"Guard against theft!"
"How do we end this?"
In the moving carriage, Lampard lowered his head and absentmindedly fiddled with his saber. His expression was subtle, but he did not answer.
"King Nuven is dead, but Dragon Clouds City is still powerful. There are still four important archdukes in Heroic Spirit Palace. I don't think they're fools." Thales observed the archduke's expression and said cautiously, "And the Prince of Constellation assassinating the common-elected king — this outcome will definitely not satisfy everyone, especially when the army of Black Sand Region suddenly appeared."
Thales stared at Lampard's face and said softly, "How are you going to explain this to them? Or do you want to kill them all and be done with it? "
Lampard said nothing. His expression was wooden.
Thales clenched his fists slightly.
The carriage was still moving forward. He did not know how far away it was from Heroic Spirit Palace.
He also did not know how far away he was from the end of his life.
'There's no other way.
I have to take a drastic measure. '
Thales took a deep breath and said flatly, "If nothing goes wrong, once the news of Nuven's death spreads, the King Selection Congress will be held soon. Do you think you still have a chance?"
As expected, Lampard's gaze moved and he looked at him.
Thales suppressed the nervousness in his heart and responded with the calmest expression.
"Not to mention that you're Nuven's enemy and have a terrible reputation for killing your brother," Thales said slowly. "The archdukes will not let you become king."
Lampard's gaze was fixed on his sword.
"King?" The archduke raised his voice and uttered the word in a questioning tone. Then, he snorted softly and repeated it sarcastically.
"King!
"You were born in the Jadestar Royal Family, a descendant of the emperor, the natural, legitimate, and legal ruling family of Constellation," Lampard said faintly. "Of course you don't have such concerns, do you?"
Thales' heart skipped a beat. At that moment, he seemed to have grasped something.
"Concerns?" he asked naturally.
Lampard ignored him. His sharp gaze was still fixed on his old sword. "Since Nuven's grandfather, they've viewed Black Sand Region as a thorn in their side. At that time, the Walton Family had already begun to monopolize the throne of Dragon Clouds City."
Little Rascal blinked.
"When it came to Nuven's father, the Walton Family began to attempt to control Black Sand Region," Lampard continued. His gaze was a little dazed.
"For example, recruiting the youngest son of the Archduke of Black Sand Region into the White Blade Guards, or marrying his daughter, the noble Princess of Eckstedt, to her father, the heir of the Archduke of Black Sand Region, in the name of the king."
Thales furrowed his brows slightly.
He seemed to have heard a similar story during the duel between King Nuven and Poffret.
"That's how my parents got married." Lampard sighed. Then, a rare smile appeared on the Archduke of Black Sand Region's face. "Unexpectedly, this marriage, which was purely based on the king's will, turned out to be a good one. According to the old servants, my mother did everything she could to make my father fall in love with her. She gave birth to two sons and three daughters for him. This love lasted until my father became the archduke."
The carriage entered a narrow alley. It seemed to be taking a shortcut or taking a detour.
Lampard continued to speak.
"Just like that, my father resisted the corruption of Dragon Clouds City with his own power, even though this corruption originated from the woman he loved the most by his side — his family and power. He hovered in this balance all his life."
Thales and Little Rascal listened quietly.
Such an Archduke of Black Sand Region was rare.
"Since we were very young, Harold and I were brought back and forth between Dragon Clouds City and Black Sand Region by our mother." Archduke Lampard exhaled. His eyes were filled with nostalgia. "Until we came of age, until Harold took over the governance of Black Sand Region."
"Harold?" Thales' heart skipped a beat. The name seemed a little unfamiliar. "He is …"
Lampard paused for a moment.
"Harold Lampard, my eldest brother." Gloom and mockery flashed in the archduke's eyes. "A ridiculous fool.
"There's no one more foolish than him in the world."
He said faintly.
Little Rascal seemed to recall something. She stared at Lampard with a slightly pale face.
Thales sensed a different emotion in Lampard's tone.
"You don't have a brother, do you?" Lampard's gaze was still fixed on the sword. A few seconds later, he said desolately,
"How lucky."
Thales raised his eyebrows. He remembered the two small stone jars in the Jadestar family tomb. His elder sister and brother in name.
Lydia and Luther Jadestar.
Lampard gently pulled out his saber.
The archduke's expression was complicated. His fingers gently stroked the sharp blade.
"Until twelve years ago." Lampard raised his head slightly and looked at Thales. His tone turned cold.
"Everything changed."
His actions sent a chill down the prince's spine.
'Wait a minute.'
Thales' brain began to work.
'Twelve years ago … Twelve years ago again?
'That means …'
"An unprecedented civil strife broke out in Constellation. It was extremely chaotic." Lampard's voice rang in the carriage, narrating the history that Thales was all too familiar with. "Since the Fourth Peninsular War, Eckstedt has been waiting for a rare opportunity in a hundred years: to unify Northland and completely eliminate the threat from Broken Dragon Fortress."
Thales stared at the sword in Lampard's hand in a daze.
"Nuven is ready to send his troops south. He has contacted almost every archduke. As a response, Harold, as the heir of Black Sand Region, was sent to attend the meeting of all the archdukes in Dragon Clouds City." Lampard inhaled a mouthful of cold air slowly and continued.
"An accident happened."
Thales' heart skipped a beat.
"One of Harold's followers suddenly went berserk and assassinated Nuven's eldest son." Lampard's rough voice was deep and dignified, as if there was a hidden power in it. He snorted coldly. "Prince Soria, who thought himself infallible, was cruel and bloodthirsty, and was practically carved out of the same mold as his father, died in Harold's group."
At that moment, Thales' heart skipped a beat.
The second prince remained motionless as he digested Lampard's story. Little Rascal's grip on his hand tightened.
He had heard this story before.
Last night.
"The news reached Black Sand Region — Harold's follower assassinated the prince." Lampard pressed on the hilt of his sword. His expression was cold. "Nuven would not let us go. Because of this, my father was even prepared to go to war with Dragon Clouds City.
"Unexpectedly, Harold, who was supposed to be responsible for this, was not reprimanded at all, let alone imprisoned or detained.
"Nuven comforted him with soft words, personally spoke on his behalf, and even allowed him to participate in the meeting. He even sent him back to Black Sand Region with great courtesy." Lampard sneered. "Even though Nuven lost his most important eldest son, Harold was not put in a difficult position. My father sensed that something was wrong at that time."
Lampard stared at his saber, but his gaze began to lose focus, as if he was looking at something else. "I still remember the day Harold returned. At the dining table, he reported Nuven's opinion and advised my father to support Dragon Clouds City. He even wanted to allow the king's officials to be stationed there in preparation for war.
"My father and him had a heated argument.
"I had no choice but to stand between them so that they would not draw their swords against each other," the archduke said slowly.
"It was also on that day that my father suddenly realized that Harold Lampard, the eldest son and heir he had high hopes for, had long become the staunchest supporter and subservient of Dragon Clouds City and the common-elected king, just like his youngest brother, Kaslan."
Thales frowned deeply. "Just like Beacon Illumination City?"
Poffret's despairing expression appeared before his eyes.
Lampard turned to him expressionlessly.
Thales' heart clenched.
"Just like Beacon Illumination City," he calmly confirmed Thales' words. "My father could not accept this fact.
"My father felt that if this continued, when Harold inherited Black Sand Region, it would only be a matter of time before we became the king's vassals." Lampard's expression was cold and threatening. "Even the position of the Archduke of Black Sand Region would soon become a vassal matter that Dragon Clouds City could decide with just a word.
"Through sincere talks, threats, scolding, lecturing, and even having me advise him, my father used every method to change Harold's mind.
"But it was all in vain."
Little Rascal shrank behind Thales with a pale face.
The terrifying Archduke of Black Sand Region lowered his head. His expression was rather gloomy. "Finally, my father made up his mind to take back Harold's right of inheritance.
"Things went haywire at that time." Lampard shook his head slowly. "My father briefly mentioned this idea in front of the vassals, and he was immediately met with fierce opposition and admonishment.
"That's not all. From the day father insisted on stripping Harold of his inheritance rights, the harvest decreased, the finances were in trouble, and the trade routes were blocked. Strangely, the troubles in Black Sand Region increased. What happened in Beacon Illumination City is now happening in Black Sand Region.
Lampard sneered. There was a deep sarcasm in his tone.
"It was only when the entire Black Sand Region was in an uproar that my father realized with a start that in the past thirty years, the Lampard Family's bloodline was not the only thing that infiltrated Dragon Clouds City. Nuven did not just rope Harold to his side.
"Harold refused to yield, my father refused to compromise, and the situation in the territory worsened. The forces supporting Harold, both inside and outside the territory, were beyond my father's control. He became more and more desperate and haggard." Lampard's tone grew deeper, and the emotions in his words grew paler. "Black Sand Region was no match for Dragon Clouds City.
"Finally, on the day the king's messenger came again.
"My exhausted father called me to his room."
Thales felt a chill run down his spine.
He could not help but think of Chapman Lampard's famous, or rather infamous, or even infamous deeds.
Lampard raised his head and looked at the streets of Dragon Clouds City outside the window. "I still remember my father's eyes. They were filled with determination and gloom."
Thales could not help but tighten his grip on Little Rascal behind him.
"He talked to me for a very, very long time." The Archduke of Black Sand Region's gaze grew colder, and his tone became calmer. "I hugged his thigh and cried. I begged him with all the words I could think of.
"I even pulled up my sleeves and showed him the wound I got when I was hunting when I was fourteen. Harold dragged me out of the mouth of a snow leopard."
The archduke's words became flatter.
But Thales' heart grew tighter.
Archduke Lampard narrated as if nothing had happened. "'Child, we are Lampard, of the Rebellion King's bloodline,' my father said. 'Our clan's motto is' never yield ', whether it's to the outside world or to the inside world.'
"'Whether it's to the emperor or to the king.'"
The archduke exhaled. The darkness in his eyes was incomparably deep. His tone was firm and resolute. "'We will never yield.'"
Thales listened to Lampard's words in a daze.
Little Rascal widened her eyes.
Lampard snorted. He lowered his head and looked at the weapon in his hand. "In the end, he gave me this sword."
It was an old weapon with a worn scabbard and a worn hilt.
It was as if it was his most important treasure.
"A week later, I challenged Harold to a duel in front of everyone.
"My father approved it."
Thales held his breath, not daring to even exhale.
"My mother knelt in front of the study room and cried for the whole night. My father sat in the study room with the light on for the whole night." Lampard slowly turned his saber around and caressed the emblem of an iron fist on the hilt. "Until my mother fainted and was sent away by the servants."
There was a moment of silence in the carriage.
For a time, only the sound of the wheels scraping against the ground could be heard.
"This is …" Thales opened his mouth with difficulty, but was interrupted by Lampard.
"On the day of the duel …"
"Harold had at least three chances to take my life and his brother's life," the archduke said steadily, but his voice was a little hollow and trembling.
"At least three times."
Lampard's hand, which was caressing the hilt, stopped moving.
His voice became ethereal, as if he was speaking from a very, very far away place.
"In the end, when I pierced his heart, I saw his face clearly," the archduke said flatly. "He was smiling."
Lampard took a deep breath. With his head lowered, his expression was indecipherable. "It was the same smile as the day he dragged me out of the snow leopard's mouth."
Thales sighed.
'This is simply …'
"Harold pulled my collar and whispered his last words into my ear." Lampard snorted softly, as though he was telling a story from someone else's dinner. "'Remember, Chapman.'" Lampard shook his head, and he looked at Lampard.
"'We will never give in.'"
Lampard chuckled, his emotions indecipherable.
Thales raised his head and stared at his sword in a daze.
'The sword that belonged to the Archduke of Black Sand Region, the one that killed his brother.'
"The next day," Lampard's voice traveled into Thales' ears.
"Mother jumped from the highest lookout post in the castle."
Thales and Little Rascal did not move.
A wordless sorrow filled the carriage.
The story of Lampard's family made him feel all sorts of emotions.
Lampard took a deep breath. "On the third day, Nuven ordered me to go to Eternal Star City and declare war on all of Constellation."
As the carriage drove past a depression, the carriage trembled slightly.
"A month later, at Rayman Pass, when the Kingdom's Wrath broke through the encirclement with the last of their courage and arrived in front of my father, my father did not evade or raise his sword. He allowed Mu to break his neck." Lampard chuckled softly. "Only later did I realize that my father was probably seeking death.
"Perhaps he could reunite with my mother and Harold under Hell's River."
Lampard stopped talking.
Thales exhaled slowly.
"So, everything you did was for revenge?" Thales frowned and asked with difficulty, "Do you want Nuven to pay the price, or Dragon Clouds City to be destroyed?"
Lampard sneered mockingly. He slowly leaned back and revealed his face under the light again. "Hatred? That ridiculous thing?
"Don't compare me to a coward like Poffret."
Thales frowned.
"Then why are you telling me this story?" The prince asked in bewilderment, "Don't tell me you just want to talk to a dying man."
The Archduke of Black Sand Region's gaze slowly darkened.
Lampard looked at him condescendingly and shook his head slowly. His voice was low and cold, and his words were chilling. "You are indeed very special, child, but your vision is still stuck at the level of those mediocre people."
"As for what I really want, compared to self-preservation, revenge, the death of a king, and the destruction of a territory," Lampard inhaled slowly and said in a firm tone, "I want a little more."
Thales stared at Lampard's face seriously, quickly trying to figure out what he was thinking.
"Of course." Lampard snorted softly. "You were born in the Jadestar Royal Family and lived in the era after the 'Virtuous King'. You won't understand this kind of sorrow."
The archduke's words ended there. Lampard closed his saber and said no more.
Thales was slightly stunned.
'The Virtuous King.'
It was not the first time he heard this title from the Northlanders.
The last time he heard it was from King Nuven. At that time, Thales did not react.
But this time, Thales remembered.
He subconsciously touched his chest.
The Virtuous King, Mindis Jadestar the Third.
One of the Three Kings of Constellation.
A king was not respected by his bloodline, but his bloodline was honored by the king.
'Why? Why did King Nuven and Archduke Lampard mention this Supreme King of Constellation from more than a hundred years ago?
What did he do?
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