The Second Prince of Constellation stared at the old king in astonishment.
"But I am here now." King Nuven turned to look at him. His tone was flat, but his gaze was complicated. "I am betting the future of my family on a Prince of Constellation like you."
Thales suppressed the anxiety in his heart and heaved a long sigh.
"My two sons." King Nuven's expression was gloomy. "Their fates, or rather, their misfortunes are strikingly similar. But I still want to stand here, manipulate the chips, and win a future for the Waltons."
Hearing King Nuven's words, Thales secretly shook his head. "Nobles and rulers are another kind of creature. They live on power — this is what Putray told me.
"So you better get used to it." King Nuven put away his gloomy expression and revealed his tough and cold face again. "For your own good."
Thales gently closed his eyes.
King Nuven's expression suddenly changed.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at Thales mysteriously.
"Speaking of which, they didn't tell you, did they?" The old king clasped his hands together. "About the truth of your 'Bloody Year'?"
Thales opened his eyes in surprise and looked at King Nuven.
The first thing he recalled was Queen Keya's hysteria, followed by the names of Charleton and Shadow Shield.
Lastly, the Jadestar family tomb in Renaissance Palace.
The second prince shook his head slowly. "They didn't say much."
King Nuven snorted softly.
"Then maybe I shouldn't say too much." King Nuven turned his head back. "It's best not to interfere with the education of the Jadestar Family."
'You've interfered enough already,' Thales secretly criticized.
'But.
Eckstedt was a direct participant in the Bloody Year — these invaders from the north. '
Thales thought, 'Maybe he knows something?'
"Do you have any special news for me, Your Majesty?" Thales carefully used honorifics and shrugged. "Erm, if you really treat me as your future grandson-in-law …"
Hearing the way Thales addressed him, King Nuven revealed a thought-provoking gaze. Then, the old king laughed out loud.
"See." The old king winked at him. "Actually, you will soon get used to it."
Thales responded with an ugly smile.
"You will learn about everything else from your instructor, from Constellation, and from your father." King Nuven stretched his elbow. His expression was subtle. "But I can tell you one thing — as one of the bargaining chips I will give to my allies."
"Something that even your kingdom's Secret Intelligence Department doesn't know about."
Thales' expression changed.
'Even the Secret Intelligence Department doesn't know?
His breathing quickened.
"Who do you think would kill the Jadestar Royal Family?" King Nuven smiled mysteriously. "The real mastermind."
Doubts arose in Thales' heart.
The real... murderer?
That mysterious assassin organization, the "Shadow Shield" that Poffret mentioned just now?
Gilbert had briefly mentioned it to him before, but he only said that King Kessel the Fifth had already "taken all the revenge that could be taken."
Thales slowly shook his head.
"The reason is actually very simple, so simple that you won't believe it." King Nuven fixed his gaze on him. "The members of the Jadestar Royal Family were almost simultaneously attacked by a well-planned assassination, except for one person."
"I might not be sure about the others, but if the plan went smoothly, it seems that he was the one who benefited from the Bloody Year?" King Nuven said in a strange tone.
'The members of the Jadestar Royal Family, except for one person?'
Thales' heart skipped a beat, but he immediately reacted.
"You are not the first person to accuse my father in front of me and try to sow discord between us." Thales snorted softly.
King Nuven continued to stare at him with a strange look in his eyes.
He stared at him until he felt goosebumps.
A few seconds later, King Nuven said sarcastically, "Use your brain, future 'Guardian of Dragon Clouds City'. I am not talking about your father."
Thales furrowed his eyebrows and snorted. "Who else are you referring to then? Twelve years ago, all the Jadestars were — "
Suddenly, Thales' body trembled and he froze.
'Wait a minute.
'Besides Kessel, there is indeed another Jadestar …
'He did not die of murder …
'A Jadestar who did not die from assassination …'
Thales recalled Gilbert's words.
In the tragedy of the Bloody Year, there was only one prince who didn't die directly from assassination.
'It can't be.'
Thales felt his heart begin to beat faster.
The pale-faced prince raised his head and looked at King Nuven in disbelief.
"Twelve years ago, after we breached Broken Dragon Fortress, we captured Rudolf Nanchester," King Nuven said quietly with his hand on 'Triumph'.
'Rudolf Nanchester?'
Information related to him immediately appeared in Thales' mind. 'That is …'
"He was the Duke of Land of Cliffs Region at that time." King Nuven rubbed his ring and said flatly, "That man was very strong-willed, but the Northlanders despised him for his cowardly act of refusing to send troops from the fortress and watching Prince Horace be destroyed."
Thales recalled the conversation he had with Putray when they were at Rayman Pass to pay their respects to the former second prince, Horace Jadestar.
He was one of the commanders of Broken Dragon Fortress and the previous Duke of Land of Cliffs Region who witnessed the second prince's destruction. He was also the elder brother of the 'One-Eyed Dragon', Duke Koshder Nanchester.
According to Putray, he was captured by Eckstedt and later died in prison.
"We left him in the dungeon and ignored him. We waited for the start of spring before continuing our journey south to the hinterland of Constellation." As expected, King Nuven's description was similar to Putray's.
Until the king's next sentence.
"But when the news of the Jadestar Royal Family being assassinated came, Rudolf, who was barely alive, struggled to see me." King Nuven's expression became more and more solemn. "In the fortress, he shed tears and told me an unexpected secret."
Thales clenched his fists and quietly listened to the king's narration.
"During the days when Rudolf and Horace guarded Broken Dragon Fortress together, your Duke of Land of Cliffs Region discovered something that made him restless."
King Nuven's gaze became sharper and sharper.
"Horace Jadestar, the Second Prince of Constellation, and the Sword of Reversing Light, which you are so proud of, secretly recruited, organized, and trained a special mercenary team from different countries and regions. Since they were not part of the Royal Guards and Jadestar Private Army, and Prince Horace had always liked to make friends with all kinds of elites and brave men, no one in Constellation found out about it for many years.
"It was not until the day Horace officially used that team," King Nuven said softly, "that Rudolf discovered some clues."
Thales could not help but feel nervous.
"Rudolf found out that the small team was given a mission that year." King Nuven's tone became very cold. He enunciated each and every word clearly, "How to lurk, hide, infiltrate, and even invade a fortress with the most airtight layout, the most heavily-guarded, the most perfect defense, and the least possibility of being breached?"
"Huh?" Thales said in surprise.
'Fortress?'
The doubts in his heart deepened.
King Nuven nodded. His eyebrows were as dark as water. "When Horace took the risk to attack and harass our supply line, Rudolf Nanchester, who had long been suspicious, found a lot of things in Prince Horace's bedroom — from coded communications to secret ledgers."
King Nuven pulled over his outer robe and took out a thick piece of folded paper from the inside pocket. He said coldly, "There's also this thing."
Thales looked at King Nuven in surprise. "You … prepared it a long time ago?"
King Nuven did not speak. He only waved the thick paper in his hand.
Thales took a deep breath and suppressed his trembling hands. He took the folded piece of thick paper and unfolded it.
The paper was made of the best material. It felt smooth and hard to the touch. It seemed to be able to be preserved for a long time.
It was more than two meters wide, so Thales had to lay it flat on the ground and spread his hands before he could begin to observe it.
There was a map drawn on the paper.
There was a square building on the map. It was a flat top and side view.
Soon, Thales could see that the map was very detailed. It used different colors and labels to clearly mark the wide and thick walls, the ubiquitous sentry towers, the terrifying city-guarding crossbows, a few narrow entrances, as well as the important entrances, passageways, and rooms in the building …
Thales' pupils shrank abruptly!
'This … Could it be …'
Thales put his face close to the map in shock. He stared at every inch of the map, not missing a single detail.
There were also densely packed numbers, patterns, and arrows next to the map — from the front door to the interior of the building.
He read the words on the map in disbelief.
'Guard shifts, number of guards, hiding places, available entrances, patrol times at the front and back doors, evacuation routes …'
Thales was stunned.
'No.
'It can't be.'
A few minutes later.
The Second Prince of Constellation gently climbed up from the map. The astonishment and shock on his face had yet to dissipate.
King Nuven took in the entirety of his expression.
"In view of the war with Constellation at that time … I hid this secret and sent Rudolf back to Dragon Clouds City to be detained in secret until he was sent to death row." King Nuven, who had just revealed the shocking secret, sighed.
"You can use this information as a bargaining chip when you need it," King Nuven said softly to Thales. "Rudolph Nanchester, the coward who has always been reviled by the people, the Duke of Land of Cliffs Region who did not help those in need, has been misunderstood for too long …"
"He is the one who has been truly loyal to Aydi the Second since the beginning."
Thales rolled up the map in his hand. His frown deepened.
'Horace Jadestar.
'The mercenary team.
'Rudolf Nanchester.
'How is this possible?'
"I don't think even your father knows about this." King Nuven sighed. "In a sense, Eckstedt has already helped you get rid of the murderer. Perhaps you should go and thank Nicholas."
Thales panted irregularly. He recalled the Jadestar family tomb in Renaissance Palace, Aydi the Second's large stone jar, and the few small stone jars beside it.
After a while, he snapped out of his daze.
"I don't think you forged this map," Thales said absentmindedly.
"What do you think?" King Nuven said disdainfully. He then downed the wine in his cup.
Thales raised his head and murmured, "That mercenary team formed by Horace, who exactly are they?"
"I don't know. Rudolf didn't go into detail." King Nuven stared at his empty cup. "He only mentioned that the leader of that mercenary team has strange skills …
"He also has a strange longsword."
Thales sat on the steps in a daze, panting unconsciously.
He was so shocked by this secret that he could hardly speak.
"Why did he do that?" the second prince asked subconsciously after a while.
"I think he had his own reasons." King Nuven shook his head slightly. His eyes were filled with melancholy. "And that reason was very sufficient."
"What do you mean? His own reasons? "Thales raised his head.
"You will know. Your father will tell you." King Nuven sneered. But to Thales, this sneer was more sorrowful than mocking. "The cause of the Bloody Year.
"The Jadestar Disaster."
Thales frowned and slowly clenched his fists.
After a few seconds, he slowly loosened his grip.
Thales lowered his head and exhaled sharply. He resentfully returned the paper in his hand to King Nuven.
"Keep it. That thing is too ominous." The old King of Eckstedt shook his head and pushed Thales' hand away. He said flatly, "Besides …
"That is, after all, your …
"The map of Renaissance Palace."
— —
Dragon Clouds City, half past four in the morning.
In a shop on West-Express Avenue in the dark night.
"Just pretend that the doctor you are looking for is really in Heroic Spirit Palace. God knows how he is going to sneak in." Under the weak illumination of the Everlasting Lamp, the butcher shop owner from the Far East, Gu, said to the man before him with a gloomy expression, "But do you understand the price of saving someone from Heroic Spirit Palace?"
However, the man in front of him only lowered his head and carefully and seriously wiped the oddly shaped, pitch-black longsword on his thigh one last time, almost as if he was nitpicking every hair on his body.
Gu exhaled and used his Northland retroflex accent to patiently emphasize to the man before him, "You have to climb all the way up the slope, avoid the disciplinary officers and patrols on the street, go up through the nobles' districts that are heavily guarded by private soldiers, and then go over the many towers and sentry posts. Before you are discovered and shot through by arrows and bows, or hacked to death by hundreds of people with swords and axes, you have to reach the sluice gate that separates the city area from Heroic Spirit Palace …"
The man stood up and threw away the cloth he used to wipe his weapon. He raised the strange black sword in his hand and pointed it at the ceiling.
Gu continued, "Then you have to climb over the ten-meter-tall sluice gate …"
"Tonight is the night of Heroic Spirit Palace's banquet." The man raised his head and narrowed his eyes at his sword, as if he was observing the curve of the sword. His nondescript voice traveled into Gu's ears. "That sluice gate will open at dawn. I don't have to climb the wall. My chances are higher than usual."
"How? Do you want to sneak past the palace guards inside and outside the sluice gate, and even between them, under the illumination of the moonlight and firelight, and under their wide-open eyes that are bigger than fists? "Gu suppressed his breathing, but he could not help but raise his voice.
"Even if you break through the gate, you'll still have to face countless patrolling Heroic Spirit Palace guards. They're all elites selected from the local recruits and personally trained by the instructors of the White Blade Guards. They're fierce, loyal, brave, alert, and have sharp gazes …"
The man hung the strange sword back on the sword belt at his waist and tightened the cloth wrapped weapon on his back.
But Gu was still trying to stop him.
"Let's assume that you can avoid alerting them, but what about after you sneak into Heroic Spirit Palace? You will still have to face the White Blade Guards, the Dragon's Imperial Guards! There might only be two to three hundred people on duty, and they are scattered throughout the palace, but every single one of them is a veteran with rich frontline experience. There are countless supra class elites, and there are even supreme class elites like the Star Killer who possess the 'Severing Souls Blade' … "
The man exercised his joints, turned around, and walked towards the door.
Gu followed behind him, and said in a profound tone, "Do you know what a 'veteran' is? It's not as simple as having fought in a war and seen blood. According to Eckstedt's standards … once you are entangled by one of them … "
The man did not listen to Gu. He pressed his hand against the door, and a strange force surged.
In an instant, the man understood everything on the street outside the door, from the patrols in the distance to the hounds in the vicinity.
"Even if it's you, you actually want to sneak into a heavily-guarded, impregnable palace without any support … and even fish someone out …" After talking for a long time, Gu sighed deeply and stroked his forehead. "You are really crazy."
The man did not answer. He stood up, looked at the frowning Gu, and nodded.
"Gu," he said flatly, "next time, if you want to lie to me, find some other reason. At least, don't use the Sensory Mystic."
Gu was stunned, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
"Hmm?"
Only Gu himself knew that at that moment, there was already a storm raging in his heart.
"What did you say?" The Far Easterner used what he thought was a flawless response and asked with a face full of doubt, "What reason?"
The man patted Gu's shoulder.
Gu frowned.
"I don't understand the Sensory Mystic." The man revealed a stiff smile. "But I understand you, Gu."
Gu was slightly stunned.
"You are good at hiding all kinds of emotions, but I can recognize …" The man pressed his black sword and shook his head gently. "A person who lives with a mask also lives with pain."
Gu silently clenched his fists under his sleeves.
"Also." The man turned around, pushed the door open, and left behind one last sentence.
"Send my regards to Morat. We haven't seen each other for twelve years, I really miss him."
At that moment, Gu's smile froze on his face.
Gu stood rooted to the ground as she watched the man disappear into the darkness outside the door.
Just like how he was in the past.
The next minute, the man's figure appeared on the roof of a low house.
Amidst the falling snow, he raised his head and looked at the sky, at the dark moon shrouded in clouds and mist.
Then, his gaze swept past the districts of Dragon Clouds City that stretched up the mountainside, past a few gatehouses, all the way to the top, where the majestic palace stood.
That was the Walton Family, the residence of the Archdukes of Dragon Clouds City for generations.
It was also the seat of the current common-elected king of Eckstedt.
Heroic Spirit Palace.
The man recalled Gu's words just now.
'Sneak past the heavy guards into a heavily-guarded, impeccable palace?'
He gently patted the strange black sword at his waist, and a smile appeared on his lips.
'Sigh.
'In this regard, I can be considered …' The man closed his eyes gently.
'You're experienced, aren't you?
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