"Double or nothing," Julius confirmed with a smile that carried both amusement and satisfaction. "The nobles are desperate, Ren. Your crushing display in the mid-year exams terrified them."
Selphira nodded, her expression becoming more serious. "They saw what you achieved. Three first places with margins that made their own heirs look like less than mediocre students. And more importantly, they saw how much power you've acquired even without the rewards you are fighting to keep."
"Resources, connections, loyalties," Julius enumerated, counting on his fingers. "In record time, you built a power base that takes the most powerful nobles decades to establish. And you're still growing."
"They got scared," Selphira said simply. "Thinking about the enormous obstacle you'd represent later if they let a 'successor' be born, a 'new Dragarion'. So they put all their eggs in this, the last basket."
