The heart’s like an abyss (part 1)

Disciple of the legendary Gandalf, youngest magic scholar of the magic union, eldest son of the military's second in command, and heir to the Rowling Household (although looked down by the family, but there has never been an official announcement to abolish his position). In this series of dazzling titles, there is about to be another added to the bunch: "A member of the first council within the magic academy!"

If nothing else happens from now until his appointment, he would play out the critical role of having the last say regarding future decisions made the academy.

One vote to pass, or one vote to revoke!

Once the Magic Academy establishes, there will be a great change over the Mage monopoly of the magic union. Without a doubt, it would improve the culture of the Mage society and push him to the forefront of all this!

"I just want to know why you're telling me this news now." Du Wei looked at his father in silence: "I already knew you wanted to tell me this information after the summer festival, right? Oh, no, no, let me take a guess, you may not want to tell me in person. Instead, you wanted to get the Emperor to make the announcement during the ceremonies, wouldn't that have enough impact? My father!"

"Yes indeed." Earl Raymond nodded. Taking in a deep breath, he took a deep glance at this son of his and saw a trace of cold indifference in Du Wei's eyes. Back when the Earl first returned from his expedition out in sea, he had seen this kind of cold indifference during their first meeting. But when he summoned Du Wei back to the capital from the Rowling Plains, Raymond realized Du Wei had hid this coldness away very deeply inside and only now did these indifferent cold eyes resurface again!

Earl Raymond sighed: "I won't answer your question right away. My son, we first need to have a honest conversation before that!"

"As you wish." Du Wei shrugged his shoulders with a mocking smile.

Earl Raymond properly "ignores" the mocking tone in Du Wei's voice. With a serious face, he faced Du Wei and suddenly uttered these words out: "You are my son; this fact cannot change no matter what…. Nor can anyone else change this. You are a child of the Rowling Household!"

"... Yes. " Du Wei quietly nodded.

"The establishment of this magic academy involves a large weighing force in the future. What you need to understand right now is that you are not the only one being pushed to the forefront of this matter, there is also me!" Earl Raymond's tone became very serious: "The emperor and the president of the magic union both recognize you as the best candidate to buffer the tension between the two parties. Because your identity is not only a Mage, but also a child of an influential noble household, you are deemed as the best middleman that represents the interest of both sides. Even a genius politician would not want to so recklessly flip the table this early on because neither party can afford to suffer through the losses that would ensue! Under such a situation, everyone is looking towards you to keep the balance in check for now. In the short term, no one would want to meddle with your status and it can even be considered a good thing for you, but….."

Du Wei is a clever person so he immediately understood his father's meaning. Without waiting for his father to finish his speech, Du Wei is already sighing: "But the situation is very bad for the Rowling Household. This is what you mean right?"

"That's right!" Earl Raymond looked gloomy: "Because of your existence, you have already dragged the family into a dangerous situation!"

Du Wei is speechless.

"You are my son. No matter what happens, you are still a family member of the Rowling Household! You should remember now. When you first returned to the capital, what did I say to you in this room?"

To his father's question, Du Wei immediately replied without hesitation: "I remember. When I was in here, you said to me, 'Now that you are back in the capital, every movement you make represents the Rowling family.' The feeling behind your words that day is something I never experienced in 14 years of my life."

Speaking up to the end, Du Wei deeply looked over at his father. Though his gaze wasn't sharp like a knife, but it was enough to make the Earl turn slightly to dodge eye contact with his son.

Hesitating for a moment, the Earl finally relents and sighs: "It is precisely for this reason! The Rowling family is loyal to the Royal family, no matter the situation; the Rowling Household must side with them. All of our authority and even the family's foundation is closely tied to the Thorn Flower Flag of the Empire! And now, in our family, a marginal figure like you suddenly appeared…. indeed, the president of the magic union and the emperor both recognizes you, but under such circumstances, do you think the emperor would still trust in me like before? Would he still trust in the Rowling household?"

Du Wei didn't think too much on this question and quickly shook his head.

The answer is obviously in the negative!

The Rowling household is suddenly infected with a person with such close ties to the "enemy camp", so of course the current headstrong emperor would have traces of suspicion, or even disgust towards us.

What does a leader want? A leader wants his subordinates to have absolute loyalty towards himself! Only such people would gain the highest trust of their leader!

But now, the Rowling Household suddenly produced someone like Du Wei. Although he was forced into such a two sided position, but Du Wei's presence will undoubtedly produce some doubt in the Emperor's heart.

No matter how much the Emperor trusted the Earl before, a person cannot stop themselves when facing a subordinate harboring a member that tilts towards the enemy camp.

For your son to become a member of the magic union, do you think you can still gain my complete trust? This question would obviously be raised in everyone's mind!

Maybe if the leader in question is a person of great fortitude and holds immense wisdom; unfortunately, the current emperor isn't such a man!

"And there is also something you don't know…. The emperor's body has been waning away the past few years and his temper became so senile that it cannot be predicted. In recent years, no one in the royal court dares to cross him, fearing that his temper may be triggered at any moment." Among the Earl's words, there are traces of worries mixed in: "And the most unfortunately thing is, presuming you read a lot of history books, you should understand the tactics used by each generation of emperors before their deaths. When passing the throne to the next generation, the current emperor would always suppress some high ranking officers controlling major military authorities. This tactic is mainly used as a deterrence to block off any ministers wielding too much power that could threaten the next reigning emperor. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of this incident, his Majesty is already having different opinions regarding our Rowling Household. Think about it. When the emperor wants to suppress a military official, who would he choose in this situation?"

Du Wei replied with a somber voice: "It's most likely us."

"It's correct, and also not correct." Earl Raymond laughed bitterly: "Under the present situation, precisely speaking, you will be pulled in by his Majesty and even promoted…. As for the Rowling Household, we will be slowly suppressed. But this is not what I'm worried about because as long as you hold the position inside the magic academy, his Majesty would not overdo it to avoid pushing you towards the magic union's side. However, what I'm worried about is the long term!"

Du Wei understands his father's worry is correct.

The image of the Rowling Household always revolved around the royal family. As a core member of the nobles circle swearing fealty to the empire, the family is only able to gain its current status as a supporting pillar for the empire after hundreds of years of tradition.

But now, a "half traitor" like Du Wei appeared and is even hindered into such an important incident. This is enough to tarnish the absolute loyal image of the Rowling Household and send it down a notch.

"The emperor actually doesn't have to do anything, as long as the magic academy thing is over... After all, you can't always stay in such a position. Once you leave this post, the Rowling family would really be in trouble. Even without the Emperor deliberately oppressing us, as long as the Royal Family holds a grudge and never trust us again…. Then the day of our family's downfall is not far away!" Earl Raymond laughs bitterly: "This is what I worry about the most."

Du Wei faced his father: "Since you have thought this far, then you should have already came up with a countermeasure, right?"

"Correct." Earl Raymond expression turned ugly: "To gain the confidence of the royal family back…. Or rather, regain the trust of the 'Emperor', there is only one way and that is to earn merits! But in this era, there is no war for our family to exploit, so there is only one option left….."

"... Enthronement." Du Wei sighs again.

He finally understands it all.

For an emperor, what merit are the most valuable and what men he would most favor?

The biggest merit is enthronement! The most favored ministers are those that supported him during his enthronement!