Chapter Ten: Unexpected Bounty

Exiting the confinement cell, Gandling was still deeply troubled. The current situation of the Barov family was far from ideal; had he not intervened in time to halt the conversion of Vaelish, he likely would have failed the Lich King's very first task.

As for those two runaway fools, Gandling had no intention of risking the exposure of Scholomance to search for them.

He merely had Vaelish employ a few normal humans to inquire about the whereabouts of the two Barov young masters. However, Gandling figured that since the Lich King only required one living member of the Barov family to manage affairs, there was no need to hunt down those two good-for-nothings.

Vaelish’s competence was undoubtedly far superior to those pampered youths, and Gandling believed the Lich King would not care about the life or death of two insignificant characters—they might have once been young masters of the Barov family, but away from the Barovs, they were absolute nobodies.

"Lady Barov is truly fortunate to receive the gaze of such a magnificent entity as the Lich King."

Gandling thought to himself as he walked, until a necromancy apprentice of Scholomance tracked him down.

"Respected Dean, our informants spotted some unusual fellows in Caer Darrow today."

The Dark Dean frowned, understanding that the apprentice meant Caer Darrow had uninvited guests. "What is going on?"

"We spotted Lady Katrana Prestor of Stormwind."

"Katrana Prestor?" Gandling repeated the name, feeling a lingering sense of familiarity with the surname.

"Prestor... Wait, could this Prestor be *that* one from back then?"

The long-lost surname stirred memories from when Gandling was still a normal mage. He had indeed heard of the Prestor family, which had once caused a massive upheaval among the human ruling class.

That deeply calculating Lord Prestor had nearly secured the throne of Alterac and had even come close to marrying Alissa Menethil, the sister of Arthas Menethil.

Yet, after basking in the spotlight for a time, this mysterious lord suddenly and bizarrely vanished from aristocratic circles, sparking countless rumors.

Some said he had gone to collect the ancient treasures of Alterac; others claimed he was lurking in the shadows, controlling a vast dark force and preparing to purge anyone standing in his way to the Alterac throne.

Regardless of the conjecture, none of them could be the correct answer, for that Lord Prestor had truly vanished from the human kingdoms and never appeared again.

The identity of this Katrana Prestor was therefore quite intriguing. Could she actually be the daughter of Lord Prestor?

Gandling was quite interested in the mysterious Prestor family, but he had other matters to attend to at present and lacked the time and energy to meddle in the travel activities of a human aristocrat.

However, what puzzled Gandling slightly was why Stormwind aristocrats had recently been traveling across the entire continent, one after another, to holiday in Caer Darrow.

Not long ago, the Queen and Prince of Stormwind had taken up residence in an estate by the lake. That place was heavily guarded, and Gandling's informants had even spotted a Lordaeron privy knight there.

Thus, the Dark Dean casually asked a few more questions: "What has this Countess been doing in Stormwind?"

The necromancy apprentice reported every detail of the intelligence he had gathered to Gandling. "She possesses tremendous influence among the nobility of Stormwind. Many nobles have actually sided with her and are secretly working against the king."

"Furthermore, she also seems to have some murky, unclear connection with Bolvar Fordragon, the High Lord of Stormwind."

A strange gleam flashed in Gandling’s eyes: A high-ranking noble in conflict with the king, arriving precisely where the king's wife and son were vacationing?

Anyone who thought this was a mere coincidence had to be a complete and utter fool.

Yet, the Dark Dean also considered another matter, feeling that he might have to step away and intervene in this power struggle of the southern kingdom.

If any accidents befell the Prince and Queen of Stormwind in Caer Darrow, Caer Darrow would likely face a massive purge, and Scholomance, hidden within the Barov family castle, would very likely be exposed.

Lordaeron possessed arguably the most terrifying intelligence apparatus in the world, and the exposure of Scholomance was only a matter of time, but now was clearly not the right moment.

*Perhaps I should report the situation in Caer Darrow to His Majesty the Lich King and let him decide.*

…………

"No useful clues so far," Mograine said, shaking his head at Arthas after finishing the intelligence report. "However, I believe that relying solely on this approach leaves a high probability of omissions."

"Conducting a direct search of Dalaran was a measure born of necessity anyway; it wasn't my original goal."

Arthas skimmed the recent records of Dalaran provided by Rommath, finding nothing suspicious there either.

The feedback from the covert intelligence agents in the city was that everything was normal, as though Tichondrius and his associates had vanished into thin air without a trace.

It seemed that Mal'Ganis's death had made them realize their work still carried extremely high risks, and Azeroth, with its formidable magical civilization, was not as fragile as other worlds.

With his hand pressed against the map, Arthas's fingers danced back and forth between Dalaran and Quel'Thalas. Regardless, the only places capable of satisfying the requirements for summoning the forces of the Burning Legion were Quel'Thalas and Dalaran.

The Dreadlords remaining in hiding could only mean they believed the time was not yet right and required further preparation.

Arthas felt quite helpless about this. If their target was Dalaran, that would be one thing, but once they found a way to breach the Sunwell, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Yet the mere thought of King Anasterian Sunstrider gave Arthas a headache; the elven monarch wouldn't even listen to his own son's words, let alone those of their long-despised human allies.

Arrogant elves would not easily beg humans for help until they were on the brink of annihilation—not every elf shared the ideological heights of Kael'thas and Sylvanas; the majority of them remained lost in sweet daydreams.

Did he truly need to wield Frostmourne, shatter the gates of Silvermoon, and resurrect the Archlich Kel'Thuzad using their holy ground just to hammer this slumbering lot awake?

Just as Arthas pondered the viability of such a method, a message from Frostmourne dragged him back to reality.

Unable to constantly wear the Helm of Domination, Arthas utilized Frostmourne and the Helm to establish a special connection, allowing him to receive soul transmissions from members of the Scourge without needing to sit upon the Frozen Throne.

It was akin to turning the Frozen Throne into a signaling beacon. As for the energy source, it was the soul of Mal'Ganis himself, whose consciousness Arthas had erased with the demonic blade Frostmourne and sealed away within the Frozen Throne.

"Respected Majesty, a Stormwind noble has appeared quite unusually in Caer Darrow. I fear this may lead to some 'bloodshed,' which is highly detrimental to our concealment."

"Do you wish us to strike preemptively and eliminate those unstable factors?"

Through this transmission from the Dark Dean Gandling, Arthas caught a familiar name: "Katrana Prestor."

Had that black dragon truly left Stormwind? And traveled all the way to Lordaeron, far from Blackrock Mountain?

Arthas let out a soft "Hoh," surprised that Onyxia had taken the bait so easily; he had originally expected the black dragon princess to be a bit more cautious.

Indeed, Queen Tifen and Prince Anduin had been arranged to vacation in Caer Darrow precisely because of his own design.