Chapter 265: The Magic Electric Fan Makes Its Debut!

"Mius, what do we do? If those envoys are swayed by the Second Prince, all western trade will fall into that man's hands!"

Adry and Mius were also present in the banquet hall of the Agate Manor today.

This was the reward for winning the previous competition.

Watching the dispute between the First and Second Princes, Adry could not help but ask Mius beside him in concern.

Clearly, the two belonged to the First Prince's faction.

It wasn't that they wanted to pick sides, but at their status, if you truly wished to offend no one, you'd be doomed to mediocrity for life.

Ten years ago, things were still better.

Back then, the King's health was still strong; all one needed was loyalty to His Majesty.

Now, the King's health is deteriorating daily, and the transfer of royal power is imminent.

In truth, it is the First and Second Princes who handle the kingdom's affairs.

The reason the First Prince, despite his legal right of succession, faces such rivalry is much the same as in most noble family disputes.

The King's first Queen died unexpectedly, and he soon married another duke's daughter.

That duke's daughter later gave birth to a prince as well.

With her mother's guidance and arrangements, and backed by her maternal Clan Gongjuan, the struggle for the throne naturally arose.

"I have a plan!" Seeing the First Prince's face darken like stormwater, Mius suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"What plan? Can you even produce a gift better than the Second Prince's?"

"Exactly! I originally planned to unveil it after the banquet, but now it seems I don't need to wait!" Mius nodded and swiftly waved to his personal servant behind him.

After giving a few brief instructions, the servant quickly left.

"Mius, when did you become so wealthy? You actually have something worth more than the Water-Condensing Pearl?" Adry stared in disbelief.

"Adry, do you think I was ever poor?" Mius snapped.

"Not poor, but not much richer than me—so those three Water-Condensing Pearls are worth at least seven or eight gold coins. Are you really going to produce a gift worth four hundred gold coins to crush it?"

"And another thing—these fellows are from the Western Duchy; the Water-Condensing Pearl is right up their alley!"

"I know what you mean, Adry—just watch the show!" Mius was utterly confident.

At that moment, Mius's personal servant returned.

After re-entering the hall, he walked straight toward the front where the First Prince sat.

Of course, a lowly servant like him could not approach the First Prince—he was immediately blocked by a nearby attendant.

He whispered a few words into the attendant's ear, who then stared in surprise at Marquis Mius.

Marquis Mius nodded. The attendant wasted no time and hurried to the First Prince's side, whose face was as dark as ink.

At first, the First Prince showed no change, but after hearing the attendant's whisper, his expression turned to astonishment.

Then the Griffon First Prince stared incredulously at Marquis Mius, who nodded again.

"Wait!"

The same scene unfolded—this time, it was the First Prince who halted the envoys.

The envoys, on the verge of accepting the Second Prince's gift, were startled by the interruption.

Yet in an instant, their faces lit up with even greater delight.

They longed for the First and Second Princes to fight tooth and nail—only then could they extract greater benefits.

"Big brother, do you have another gift to offer these envoys?"

The Second Prince was initially surprised, but recalling the intelligence he'd received earlier,

he was certain his elder brother's gifts were limited to what had already been shown. His confidence returned instantly, and he asked with a sly smile.

What he didn't expect was that the First Prince smiled and nodded: "Yes! Kaelen, I do have another gift not yet presented!"

With that, the First Prince waved his hand before the astonished nobles.

Immediately, two attendants entered the hall, carrying a wooden box on a silver stand.

The attendants swiftly placed the silver stand at the center of the hall, then opened the box.

To everyone's confusion, the box contained only a circular iron disc.

"Huh? There seem to be patterns on it!"

"Not decorative patterns—those are runes! Faint, but clearly different from ornamentation! Is this a magical artifact?"

"It does seem so, but this magical artifact is absurdly cheap—look at the material, it's not even silver!"

"Correct! That sheen? Definitely iron!"

At this point, someone sharp-eyed noticed the disc's peculiarities.

And everyone now recognized it as a magical object.

"Pfft! Big brother, what kind of gift is this? It's magical, yes—but made of iron? How pitiful!"

Seeing his brother's unexpected gift, the Second Prince's earlier shock vanished completely.

This magical artifact was ludicrously shoddy—could it even produce any noticeable magic?

Several envoys stared in astonishment at the First Prince.

Though the First Prince's Nightlight Pearl had been inferior to the Water-Condensing Pearl, they knew it was still valuable.

But this iron magical object? Even if offered to them, they'd be reluctant to accept—it was far too degrading.

"Kaelen, don't rush—you'll see soon enough!"

The Griffon First Prince had already learned from his attendant that Mius had sworn this gift would outshine the Second Prince's.

Deeply trusting Mius, he felt considerable confidence.

He then waved to Mius's personal servant.

The servant immediately activated the Magic Electric Fan.

Hummm!

The runes flared to life, glowing as the light spread along every engraved line.

Whoooosh!

Once saturated with magic, a powerful gust suddenly erupted from the disc.

One envoy happened to be facing the disc directly.

As the wind struck him, his robes and hair fluttered wildly.

The envoy froze for a moment.

Then, snapping back to awareness, he leapt to his feet.

"This… how is this possible? The disc is producing wind?!"

Though the Griffon Capital was not particularly hot,

in such a crowded hall, with roasted meats and hot dishes, sweating was perfectly normal.

This gust of wind instantly dispelled the envoy's oppressive heat.

Such an unusual sensation made the envoy from the desert kingdom immediately grasp the disc's value.

His homeland, the Red Rock Duchy, was perpetually scorching—even winter temperatures rarely dropped below those of the Griffon Kingdom's summer.

Thus, what they lacked most, besides water, was cooling.

For someone of his status, cooling was even more vital than water.

After all, it was the commoners who suffered from thirst—not the nobility.

But heat? Unless one had ice, there was truly no solution.

Worse still, in the Red Rock Duchy, ice cellars were accessible only to the royal family.

Because storing ice was utterly impractical.

The only source of ice was for mages to conjure it.

But how many nobles could afford to hire mages just to make ice?