The Foster Son of the Iron Crown

Do you think he’s just a pitiful adopted son trampled in the mud? No — he secured his trump card fifteen years ago. Ethan lived and slept in the stables for fifteen years, used as a mounting block and tormented by the Duke’s legitimate son. Everyone saw him as a powerless nobody. But he kept a bronze crow ring, led a powerful underground merchant syndicate, and carried a twenty-five-year-old blood oath. His birth father was the Empire’s greatest commander, while the Duke was the deserter who abandoned him. When the tyrant’s son tried to kill him with poisoned wine, Ethan dropped his meek facade. He reclaimed his family name, reformed the duchy’s finances, gained miners’ support and rebuilt the fallen Spine of the Dragon Legion. To his surprise, the Duke’s daughter, who once snuck food to him, grew into his most trusted aide. The wolf who hid for fifteen years has shown his fangs. All players on the Empire’s chessboard finally discover: he has always been the master of the game.