While Henwell hustles to build up his permanent defenses, far off to the east, Arius receives a letter.

  Spping his thigh, Arius boasts to Karitan, “I told you, my brother’s fucking unstoppable! Look—he’s already a Grand Knight!”

  Karitan ughs and teases, “Didn’t Henwell say he hasn’t reached the Grand Knight rank yet?”

  Arius waves it off, “Doesn’t matter! What matters is Henwell’s barely in his twenties. Even if he’s not officially a Grand Knight, he’s damn close.”

  ”You know what that means? He’ll easily secure the Grand Knight rank before thirty. And by fifty, he’s likely hitting Iron Knight! From then on, every faction on this continent has to take Henwell seriously. Any demands he makes will be weighed carefully.”

  Karitan wraps her arms around Arius from behind, “Henwell is definitely exceptional. But you’ve gotta step up too. Build your power base strong—your strength directly boosts Henwell’s.”

  ”Only when you’ve got enough capital can you fully leverage Henwell’s promising future as a Grand Knight. When you fight for the throne, whether it’s Henwell’s personal power or his army, both will be crucial to your success.”

  Arius falls into thought, already pnning the next moves about his territory.

  Count Jansen, upon hearing the news, takes a moment to visit Henwell and asks, “Henwell, be honest with me—have you already become a Grand Knight?”

  Henwell doesn’t hide it, “Yeah, I have. But my path is a bit different from the usual Grand Knights…”

  Jansen paces in the tent for a while, “No need to expin. Paths at this level are already secret. Besides, your experience won’t help me break through. I just needed to confirm you’ve got Grand Knight strength! That makes things a hell of a lot easier moving forward.”

  Henwell chuckles awkwardly, “Uncle, I just barely broke into Grand Knight. Compared to those veteran Grand Knights, I’m still way behind!”

  Count Jansen sizes Henwell up for a moment and says, “You don’t get it! A Grand Knight is fucking crucial for any power faction. They usually live over two hundred years and maintain solid combat ability well past 150. That means once you become a Grand Knight, you can protect your family for at least a century. That’s a essential condition for any major force to survive.”

  “Plus, having a Grand Knight on our side means any assassination attempts against us are basically pointless.”

  ”You think the big powers don’t try to off each other’s key figures because they’re pying nice? Hell no. It’s because everyone’s got hidden aces—the Grand Knights. These guys stay in the shadows, rarely showing their faces.”

  ”If an assassination fails, or worse, if you miss the other side’s Grand Knight, it doesn’t matter who you are—even the royal family has to live on edge, unless they never leave the pace. Otherwise, they’re always at risk of getting killed.”

  “Here’s an example: now that you’re a Grand Knight, how confident are you that you could assassinate Amir?”

  Henwell thinks it over and immediately gets Jansen’s point.

  If he’s willing to go all-in, with no territory to defend, assassinating a king isn’t that hard for him.

  If Henwell stakes out Amir’s movements long enough, and Amir dares to leave the pace or step away from his guard, Henwell’s got a 100% shot at killing him.

  At the same time, Henwell understands why Jansen’s so fired up.

  Their alliance isn’t short on money or troops.

  After this war, the st weak spot in their coalition is finally covered.

  They’ve got elite legions and top-tier personal strength.

  From now on, Peace Haven and the Phoenix family officially step onto the continent’s main stage.

  It’s just a corner of the spotlight, but they’re no longer just the audience sitting in the stands.

  Compared to Count Jansen’s excitement, the Bloodgold Pin Campaign is straight-up terrifying for Grand Duke Amir.

  A Grand Knight not even thirty, commanding three elite legions—that’s enough to give Amir a serious headache.

  While the continuous rewards keep flowing into Peace Haven, Amir starts seriously thinking about a harsh reality: should he pass the throne to Arius?

  It’s a practical question. Though Amir’s still healthy and could live for decades, he can only rule for another twenty years at most before stepping down—that’s the continent’s rule.

  No king can reign more than fifty years.

  And who set this rule? Obviously, some stronger force.

  Otherwise, no one would willingly give up power. The taste of authority is just too sweet, and no one wants to walk away voluntarily.

  Power is never shared—even with your own bloodline heirs!

  In twenty years, Henwell will be in his early forties, a seasoned peak Grand Knight.

  During those two decades, with Henwell holding the fort and commanding the troops, Peace Haven and the Phoenix family alliance will only grow stronger.

  Who could possibly control Henwell once Amir steps down?

  By then, with a marriage alliance to Count Marcus and the Phoenix family’s backing, plus the close ties between Fabio of the Western Territories and Henwell, the power bance will shift heavily.

  Except for Arius, who’s tight with Henwell and can keep this beast in check, none of Amir’s other sons could ever command Henwell’s loyalty.

  How the hell did it come to this?!

  Amir’s muttered this more than once these past few days.

  If he’d known Henwell had Grand Knight potential, he would have snapped him up ages ago.

  Hell, he’s got a daughter—marrying her off to Henwell wouldn’t have been a bad move either!

  While Amir’s head is spinning, Count Marcus in the eastern territories is grinning from ear to ear.

  “Hahaha… I told you that kid Henwell was destined for greatness! See? Didn’t I call it? You all looked down on him before, but now he’s got three elite legions under his belt and he’s a Grand Knight. Peace Haven’s rolling in cash too. A young talent like that should be my fucking son-in-w! Hahaha…”

  By the end, Marcus can’t help but burst into loud ughter again.

  The others just nod along, praising the Count’s keen eye.

  Gunter mutters under his breath, “Wasn’t it just yesterday you were calling Henwell a toad?”

  Later, Marcus finds Melissa and tells her to take a trip to Peace Haven.

  Melissa pouts, “No way! You’re suddenly interested in Henwell now?”

  Count Marcus says, “Huh? I’ve always had my eye on him! Otherwise, how else could he have gotten close to you? Hurry up! Plenty of people are watching him now. If you wait too long, he might end up in someone else’s arms!”

  Melissa thinks it over and realizes he’s got a point. She quickly gets ready to go.

  If some woman from another family beats her to it, she’d be a joke!

  Meanwhile, while Marcus is busy bragging about his perfect son-in-w, Fabio gets the news and kicks his chair to pieces.

  “Damn it—that old fool really disturbed me!”