In the dead silence, Thales stared quietly at the dazed and helpless guard who had nowhere to hide.
He stared at this group of men who were in despair and were about to fall apart.
A myriad of thoughts ran through his mind.
"Why?"
Barney Junior knelt on the ground, stiff and lifeless.
"Father?"
He stared at Nalgi in a daze, as if he was looking at a stranger.
"Why?
Why did he do this to me? "
Aside from Nalgi, almost everyone turned their faces away. Only Beldin and Naer were left. They were also shocked and speechless.
"Do you really not know?"
Nalgi asked in return. He sneered and mocked.
"So, you live like a child in Renaissance Palace, don't know anything, don't care about anything, and only want to be a loyal and stupid chess piece?"
No one spoke.
Only Quick Rope whispered in Thales' ear, "The situation is bad … I think they have forgotten to run for their lives and look for a way to survive …"
Thales shook his head with a profound expression. He seemed to be deep in thought.
"It's not that they forgot to run for their lives, they just … don't care anymore."
Quick Rope was stunned.
"What about us?"
But Thales still shook his head with a serious expression and ignored him.
Quick Rope was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks.
"Why, father?"
But Barney Junior was still expressionless like a puppet. It was as if he was talking to the air.
"Why did he do this?"
Nalgi stared at Barney Junior with hatred and snorted softly.
Samel looked at Barney Junior with a solemn expression and clenched his fists gently.
"You really are an anomaly, Barney." Nalgi stared at the crumbling Barney Junior. His expression was relaxed after taking revenge, but his voice was still sad.
"Quill Barney, you are a noble existence who abandoned your family and bloodline like a pair of worn-out shoes.
But in fact, if it weren't for him, if you weren't born into the Barney Family, one of the Seven Jadestar Attendants, you wouldn't even have the chance to enter the guards. "
Nalgi said coldly,
"Just like all of us."
'A noble existence who abandoned his family and bloodline like a pair of worn-out shoes …'
Barney Junior's lips trembled.
When he said this, Beldin, Naer, the dejected Tardin and Bruley, and even the trembling Canon all lowered their heads.
Only Samel continued to stare at Nalgi without moving.
But Thales sensed something. He subconsciously took a step forward.
"Why?"
The young man's sudden words attracted everyone's attention.
"If you don't want to tell him, then tell me."
"Tell the last descendant of Jadestar."
Thales' words echoed in the dungeon, and even Quick Rope was shocked.
This sentence stunned Nalgi for a moment. He stared at the teenager in front of him, as if he was getting to know him all over again.
It was as if he wanted to recognize something from the other party's serious face.
"Hey, these lunatics are enough of a headache." Quick Rope pressed on Thales' shoulder and whispered anxiously, "We should focus on finding a way to survive now …"
"What else do you want?"
But Thales only sucked in a light breath and firmly pushed Quick Rope's hand away.
"Just like you said, find our way out."
Quick Rope was stunned.
Thales looked at Nalgi again. His gaze lingered on the key in Nalgi's hand.
"Tell me, why did Barney's father and you, and even Zakriel, do that?"
Thales furrowed his eyebrows tightly.
"Or should I say, what else did the King of Eternal Rule, Aydi the Second, do aside from the so-called alliance of the three disasters that Zakriel mentioned?"
Nalgi's gaze gradually became confused.
Barney Junior raised his head in a daze, but he only repeated the same sentence.
"Why, father?"
Nalgi looked at everyone in a daze, but he found that many people had shifted their gazes away. Only Samel was staring at him.
Finally, he seemed to have figured something out. He chuckled in relief.
"You are right, Your Highness. The tragedy at that time was far from just the fight between His Majesty and the cunning vassals, not just a game of loyalty and betrayal, and not just the hostility between Constellation and the world.
"Be it the natural disaster or the rebel army, there was naturally a reason for the chaos in the kingdom at that time."
Thales' frown deepened.
"The Knight of Judgment thought that the late king was bewitched by some legendary monster and that some people were conspiring to bring chaos to the kingdom, but that was just his wishful thinking."
Nalgi returned to his state as if there was no one else around him. It was as if he could see the past.
"Because Zakriel was just an antique family name that had been in decline for a thousand years, and did not even have a castle or a fief, he was too naive. He could not sense it."
"He could not sense our despair."
When he said this, Nalgi shuddered.
On the other side, Tardin sighed softly.
A thought appeared in Thales' mind.
"Despair?"
Nalgi sucked in a breath and recalled the most unbearable years. He smiled bleakly and said,
"Back then, there were countless rumors circulating in Renaissance Palace. Not everyone knew about the taboo between the late king and the calamities, but there was one thing that everyone was very clear about."
Many people's breathing became chaotic.
Barney Junior slowly focused his gaze while he knelt on the ground.
"What is that?" Thales listened solemnly.
Nalgi turned his head and said absentmindedly,
"During those years, His Majesty wanted to make a difference. He gave many orders."
'Make a difference.
'Many orders.'
Thales' heart clenched.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of the Old Crow's class.
"So, we … Regardless of whether it was the Seven Jadestar Attendants, who were directly under the royal family like Beldin, Tardin, and Barney, or the so-called Thirteen Distinguished Families like Talon and Karabeyan, or the Six Great Clans who founded the kingdom like Arunde and Tabark, we saw and experienced it all."
Barney Junior recovered from the shock and stared at Nalgi in a daze.
Nalgi swept his gaze over each of his Royal Guards and said airily,
"With every move His Majesty took …
"Our days became harder, our future became more hopeless, and our future as nobles became even bleaker."
Thales was shocked.
Tardin's expression changed slightly. He wanted to say something, but he did not.
But before he could say anything, Thales, who had a premonition a long time ago, hurriedly urged him.
"What happened?"
Nalgi raised his lifeless eyes and shook his head with the ghost of a smile. His tone was full of grief. "I don't know …
"First of all, because of the Land Measurement Order, my family's fief was reduced rapidly …
"The farmers on the arable land moved to the city because of the Household Measurement Order …"
He spoke tirelessly, and his gaze was dreamy.
Every word he said was filled with complicated and chaotic emotions.
"The suzerain's bureaucrats lost their prestige after the Cleaning of Officials was issued …
"Because of the Tax Order, we were forced to live a life of poverty and bankruptcy …
"We had to disband the army of servants in our territories and castles to reduce our expenses. My mother and sisters had to sell their jewelry to supplement our family's income …"
The expressions of the prisoners in the Royal Guards became increasingly worse.
Nalgi sneered.
"The irony is that the nouveau riche, who are from the countryside, can use money to obtain a status and life that is equivalent to ours, but it is illegal for us to even raise taxes on our own fief to tide us over difficult times …
"There's also that damned naming order. It clearly divides our titles and duties …"
"And finally, the relocation order that came with the General Edict …"
Nalgi shook his head mockingly and said,
"The Six Great Clans and the Thirteen Distinguished Families might be able to withstand twists and turns, losses, and the king's sanctions, but for us, families that are neither good enough nor good enough …"
He stared at the air in a daze.
"It's as if the whole world changed overnight. The happiness and stability you used to take for granted have all turned into disaster and turmoil.
"Can you imagine?
"At this time, being born into nobility doesn't sound so good anymore."
The happiness and stability we used to take for granted have turned into disaster and turmoil …
Thales was stunned.
Nalgi spoke very slowly, but no one interrupted him.
There was a weariness in his tone, as if he had given up on himself. With every word he said, Thales' expression darkened a little.
'Assassination, foreign enemies, war, conspiracy …'
In the past, he thought that this was everything that the Bloody Year would reveal, but now it seemed …
Thales remembered the Old Crow, Hicks.
As well as the lesson he had taught himself.
'Victory and defeat.
'Enemies and friends.
'"Do not underestimate war itself. It is not as simple as you think. It is not a game where you have to win or lose, where you have to pay the price, where you have to live or die.
'"The Bloody Year.
'"Aside from victory and defeat, from what angle and to what extent should we evaluate this tragic year filled with war?"'
At this moment, the teenager was suddenly moved.
The Bloody Year was not just a war, a conflict, a conflict, and it was not just a grudge between the Two Empresses and the calamities.
Everything was fused into the big furnace of Constellation in the past, and there was no way to escape it.
The king, the country, the nobles, the calamities, and politics were all entangled together. They affected each other in this furnace, entangled with each other, and could not be separated.
Thales remembered the Virtuous King of Constellation, who Lampard was very wary of.
'Mindis the Third.'
A strange guess rose in Thales' mind, but he quickly shook it out of his thoughts.
"I used to find it strange that when the people's hearts were disorganized and chaos was about to come, why did the six prominent and powerful guardian dukes, and the thirteen Distinguished Families, who were as powerful as the thirteen Distinguished Families, swallow their anger and accept His Majesty's orders in silence?
"But after listening to Zakriel's words, I seem to understand." Nalgi curled up the corners of his mouth and showed Thales a bitter and hopeless smile.
"When you see the terrifying calamity that has been passed down from generation to generation in your family standing behind His Majesty, perhaps you do not have much of a choice."
Nalgi's expression darkened, and it made Thales feel even more uncomfortable.
"I do not dare and cannot judge His Majesty. After all, he is the King of Constellation. I have to obey whatever he says. Besides, he has such an irresistible power …"
The more he spoke, the gloomier he became, and the more anguished his tone became.
This made Thales subconsciously lower his head.
"But when I returned to my dilapidated home, I saw my wife selling her dowry, my son starving, my sister who was about to be married, and I saw my father, the suzerain, borrowing money from merchants while he fearlessly defended the last bit of his family's dignity as a noble …"
Nalgi's words were filled with anguish, and it caused many of the prisoners to have strange expressions on their faces.
Thales did not speak.
Nalgi snapped out of his daze and looked at Thales again. His eyes were filled with the vicissitudes of life.
"Ever since I could understand things, my father has taught me that the Nalgi Family has been granted land since the Virtuous King's era. We are loyal to the Jadestar Family because we know that our status comes from the power of the royal family. Our children being selected as Royal Guards is a symbol of our loyalty to the royal family. But …"
Like a drowning man looking at his last straw, Nalgi stared at Thales fervently and longingly. The color in his eyes was like that of a person who was about to die.
"Tell me, Your Highness, shouldn't the king protect the interests and dignity of his vassals? Shouldn't he protect the prosperity and happiness of his vassals? Why is it that the more loyal we are to His Majesty and to the kingdom, the more … "
Nalgi's voice faltered. He became weary, confused, and puzzled.
"Do I not love my kingdom enough, or does my kingdom not love me enough?"
At that moment, Thales, who was in anguish, opened his mouth to speak.
But he couldn't say anything.
At that moment, all the guards in the underground prison fell silent.
Nalgi snorted. His entire body was filled with a sense of relief, as if he had given up on everything.
"So, when we are lost day after day, and the despair that grows heavier with each passing day, when someone promises us hope, and someone tells us that all of this is just the king's momentary foolishness, that the nobles in the court are bewitched, and that all we need to do is wait in silence …"
He did not continue speaking.
On the other side, Canon began to sob softly again. Bruley no longer snorted. Tardin was dejected. Beldin and Naer, who did not know what was going on, were in a daze.
Only Barney Junior and Samel mumbled something that only he could understand in a daze, and the other held his weapon with gritted teeth.
"Tell me, Your Highness. On one side, there is my lovely wife and weak son who are filled with hope, my elderly parents who hold fast to the past, and the glory of my family that I am proud of … On the other side, there is the gentle and kind king, the cruel and merciless king's decree, and the Praetorian Oath that is engraved on my life …"
Nalgi's face contorted. His eyes were filled with tears.
"Who should I be loyal to, and who should I betray?"
Thales closed his eyes gently.
"Father." Barney Junior pressed his head in pain. "Father …
"No, you … No, all of this is too unfair …"
Barney Junior's moans echoed in the air.
* Thud. *
On the other side, Tardin knelt on the ground. He covered his face, and his shoulders trembled slightly.
Nalgi laughed in a neurotic manner and waved the key in his hand.
"If you are loyal to His Majesty and Constellation, it means that you betray the family you were born in, and the wife and child you love …
"Tell me, Your Highness. What should I do to not be considered a betrayal? What should I do to be considered loyal?"
Thales exhaled laboriously.
He had nothing to say.
Nalgi looked at the prince and smiled.
"It's okay, because I finally understand. Look at us now …"
He swept his gaze over everyone, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
"Whether it is Jenny, Luna, or my beloved wife and child …
"And His Majesty, my oath …"
Nalgi stared at the empty air in a daze.
"Whether it is loyalty or betrayal …
"We all have nothing."
At this moment, Thales felt that the air in the underground prison was stagnant and heavy, and it was unprecedented.
It was filled with a thick aura of death.
At this moment, a hollow and dry voice that was filled with the same pain and hesitation rose out of nowhere.
"Enough."
The voice echoed in the dark room.
Everyone trembled at the same time.
In another direction, Zakriel, the Knight of Judgment, supported himself against the wall weakly. He struggled to walk unsteadily as he stood in the shadows outside the storage room. His gaze was unfocused, and his voice was intermittent.
"Nalgi, enough."
He said in pain,
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
