I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

The floor cast a sapphire blue hue upon the figures as a brief silence descended upon them once again. This was a meeting of brainstorming, exploring different ways of acquiring what they wanted, which, at the moment, was the complete downfall of the Jun family.

The King smiled at his subjects, whom he could at least identify as his. After all, he was the one who sent the invitation. So, he was aware of who they were, but they weren't aware of each other's true identities, and he couldn't tell them apart. It was a rather unpleasant surprise when he first called for a meeting and they showed up in this manner.

"Well?" He broke the silence with his authoritative voice, causing their gaze to shift towards their King. "Mind control? Just as you once did with Philip Jun." The second spoke up next, his voice distorted and contemplative.

After all, it wasn't like they weren't aware that Philip was under the King's control… though how he did it was unknown, even to Michaelo Jun. "Of course, that would be an easy task, but ensuring he gets a private audience with me is the problem." He said with a sigh, as if he had just listened to a monotonous message.

"Mind control won't work." Their heads shifted towards the third to the King, a figure who had remained silent until now. With an intrigued look in his eyes and his brow arched, he asked, "How so?"

"....I had tasked a master of mental illusions and hypnosis once, but they failed miserably, receiving a backlash instead." The third explained. "Hah, indeed. He seemed to be able to control the Merlin girl at the end of their battle.

A rather unsettling thing….if he could do such, then it wouldn't be surprising if he had mental protection as well." The sixth from the King interjected, his arms resting on the obsidian marbled table.

"We shouldn't forget the fact that he had used magic as well. I heard he has mana circles around his heart….and mana stars in his dantian. That is not supposed to be humanly possible." The fifth from the King spoke up next, another figure who had yet to talk until now.

"Yes. I heard his last battle with Kang Lin's son was a surprise. He intended on keeping his powers a secret from me until the very end….clever boy," The King mused, his head resting on the chair as he looked up at the sapphire blue marbled rose on the ceiling, his thoughts reeling in.

"If mind attacks don't work, then a soul bind would work just as well. Though, how I go about it is entirely up to me." The King had always had his own method of subduing the mind and body of a Jun, even without a mental bind. It was something that worked for Philip, whose trait had to do with darkness, and it would inevitably work on Raffaelo Jun as well.

"Of course, Your Majesty," the second from the King said.

A brief silence descended once again, until the King glanced at the figures present and sighed. "The Jun boy has shown great promise. It would be to the benefit of the Kingdom if he were to come and serve me and my son."

The figures present probably thought the same thing at the same time: 'Which one?' It would still take a long time before the King forfeited the throne, and until then, he would continue to rule while observing his three sons, the first of whom had not been seen for a long time.

The King and his first son had always had conflicting ideologies on how to rule the Kingdom, even from a young age. He had disowned him and named his second son the first, but the original First Prince would inevitably be a legitimate ruler if the King were to step down.

With another sigh, he stood up from his chair, exuding an aura of status as the remaining figures stood afterwards. "This meeting shall be adjourned for now. I will call upon you all when next I need you."

They bowed in unison as the King turned around, holding his right index finger forward, revealing a cerulean rose ring that sparkled with brilliance. A brown door of royal carpentry suddenly appeared, and he opened it and walked in, closing the door behind him, as it disappeared immediately.

The remaining six figures stood idly for a short moment, but then the third did the same, a door of a different color appearing, as they walked away. Soon, the fifth left, closing a metallic, robotic, futuristic door behind him. And then, after the second and sixth left, two remaining figures were left.

The fourth turned and revealed her ring, but instead of a door appearing, space simply warped, and she phased through, leaving the lone figure to her thoughts.

"....I see." The first said, turning around as an onyx door with skulls and skeleton intricate designs appeared. She pushed it open and walked through, her body tilting, and with it, the room, as she fell lightly on the ground of a study room.

Her head tilted up as the door closed and disappeared from the ceiling of her study. Left with her thoughts, she flipped her hoodie open, revealing dark, dull violet hair that cascaded down her back, as she pulled the cloak from her body, revealing her full glory.

She had deep crimson eyes that flickered to life like a tongue of fire, and pale lilac lips that exuded brilliance to her facial beauty. Her purple hair was accompanied by dark butterfly hair clips, and she was in a Victorian gown, its silk patterns shimmering in the light, adorned with delicate layers of lace and deep, swirling embroidery.

The onyx floral pattern on her full skirt danced across the fabric, complementing her slender figure, with a black ribbon adorned on her black silky bodice.

Though she stood still for a while, glancing at the study, a rather peculiar attribute of hers stood out amidst the tall shelves of books and files, placed at the four sides of the room, and the intricate designs on the silky carpet on her feet.

As she walked towards her dark mahogany desk, taking a seat behind it, and putting on a glass that had been kept safely on the file in front of her, this woman appeared… short. Something that changed upon removing her cloak. She remained silent, crossing off the list of files she needed to look after, when a knock echoed within her room.

"Come in." She spoke out, her tone even and melodious, a little sweet, accentuating her height perfectly. The door opened and shut, and a maid, with blonde hair and black eyes, and a dull appearance within those eyes, stood before the woman.

"The young miss has tamed the 7th tier Great Demon, Horned Ravens."

"Oh, Sophia has done it yet again. My light has not been put off just yet." The woman said with the same still expression she had always exuded, only looking up for a moment to let a small smile exude from her lips.

The maid shook it off, well aware of her Madam's weird behavior towards her daughter.

"Did something good happen today?" The maid asked, noticing the woman's focus on her task.

The woman looked up again, her smile widening. "I knew you of all people would tell right away, Tacha." The woman said, a melodious sound humming from her lips. "I just had a meeting with the Blue Rose."

"Aw…them again? Shouldn't we add them to our list of priorities? Those two-faced bastards." Tacha asked, a sigh of disgust exuding from her lips.

The woman chuckled, her smile staying in place. "Oh dear, when did I say we wouldn't? The King is one thing, but the rest of the members are important figures. We will have to do things as we've always done. Slowly."

Tacha remained silent, uncomfortable with the same thing she had heard for the past ten years since they began their plans for upturning the 12 Great families and the Imperial family. What they had in mind, though, was entirely up to them.

"Yes, Matriarch" The maid bowed with a sigh.

"So, were you able to figure out their identities?" She asked as she looked up.

The woman's face remained still, but that smile never left its place. A smile so bright and lively that it could illuminate the room of sleeping bodies, but within that smile, was a sinister plot that brewed deeply.

"Of course. After five meetings, I finally know who is which." There was a reason for the seating positions in the Blue Rose. It revealed the time they first arrived. She was the first to arrive on their first meeting, and since then, she's chosen to be the first to arrive and the last to leave in order to gauge their identities.

"I'm almost 90% sure." She said with a sigh, meeting her Maid's gaze with one of her own, a playful hue hidden within.

"90%?" Tacha asked in confusion. Her madam was someone that always ensured her task was 100% achievable before she played it out, so why did she seem happy about a 90%?

"Well, now isn't the time for me to tell you all of that. Can you get Sophia for me? We need to plan our next phase of the plan." The woman said with a swipe of her arm, snapping the Maid out of her thoughts.

Tacha sighed, the right side of her lips hung in an awkward smile. She was used to this, her Master's constant suspense. It's mostly what has kept her going in this place.

"Yes, Matriarch." She bowed again, walking out of the room, and leaving the woman to her thoughts, once again.

The woman laid her eyes on a flag that was kept neatly next to her shelves on the right side of her study.

A dark emblem of skulls and skeletons, entwined in a thorny rose.

It seemed like it was time to hang that flag once again. It was finally time for the Arcanus to bite their prey after stalking for so long.

Cressida Arcanus, the Matriarch of the twelfth family, sat in all her splendor, her smile replaced with a calm and stoic line, and her gaze a fierce red of crimson red.

'It's time for revenge'