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[indent][sup][color=ab274f][b]Attire:[/b][/color] [url=https://i.imgur.com/6Xj8uUm.jpg]A toga (over a tunic) and sandals[/url]
[color=ab274f][b]Date and Time:[/b][/color] Sola 24th, Morning, following [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5537891]his chat with Edin[/url]
[color=ab274f][b]Location:[/b][/color] His office
[color=ab274f][b]Mention(s):[/b][/color]
[color=ab274f][b]Interaction(s):[/b][/color]
[/sup][/indent][/cell][/row][/table]After their discussion at The Royal Curd, father and son had left for the castle. They separated shortly after entering the fortress, and Wulfric retreated into his office. As soon as he closed the door behind himself, the dam on his underlying raging abhorrence finally cracked. He felt his expression morph into a grimace of loathing, facial muscles straining from the intensity. His body literally shook with outrage as his breathing sped up. If he’d been alone on a cliffside somewhere, he might have screamed his throat sore.

Instead, he channeled that frustration into a power walk to his bureau, where he slammed his fists onto the solid wooden surface. Everywhere he looked – the desk, the coffee table, the couches, the cork pinboard – documents on the Black Rose still littered the room. Each and every single one was a bitter reminder of the reality of the situation.

As if beckoned by his negative emotions, fragments of past memories emerged.

[i]He had been a child, 8 years of age. He was interested in all sorts of puzzles back then, and was keen on mysteries, adventure, and exploration. One thing had led to another, and he had found a way to break into his father’s office. He was rummaging around, not looking for anything in particular, when the guards he’d previously distracted finally noticed something amiss and informed Edin. 

His father was enraged, but his younger self hadn’t thought it was a big deal. He’d proudly told his father how he’d snuck in, had even said something along the lines of ‘Wasn’t that clever of me?’ He had expected to be praised for his feat. What he received was a stinging slap to the cheek. His father was shouting things, awful, mean things. Told him he needed to be punished. Next thing he knew, his hands were being switched bloody.[/i]

[i][color=DDB775]I haven’t raised a criminal![/color][/i] was a sentence he could still clearly recall from then.

That had been the first significant fracture in the trust and admiration he’d held for his father. Several years later came the final shattering, when even the few remaining speck-sized kernels of positive regard had been completely annihilated. 

[i][color=DDB775]I will not stand for this– this corruption![/color][/i]  

He couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. Though, to call that which bubbled forth from his lips a laugh was as faithful as likening muck to clear spring water. It went on and on, turning into wheezing, choking half-gasps. He had to stop when the contractions caused a physical strain in his ribs and chest. Finally, the last few coughs escaped. 

[color=ab274f]“H-hah!”[/color]

After the king had executed the one person he shouldn’t have, Wulfric had been fully intent on killing him as soon as he came of age. He’d been stopped by his mentor, though, and had been shipped off to Alidasht for a year. 

[color=ab274f]“Damn you,”[/color] he cursed, and took to pacing his office. He had long since realized his old teacher had done what he had primarily out of a concern for him. Regardless of the hows or whys, it had ultimately been his own decision not to act. To wait for the legitimate transferal of royal power from father to son. 

One of his main concerns had been what removing the stabilizing force of an established ruler – however shoddy of a ruler he was – would do to the kingdom. When he had expressed his wish to see Edin dead to Alibeth and Auguste, their worry, too, was [i]balance[/i].

It was [i]exactly[/i] what his father had said about [i]Marek Delronzo[/i].

[i][color=DDB775]The Black Rose has been a significant force in maintaining the balance of power within our kingdom.[/color][/i]

[color=ab274f]“Balance?”[/color] he hissed under his breath as he paced across his office. [color=ab274f]“[i]A balance[/i] of crime, corruption, [i]evil[/i],”[/color] he spat. He didn’t use the word ‘evil’ lightly; few things were so absolute, so black-and-white. But [i]this?[/i] A pretense of keeping order while a crime syndicate was running rampant throughout the country and beyond? [i]Allying[/i] with Marek’s ilk so they could [i]‘help’[/i] keep in check certain elements, as his father had put it? As far as he could see, what the Black Rose [i]kept in check[/i] was the whole damn kingdom!

[color=ab274f][i][b]“No.”[/b][/i][/color] This one thing, he would never do. Ally with Black Rose? Support and profit from organized crime? 

Watch and stand by as such atrocities were committed? [color=ab274f]“Not anymore,”[/color] he promised quietly.

[i][color=DDB775]Doing otherwise will significantly endanger… the very throne you sit on.[/color][/i]

He scoffed as he recalled those words. [color=ab274f][i]The throne?[/i][/color] He sneered. [color=ab274f]“What an utterly worthless thing, if it can’t protect our people,”[/color] he seethed.

No. It was high time to do away with such a treacherous influence. Still…his father did possess valuable information.

It curdled his stomach, it ignited the blood in his veins, it permeated bitterness throughout his mouth, but he had too many questions left to dispose of Edin outright. He needed to know how this state of affairs had come to be. [i]Who[/i] had first tied in their family with the criminal underworld? Edin himself or a predecessor? [i]Why?[/i] To oppose mages? To control the populace through fear? 

And what did Delronzo have on them? Did [i]Edin[/i] have anything on the man at all, or was he merely Marek’s king-puppet? It would be useful if he managed to find a way to turn the two against each other.

First, he had to at least explore that option. But if it seemed like trying to get through to Edin would yield no results in a reasonable time, then soon–!

If only he had a justification which would be easily accepted by the public– 

He stopped mid-step when he was hit by an idea as swift and powerful as a strike of lightning.

[i][color=DAF6C7]If you actually care, find out for yourself. And when you do, swear to me you’d publicly reveal what your family has done in order to stay in power. Every last one.[/color][/i]

[color=ab274f][i]“That,”[/i][/color] he realized with sudden zeal, pacing some more. [color=ab274f]“What a brilliant stratagem that could make for,”[/color] he marveled.

There were so many things he had to do, now.

Strengthen existing alliances, consolidate his base of power, extend his reach where it was weak or nonexistent…Find out who Marek’s allies were, convert those who could be, and eliminate those who refused to change their ways. 

Most importantly, he had to [i]act.[/i][/color]