An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

That night, two young men sat playing chess inside a secluded mansion in the Inner City.

On the left was Anders, who had visited the Ballard estate earlier. Across from him sat Matthias, a broad-shouldered man dressed in richly adorned robes.

The game was intense, with fast moves followed by moments of deep thought. About ten minutes later, Anders finally conceded defeat.

“Anders, you’ve really improved since we last played. You almost had me there,” Matthias said, stroking his beard in mild surprise.

“You flatter me, Your Highness. My chess skills are nothing compared to yours. If you hadn’t gone easy on me, I wouldn’t have lasted half as long,” Anders replied with a modest smile.

“You’re as smooth with words as ever.” Matthias let out a hearty laugh with a look of smug satisfaction. Winning was in his nature-whether in war or on the chessboard, defeat was not an option.

“Well, we’ve eaten, and we’ve played. Let’s get to business.” With a wave of his hand, he signaled his men to clear away the chessboard.

He wiped his hands before continuing, ” Anders, the situation in Oakvale is growing more volatile by the day. The question of who will become crown prince remains unresolved, and it’s wearing me down. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep-it’s maddening.

“You’ve pledged your support to me, so I need you to go all in. We must secure my claim before it’s too late. Only then will I finally have some peace of mind.”

“Your Highness, we’re already giving it everything we’ve got. Of the eight great families, half are now on our side. We’ve also won over many key figures in the government. Simply put, Your Highness has the greatest influence among the princes,” Anders said, bowing his head slightly.

in the government are nothing more

They won’t influence the outcome. The only ones who hold the power to sway my father’s decisions and the entire government are the four ancient

Anders a pointed look and added, 11 Your family has pledged support to me, but

secure the title of crown prince, Matthias needed the support of at least two, if not three, of the four ancient houses. If he could rally all four,

seal a marriage alliance with my family, and the union will happen soon. As for the Ballards, they need a

the Spanners?” Matthias

as the Spanner family. Hence, gaining

visiting several times, but they

family was influential and well-established. They didn’t need to rely on the Mosey family and

few tricks up his sleeve to win over

are aligned with him. The rest are just opportunistic smaller factions trying to play both sides. They won’t amount to

failing. How does someone like him

Tristan-who knew how much longer he would survive? The thought of

connections and considerable influence, especially from the Spanner family. He’s a tough

win over the Ballard family. We cannot let them

securing the Ballards’ support would