In the Marquis Casseus' residence, within a long, dimly lit corridor, two figures walked side by side—one tall and lean, the other stout—engaged in a hushed conversation, seemingly burdened with many doubts.
"Brother, why does Father favor that outsider Monaldo so much? My cultivation resources for this month have even been reduced, likely diverted to him. What could be the reason for summoning us this time? Could it be to cut our resources again?" The plump young man, dressed in an ornate red robe, voiced his discontent and complaints.
"Geta, be cautious with your words. Father has his reasons, and it's not for us to speculate. Moreover, since Monaldo has become part of our family, he is our brother. You should show more respect in your speech," said the tall, lean young man with a slightly gloomy expression. His tone carried a sense of steadiness and admonishment. He was the eldest son, Gaien Casseus.
These two were the only male heirs of Marquis Casseus.
Gaien Casseus, the eldest son, and Geta Casseus, the second son.
"Tsk, I think Father just favors him and has lost interest in us. Since his arrival, we've barely seen Father once a month," Geta grumbled, his voice filled with frustration and resentment.
Faced with this undeniable truth, Gaien could only remain silent, his heart equally conflicted.
At that moment, the sound of steady footsteps approached from afar, interrupting their conversation. The figure of Marquis Casseus appeared at the end of the corridor. His face was stern, his eyes deep, as if they could see through people's hearts. Behind him followed a young man who, though not particularly tall, had an extraordinary presence and striking handsomeness, with short platinum-blond hair. This was Monaldo, the source of the brothers' discontent.
"Father," Gaien and Geta quickly bowed, their dissatisfaction masked by the proper etiquette required in their father's presence.
Marquis Casseus gave a slight nod, his gaze barely lingering on them as he walked straight toward the meeting hall at the end of the corridor.
This indifferent attitude left Gaien and Geta feeling uneasy, especially after recalling their earlier conversation.
In truth, Marquis Casseus had treated them with the same indifference even before Monaldo's arrival.
But with the stark contrast in how he treated Monaldo—especially since Monaldo was an illegitimate child of unknown origin—the two legitimate sons felt deeply uncomfortable. Geta, in particular, who was used to a carefree and indulgent lifestyle, openly expressed his displeasure toward Monaldo.
Monaldo—or rather, Amona disguised as a man—walked past them, her lips curling into a slight smile as she glanced at the brothers but said nothing.
With Amona's cheerful and lively personality, she would normally engage with people she encountered during her missions unless explicitly instructed otherwise by the Beast Soul Alliance or if she judged it inappropriate to cause complications.
However, after being recalled as an illegitimate child over a month ago and interacting with these two, she had given up on being friendly with them.
Gaien was tolerable, but Geta was the epitome of a spoiled noble—incompetent, pleasure-seeking, and arrogant. He looked down on Monaldo (Amona in disguise) with disdain.
Gaien's attitude was simply indifferent. From Amona's observations, he seemed to treat everyone with the same aloofness, likely due to his personality.
In any case, the two male heirs of Marquis Casseus were difficult to get along with, and Amona had no interest in trying to warm up to their cold shoulders. Instead, she had befriended the daughters of the Casseus family.
However, as a deadly agent, Amona was inherently warm on the outside but cold on the inside. These female family members were merely a distraction in her life. If the Beast Soul Alliance required it, she could likely kill these people she had been smiling with without hesitation.
"Hmph, what kind of attitude is that?" Geta couldn't help but mutter under his breath as he caught the fleeting sneer on Amona's face. In the Casseus household, everyone indulged his whims except for his father. He was used to being flattered and found Amona's seemingly dismissive attitude extremely irritating.
Gaien frowned and softly admonished, "Geta, have you forgotten what I just told you?"
Though he also had reservations about Amona, since Marquis Casseus had accepted her, Gaien believed it was not their place to question it.
"Fine," Geta reluctantly pursed his lips but remained silent, though his eyes still carried a trace of resentment.
The two brothers quickened their pace.
Soon, under the guidance of the servants at the door, they entered the meeting hall and took their seats.
Naturally, they chose seats opposite Monaldo rather than beside him.
Marquis Casseus sat at the head of the table, silently observing Gaien and Geta. His face was shadowed, making it difficult to discern the changes in his expression.
The meeting hall was dimly lit, the flickering flames in the fireplace casting a quiet glow, as if silently watching the subtle dynamics within the family.
After the servants exited the meeting hall, Marquis Casseus finally spoke.
"I summoned you today to announce something important."
His tone was grave, causing the three present to straighten their backs instinctively.
Marquis Casseus's voice echoed in the hall, carrying an undeniable authority: "Recently, a major event occurred in the empire. Our crown prince, Davis, tragically died during an expedition—or at least, that's what the emperor will likely announce."
Gaien and Geta's faces paled with shock, especially Geta, who nearly gasped aloud. But remembering that they were in the presence of their father, he managed to suppress the urge.
"You may not yet understand the implications of this, so I will explain it directly."
Marquis Casseus paused, then continued solemnly, "The Star Luo Empire has decided to initiate a new round of crown prince selection. All eligible noble youths may participate."
His gaze swept over the three children, finally settling on Amona's face: "Our Casseus family naturally cannot fall behind. Monaldo has decided to participate in this competition."
At this, Geta could no longer contain himself. He shot to his feet, his voice filled with agitation and resentment: "Father, how can you let an illegitimate child of unknown origin represent our family? An illegitimate child running for crown prince? Our Casseus family will become the laughingstock of Star Luo!"
Though Gaien also had his doubts—he knew the cruelty of the crown prince competition, and for a declining noble family like theirs, it was usually wiser not to participate—he was even more puzzled by the decision to let an illegitimate child run. However, he also knew it was unwise to openly challenge Marquis Casseus, so he quickly grabbed Geta's arm and whispered, "Geta, calm down. Father has his reasons."
Marquis Casseus looked at the agitated Geta, his face betraying no emotion, and said simply, "I have investigated Monaldo's background. He is indeed my blood."
"But—" Geta tried to argue, but Marquis Casseus cut him off.
"There are no 'buts.' This is the family's decision," Marquis Casseus's voice carried an indisputable authority. "Gaien, Geta, as the legitimate heirs of the family, you should set an example and support the family's decision. Monaldo's participation is not just for his own glory but for the future of our entire Casseus family. Most importantly... he has the ability."
Under their father's stern gaze, Geta reluctantly sat down.
Gaien remained silent.
Ability...
Gaien knew that the most important requirement for competing for the crown prince position was to possess the White Tiger Martial Soul.
Both he and his brother had successfully awakened the White Tiger Martial Soul.
But just as the innate soul power of those who awakened the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul varied, the Evil Eye White Tiger was indeed a top-tier Martial Soul, but not everyone awakened it with top-tier quality.
Both brothers had only awakened with innate soul power at level five. Their Martial Souls were more like ordinary White Tigers, merely carrying the bloodline of the Evil Eye White Tiger.
Gaien, at 25 years old, was only a level 38 Soul Venerable, while Geta, at 19, was a level 29 Great Soul Master.
As Marquis Casseus had said, with such talent and strength, they had no hope of winning the crown prince position.
With Geta no longer causing a commotion, Marquis Casseus continued, "There are only two conditions for participation. The first, as you can guess, is to have awakened the White Tiger Martial Soul at the very least. There's no need to elaborate on this—to inherit the Dai surname, even if one doesn't possess the Evil Eye White Tiger Martial Soul, one must at least have the Bai Hu Martial Soul. The second condition is age—participants must be no older than 22."
Upon hearing this, Gaien immediately realized this matter no longer concerned him, as he was already 25. He turned his gaze to his younger brother.
"Gaien no longer meets the criteria. Geta, what is your decision?" Marquis Casseus's gaze shifted to Geta, awaiting his response.
Before Geta could answer, Gaien, aware of Geta's hostility toward Amona and fearing that it might cloud his judgment, interjected, "The path to the crown prince competition is fraught with danger. One misstep could lead to irreversible consequences. Moreover, Geta, with your strength and talent, you have no chance of winning. Don't let a moment of impulsiveness lead to an unpayable price."
Faced with his respected elder brother's counsel, Geta's fervor cooled slightly.
He glanced at Amona, who remained calm and composed, and suddenly realized that Marquis Casseus had not opposed Gaien's words. Connecting this with the earlier remarks...
'So, this guy is really strong, huh?'
He felt a sudden jolt in his heart and turned to Marquis Casseus, replying, "Father, I will not participate."
Marquis Casseus nodded slightly, "Then it is settled."
With that, Gaien and Geta left the room.
Silence lingered for a while.
"Pfft—hahaha!!!"
Amona pointed at Marquis Casseus and burst into laughter: "Qui, you're quite the father, aren't you? Those two idiots still haven't noticed anything amiss!"
Marquis Casseus—or rather, Qui—furrowed his brows and scolded, "Amona, be serious while on a mission. Watch your words, or you might expose our plans and ruin the Alliance Leader's scheme!"
"I held back until they were far away before laughing, didn't I?" Amona pouted in dissatisfaction but quickly composed herself upon seeing Qui's stern expression.
It had been nearly two months since the Beast Soul Alliance had taken control of the Casseus family.
The Casseus Marquisate bordered the Calamity Mountain Range and had established a cooperative relationship with the Beast Soul Commerce shortly after its founding, primarily focusing on cross-empire material transportation.
During this period, the Beast Soul Alliance had also been conducting thorough investigations into Marquis Casseus's interpersonal relationships, habits, and behaviors.
When the time was ripe, they effortlessly replaced him.
It was all too easy.
First, Marquis Casseus himself was weak in strength.
In a world where strength was paramount, the fact that he had fallen to a level below some count families spoke volumes.
After all, in the Star Luo Empire, even ordinary count families could possess Soul Saint-level combatants.
Of course, it wasn't that marquis and duke families had even higher-level soul masters, as titles were also heavily influenced by merit, kinship, and other factors.
In the Star Luo Empire, Soul Douluos were the highest publicly acknowledged power, and only the most prosperous marquis and duke families could afford to maintain them.
But the problem was that Marquis Casseus himself was only a Soul King.
A Soul King was indeed a formidable force, but it was entirely disproportionate to his marquis title.
And a Soul King was nothing more than an insect to the current Beast Soul Alliance.
They didn't even need to deploy their top-tier forces; their mid-level fighters were enough to handle him.
The difficulty in replacing him lay not in strength but in deceiving those familiar with Marquis Casseus.
But this wasn't particularly challenging either.
As the marquisate had declined, Marquis Casseus had already distanced himself from other nobles.
The only ones they needed to worry about were his children and wives.
If not for this, the Beast Soul Alliance wouldn't have needed to prepare for so long before taking action.
Marquis Casseus had three wives and seven children.
In fact, his three wives had also been replaced by the Beast Soul Alliance.
With the disguise techniques obtained by You Chen from the system and months of preparation, the Beast Soul Alliance had now completely taken control of this declining noble family.
Thus, the transactions and exchanges between the Casseus family and the Beast Soul Commerce could be conducted more directly.
After all, it was merely a matter of transferring resources from one hand to the other.
With Qui replacing Marquis Casseus and the Beast Soul Alliance backing him, many things that the original marquis had been too weak or hesitant to do were now possible.
For example, the private soldiers of neighboring nobles who had taken advantage of Marquis Casseus's weakness to raid the borders of his territory had been utterly crushed in the past two months, with counterattacks even launched into their own territories.
This had caused quite a stir in the northwest border of the Star Luo Empire.
If not for the major earthquake in the capital that had drawn everyone's attention, the changes in the Casseus Marquisate would have sparked widespread discussion among the Star Luo nobles.
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