Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 547 Not to Die for the Enemy (Part 2)

"Are you ok?"

Jenn looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Thales tried to regulate his disordered breathing so as not to give himself away.

“Yes,” Thales forced a smile, pushing the plate of lettuce he had brought out to make a show of things away:

"But I'm full, and I can't quite handle it."

Jann was silent for a moment, then his gaze sharpened.

"So in your view, a vassal like me is still the culprit? The source of chaos in the country driven by personal desires?"

Thales neither admitted nor denied it.

He looked at the Duke, trying to forget the image he had seen in his mind:
"Maybe."

"But this is not an accusation, because you are powerless to help."

Powerless.

Jenn pondered those words for a while.

He spoke expressionlessly:
"So, according to you, everything is inevitable, and there's no room for negotiation between us?"

Thales stared at the Duke for a long time.

He suddenly remembered the first time they met, when they both encountered assassins sent by Aarond—according to Chisel, they were the men of the Shadow Shield.

If that lurking assassin were to jump out at this moment, wouldn't Janne become the one to take the hit for him again?
Thales shook off this pointless thought, remained silent for a moment, and then shook his head:

"Who knows."

"But with the crisis looming, new demands will inevitably arise from it."

Thales seemed lost in thought:
"I think that when history tires of repeating itself, when people tire of disputes, when nations tire of internal strife... when the time comes, the absolute, unique, and supreme power of the monarch may once again be called for, needed, and propelled to the forefront of history."

Jenn frowned.

“Just like in the past, after the rise and fall of the absolute kings,” Thales pointed at the other man and laughed.

"The vassals divided up the land, established their own rule, and expanded the territory, becoming the main characters in history."

Jenn hesitated for a few seconds.

"This theory suggests that the protagonists of history were first the king, then the vassals, and then back to the king?"

He glanced at King Kessel in the distance, then looked back at the prince:

"Only these two, nothing else?"

Thales scoffed.

"King or vassal, one or many, gathered or scattered, exclusive or all-encompassing, central or regional, bureaucrat or gentry, unified or divided, centralized or autonomous, hierarchical or absolute power, the names are varied and the manifestations are endless, call them whatever you like."

He shrugged:

"But as you just said: binary, two-way, two sides, both sides of the scale, both ends of the road."

Jenn snorted coldly:
"It looks like we're going around in circles and back to where we started."

Thales shook his head dismissively:

"It's like you're going around in circles... Maybe it's because you're standing in the wrong place or from the wrong angle?"

Jann looked at him.

"If you only stand in front of history, or fall behind it, yes, it does look like you're going around in circles," Thales said, his tone lightening as he forgot the image he had just seen in his mind.

"Up and down, back and forth, rising from low to high, and then falling back down from high to low."

"But if you look at it in three dimensions—I mean, move your noble backside, climb to a higher point in history, and then look down."

Thales said slowly:

"Perhaps you will discover: from this perspective, under countless factors, in the details that are unknown to others..."

"History is always moving forward, making new choices."

"Never going around in circles."

Jann frowned and pondered for a long time.

Just as Thales sighed and was about to continue, Jenn suddenly spoke up:
"Like waves on the sea?"

"A wave that appears high and low when viewed from the front, and rises and falls when viewed from above, but is actually a wave that is always moving forward?"

wave.

Thales was surprised at first, then he laughed.

"good."

He had originally planned to use the overused "spiral ascent," but since the other party's understanding was so profound...

Thales leaned back in his seat, silently watching the king and duke on the steps, as well as the various guests below.

"Whether it's a king or a vassal, in addition to their rise and fall, their every struggle, every alternation, and every clash in history may have sparked new ideas."

Thales' words became increasingly clear:
"From the rise of the ancient shaven to the division of the kingdoms, from the coexistence of city-states to the conquest of the empire, from the rise of numerous heroes to the final empire, from the final war to the establishment of the stars, from the restoration of the kings to the reforms of wise rulers—everything under the sun is new."

He thought of the old crow and felt a pang of emotion.

Jenn pondered Thales' words carefully:
"History moves forward like waves, and we are like small boats on those waves, mostly drifting with the current, but occasionally riding the waves."

I paused for a moment.

"A small boat on the waves, a very interesting saying."

"But unfortunately, I think this analogy is both presumptuous and self-deprecating."

Faced with this contradictory answer, Jan gave him a puzzled look.

Thales turned his head and smiled.

"I think we are water, but also waves."

Thales' expression was extremely serious:

"We are history itself."

Jann's expression changed slightly.

This time, he turned around and remained silent for a long time.

Not far away, Marius, who had been busy all night, and Golov, who had just returned from outside, had just met up:
"Or is there nothing at all?"

Golov rubbed his hands, which were red from the cold, and shook his head as he put on gloves:
"No."

"The guests were thoroughly searched before entering, and nothing that could serve as a weapon or poison was found in the gift storeroom."

"All the guests who approached His Majesty and several dukes tonight—that's two or three hundred people in total—have been checked. They are all people of status. There were no imposters, nothing suspicious, at least nothing particularly suspicious."

Marius's expression grew increasingly tense.

"Outside the hall, the guards blocked the road all night, but found nothing."

"Inside the hall, the royal guards—both from the Palace of Restoration and ours—have been keeping a close watch for several hours, but have not spotted any assassins."

“And also,” Golov hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"I... heard from an acquaintance of mine in the Vanguard Wing that even people from the Kingdom's Secret Service came and used some forbidden methods to detect threats."

Kingdom Secret Service.

Forbidden methods.

Marius's eyes flashed.

Golov continued:

"But in the entire Mindis Hall, there was neither high-energy crystal resonance nor a high-concentration refined eternal oil reaction."

"At least, none of the guests were hiding any unknown alchemical orbs or magic guns."

But Marius suddenly reached out and put his arm around his shoulder!

Golov was startled, only to see Marius lower his voice and look serious:

"What about the other indicators?"

"Formation interference? Incantation fluctuations? Law aberration? Fundamental repulsion? Balance phenomenon? Traces of anomalies? And what other indicative magical detection methods are there? What does the Secret Science say?"

Golov was stunned by the bombardment of several unfamiliar words:
"magic?"

"My friend didn't say that much..."

Marius frowned.

Unexpectedly, another voice came from behind him, answering him.

“Nothing,” Vogel Taren, the deputy captain of the bodyguard, said coldly as he stepped out from behind the two men, who were looking at him warily.
"There are no long-lost magical techniques."

"At least it wasn't a magical assassination."

Golov looked at his two superiors with concern.

But Marius remained lost in thought and said nothing.

"Ha, Paterson caught several pairs of disheveled, lovebirds entwined in an empty room in the side hall..."

DD, yawning and looking exhausted, came over from the other side to report:
"Also, Stolt caught several naked men and women 'chatting' in some carriages, Bastia caught several lazy fellows slacking off in the servants' passage, and a few people stealing food in the kitchen... but none of it was a big deal, and the basement and fireplace were empty."

"Also, we caught two guys in the restroom, huddled in a cubicle performing 'six-legged monsters,' you know what I mean, hehe... Old Pi wanted to report them, but I stopped him... cough cough, anyway, we have some extra money this month, which will help us improve our meals..."

Doyle grinned wickedly, clicked his tongue, and shook his head.

Until he saw Vogel, he was startled and tensed up as if he had been electrocuted:
"Ah! Ta, Taren—Commander!"

Vogel glanced at him, concealing the disdain in his eyes.

Doyle coughed hard, then became serious again:

"Reporting, sir! Many senior and important guests have already left: Count Cassel couldn't hold his liquor, Baron Garth and his widowed lover went home early, Duke Arend will soon be taken back to prison, and it's said that Prime Minister Cullen also asked the Grand Steward if he could leave..."

He turned his head and looked at the guests in the center of the hall, who were getting increasingly wild with their games:

"These are the young people left..."

Marius frowned as he watched a guest snatch the bard's lute from him and begin to sing a love song, confessing his feelings to a hesitant young woman:

"After eating, drinking, singing, and dancing all night, aren't you tired?"

Doyle narrowed his eyes, watching as the guest was stopped by another angry young man. After exchanging a few harsh words, the two started fighting, staging a scene of brothers vying for a woman's affections ("Stop fighting!"—a girl with a weary expression), until their sweethearts managed to break them up by waving a handkerchief ("The one I truly love is your father!"—a girl with a loving expression).
"That depends on who you're dancing with."

Vogel gave a soft snort:
"So, we have to prepare to stay up all night? To wait for your assassins to appear?"

Both Golov and Doyle glanced at Marius, but the latter did not react.

“You should be glad that His Majesty didn’t have many tasks tonight, and all of them have been completed,” Vogel said unhappily.

"Captain Adrian is advising His Majesty to cancel the less important arrangements and leave early."

"Can we end this farce?"

Marius pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up:
"Perhaps, perhaps the assassin is still waiting for the right opportunity."

"Still waiting?" Vogel said dismissively.
"After His Majesty and the dukes had all left..."

Marius raised his head:

"That would take away a large number of guards, causing the rest to become complacent."

The watchman looked up at the prince's seat, where Duke Iris and Prince Thales seemed to be having a lively conversation, oblivious to everyone else.

He frowned:
"It also brings us closer to our goal."

Beside Thales, Jann raised his glass again, watching the scandalous affair that had drawn a crowd in the banquet hall:

An old baron with a pale face was arguing with his old friend of many years, accusing him of seducing his daughter—whom he had originally planned to marry to the other man's son—regarding his age, shame, and the friendship between their families.

Jann withdrew his gaze: "King, vassal, and then king again."

“Count Cassel just told me, with no small amount of pride, that your teacher in the north is Merri Hickser.”

"Is this his teaching?"

Upon hearing the familiar name, Thales felt a moment of disorientation.

"Half of it, I suppose," he said nostalgically.
"Old Crow provided me with a lot of historical materials and details, and I also want to thank him for his persistent questioning, which forced me to think about every possible or impossible answer."

It's as if my past life wasn't enough.

Jan raised his glass to him:

"What about the other half?"

Thales shook his head.

"That's someone else's... I guess you could call it a way of thinking."

Jenn looked puzzled.

“Three-part structure,” Thales said, slightly lost in thought.
"Affirmation, negation, and negation of negation."

Seeing the other person's puzzled expression, Thales smiled:
"Or you can think of it this way: king, vassal, and then a new king."

Jann understood immediately, but he still frowned.

"Thinking methods? Who said that?"

Thales sighed:
"Hegel".

"I don't recognize him. Who is he?"

Thales shook his head: "You wouldn't know, but if we're talking about it, he was someone from a very, very, very long time ago..."

The prince pondered for a moment, then smiled and said:

"A mage, perhaps."

Jann was stunned.

Master?

He looked at Thales, his eyes filled with even greater seriousness.

“I see,” Duke Iris said calmly.
"Very inspiring."

Jann's eyes were fixed, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Thales watched as the other person pondered deeply, seemingly trying to gain some insight, and suddenly smiled.

"You know, according to this logic..."

Thales felt something:
"If you have an apple and I have an apple, we can exchange them and each of us will still have an apple."

Jenn looked puzzled.

Thales raised his finger:
"But you have an idea, and I have an idea, when we exchange them..."

Jenn seemed to understand something and continued:
"Two ideas?"

But Thales shook his head.

"No, more than that."

He was slightly lost in thought: "Like that..."

"We will have a third kind of thing that we've never had before..."

"New ideas".

Jenn remained silent for a long time.

Just then, Thales suddenly saw King Kessel rise from his seat, and his attendant, Stellie, draped a cloak over him.

The king's entourage sprang into action.

Some guests noticed the king's actions and came forward to say goodbye, but King Kessel seemed to want to avoid a big show. He simply waved casually and disappeared through a side door, surrounded by the royal guards.

With neither Queen Koya nor Ginny present, Kessel's silhouette appeared even more lonely and desolate.

The royal guards surrounding him were on high alert.

Thales' heart tightened: if the assassin was going to make a move, now was his last chance.

He ignored the way Jenn was looking at him and cautiously glanced around.

However, a minute passed, and even as the king's massive retinue emerged from the banquet hall, no one jumped out with weapons raised, shouting slogans to assassinate the king.

Thales breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the last person in the king's party disappear.

Well, he hadn't really expected the other person to come and say hello, "Son, I'm leaving."

The prince subconsciously broke his perfect posture, stretched, and quickly sat up straight before anyone could correct him.

For some reason, Thales felt much more relaxed without the king present, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

Clearly, Thales wasn't the only one who thought so—the biggest evidence was that after the king left, the music in the banquet hall didn't weaken but rather increased, and the crowd's restlessness didn't diminish but rather intensified.

but……

What if the assassin's target wasn't the king?

Thales reached for the knife on the table, turned his gaze, and confirmed with Marius.

Fortunately, the Xinghu Guards guarded the key routes around him very well.

"His Majesty is leaving already?" Jann asked, frowning.

"Yes."

Thales turned around, and the absurd thought of Janne taking the knife for him popped into his mind again:
"There are other guests present, I think it's time for you to..."

But Jenn interrupted him.

"Your opening toast today was quite good."

“A toast to God, to the nation, to the king, to others, to our beliefs,” Jann’s gaze remained fixed on Thales, clearly unwilling to leave.

"But few people would say: Respect yourself."

Jenn said calmly:
"Own."

Thales frowned slightly.

He sensed that Jenn's mood had changed.

With the king gone, more guests tried to squeeze over to the Duke of Starlake's side, but they were all stopped by the Starlake Guard for the obvious reason: His Highness Thales was having a pleasant conversation with Duke Jann and should not be disturbed.

“Tell me, Thales.”

Jann called the prince by his name again, swirling his wine glass in his hand as he spoke softly.

"Have you ever thought about..."

Duke Iris tilted his head back in his chair, gazing intently at the massive columns of the hall:
"Back then, if that Ms. Serena hadn't taken you by surprise and kidnapped you to the Wild Grass Manor, making us enemies from the very beginning..."

"Later, if she hadn't infiltrated your convoy and attracted the Queen of the Night's pursuit..."

"Then what would our situation be today?"

Thales stared at Jenn, his expression turning serious.

"What do you mean?"

But the Duke of Iris smiled slightly:
“The Star and Kevin Deer, the Nine-Pointed Star and the Iris, we don’t actually have to be enemies.”

"You and I can put aside our past grievances and stand together..."

Jann stared at him, her eyes swirling with emotion:

"In the future, in this crumbling world..."

"To achieve great things."

Thales' eyes flickered.

Jann slowly approached him, raised his glass for the third time, and revealed his signature, warm smile:
"As long as you are willing to accept peace—and no longer be my enemy."

Thales was stunned.

Jann raised an eyebrow, flicked his wrist, and gestured towards the wine glass Thales had on the table.

The two stared at each other for several seconds.

In that instant, Thales felt as if he had returned to many years ago.

At that time, in the northerners' military tent, another much rougher man did the same, pushing his wine cup toward the prince and inviting him to drink together.

Thales quickly came to his senses, looked at Jenn's expression, and smiled.

"Let's put aside our past grievances and stand together..."

"That sounds familiar," the prince said with amusement.
"Six years ago, when I was sent as an envoy to Exeter, didn't you say something similar?"

Jann's face darkened.

Looking at the other person's expression, Thales recalled Duke Falkenhaus's words in the Ghost Prince's Tower:

But you must be even more careful and vigilant.

Powerful nobles and lords will flock to you, vying to win over the recently returned prince and using every means to get you on their side, turning you into a vanguard against the Restoration Palace.

Thales stared at Jenn's face and chuckled:
“I’m sorry, but perhaps you should say: Starry Sky and Kevin Deer, why don’t we just get married and become one family? In the future, our bloodlines will be intertwined, we will advance and retreat as one, and share the throne of stars?”

In that instant, the prince clearly saw that Jann's expression turned cold and his breathing quickened.

It was like a gentle spring breeze suddenly being hit by a cold air mass.

On the outskirts, Doyle, who had returned to relieve the guard, yawned and nudged the honest-looking guard officer, Fei Li, beside him:

"What exactly did His Highness and the Kevin Deer family talk about? Why are they so close? They haven't parted ways for so long..."

“Speaking of Ferry, don’t you think that although many girls tried to get close to him tonight, His Highness... he... prefers to be with men?”

Perhaps not expecting DD to answer him, Ferry, who had been faithfully watching the guests, paused for a second:
"Um, it seems so?"

Doyle looked suspicious:
"Why do you think this is?"

Ferry answered without hesitation:
"Because Your Highness is also a man."

Ok?
Doyle was taken aback. Sensing something was amiss, he pondered for a long time but couldn't find a flaw in the sentence.

Before Thales, the Duke of the South Bank gently set down his wine glass.

“Our past conflicts were all caused by accidents or circumstances, but they were by no means intentional or personal grudges.”

Jenn took two deep breaths, seemingly trying to compose himself:

"But this time, I'm serious."

“This time it’s just you and me, it has nothing to do with the families behind us, there’s no need to involve them.”

Duke Iris's tone was stiff, as if he were forcing himself to endure it.

It's just you and me, and has nothing to do with family...

This time, I'm serious...

Thales chuckled to himself:
Why does this feel so much like a scumbag's lines?

This chapter marks the official milestone that the total word count of "Kingdom Bloodline" has exceeded 300 million.

Sometimes I'm in a daze: it's been so long.

When will this end?
Thales Shining Star.

Stubborn as you are, foolish as you are, clever as you are, how much longer can you hold on in this damned world?
(The next chapter is being revised and will be posted tonight.)
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(End of this chapter)