe said, patting his shoulder with a sigh of shared experience. "When he first suggested infiltrating Drakenborg—that hellish fortress bristling with guards—to rescue Bond, I was dead set against it too. But the more I listened, the more I found myself agreeing without even realizing."
"In the end, he not only pulled Bond out, but also captured Drakenborg's administrator."
"Vesemir, surely you've had even more of these experiences?"
Vesemir could only shake his head with a bitter smile.
Earlier this year, not long after the Cat School's attack, Allen had left the group alone to fulfill Ida Emean's commission…
He had survived an ambush by Ban Ard sorcerers, persuaded everyone to drag Thomas Moreau back to Kaer Morhen…
He had ambushed Vilgefortz himself, and captured a royal griffin that no one had ever tamed before…
This was far more than experience—it was habit by now.
The moment Allen said he would go down the mountain, Vesemir had already felt the inevitability. And, sure enough, he'd been persuaded.
Allen seemed to possess a kind of magic: anything he truly set his mind to, no one could dissuade him or stop him. Instead, he'd pull others along, until they couldn't help but aid him in making it happen.
Not even a succubus had that kind of allure!
"I'll go knock some sense into those lazy brats…" Aristo shook his head, stood, and walked out the door.
Vesemir glanced at Sol and Vera, who were still silent, sighed, and rose as well: "I should check on Kaer Village… Hm? Danthe, you're not leaving?"
Danthe kept his expression calm. "I still have something to ask Sol."
Vesemir and Aristo exchanged looks, shrugged, and left.
Vera gave Danthe a quick glance, but said nothing. She snapped her fingers, stepped into a portal, and vanished.
Now, with only Sol and Danthe left in the room, Danthe hesitated under Sol's questioning gaze, then leaned forward and asked in a furtive whisper: "Sol… can you tell me… how exactly you got Lady Vera pregnant?"
....
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