The golden setting sun slowly sank into the forest, giving the surrounding clouds a golden silhouette. The sky changed from blue to white, and from white to red. Finally, the afterglow sprinkled on the earth, turning the lush grassland red.
At the end of the Gilen family's territory, there was a raised slope. Standing on it, one could see the house, the farmland, and the woods that connected the valley. When Nightingale was little, she liked to ride on her father's shoulder to climb the low slope so that she could have a panoramic view of the whole family. Therefore, when her parents' bodies were sent back, and the servant asked her where she wanted to bury them, she chose the slope without hesitation.
At that time, although she was heartbroken, she was still a little unwilling to believe that her family had suddenly left. She only thought that if her parents could open their eyes again, no matter where she and her brother were at home, they would be the first to see them.
Now that she was in front of her parents' tombstones again, Nightingale had a completely different feeling.
There was not much dust on the tombstones. Apparently, someone was still cleaning the place. She bent down and neatly folded a stack of white paper in front of the two tombstones.
It was the verdict of Viscount Somi.
Faced with irrefutable evidence, the viscount's psychological defense soon collapsed. After Roland promised that he would not punish underage children, he not only admitted that he sold Dreamland Water, but also confessed the cause and effect of the annexation of the Gilen family.
It turned out that the valley that separated the two families' territories did hide a treasure. However, it was not a gemstone vein, but a suspected gold mine.
The person who found it was the Somi farmer.
Due to the different terrain, the ravine that was considered a valley to the Gilen family was gradually leveled with the ground in the Somi territory. Farmers often went downstream to fetch water and bathe. That was until one day, when a lucky man found a grain of gold sand in a mountain spring. He called the others to search for it and fight for it. That was when Dott Somi's attention was attracted.
After that, he immediately blocked the news and sent people along the valley to look for the source of the gold sand.
However, the report from his men disappointed him.
The searchers did find more gold sand upstream. It seemed that the erosion of the rainwater had caused the walls of the valley to collapse, allowing the floating coarse gold to fall into the water. However, more and more evidence showed that the gold mine was likely to be on the side of the Gilen family, so the exploration had to be stopped.
Because of Silver City's special status, the number of Knight and Escorts that the nobles were allowed to own was more or less limited, so it was impossible to rob the city openly. Viscount Somi was unwilling to give up on this huge treasure, so he turned his attention to Viscount Gelen.
His breakthrough was old Gilen, a distant relative of the Gilens.
The plan was simple but ruthless. He took advantage of the fact that Old Gilen had neither a title nor a fief to entice him to cooperate with him. He promised that as long as he gave him a piece of land, the Gilen Family would have a new master. The latter obviously could not resist the temptation of becoming a true noble and agreed to his scheme.
So Dott bribed the Rats and killed the Gilens while the refugees were rioting. Old Gilen took in Hyde and Nightingale, who were still minors, and began to manage the territory on his behalf. As long as Hyde came of age, it would be easy to force him to give up his fief and title. An heir without protection was no different from a caged bird. Even if other nobles suspected him, they would only think that Old Gilen was too greedy.
At this point, it was a foregone conclusion. However, Nightingale's awakening revealed a flaw in the plan. She disappeared without a trace after killing Old Gilen on the day she came of age, and Old Gilen did not get the title he dreamed of until the moment he breathed his last.
Dott Somi had to change his plan. He could rope in old Gilen, but he could not get everyone in the Gilen family to side with him. After all, there was only one title that he could use as a bargaining chip. He had to use it when it mattered.
Ironically, it was Hyde who he finally found.
When Nightingale heard this, she thought it was ridiculous. Hyde's property was used as a bargaining chip, and Hyde naively thought that the viscount would help him. Without much hesitation, he agreed to the proposal of the person who killed his family.
With the viscount's support, Hyde stood out from a group of relatives who were fighting for power and profit. He finally kept his title and became the official heir of the Gilen family. Then, as promised, he merged into the Somi family. It was not that he kept his promise. After the internal strife, the family's industry was on the verge of collapse, and most of his subjects had been lost. He had no other choice but to rely on the Somi family.
After ten years of planning, the viscount finally got what he wanted. He even accumulated the huge amount of capital needed to open a mine by smuggling Dreamland Water. As long as he found out the location of the mine, the Somi family would have wealth that could last for hundreds of years.
However, the appearance of Roland shattered his dream.
For a suspected gold mine, he murdered nobles of the same rank and broke up several families. Nearly 20 people died in the vicious scheme, but all he got was a noose around his neck.
From beginning to end, he did not even get a glimpse of the gold mine.
Nightingale took out a fire sickle and lit the judgment.
She once heard from Roland that there was an ancient way of mourning, which was to tie paper into the shape of the object to be passed on, and then burn it with fire, so that the deceased could receive the object. Because of the psychic fire, there was a certain chance that fireworks with special will could pass through the gate of the world of life and death, especially when the two worlds were closest to each other at dusk.
Nightingale hoped that through this ceremony, the news of the murderer's execution could be told to the souls of her parents. Although Roland added that he did not really believe in the existence of the world of life and death, she did not care.
Rather than saying that he was comforting his parents, it was more like he was comforting himself.
By the time she reached the bottom of the slope, the sky was already completely dark.
Roland was waiting for her not far away. When she saw the familiar figure, her helpless heart suddenly fell to the ground.
"Is this really okay? Let that guy leave unscathed. "Roland curled his lips." I've wanted to teach him a lesson for a long time. "
"Oh? In what capacity? "Nightingale raised her eyebrows.
"Uh …" He coughed twice. "Of course, as a king."
Nightingale smiled and shook her head. "His business is over, and it has nothing to do with me anymore. If you really want, you can send someone to find him and beat him up again. "
"Since you've said so, then forget it," Roland said as he spread out his hands.
"Well, by the way …" Nightingale suddenly stopped and knelt on one knee. She put her hand on her chest and saluted as if she was swearing allegiance for the first time. "Your Majesty, from now on, can you also allow me to stay by your side and serve you?"
"Why do you suddenly mention this?" Roland was stunned. "Didn't I say it before?"
"But I want to hear you say it again," Nightingale insisted.
The string of magic did not tremble in the slightest. It was as quiet and gentle as the earth in the night.
It was great to meet him.
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