Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 553 Sacrificing a Pawn (Part 2)

Seeing the situation rapidly deteriorate, Baron Doyle, who was being held hostage, cried out repeatedly in excruciating pain:

"Wait! We can actually talk some more..."

But Anker, already enraged, was clearly in no mood to listen to pleas. He grabbed the old baron by the neck, choking the latter's words.

"I've had enough of your family's malice and hypocrisy, Doyle!"

The hostage-taker roared in fury:
"Regardless of age or gender!"

Behind Thales, DD, who was still hesitating, had eyes wide open in horror, his arms trembling.

Piloga had to rush over to help Golov hold him down.

As the captain, Marius remained silent, only scrutinizing the hostage-taker with a cold gaze.

The old baron's breathing became noticeably labored, and his face quickly turned bright red, eliciting a scream from the baroness:

"Ah! You cold-blooded little brat! How dare you touch my man! I swear, I'll make you..."

Seeing that things were not going well, Earl Godwin quickly gestured for several women to hold down the Baroness and persuade her to pull her back into the crowd to prevent her from further provoking the hostage-takers.

Panic and anxiety spread, and the guests began to chatter again, with the guards barely managing to maintain order.

"You! Doyle's son!"

Anker's hair stood on end, he was furious, and he pointed his sword at DD on the steps:

Stop hiding behind women!

"Come down!"

Thales watched Anker, who seemed to be going crazy, from afar, his heart heavy.

That man was desperate.

Thales said quietly.

hysteria.

All for a duel.

But he was just a pawn: his existence was to complete a small step in someone's game.

Thinking of this, Thales felt even more sorrowful.

The guards separating the crowd from the assassins tensed up, but Anke seemed to retain his last shred of rationality, neither striking with deadly force nor drawing his sword rashly.

He just stared intently at DD:

"Let's handle this! Like men!"

"You son of a bitch—" Doyle instinctively tried to rush down, but was stopped by Piloga and Golov, who were prepared.

"let me go!"

“At least, she’s gained some advantage; people’s opinions have wavered,” Vogel said, ignoring DD’s outburst and frowning as he looked at the crowd around him.
"If we snipe him now, perhaps..."

“No,” Marius said, shaking his head as he looked at Anke on the field.
“Our audience isn’t just in the hall, but throughout the entire kingdom; they’re as foolish as ever, only concerned with the outcome.”

"This game is still unsolved."

Chess game.

Thales watched the situation on the field not only fail to improve but worsen, feeling utterly exhausted and bitter.

In the distance, Janne, Kusder, Val, and others continued to silently observe the situation on the field, showing no intention of intervening.

The guests from the Seven Stars family, including Lady Eleanor, Lozano, Adrian, Paterson, and Stoddart, seemed to empathize with the prince, their eyes fixed on him, awaiting his reaction.

"So……"

Vogel frowned and leaned closer to DD.

"Have you thought it through, Vanguard Commander Doyle?"

Vogel repeated Marius's words in a low voice:

"Sacrifice the soldier."

Upon hearing the deputy captain's words, Doyle trembled slightly, and his emotions changed.

"Duel, then die."

Vogel said indifferently, like a machine devoid of emotion.

Doyle's angry struggle subsided.

DD stared blankly at his father, who was being held hostage.

Clinging to his last shred of hope, he turned to Thales and Marius as if seeking help.

But the prince simply pursed his lips and remained silent.

What can he do?

Tell DD not to move, and then let Anke kill his father?
Let DD go into a duel, and then deliberately die by the opponent's sword?
What else can he do besides "sacrifice a pawn"?
Think quickly, think quickly!
Marius, standing to the side, watched the prince's twitching eyebrows and remained silent.

“Now, you are the only one who can save your father and break the deadlock,” Vogel said coldly in Doyle’s ear.
"Make it clear to us early."

Doyle turned around stiffly, his eyes filled with despair.

"Duel, to the death..."

He stared intently in the direction of Anker and the old baron, but his eyes were unfocused, and he kept muttering:

"Duel, death, duel, death, duel, death..."

Thales reluctantly turned his head away, forcing himself to concentrate and think of a way out.

Or should he simply disregard everything and give an order for his guards to kill the hostage-taker in front of them, thus ending the matter once and for all?
As for what happens next, and the subsequent impact...

That's enough. As long as we get through this unbearable hardship and pain, who cares about the raging flood that follows?

Should his father clean up the mess?
No, no...

Thales's mind was getting more and more confused.

Grover, unable to bear seeing his colleague's behavior, grabbed Doyle's shoulder from behind and said sternly:

"DD, cheer up."

But Doyle instinctively shook off his hand.

"As long as... as long as I die in the duel," DD mumbled in a daze.
"Father...can he be saved? Can the problem be solved?"

Thales felt increasingly reluctant, but just as he was about to speak, Marius suddenly spoke up:

"not that simple."

The guards all looked at him.

The Watcher's gaze remained fixed on Anke's contorted face:

“From the moment we left until now, Anke’s eyes have remained unwavering, as if he were ready to die.”

"I think he probably shares the same goal as you."

Marius calmly and deliberately stated his conclusion to Doyle:
"I also want to die by your hand in a duel."

Doyle's dazed gaze suddenly shifted.

Thales frowned and looked at Anker.

“Yes, only this way,” Vogel said somberly.

"Only then can the greatest benefits be brought about."

Marius nodded:

“Look, he is the same as them, a pawn.”

He looked at DD with a meaningful gaze.

"Sacrifice the soldier."

The Watchman glanced at Thales again.

"General."

Thales closed his eyes.

Sacrifice the soldier.

General.

Whose pawn should be sacrificed?

Whose army are they fighting?

Doyle continued to breathe absentmindedly, occasionally muttering to himself.

But Anker was already getting impatient.

"Answer me! Doyle's son! Do you dare to fight me fairly?"

The hostage-takers' anger and the old baron's cries of pain further agitated the crowd, eliciting gasps and uproar:

"Or I could start with the limbs of this old bookworm!"

"Let's see how much blood he can bleed!"

As Thales watched Anker move the blade to the Baron's wrist, his heart tightened.

Oops.

“Fine,” Vogel grumbled at Marius, seeing DD lost in a panicked confusion.
“If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, Watchman, then I will.”

He turned to his subordinates:

"Assemble the flag-bearer wing, select four people, the best snipers among them..."

But the next moment, a loud and clear voice interrupted them all.

"Duke Thales!"

The banquet hall fell silent.

Everyone looked at the speaker.

It's Doyle.

It was not Anker who shouted out the Duke's name, but DD.

He slowly raised his head, and the confusion in his eyes was gone.

But it has an added layer of gloom.

"Give the order, Your Grace!" Doyle called out loudly, making sure everyone could hear him clearly.

But there was a bitterness in his voice that Thales could hear:
"I am Danny Doyle, son of Baron Mirror River!"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone in the hall, DD took a step forward, gritting his teeth:

"For my father and family, I am willing to follow the ancient traditions of the Empire, and in the presence of Duke Thales and all of you, answer his challenge and fight this despicable man..."

"Let's fight to the death!"

Thales looked incredulously at his bodyguard, then turned to Marius.

But the latter seemed to have anticipated this and responded indifferently.

Doyle stared intently at Anker, whose face was full of provocation and longing, trying his best not to look at his dumbfounded father.

"I am willing to defend our dignity and reputation."

DD opened his mouth mechanically, as if it weren't his own:

"As long as... my father is released."

After saying these words, Doyle, covered in cold sweat, seemed to deflate and swayed.

Until Golov caught him steadily.

The guests were silent for a moment, then a small commotion broke out.

The controversy once again filled the hall.

"very good!"

"The Doyle family still has men, doesn't it?"

Anke, having received a response, looked at the distraught Doyle and smiled slightly, but Thales could not sense any happiness or satisfaction in it.

Only a different kind of desolation.

Thales gritted his teeth:
“Doyle…”

Deputy Captain Vogel pursed his lips, his gaze towards DD filled with complex emotions.

Marius remained silent, but his expression was much calmer.

"No, no, no!"

In the hall, the old baron, held hostage by Anke, could no longer care about his pain and embarrassment. He shouted angrily:
"You brat, what... what stupid thing are you doing!"

DD snapped out of his daze, glanced at his father, and forced a weak smile.

The old baron looked at his wife in horror:

"Darling, stop him! Stop him!"

But the Baroness was also frightened. She looked around in panic, but could only receive a lot of sympathy in return.

"Your Highness? Is anyone there? Anyone?"

The old baron was so anxious that his voice trembled with tears.

"Anyone! Stop him! Knock out this damned brat! Doyle will reward you handsomely!"

"I'll give him half, no, forty percent of my income this year! Forty percent? Okay, half then! Sixty percent? Seventy percent?"

The baron's shouts echoed between the pillars of the hall, but there was no answer except for the flickering firelight.

Desolate and helpless.

Seeing this scene, Thales felt even more distressed, a feeling that defied description.

But he couldn't show it.

He must maintain the most elegant, detached, and noble demeanor.

Because he was the second prince.

It is the Duke of Starlake.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, DD took a deep breath, composed himself, and strode forward.

"Byral! I've already agreed!"

Doyle roared at Anker:
"Now, let go of my father, and I'll play with you!"

Let's settle our score!

Anker smiled.

He did not release the old baron, but turned to Thales.

"Duke Thales, Your Highness?"

"The initiator and the recipient of the duel are both present; only the noble witness remains."

Anke's gaze was a mixture of longing and expectation, despair and madness.

Doyle also turned around, looking at Thales with an unusually somber expression.

The old baron stared intently at him, shaking his head frantically, his eyes filled with pleading.

The royal guards looked at him with understated and reserved expressions, their intentions unclear.

"Your Highness."

Vogel quietly stood beside him:
"This is the proper way, the necessary evil."

Marius also sighed:

"When it is time to make a decision, one should abandon the enemy."

Thales clenched his fist.

Sacrifice the soldier.

Damn it, it's another pawn sacrifice.

Graduate.

The guests in the hall stared at him with a mixture of hostility and aggression, their expressions a mix of emotions.

At this moment, countless gazes aggressively converged on the prince, awaiting his response.

Jann's eyes were full of amusement, Kusder's expression was as cold as autumn wind, and Val stared fixedly at Thales, his emotions unreadable.

The Seven Stars watched him intently, as if the prince's next decision were an irrefutable divine decree.

No one knew that at this moment, the expressionless Thales wanted to do nothing more than sit down in his chair, bury his head, close his eyes, and ignore all gazes and sounds.

Delegate all the troublesome matters to your subordinates.

In this way, he might be able to use the inviolable authority of the royal family to get through his frantic and helpless moment.

But he can't.

Because he was the second prince.

he can not.

He is the Duke of Starlake.

"Your Highness, please announce it."

DD's words sounded rather weak and listless, like a terminally ill patient whose hope has been shattered.

"Let it come, the sooner the better."

"So you won't have to worry about it anymore."

Thales remained expressionless, his heart filled with bitterness.

Ok.

The sooner the better.

To save yourself the trouble.

Finally, after several seconds (which, to Thales, felt like an eternity), the Duke of Starlake, maintaining the most upright and noble posture, slowly rose and spoke in a loud voice:
"Anke Bailar".

The moment his voice rang out, everyone in the hall, from ministers to bureaucrats, from nobles to merchants, listened intently to the words of the returning prince, displaying—at least on the surface—uniform respect and obedience.

"In the name of the Duke of Star Lake, the second prince of the Star Kingdom, Thales Starlight."

The Duke's voice was incredibly deep, commanding respect, but only those who had been with Thales for a long time would notice that, at this moment, the Prince's voice was much hoarse and darker than usual.

Much more tired.

"Following the long-standing imperial tradition, I hereby grant you permission to avenge your blood relative in a life-or-death duel against another nobleman, Danny Doyle."

DD lowered his head and let out a long breath.

Thales's face was ashen, his expression dark and unsettling as he gazed at Anker, who had been waiting expectantly.
"And I will personally witness its outcome."

"Guarantee its fairness and legitimacy."

Is that enough?

The Duke had finished speaking, and the hall was completely silent.

A few seconds later, Anke's equally weary voice rang out:

"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he seemed to be freed from his restraints and pushed the old baron away.

Baron Doyle fell to the ground, but did not leave. He simply lay there, limp and breathing heavily with soft sobs.

The guards seized the opportunity and helped the baron away.

Several people hesitated whether to take the opportunity to attack the hostage-taker, but Earl Godwin sighed and shook his head, indicating that they didn't need to.

"Whether you believe it or not, Your Highness."

Anke said with a bitter smile:
“You and this little brat Doyle are the only people out of hundreds I’ve met in the last few months who have responded to my request.”

If you don't shock the world, no one will listen.

Thales recalled his words and felt a pang of sadness.

"Regardless of life or death, victory or defeat, Your Highness, Prince, Duke."

Anke took a deep breath, knelt down on one knee with utmost sincerity, placed the sword hilt against his chest, and bowed deeply:
"I will remember it forever..."

"Your grace."

Thales sat down limply and closed his eyes.

I've actually written 80,000 words this month! What's wrong with me?


(End of this chapter)