Chapter 1489: Temporary Stay, The Triumphal Arch

Just as Xia Duo finished giving his instructions, Crown King Akaola quickly familiarized himself with his body in its new state, sat up from the couch, and called Taliya, who had been waiting outside, to come in.

Perhaps knowing the importance of keeping the Crown King alive, Taliya walked straight to the Crown King upon entering and asked with concern, "Was the spell successful? How does the Crown King feel?"

"The spell was very successful, I feel very well, thank you for your concern, Elder!"

Only then did Taliya glance at Xia Duo, who was still in the Secret Ritual Chamber, and said with no small amount of gratitude, "Special Envoy Xia Duo, thank you!"

"Elder Taliya, there is no need for such formalities; everything is for the mutual benefit of our two nations. Since the Crown King is now unharmed, I must return to report to the Seventon Council."

Xia Duo was firm in his intention to leave, and Elder Taliya did not press him to stay, but a single sentence from Crown King Akaola changed Xia Duo's mind—

"The Komansuo Mianwang Special Envoy is scheduled to visit tomorrow; Special Envoy Xia Duo might as well stay an extra day and receive them with me."

Xia Duo knew that Crown King Akaola might be saying this to use him as a shield, but on the other hand, perhaps Crown King Akaola also wanted to present a token of allegiance to Netheril.

Although Xia Duo's current status was that of a secret envoy, it was not impossible to make it public if necessary.

In fact, after extending Crown King Akaola's life, his identity might no longer be kept secret; even if Komansuo could not investigate it, Akaola might not necessarily be willing to keep it a secret any longer.

This was the same logic behind Crown King Akaola asking him to stay; the other party wanted to bind themselves more deeply with Netheril, and in response, Netheril must also provide a reaction.

Even if it were not him, Xia Duo, it would be someone else.

Since he was already involved, there was no need to avoid it; it was just a Komansuo envoy, after all—surely they couldn't eat him!

……

Xia Duo naturally agreed to Crown King Akaola's invitation without hesitation, and that evening, he stayed at the Akaola court.

Of course, he also symbolically "ate" a little bit of food.

At noon the next day, accompanied by Prince Fusi, Xia Duo first toured the capital of Akaola before heading to the Kongzhong Huayuan used for receiving foreign guests.

Of course, unlike the Sun Courtyard in the capital of Ilfarlan which was completely floating, the Kongzhong Huayuan here in Akaola was merely a hanging garden built on the branches of an ancient tree.

When Xia Duo arrived, he happened to hear Crown King Akaola saying, "Crown King Yilisier is ambitious, and the roots of his rise are permeated with a thick sense of aggression. Although the Listar Forest is vast, it is difficult to block the pace of Komansuo's expansion."

Noticing Xia Duo's arrival, Crown King Akaola did not stop and continued, "For this reason, we must find an ally that has no fundamental conflict with us, to block the pressure from Komansuo for us and win us time for survival and development."

Just then, the other Elves in the garden also noticed Xia Duo's arrival and immediately began to whisper—

"A human?"

"How did a human appear here?"

"He was brought by Prince Fusi!"

"Could the ally the Crown King spoke of be a human? Is it Netheril? Or the Southern Four Kingdoms?"

……

Although most of the Elves were whispering, they made no further moves, but there were exceptions; Xia Duo noticed an arrogant-looking Elf raise the Scepter in his hand and point it at him.

The surging and vast Magic fluctuations could be clearly perceived even from far away, but Xia Duo did not react to this; instead, he smiled and met the gaze of Crown King Akaola on the throne.

Crown King Akaola's expression was calm and his eyes were deep, revealing neither joy nor anger, and he did not speak to stop it, but just as the Elf's Spell was about to be triggered, Aisibilan suddenly acted, stopped the other party, and scolded:

"To dare to be so rude to an honored guest in front of the Crown King—I wonder if the Sailedisi Jiazu has been living in comfort for too long!"

Subsequently, he introduced Xia Duo's identity to all the Elves—a Special Envoy of the Netheril Seventon Council.

"Special Envoy Xia Duo, let me introduce you to all the members of the Crown King's Advisory Group, as well as the Councilors of the Akaola Upper Family."

Xia Duo smiled and nodded to the Elves one by one; through Aisibilan's introduction and his own understanding of Elf society, he discovered that a prototype of a parliamentary system had already appeared in Akaola.

The Crown King's actual power might be much lower than he had previously imagined, and the true uncrowned king of Akaola might actually be Aisibilan, who controlled the Advisory Group!

Of course, the Crown King had somehow managed to win over Elder Taliya, who had just returned from the Elf Court, and appointed him as the new Magic Consultant.

This suppressed Aisibilan to a certain extent, but it was clear that Aisibilan's ability to control the Advisory Group was not just because he was a high-level Mage.

Otherwise, other high-level Mages might not necessarily obey him; the essence of so-called power should be the ability to divide the cake, and Aisibilan divided the cake in a way that satisfied more Elves, which was why other Elves supported him.

As for the position of Crown King, its symbolic significance was greater than its practical one.

Ever since the Kaiersaike family monopolized the position of Crown King, apart from the current Crown King's mother—who was Aisibilan's sister—the others had not met a good end.

The current Crown King just happened to hit a good time; otherwise, he might not have met a good end either!

Of course, the Crown King having little authority did not mean he had none, especially when the Crown King and Aisibilan were nephew and uncle; power might just be a matter of acting spoiled.

Xia Duo could see that Aisibilan still cared about the Crown King; whether because of power or family affection, that kind of concerned look was hard to fake.

But as an outsider, he could not see through the true relationship for the time being, though he only needed to know one thing—keep it professional.

Regardless of their private relationship, the ruler of Akaola recognized by Netheril, or rather the entire Northland Alliance, was the Crown King, not some Chief Advisor.

……

After a brief introduction, the "Lower House," composed of representatives of the Akaola Upper Family, temporarily retreated to the edge of the garden, while the Advisory Group, whose members were mostly high-level Mages, remained, separated only by a thin layer of flower vines in the middle.

Just then, Prince Fusi reported, "The Komansuo Envoy is urging us again."

"Bring them over." This time, it was the Crown King who spoke.

However, Aisibilan added, "Let them come through the Kaixuanmen street!"

"Yes."

Prince Fusi acknowledged and then left.

And Xia Duo, hearing Aisibilan's addition, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had passed through the Kaixuanmen when he arrived earlier, and Prince Fusi had introduced that the Kaixuanmen was built to commemorate the time when Akaola and Jielunsita together repelled the Drow invasion.

But the key was that the Kaixuanmen still bore the handwritten "Alliance of Never Betraying" signed by the Crown Kings of the two nations at that time.