Dungeon of Niflheim

As time went on and the battles both in the open and in the dark intensified Franz continued to feel his gaze drawn to the neutral officials, the ones who despite all the hell surrounding them and the pressure to choose a side remained headstrong and steady, completing their work and ensuring that the empire continued to run.

His appreciation for them continued to grow partly because he couldn't bare to look at his two sons, Randolph especially. Franz could feel his body growing cold and shivering whenever he saw the fierce glint in his son's eyes. Gradually he was leaning more and more towards making Sedrick emperor, seeing him as the lesser of two evils despite the long list of crimes he had allegedly committed.

Randolph apparently sensed this causing the way he looked at his own father to change. His gaze was bereft of kindness and love, replaced with anger, betrayal and actual hatred. He couldn't understand why his father subjected him to his current plight. He was the favoured son, the crown prince. He had earned the support of countless officials as well as the common folk.

The tasks assigned to him were all handled and completed as requested. Sure he made a few errors in judgement and perhaps had been a little more vicious during the past few months but that was all because of Sedrick and that darned Frost.

For years he'd been the go to son for handling the empire's affairs. He had led numerous campaigns with the army, safely managed diplomatic relations and even improved the livelihood of their citizens, he was the perfect son, the perfect crown prince and the ideal choice.

Sedrick however repeatedly engaged with the empire's underworld and allegedly committed countless crimes, even his backing, the old noble families had terrible reputations and were banking on Sedrick to grant them even greater authority. How could the wise and talented emperor Franz not see how superior he was to Sedrick.

After his encounter with Frost and the piercing accusations of his brother Randolph's entire world starting crashing down. His father grew suspicious of him and started to rethink his previous bias.

His earlier work, the grand campaigns, diplomatic dealings and other projects were thoroughly examined, and his father took off the kid gloves and started poking holes in his behaviour as well as his suggestions. Before Franz would always gently encourage or support him with alternate choices but now he wouldn't help in the slightest and would in fact tear apart whatever memorials he submitted.

Randolph had always gotten his way before, so this change was a first for him and he really didn't like it. Eventually it came to light that many of his successes were because of his subordinates and that whenever he met with resistance or possible failure he was quick to explode and place blame on others.

The golden image of the crown prince quickly fell apart causing a violent shift in his demeanour. He stopped hiding what he was and started planning how to get what was owed to him.

The clans that were annihilated earlier were actually ones that originally supported him. Randolph had them erased for their betrayal preventing anyone else from leaving his faction. For Franz that decision was the final straw that broke the camel's back. From that point on he struggled to look at his eldest son, seeing him as nothing more than a potential calamity.

Thus his gaze continued to linger on the hardworking neutral officials, his mind churning.

These people were the true loyalists if only he could handover the throne to them instead. Franz could be seen sighing more and more recently and chose to sequester himself away every other court day, choosing to accompany his darling wife Amelia and his radiant daughter Avira. The two of them helped to clear up the darkness in his heart and alleviate the weight placed on his shoulders.

His daughter the apple of his eye and the youngest of his offspring especially helped. He never really discussed much of the nation's affairs with her given that she was a princess and not a prince but with his two sons tearing apart the empire he found himself rambling about his worries to her.

And the more they talked the more dumbfounded he became, his daughter was insightful, kind, charismatic and open minded. Before he knew it he was discussing the events of the day's court proceedings with her, asking how she would handle the affairs if she was the one in charge.

When he then learned that the majority of the neutral officials and military garrisons were actually loyal to her his mind was blown. All this time he'd been trying to choose between two evils when there was a golden child right here.

Franz quickly formulated a plan, though Northrend never had a female monarch there were other kingdoms that did so it wouldn't be a completely unheard of precedent. Ensuring that she had enough support however despite that was a tall order and he didn't have much time.

The war for the throne had already begun and Randolph and Sedrick had already pulled the majority of nobles, officials and even commoner groups into their factions. But he needed to try, he couldn't allow his empire to suffer under the hands of either one of his sons. Though he felt guilty about how Sedrick turned out he had caused too much damage to the empire to be worthy of the throne.

Avira was the best choice.

As things developed in Northrend and the entire world learned of the lucrative prospects of Dungeons a certain event was nearing close. The next family gathering between the Dungeon cores was set to take place shortly, marking the end of their first year alive.

For many this was an exciting prospect, some wished to show off their supposed independence while others looked forward to spending time with their many siblings.

A bunch were anxious, nervous about how well they'd do on the accumulated DP rankings, whether or not their rank rose or fell since the last gathering.

Frost wasn't bothered by his possible ranking, nor was he particularly worried about meeting up with his siblings no he was stressed for another reason.

Within the Dungeon's private space Frost currently sat on the sofa his eyes glued to Maya's back as she rustled up something in the kitchen. Daki was working in her forge while Nanna was at the sleeping Fenrir and Loki was helping out in the medical clinic. It was just the two of them here.

Chop chop chop

Maya chopped up a bunch of vegetables for the stew she was preparing trying her best to ignore the heated stare that was locked onto her but eventually.

"Frost is there a particular reason you're staring at my ass!" She loudly questioned before chopping with increased vigour.

"Actually there is but it's not your ass I'm staring at."

'This time at least' Maya had a very sexy ass it was hard for his eyes not to wander over it every so often.

"Hoh then if it's not my ass then what are you staring at with such focus?" Maya stopped chopping and turned around, curious to hear what he had to say.

With her now turned around showing off her front Frost's face visibly frowned in disappointment, growing her curiosity.

"We've been dating for months now yes?" Frost decided that since it was just the two of them here he wanted to get this off his chest.

"Yes and it's been fabulous." An enchanting smile grew on Maya's lips as she spoke from the heart. Frost had been the perfect partner, he supported her emotionally, rocked her world in the bedroom and genuinely made her heart flutter everyday they were together.

"Un and we've been intimate pretty much every day right?" He agreed their relationship was truly magical.

"Y…yes pretty much." A significant pink hue appeared on her cheeks, embarrassed by the question but she still answered. If for whatever reason they missed engaging in such activities one day Frost made up for it the following night or so.

"The same could be said for my relationship with Daki."

"Yes and your point." Now she was really confused.

"Well considering that we've been going at it nearly every day for months and considering the amount of well you know that I've filled the two of you with why is that still flat?" Frost pointed directly at Maya's taught stomach hoping for the past several weeks that it would be of a different shape.

"....W…WHAT!!!" Maya was silent for a couple seconds as her mind digested Frost's word before her entire face and neck turned red. She wagged her shaking finger at him and screamed at the top of lungs, never before had she been so shocked.

"You know pregnant, babies, offspring, little Frosts and Mayas".

"Stop just stop!" Maya waved her hands and starting to take deep breaths to calm herself down. Frost's words were just too shocking and surprising, there was no lead up or finesse in his approach. Instead he just roared it out.

She placed her right hand across her forehead and massaged her temples before shakily walking over to the sofa where Frost was sitting with an impatient look on his face, a face that looked oh so slapable.

After sitting herself down and taking another deep breath she turned to face him. "Start talking."

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