The Savant Knights Order, the most powerful military force in the Kingdom of Savant, was permanently stationed within the city's inner and outer districts.
While safeguarding members of the royal family, they were also responsible for the defense of Savant City.
Although this army numbered just over twenty thousand soldiers, every single one of them was a Transcendent.
Even though ninety percent were low-tier Transcendents, they could still easily sweep aside the kingdom's other knightly orders.
Their loyalty was even less in question. Behind every knight stood a noble family.
For the sake of their own family's wealth and prestige, they were among the staunchest supporters of the crown.
Logically speaking, given their extraordinary standing within the Kingdom of Savant, their treatment would not diminish even if they refrained from participating in the royal succession struggle.
But the Order's commander, Marquis Tyler, clearly did not see it that way.
Savant had enjoyed years of peace. Aside from occasionally dispatching troops to reinforce the Watchtower Wall, they had little opportunity to earn military merit.
Thus, although his strength had already reached the Fifth Tier, without a feat impressive enough to convince the public, he still could not be promoted to duke.
Nor could he advance further in rank.
While his current position already placed him among Savant's upper elite, human greed had no limits.
At present, he could only be considered the fourth most powerful figure in the military.
Above him stood two dukes who guarded the kingdom's borders, as well as the Marshal of the Army stationed in the capital.
Marquis Tyler had no illusions about obtaining the position of a territorial duke.
The ancestors of those two dukes had been founding heroes of Savant. Their titles and positions were hereditary.
Unless one belonged to their families, outsiders could never inherit their status.
The office of Marshal of the Army, however, was a different matter.
The previous marshal had died defending the Watchtower Wall when the Free Nation fell.
As a result, the position had remained vacant for two years, with no suitable successor appointed.
Among all the contenders, Marquis Tyler was by far the most qualified.
Because of their status, the two dukes could only return to Savant City during the New Year to report to the crown. Under normal circumstances, they were forbidden from leaving their territories.
Among the remaining candidates, Tyler commanded the strongest army and possessed the greatest influence.
In other words, he was only one step away from claiming the position.
The upcoming royal succession contest was an opportunity he had been waiting for for a very long time.
What he had not expected was that Duke Frick, merely returning to report his duties, would end up losing everything.
Both he and his family had been utterly ruined by his foolish actions.
The enormous debts would force the family to sell off their territories to repay them.
Within a few years, the entire Frick family might become landless nobles because of this disaster.
And it was precisely because he understood the consequences that the duke had ended his life so decisively.
Commander Tyler felt some regret for Duke Frick.
But what he regretted even more was the gold he himself had lost in the recent crisis.
Yes—despite being commander of the Savant Knights Order, Tyler had also made a small investment in the gelatin market.
However, he had not been blinded by greed like a gambler.
What he had invested was merely the savings he had accumulated over the years, along with the gold subsidies that were supposed to be distributed to the knights this year.
The amount was not insignificant.
According to the kingdom's regulations, ordinary knights received fifty gold coins a year.
Second-Tier knights received more, up to five hundred gold coins.
Third- and Fourth-Tier knights had no such subsidies, since the bulk of their income came from their own fiefs.
The subsidies for lower-tier knights mainly existed because many of them had no fiefs at all, or were second sons within their families who had no right to inherit titles or lands.
Even so, the Savant Knights Order's annual military budget amounted to ten million gold coins.
And Commander Tyler had staked half of it.
Although he often skimmed funds or falsified payrolls in the past, this time he had truly lost half the soldiers' pay.
Even if he refrained from taking kickbacks this year and distributed the remaining five million in full, it might still provoke dissatisfaction among the knights.
After all, under the usual arrangement, he only skimmed about ten percent from each person—and even that portion had to be shared among several squadron commanders.
But under the current circumstances, even if he bribed the squadron commanders, they might not be able to suppress the anger of the ordinary knights.
Unless he could somehow make up the missing gold.
But a deficit of five million gold coins…
Even if he sold himself, he could never repay that.
Commander Tyler rubbed his temples with a headache.
Now he understood why so many people had chosen to jump from buildings after the crisis.
He truly regretted listening to that fool Duke Frick and secretly diverting the military funds.
The only remaining solution was to borrow money.
But who could possibly produce such a massive sum?
The Fourth Princess was the first to be ruled out. As a royal princess, she had no personal territory, and most of the wealth she had accumulated had already been spent bribing and recruiting noble allies.
Which meant the only remaining candidate was the other duke who supported the Fourth Princess.
But Tyler was not close to that duke—they were merely political allies.
And once he borrowed money from the man, he would forever be in a weaker position in their future dealings.
As he gazed out the window at the gloomy sky, worrying about how to fill the missing gold, a knight knocked on the door and spoke from outside.
"Commander, Her Highness the Seventh Princess has come to visit."
"The Seventh Princess?"
Tyler frowned.
He could not understand why, at such a critical moment, the Seventh Princess—one of the royal succession candidates—would visit the headquarters of someone who supported the Fourth Princess.
Did she not fear that he, as a supporter of the Fourth Princess, might detain her by force?
After all, such incidents were not unheard of in Savant's history.
But after considering his current predicament, Commander Tyler still gave his order to the knight outside.
"Escort Princess Hiness to the conference room."
After speaking, Tyler frowned and pondered for a moment before picking up the longsword from the weapon rack.
Then he pushed open the door and walked out.