"There's only one person in this Empire who has both the motive and the means to arrange all this; Crown prince, Ansh Agnihotri."

"The Crown prince? He arranged all this? You mean tried to ki…" he stuttered a little, hesitated to speak out of line but then continued as he considered it too important to omit, "You think he tried to kill you? Why would he want to get you killed?"

"Well, why wouldn't he? He will be crowned as the Emperor in next month; then they'll need to choose the next heir to the throne. And the only person that can possibly stop his oldest son, Dhruv from becoming the new crown prince, is me."

"You think he'd go this far just ensure Prince Dhruv's succession? Attack one of his family?", Calix asked hesitantly.

"I expected him not to; and look what happened because of that, I nearly got mauled by a beast. Then again, I doubt he ever thought of me as his family.", Blaze looked sad; he knew very well that Ansh didn't particularly like him but never expected to be attacked by him.

"So what now? What will you do?"

Calix's such a small question troubled Blaze greatly, he couldn't just ignore this attempt on his life; Today, only he is the target but what if in the future his Maa is the one whose life is in danger. Blaze knew he must resolve this himself; but then, what? Confrontation? But that wouldn't work, he doesn't have enough evidence to prove his suspicions. Blaze could request the Emperor for protection, but in a few months that would be useless as well. when Ansh becomes the Emperor the very guards who protected him may try to kill him; he could very well be executed for treason for nothing! So then? 'What am I supposed to do', he kept asking himself, but he could not think of any way out of this problem.

But then suddenly, an idea emerged in his mind. The actual problem was that Blaze lacked authority to prevent these attempts by Ansh once he becomes the Emperor. So then who was the one person in the empire whom even the Emperor couldn't dare to harm? Ah! The answer was always right in front of him.

"He wants to get rid of me because he fears I might obstruct Dhruv's succession, right? Then what if I just prove his paranoia right?"

"What do you mean, my lord?"

"The crown prince, the only other person in the whole Agni Empire to have enough authority to stand his ground against the Emperor himself. If I were to become the next crown prince, I'd be safe, even he couldn't kill me; And as the crown prince I'd have enough power to ensure the safety of my loved ones. Yes, yes that's the way… That's the only way!!"

Calix gave Blaze a thorough look and understood that he had already made his decision; he smiled and then said, "Then your participation in the Agni Trial must be announced in today's Banquet."

"The banquet? Do we really need to announce it today?"

"Of course my lord! Think about it; all the noblemen of Agnisthal, the envoys from other royal families, everyone will be present there. If you were to announce your participation in the trial in front of all those people, Even Crown prince would have to think twice before trying anything like this again."

Really, such fast thinking, only an experienced strategist could come up with a plan of action this fast. Blaze quickly realized the importance of this immediate announcement.

"Fine, go attend the banquet for now, I'll join you shortly. I-uh need to talk to my mother, she deserves to know about all this."

"As you wish, my lord." Calix departed. Blaze went up to Nila's room, and knocked on the door.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Nila had just finished getting ready to attend the banquet, seeing Blaze return to her room made her think that he had come to nag her get ready faster.

"Oh! You don't need to keep rushing me ha, I'm already rea……"

Blaze had already entered the room, Nila immediately recognized the look on his face; so she asked him with great concern, "What happened?"

"It was him. He planned it all." Blaze told Nila everything he found out about this incident; she was totally taken aback by what Blaze was saying, she couldn't believe any of it. And after keenly listening to Blaze Nila finally asked, "So now what? What do we do now?"

"I'm here on Prince Blaze's behalf to announce his participation in the Trial of Agni as the 2nd Prince of the Royal Agnihotri Family!!", Calix made this announcement standing on a high pedestal. Every single noblemen present in the Banquet was utterly surprised by this sudden turn of events as they all knew how the illegitimate prince had refused to take part in the trial several times previously.

But all their shock combined didn't stand a chance against Ansh's confusion about what the hell could've caused this. But he knew very well that this sudden advancement needed to be dealt with immediately. Ansh whispered something to one of his knights; the knight then nodded and rushed out of the banquet.

The Emperor questioned Calix in a threatening manner, "You come into the Banquet and announce something so pivotal just like that, as if it's of no significance. Do you have any idea how you would be punished if the Prince were to deny this announcement."

"I do know actually. But If I'm a good judge of character, which I like to think of myself as, I am quite certain that Prince Blaze will never go back on this decision. And if you ask me your highness, then I'd say judging by the reason he had to take this decision, he might even pass the trial and beat the other prince."

"ATROCIOUS!!!", Ansh couldn't keep his demeanor anymore, "How dare you say that a lowly bastard child like him could ever defeat my, MY SON?!!"

"Calm down honored Crown Prince; I only said what I believe and judging by the fact that freedom of speech is quite respected in Agnisthal, I would say you have no right to yell at the Royal Head Strategist like that in front of all the foreign envoys."

Ansh was brimming with anger both from Blaze's sudden objection and a mere servant's audacity. He certainly would've punished Calix then and there, but couldn't do it as the Emperor would never allow it in a royal banquet.

Then Calix spoke again, "And in my opinion you should realize that I shan't be held accountable for what the Prince had asked of me. Prince Blaze will soon join the banquet; you should save your queries for him; I'm quite sure he would like to answer them.

"Yeah, we'll see about that!" the anger on Ansh's face was clearly visible as he marched away from Calix.

"What's with all the commotion?" Asked a fair girl wearing a gorgeous white gown and the boy beside her who seemed not more than 1 or 2 years older than her answered, "Not too sure, but I heard There's an illegitimate prince named uhhh, Blaze or something maybe?"

"Illegitimate prince?"

"Yeah, the father's identity is unknown or something. That prince doesn't even have their family name I heard."

"A prince without a Royal title? Heh! Fascinating." The young lady and her brother were part of the Royal envoy of the great 'Nation of Atlan', the crown princess and the 2nd prince of their nation; both of them had light blue hair and green eyes. Remona, the princess asked her brother, "Why has he not arrived yet?"

"Who? That prince?"

"Yes! There was such a vital announcement regarding him and yet, he's not here yet."

"Oh! Don't think about him. I highly doubt that bratty prince will even attend the banquet."

"Ruk! Don't say stuff like that out loud!! And how are you so sure he is 'bratty' anyway?"

"Oh come on! He grew up without a father, of course his mother spoiled him rotten."

Remona always hated this belief of Ruk that all the mothers are capable of is giving birth and keeping their children healthy, and that person's character can only be constructed by their father; but she knew no matter how much she argued he would not change his beliefs so she chose to remain silent.

Remona thought to herself, "I wonder what that prince is doing right now."

Blaze was dying.