“We begin with Muguerza Eugene Gomez, the king preceding our last king. During the Bloodfang Dynasty, there were only six candidates who battled for the throne. Generally, all families sent the one candidate that they were most confident with. However, Muguerza’s sister registered as a candidate without informing her family.”
“Normally, each family can only send one candidate. Because Malak claimed to be the candidate representing her mother’s family, and nobody from her mother’s family signed up, she successfully exploited a loophole in the competition.”
“Some said that Malak was unwilling to see her talent go to waste. Given that Muguerza was the candidate favored to win the throne war, and that there were not many candidates competing at the time—that or because the candidates were killed before the competition—she merely had to get rid of Muguerza to be guaranteed the throne.”
“…Moreover, she was the person closest to Muguerza.” Although she looked calm on the outside, this thought shook her emotionally.
“Yes, in terms of opportunities, Malak had the most. If you were in Muguerza’s shoes, what would you have done against Malak?”
“Strike first?”
“This was indeed what Muguerza did. Unfortunately, his assassination attempts failed twice in six months. Meanwhile, he had to escape three assassination attempts directed at him. He knew that if the battle went on, it would put the family in jeopardy and leave it open to external attacks. This was when a major incident transpired that changed Muguerza’s fate.”
The lizard demihuman nodded and spread open the map scroll in his hands, showing the spheres of influence and strongholds of the various families in the Desert Kingdom at the time. “At this time, the war between the kingdom and humans had not yet erupted, and the Eugene family occupied most of the trading bases along the border, where they occasionally engaged in business transactions with humans. However, an incident involving robbers killing over 50 human merchants at the border, which was not a small number at the time, changed the future.”
The girl blinked, looking bewildered and unsure about the impact that this incident had on the throne war.
“Faced with the pressure exerted by the human royal family—who sought to take advantage of the situation—following the incident, the Eugene family decided not to bow down to this matter and bravely challenged the humans. Therefore, numerous human–lizard conflicts ensued at the border. Muguerza was inclined towards waging a war, whereas Malak believed that a peaceful negotiation with the humans was more favorable.”
“So, the two siblings formed two opposing forces?”
“Yes, but Malak’s proposition was not widely accepted by the public. As a result, when she attended a fair one day, she was attacked and killed by angry people on the spot—of course, Muguerza was behind it. He successfully manipulated the hearts of the public, turning everyone into a potential Malak killer.”
“This is not something to be excited about… Although the family dispute was over, it also planted the seeds of a fall out between the humans and the Desert Kingdom.”
“Yes, you are correct. After that, the relationship between humans and the Desert Kingdom deteriorated.”
Hassad’s praise did not make her feel happy in any way.
She had no special affection for humans. Nevertheless, she felt that the strained relationship between the two parties as a result of the war could not be good for the kingdom.
