After a whole triad of puzzle solving Arthur had finally completed the trail that lay before him and was finally granted the access to his father's words once more.
Arthur felt a sense of longing as he looked at the book.
And took a deep breath before he could dive into its contents.
He got up checked the lock in his windows. The door was also locked. Just only an oil lamp and his engagement ring besides him. He read the first line.
" Dear Arthur, I have always loved you as my son. And I have now departed for the heavens if there exist one. And these are not the words of your father but the Former Kings of Stella. Their culmination of vast knowledge has been engraved in these texts just for you alone. When you read through. Things will become much clearer.
You must be wondering why i havent even once mentioned about traitors until now. It's because as the King it was my burden to bear. For a child, these revelations are very difficult to understand. For they don't understand things as we do.
Secondly I wanted you to live your life freely. Making friends, studying, falling in love, making terrible decisions, enjoying your youth . These things I didn't want to take away from you. That's why even after your adulthood I pushed myself as long as I could before I eventually no longer could.
I'm sure you are still shaken up with your reality. As was I and my father and his father and so on.
As Arthur read the text the tears which couldn't flow started to flow and fell on the table slightly wetting the book. His vision was blurred as his eyes watered. He wiped his silent tears off as his face was no longer belonged to a king but just an innocent boy. Arthur still remained vigilant he couldn't bear anyone to see him. He quickly looked at the windows. And through the window he saw the stars brightly glimmering in the night. Still suspicious he opened the window and looked everywhere even up. But he could not find anyone. Thus his suspicion was cleared. He removed a handkerchief embroidered with the royal symbol of the Kingdom from his pocket and wiped his eyes with it.
And once again started reading.
His father's voice continued to play in his head as he read.
I am sure you can figure everything out on your own. But let me impart you with a few teachings. Firstly doubt everything. Anything you hold, wear, eat, drink, use can always be poisoned. Secondly, from now on try to prepare your own meals. But doing so will always garner suspicion thus always have a reason ready. Thirdly when eating always eat with many people of different factions. This will improve your chances of survival. But never let anyone get close to you. Even Sieg.
Arthur felt as if his was just reading some survival tips. His expectations slightly fell. But advice was genuinely helpful although Arthur was expecting something personal in the moment. But Arthur kept reading on the tips one by one.
Flipping through the pages as if there was no end to them.
Some of them were extremely redundant some of them were non sensical for this day and age.
Finally after reading thoroughly through the various tips.
Finally after the tenth page.
This is how I had lived my life but I won't ask you to do the same. Live however you want. For there is no one except God who can tell you how to live your life.
Arthur noticed that the word God was bolded over. In across all of these pages thus was the only thing that was bolded. Arthur looked over it and continued.
The next section were again encoded in a random sequence. Thus Arthur had to figure out the sequence again. Arthur was now getting tired of the constant roadblocks and his eyes were now slightly dropping from intensely staring and decoding the book. Coupled with the mental stress and dodging assassination attempts.
But the more he read the more he wanted to read ahead.
He painstakingly dedicated himself to decode the format again and once again was rewarded. His eyeballs had become red and strained from excess concentration.
And once again his father spoke.
I always knew you loved reading and solving puzzles. As well as how you used to read some novels in your free time after you had been drilled with every subject in your head at my command. Because you had so little time you couldn't even play with the 'friends' and 'best friend' Seig.
While reading through the words Arthur began to remeniscnece the past. He remembered how for 12 hours a day he was just studying. His father had appointed many renowned scholars in their field and they poured everything they had into Arthur. Drilling every theory, every formula, every teaching that they had received into him. Although they many times preferred practical experience.
Arthur's swordsmanship teacher urged him many times to fight in battlefields in order to get him killed . But Arthur always prevailed. His political teacher ordered him to make alliances using false techniques which his Father caught on and straightened him out. Thus he was able to make many political 'allies'.
Now then prepare yourself for the final lecture I'm going to depart you with.
I've spent my life in order to jot down my final teachings. And during my observation there was a peculiar thing I observed.
The traitors were never a sole unit. They were always serperate divided into factions. Each not knowing that the other is a traitor. For them others are very loyal to the kingdom. Take advantage of this very fact. And keep them under your palms. Use them to keep other powers in check.
The primary factions that I discovered are noted below with their explanation :
1. The Royalist :
They deem to serve the throne. Very handy in emergencies and regular deployance. But maintain distance. Since they are most likely to close distance with the King. They demand more rewards and honor than others.
2. Anti Royalist :
The sole reason I never had more than one heir. If I had two heirs they would take the other side effective immediately. They push democracy among the public. And want to end monarchy. Even though they themselves are nobles and terrible liers. They are against Monarchy in Stella itself.
3. The industrialist :
The merchants and industrialist who know nothing more than money and power. Thus they will try everything what their money can do to strip you of your own power. Economy is their weapon and innocent lives are their shield. But their weakness is the double edged sword of Economy, Rules and regulations itself. Create rules to restrict their trade and regularly shut down their unofficial businesses.
Root out the darkness from Stella in the name of righteousness.
4. Religion of Stella :
A religion that is as old as the kingdom of Stella itself. They worship neither a god nor any deity but Stellarium itself. Just as the comet fell a small chunk broke off and fell somewhere deep in the mountains. Someone found it and began worshipping it as their God. And now except us everyone worships it.
They are the biggest threat to your regime. For just one word from them will turn everyone against you.
They are very stubborn, and using them as pieces might be difficult. They will try very hard to convert you into a believer. Never fall for their words.
And finally the Invaders, consisting of refugees, ambassadors and spies from all over the 11 kingdom. They enter through illegal routes and act as spies for their kingdom. They assimilate into the locality and slowly replace them. And even if they are caught and killed new replacements always show up elsewhere.
Even within them, each spy faction from one kingdom doesn't know about the other. I don't know if this is a miracle or something much more deeper or deliberate. But keep it that way.
With this I have taught you everything that I could now it is up to you. To move forward.
You are not a boy anymore, you are a King who must stand his ground no matter what happens. If you find yourself alone. I shall be with you even in death.
With this final sentence the page ended. Arthur flipped the page to reveal another page with a date written on it. It was months from now. He remembered while flipping through the pages that there were similar things dates written.
He still tried to read ahead but the Stellarium ring won't burn through the pages. Arthur at first thought it might be due to change in ciphers and decryption methods. Thus he began to once again repeat the cycle again. Shading, burning exposure the chemicals, the new stellarium methods. But none of them worked. Finally he had come to terms with the date. Arthur was growing more and more eager on what was written in the book. There might be many ways to force the book to reveal its secrets. But they also come with significant risks.
Thus Arthur had to close the book. And he hid it in a secret compartments within two drawers. Whose location is only known to Arthur and the Former King. He opened the windows to let some clean air inside. Finally he took a deep breath. He tilted his chair a little bit backwards and looked up at the darkened ceiling and started reflecting on his father's words.
Because of the wind the oil lamp which was illuminating the room went off. And it fell into the clutches of darkness. Arthur sighed as he got up from his chair and left the room. Finally he crashed on his royal bed and as soon as he laid down within a few minutes he was asleep. And his day had ended.