The Crown's Entrapment

That night, Darius called for Osman, Bartos, and Gideon into his private study. They had a lot of things to discuss in private, topics that will involve a vast majority of their current plans to outwit the enemy.

"Tomorrow, I will attend the tournament to have a confidential and telepathic discussion with Gilas," Darius informed the three present before him. Gideon had already reported to him how Gilas had shown his intention to cooperate with them, and the only thing he needed to do was to see if his intentions were true.

"Are you sure he can be trusted enough for this?" Bartos asked. "I mean, what if it's the other way around? What if this is Nasser playing us?"

"I highly doubt that," Darius shook his head. "Gilas won't involve his mother if that's the case. He wants us to ensure the safety of his mother, and that's a sign that he might be genuine."

He then frowned as a thought seemingly passed him. "On second thought, we won't put our guard down around him. We'll limit our discussion of private matters around Gilas. We won't involve him in the whole plan against Nasser, but we'll let him help us and give us more information that we need. That way, we can avoid any hiccups..."

He then looked at Osman and instructed, "Have all your capable men implement strict patrols around the Dead Sea. If possible, we can facilitate some of the pirates you trust to help so that our actions won't look too suspicious."

He hummed in thought, "We don't want to alarm Nasser... As much as possible, it's best that he sees us not gaining any progress at all in our investigations."

Well, they were making good progress, but for Darius, that wasn't enough. He wanted something that would give him the exact details regarding the death of his father...

Evidence of Nasser's corruption wouldn't be enough to sentence the man to death. As slimy as that man was, he would easily get back on his feet if they wouldn't be able to pin him dead to rights.

They needed solid proof of his crimes, which they currently didn't have enough of. While the proof of his involvement with Helion would be enough to indict him, using that alone would make prosecuting him harder than it should be.

"I understand, Sire," Osman answered. "I'll do what is needed."

Darius then turn to Gideon, only to crease his forehead with how the latter was keenly staring at him. "What is it?!" he scoffed.

Gideon gave him an awkward smile before he scratched the back of his head and said, "It's just that... You have short hair. I haven't gotten the chance to comment on it before since I was so overwhelmed with you coming back alive to us." He chuckled, "You look younger with that hair, Sire... I can't help but wonder if having short hair like that will make me look younger too..."

Darius frowned. He had almost forgotten how his hair had been messed up since that Devas didn't bother cutting it properly.

"Do you want my wife to trim your hair?" Bartos proudly suggested. "She can easily do that using her magic..."

"I'll let it be for now," Darius shook his head in reply. "I can simply wait for Xen to come back before deciding on how I should proceed further. Besides, the last time that Devas tried to mess with it, Xen became angry..."

The three simply nodded at his words.

"By the way, I can personally assist Osman in the borders of the Dead Sea from our territory," Bartos suddenly chimed in.

"Yes, please do that," Darius nodded in appreciation. "I'll have to discuss this matter with Gilas and the rest of the Alphas of the four packs bordering the Dead Sea."

It was a delicate matter in regard to territorial rights. The shore of the Dead Sea bordered six of Cordon's Territories, namely, the Silver Crescent, Black Stone, Haunted Shadow, Moon Rise, Comet, and Lock Heart packs all had land within its vicinity.

Gideon clicked his tongue and mumbled, "I don't trust the Alphas of the Black Stone and Comet on this."

Darius let out a long sigh. "I'll be careful in discussing this matter with them then," he reassured Gideon. "I'll make it look like we're doing this to combat the threat of some random pirates roaming in the Dead Sea."

Unfortunately, he still had problems with those five territories including Gilas's Silver Crescent pack. Darius's ongoing project for a proper and much more secure harbor surrounding the Dead Sea was hitting a snag with its negotiating rights, unlike Escol Harbor which was currently under construction by the Cordon Sea.

Likewise, construction was also already ongoing in the territory of Bartos's Lock Heart Pack, and Darius intended for it to extend throughout the shoreline of the Dead Sea. Thus, they would need those areas from the rest of the five packs to develop the area like what he did in Escol Harbor.

"If Gilas was sincere in cooperating, then I'm sure later he'll accept this project you have in building a proper harbor like Escol by the shoreline of the Dead Sea and its neighboring six territories," Osman pointed out.

"That's true. But for now, we can put that thing on hold till everything with Nasser has been settled," Darius replied. He then added, "To that end, Osman, I want you to coordinate with your friends out at sea... That way, we can make things more convincing."

Osman nodded in understanding. It was something that the admiral could easily do using his contacts.

"I'm quite curious to know those trusted pirates Osman have over the waters..." Gideon snorted. None of them had actually met a pirate yet except for Osman.

"You wouldn't want to make friends with them, or else you'll be robbed before you even realize what's happened," Osman humorously scoffed. That was what pirates do... steal. And as much as he had turned a new leaf, Osman was one of the best during his time, to the point that the authorities had no choice but to put a huge bounty on his head.

"That may be true, but look at how Osman had become one of the richest bachelors in our kingdom..." Darius laughed with pride. "He didn't get it all by stealing, but by his talent alone!"

"Right!" Gideon cheerily commented. He then looked at Bartos and teased, "Your sister will lay down on a bed of gold if she accepts Osman!"

It was true. Osman was way richer than the Hindman and Everett estate alone because of how he made his money with all of his inventions, particularly by selling different kinds of ships to the kingdom and merchants alike.

Bartos glared at Gideon and hissed, "My sister doesn't need riches! What she needs is a loyal man that will love her and commit himself fully to her! What is riches when she alone has enough for her own?!"

"Easy there... You're always serious in bantering..." Gideon snorted with a pout. "I was just making the atmosphere here in this room a little less thick, you know. Why do you always have to be so grumpy?!"

"But I'm loyal and committed to Lady Bella already..." Osman suddenly proclaimed, making Gideon almost choke on his own saliva.

Darius chuckled as he watched his three friends banter. His eyes then darted to Osman... He could only hope that the admiral would finally find the right one for him like how Bartos and Gideon had... and of course, as he himself had with his Xen.