2 weeks ago

Royal Capital, Northeast Althia

From the western balcony of the castle, Adrius could see almost nothing but a pure white, with a hint of sepia from the old tiled roofs of the suburbs. "It's like living in a snowball," thought the young prince. After a quick breakfast, he mounted his horse and began patrolling the kingdom with the Kingsguard. He asked his father's permission to do this, so that he could understand a bit more about people's living conditions, listen to their needs and help them as much as possible. After all, that's what a future King should do. And with a winter "crisis" unfolding here, Adrius felt the importance of being part of this duty.

Winter must have ended three months ago on the entire continent, but in Althia, the snowfall showed no sign of stopping, and cold winds were still "wilding" in every corner of the kingdom. This is something unprecedented. According to historians, the longest winter in the history of the Kingdom so far lasted only about midway through the first Sylvie’s month (the Spring Tree Gods), and that was almost a hundred years ago. Now, that record has officially been broken, the Althia Historical Institute is about to get busy with a bunch of new records.

But at least they still have jobs. Many residents of Althia were suffering miserable conditions due to the effects of the long winter, mainly the working class: jobs loss, crops destroyed, cattle perished, ponds frozen,... Roads were covered with snow, and vehicles were almost immobile. The number of people who die from the cold is increasing day by day. The lack of heating equipment for people has also become a dilemma. Fire mages are being mobilized to the very last man to create thermal domes for each area, but if winter continues, within 1-2 months, the energy reserves from the Firestone Tower will run out.

The King was using all the aid he could manage to support his people, from the great houses of Althia to the neighboring countries. Of course, the aid will come with terms of concession to numerous political benefits such as lands, economic contracts or the exploitation of resources in common territories, etc. This is really Althia's most vulnerable period of time. If a war broke out, this Kingdom would hardly withstand for 6 months, even though it is considered to have the strongest mage force among the human nations. Not to mention the situation in the country is also troubled, especially with the seeds of unpredictable turmoil from religious organizations. Controlling the situation and preventing the plots is also one of the important tasks that Adrius is entrusted with when patrolling with the King's Guard.

It all started when the King announced that he would stop all the investigations into the cause of the unusual weather crisis due to its fruitless result, and focus all his efforts on finding solutions. Many theories that have been put forward, mainly related to magic. However, no one can say for sure, because although Althia contains the largest research archives of elemental magic, the power to manipulate weather is something impossible. And even if that kind of power exists, controlling it on a national scale for such a long period of time would require a huge amount of energy. And the fact that authorities could not state a satisfactory answer had indirectly created the opportunity for heretic cults to emerge and expand, enticing people to believe in their crazy theories.

One of them was the Heralds of Dantorg. This cult believed that Althia was suffering from the wrath of God due to the construction of the Earthstone Tower in the sacred Royal woods - the place used to be the church of Dantorg, the God of Destruction. Just last month, Adrius and the Imperial army assaulted and prevented a ceremony where they were going to perform a ritual sacrifice of a little girl under the pretext of being "an offering to the gods to end winter". Although many people were arrested after that incident, with the current situation, they will act more publicly and recklessly. A large part of the population was in crisis and lost faith in Althia's executive system, therefore they needed to find another source of spiritual support in this chaotic time. Although most of them, if not blindly, were created for personal gain.

It was hard to blame people since Althia always kept a peaceful and open attitude towards all religions, and specific policies on ritualistic activities have not been really seriously discussed. Adrius himself is also a devout believer of the Order of Light - the religion worshiping the Ryka, God of Light, also the most popular one in this land. However, other churches are still fairly treated, without favoritism, because in a land where magic flows in every current of life like in Althia, people accept the coexistence of different gods. So choosing who to put one’s faith in is the freedom of each individual. And at the end of the day, they all worship the Creator - the entity that is said to have created this entire Universe, and all other gods. He or she is called by many names, but the most common is Enox, which is also the origin of the phrase Enotias - The Universe in the Ancient Tonge.

After finishing his patrol, Adrius returned to the Palace and attended meetings in the Sorcerer’s Hall. This place was previously used only once a month for Althia's Mage Council to discuss urgent matters, but now almost every day someone came to see or be summoned to demonstrate the solution to the Kingdom's deadlock. Many ideas had been proposed but so far all were ineffective or only temporary. One wanted to create a weather seal around the kingdom - not feasible as it would not only block snow but also other types of weather. Another idea was to build an artificial sun to increase the temperature, dispel the cold - but the cost of resources and manpower is too expensive. A wizard from Blimus - the Cave Empire even boldly suggested that the people of Althia should move to settle underground, his kingdom would gladly share lands. What an offer too tempting to refuse…once you're dead!

Another day passed with no results, until a letter arrived. The address was from the Starglance Astronomical Institute, the sender is a scholar named Damian. In the letter, he eloquently declared that he had found a way to end the winter in Althia. Tomorrow he will go to the Capital to express it directly to the King, hoping to receive a well-deserved grant for his Institute. In fact, this is not the first time a letter with similar content has been sent. However, there was something about this letter that caught Adrius' attention. Its seal was a special kind, made specifically for the exchange of important information with Lords and high ranking officials. And only those individuals have special tools to open this type of seal. If someone tries to open it by other means, all information inside the letter will be destroyed. The scholar, Damian, used this special seal, proving that the information inside must be extremely urgent, and he wanted it to reach the correct address without being detected. However, from what he had read, Adrius did not feel there was any special information. Yes, finding a solution to the country’s dilemma is important, but thousands of letters with similar content are sent every day. Besides, he just expressed his wish to see the King tomorrow, not anything else…

Lost in his thoughts, Adrius was suddenly awakened by Florence's call. She is the lady of Hestic family - the second most powerful house in Althia and his childhood friend. The two started talking about the letter.

- Maybe he's just exaggerating his appearance. Want to be sure that his trip will bring back something, for example?

- But I don't feel that way. He wrote very succinctly, feeling like he didn't want to reveal anything. If that's the case, then why he used this kind of seal, it will only attract more attention?

- Or is he hiding something behind the letters? Let me try some small experiments.

These "small experiments" that Florence refers to here are some methods of quantitatively testing paper, ink and envelopes, to see if they contain any kind of secret spell. Despite her usual appearances with gorgeous gowns and a tremendous love for nail art, Florence is the type of person who isn't afraid to do field work. She is also passionate about scientific research, alchemy, and different types of seals. And in the field of finding hidden messages, she is a true expert. That's also why Adrius felt even more frustrated when, after a few hours in the lab, Florence declared, "All is perfectly fine!"

- So nothing suspicious at all? I still have a hunch that something is not right…

- Yeah, you and your hunch always make people uncomfortable!

- No, I don't mean to criticize your workmanship. I completely trust this result. It's just,... I don't know… maybe we are not looking at the right place.

- Perhaps so. But it's late, we should go home now. You will have your answer tomorrow anyway.

- I hope so. Let's head back.

Contrary to Florence's optimism, the "answer" did not come the next day, or the day after. The scholar in the letter did not appear. Adrius' hunch was right, something was definitely wrong with this. Early on the third day, he left the Capital for the Starglance Astronomical Institute, located in the Alburnic Mountains, to meet this man named Damian in person. Scholars here were surprised when the Royal Prince spent half a day riding here just to personally meet one of them. Looking at the somewhat dilapidated scene of the institute, Adrius thought, "He must have asked the King for funding to repair his workplace." In fact, this was the will of all the Institute staff, so when they saw a Prince visit, they welcomed him with barely-hidden welcoming excitement. Except for one - Damian, because he was not there. His room was locked, no response when called, and he was nowhere to be found on the campus of the Institute.

- That's strange. Two days ago, I saw him watering the plants in the front yard. No one has been out of the Institute for the past few days, because you know how important the work of meteorological observations these days is - said one scholar, who seemed to emphasize the phrase "meteorological observation work".

Unable to wait any longer, Adrius went to the private room of the owner of the letter. After asking permission of the Abbot to break down the door, he did it and stormed in. Finally, you meet Damian - or to be exact, what’s left of him - a lifeless corpse, sprawled on the floor with a knife stuck in his chest. “This is bad,” thought Adrius.