Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 220 Nicolai's Bargain
The stern-faced, gray-haired Earl of Lisbon sat at a long table in the General Order Hall of the Sword District. He raised his head sternly and asked, "Say that again?"

Before him, a lean and strong middle-aged nobleman from the north straightened his expression and bowed slightly.

This middle-aged nobleman, dressed in casual clothes, exuded a military bearing that even the harshest winter couldn't erase.

“It was discovered by a lowly soldier,” said Viscount Leston, the head of the General Order Office and the chief garrison commander of the capital, narrowing his eyes. “The routine report from Valhalla is strange—the password at the city gate is not quite right.”

His face turned cold, and his eyes flashed with a sharp, sword-like light: "It seems to have been altered, Your Excellency."

Count Lisbon frowned.

As the prime minister who had served King Nuen for many years and the most trusted direct vassal of Dragonstreet, Count Lisbon was always the last to speak at the royal council, and his words often had the final say.

For example, a resolution was passed a month ago to bring that troublesome Star Prince to Exter.

From the moment King Noon personally handed him the ring symbolizing the prime minister's authority, the Count of Lisbon experienced countless ups and downs throughout his decades-long political career, making him a man of great experience and knowledge.

But at this moment, Lisban felt that everything he had experienced in the past two days was almost equivalent to the first half of his life.

First, the king summoned the grand dukes to a room, where Risban stood in the Hall of Heroes with a frown, watching His Majesty Nunn make a nearly suicidal duel request.

Later, he saw that King Nunn, though old, was still vigorous and personally killed Pefet on the spot to avenge his second son and to intimidate the other grand dukes.

As a result, the military deployment plan that the King and the Royal Council had been discussing for a long time had to be put on the agenda.

But the calamity that struck at night and the arrival of Kilica shattered the dreams of almost everyone in Dragonsreach.

Then, the dragon, which had not been seen for hundreds of years, returned.

then……

Then Lisban encountered the biggest problem of his life.

The king has disappeared.

Risban had witnessed the bloody battle at the Thirty-Eight Outposts twenty years ago, experienced the most dangerous frigid cold of the Desolate Sun sixteen years ago, received the bad news of Prince Suril's defeat in the Battle of White Mountain, learned of the dangerous situation of the Glacier Orcs' large-scale riots, had a headache over the tense situation of the Grand Duke of Black Sand Territory dying in battle, and faced the perilous situation of insufficient supplies in the war with Stars. But none of these things could compare to the situation at present. The various strange occurrences in Dragon Sky City made him tremble with fear and extremely anxious.

"Valhalla? The city gate?" The Prime Minister felt that there was another matter on his mind.

But he seemed to have vaguely grasped something—perhaps the answer to the problem.

Lisban turned his head: "His Majesty is still nowhere to be found? No news from the White Blade Guard either? And what about Nicolai?"

Upon hearing this, Viscount Lesdon's face darkened.

“No, there are only a few scattered melee guards, all of whom survived the calamity with serious injuries and know nothing,” Leston shook his head. “Moreover, the rumors in the city are growing stronger.”

Count Lisbon nodded and sighed.

“Rumors,” the Prime Minister murmured.

Is there a rumor about the Star People assassinating His Majesty?
how is this possible.

Lisban frowned.

Your Majesty just cooperated with that Prince of Stars last night and exposed the traitor in the Great Kiln.

but……

"Where is that Star Prince?"

“And His Majesty’s granddaughter,” Prime Minister Lisbon looked up at Reston, “His Majesty was looking for them before, wasn’t he?”

Viscount Leston shook his head again: "His Majesty entrusted this task to the Dark Room... but it has been a long time since we've seen Lady Cassan."

The veins on the back of the Count of Lisbon's hand bulged.

"This is a really bad feeling," he exhaled deeply, his expression serious. "After the dragon appeared, Dragon Sky City was in complete chaos."

The Prime Minister looked up: "Is there anything else unusual?"

“Yes,” Viscount Leston’s eyes gleamed: “the number of patrols.”

At that moment, the eyes of the two high-ranking officials shifted simultaneously.

"Go on," Count Lisbon said calmly.

"The chaos in the city is not over yet, and the martial law around the Shield Zone has not been lifted, but," Viscount Leston said cautiously, "two of my officers have reported that they have seen at least two patrol teams coming out of the Shield Zone."

“I have already sent people to investigate,” he said solemnly.

Lisban remained silent.

But the clues have already connected.

“The password to the city gate isn’t so easy to change,” the Prime Minister frowned, “and combined with this strange intelligence…”

"Good heavens." His expression remained unchanged, but his tone was full of unease.

Viscount Leston's expression changed: "You mean..."

The Prime Minister of Lisbon nodded, his face serious: "Something has probably happened at the first gate in front of Valhalla."

The commander clenched his fist.

"No way?" The Viscount exhaled incredulously. "That's a single soldier from the city gate! And Valhalla's reinforcements are right behind him..."

At this point, Lesdon's eyebrows twitched again.

“There are four Grand Dukes in Valhalla.”

He murmured, "Could it be that they've joined forces..."

“No, it’s too early to draw conclusions,” the Prime Minister waved his hand, a deep sense of doubt rising in his heart: “But one thing is certain.”

“We can’t sit here and wait any longer until His Majesty has news,” Risban said, raising his head with a sharp look in his eyes. “We must at least inform the four Grand Dukes.”

Lesdon frowned: "If they really are behind it all..."

“That’s when they’ll slip up,” Lisban clenched his fists, his mind in turmoil. “I hope His Majesty is safe, but once…”

He did not continue.

But Lesson knew the Prime Minister's worries.

If something happens in Dragon Sky City, would they still be able to detain or even kill the four dukes?

Then I'm afraid...

They truly became Exter's sinners.

"What do you intend to do?" Viscount Leston paused, his face filled with worry. "Without the king's decree, we cannot directly conscript the militia."

"Or are you going to conscript your own troops? Or can we write to the earl outside the city and summon him?"

Lisban remained silent.

With the king missing, a count and a viscount secretly led troops—and even called on their vassals to lead troops—into the capital.

Both of them knew what this decision meant.

"Do not."

"This is neither conventional nor time-consuming."

Count Lisbon stood up and shook his head: "I have a feeling that by then it will be too late."

“Abandon the usual means of communication, release ravens, and contact Valhalla—see the dukes’ reaction.”

His pupils contracted slightly: "In addition, directly gather the forces of the General Order Hall and consolidate the existing patrol teams."

"We will take our existing forces and head directly to the city gate."

"Let's see who's behind this."

Whether it's the coward among the stars, or someone else entirely,

The Prime Minister of Lisbon thought to himself.

----

Nikolai frowned with a serious expression.

Cassandra, however, regained her gentle smile.

Thales looked puzzled.

The next second, the Scarlet Witch leaned close to Nicolai's ear and whispered something.

"That...strange..."

The voice was too soft—Tales frowned: the Scarlet Witch was speaking in a whisper, and he couldn't hear her.

But that didn't stop him from suddenly jolting at the sight of Nicolai's back.

“His… assurance… is that right?” Cassan’s voice trailed off.

Thales felt as if countless ants were crawling through his heart—he felt he could only take half of what was said to heart…

This is so annoying!
Nikolai froze for a moment.

Then the Meteorite sighed, leaned down and whispered something in the Scarlet Witch's ear.

"He also has...bloodline..."

Thales sighed.

He still didn't hear anything.

The crowd standing some distance away from the two men felt a different kind of anxiety compared to Thales, who could eavesdrop: they were anxious but dared not make any rash moves.

"Are they about to start drinking?" Cohen raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the owner of the dark room and the white blade ended their conversation.

Nicolai turned around and walked absentmindedly toward the others.

The Scarlet Witch looked up and smiled slightly at them.

Then she bowed slightly and turned to leave the cave entrance.

As the two parted, Thales was filled with a perplexing question.

what happened?

The White Blade Guards and the Dark Room, what exactly are they...?

At that moment, Raphael, Miranda, Cohen, Wyatt, Rolf, and the other members of the White Blade Guard all looked at the Meteorite with puzzled expressions.

But Nikolai just stared blankly.

Such meteorites are rare indeed—Thales thought to himself.

"What's going on?" Thales couldn't help but ask. "Are they going to trap us here and let us die?"

Nikolai then suddenly came to his senses.

“Let’s go,” the Meteorite said, raising his head and scanning everyone. “We’re safe now.”

"The Dark Room has been evacuated," he said calmly, lost in thought. "And the people from Black Sand Territory, for some reason, haven't shown up."

Raphael raised an eyebrow and stepped forward.

"Why did she leave?" The young man from the secret service cautiously observed his surroundings, secretly gripping the hilt of his sword. "Where is Kaslan?"

Nicolai gave an unconscious, cold laugh.

"She let us go."

The Meteorite shook his head: "As for Kaslan... I don't know."

Thales was slightly taken aback.

Let us go?

He stared blankly at the empty cave entrance, blinked, and seemed unable to believe it.

How can it be?

Cohen slapped his forehead, his expression serious: "Oh, she let us go..."

But the next moment, the guard's expression changed drastically.

"What!" He gaped, his expression exaggerated: "Let us go?"

Cohen's eyes widened: "What did you do?"

Nikolai raised his head and forced a disdainful smile.

“She saw my handsome face,” he said coldly, looking at Cohen, “and she softened.”

Cohen blinked, puzzled, and looked at Miranda and Raphael for help.

Miranda raised her eyebrows.

“You have no jokes, Your Excellency,”

Miranda sighed: "There's no need to force yourself."

Nikolais's smile faded, and he let out a cold snort.

Thales pursed his lips, glanced at Raphael's thoughtful expression, and asked, "What did you say to her?"

Nikolai raised his head, looking out of the cave entrance and towards the northern sky.

He exhaled, his expression unreadable.

His expression was subtle and complex.

“A deal,” the Meteorite said slowly, “we made a deal.”

“I paid a price,” he murmured, “for our freedom in the dark room.”

Thales was startled.

chips?

"What chips?"

What exactly did he—Nikolai—say to the Scarlet Witch?
What price could make the Dark Chamber abandon the heir to the Stars, abandon the heir to the North...?

Abandon the Walton bloodline of Dragoncity?
But Nicholas just shook his head: "A huge stake."

A bargaining chip that he didn't know was good or bad.

Nikolai thought in confusion.

Thales and the others looked at each other, speechless.

Yesterday I scrapped the plot outline for the next volume again...

How should I arrange the next volume? This is giving me a headache…

Um, let's make a deal. Can I skip to volume four and start writing from volume five?

How about just writing "Please fill in the blanks yourself based on the context" for Volume Four?
In that case, it'll be finished faster, right?
(I'm a genius after all!)
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(End of this chapter)