Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 71 The Iron-Fisted King (Part 1)

"Yeah."

After listening to Val's account, Kessel's expression became extremely complicated.

"But why you? You should be a noble person, a pure warrior, with your own creed."

“Haha,” Val laughed inexplicably, “Why can’t it be me?”

Kessel paused, looking sadly at the scar running from Val's chest to his chin: "You were once my most trusted friend and brother."

“We grew up together in the capital. We are the best partners and the closest brothers, even better than brothers like Midil.”

“We even made a pact to marry each other’s sisters.”

“Enough!” Val suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with rage. “You are not allowed to mention Lixia and Constance. You are not worthy.”

Thales' heart stirred, and images of Lisia Arend and Constance Star appeared before his eyes—the solitary High Priestess and that small stone urn.

The king's expression darkened: "I know you hate me, but I thought it was all because of Li Xiya—as a lord, you remain loyal to me, loyal to the stars, and the principles in your heart remain noble and inviolable."

“Isn’t that so? I do hate you, but,” the Duke of the North, who had betrayed the North, said bitterly, “everything I did was for the stars!”

The king narrowed his eyes: "What?"

Val Arend stepped out from the ranks of his ministers, his eyes resolute:
"If I succeed—at the cost of a small price, a brief period of bloodshed, the stars and dragons, the shield and blade of the Western Continent, will turn a new page."

“In the era of the ancient empire, the Arend was the supreme family that ruled the northern provinces, while the Lumba were descendants of the rebel king Queso Lumba who rebelled against the tyrant—hatred and antagonism have been passed down from a thousand years ago and are deeply rooted in our blood. But if even mortal enemies like us can reconcile, what else is impossible?”

Thales sighed.

No, this isn't a reconciliation; it's an exchange of interests.

Val stepped forward, his expression fervent as he surveyed the crowd: "The conflicts and hatred between our two nations will pale in comparison to the heroic friendship and loyal cooperation between me and Rumba! Our children, the descendants of our two nations, will be betrothed, and their offspring will inherit both the Star Kingdom and Exter—Star and Dragon, two great nations united as one! Just imagine, the heroic blood of the Northern Dragon flowing into the bodies of the descendants of this great empire!"

Val exclaimed excitedly, "We may not be able to recreate the glory of the Empire, but we can certainly extinguish the flames of war in the North—the flames of war will never reignite, and the catastrophe of the Bloody Year will never happen again! The North will enjoy eternal peace!"

"To hell with peace," Count Zemuto spat fiercely.

Ignoring everything else, Val clenched his right fist: "Even further: a new power will stand tall in the West, and we will hold a shield in one hand and a blade in the other, pointing our swords at the Commas Alliance, dividing up the lands of those merchants, and benefiting ourselves—once the balance of power among the three great powers of the West is broken, the rest will be no threat, and the West will soon be unified again."

“So,” the Duke of the North gritted his teeth, looking around at the nobles and officials, “it’s all for the stars, so that they will no longer suffer disaster, so that they will eventually become powerful, so that the stars and the dragons will have lasting peace.”

Thales frowned.

Baron Russell, standing to the side, coughed awkwardly and began, "Regarding this, I thought..."

"boom!"

King Catherine V slammed his fist into the left handguard!

"Shut up, Exter people, we'll settle our score later." The Supreme King's voice was powerful and unquestionable: "This is Star's internal affair."

Russell was speechless for a moment and couldn't say a word.

The king slowly rose to his feet, looking down at Val.

"For the stars?"

For once, King Catherine V's hair and beard stood on end, his face contorted with rage: "Betraying your own king and vassals, is this for the stars? Selling out the lands and people of the North, is this for the stars? For the throne, willing to bring about wars with countless deaths, is this also for the stars?"

"Kaiser Star".

Val Arend clenched his fists and faced the king.

"Do you think you're superior to me?" Val trembled, seemingly struggling to control his emotions. "You, your Starry Sky family, are not worthy to point fingers at me!"

The next second, he roared in a fit of rage: "Your Starry Sky Royal Family are the greatest source of chaos in this country! You brought hell and the disaster of twelve years ago! Even now, we are still atoning for your mistakes!"

Thales involuntarily clenched his fist, and everyone in the hall turned to look at the king, many with strange expressions on their faces.

The king closed his eyes tightly: "A bloody year?"

“A bloody year? Ha! A bloody year!” Val laughed bitterly, raising his hands and clenching them into fists.

Thales' doubts grew stronger, and he looked at Gilbert: What unspeakable yet crucial secret was there in the Bloody Year?
Val said bitterly, "After that disaster, everyone only remembers that the Starry Sky royal family was slaughtered, and that only the T'Bak family is left with an orphan girl! Who will remember the sacrifices and contributions of us in the North!" The fifteen-year-old Duchess Lyanna took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Who will remember how much blood, how many corpses, how many widows and orphans were left behind when Exter's army plundered our land!"

"Who will remember that when the Bloody Year ended and the whole country was celebrating the Fortress Treaty, nearly three-quarters of the men and half of the women in the North died! The remaining old and young had to go out in the cold winter to find food, or they would starve to death at home, and half of those who went out to find food froze to death in the wild!"

"The first thing I did after being given the title of Duke of the North was not to help them find food, but to rebury those who had already starved or frozen to death. Otherwise, their bodies would be dug up and eaten by starving people who were too weak to walk!"

"Have you ever seen such a sight, young master of the capital!"

"Who remembers that my father, after the fall of Coldhold, refused to surrender, and his head was hung at the city gates for a whole month! When I took him down... and every day when I entered or left my own castle, I saw that damned gate!"

"Prince Horace, the Sword of Light, penetrated deep into the encirclement of Exter, brave and unyielding, fighting to the death without retreating, suffering eleven wounds, and sacrificing himself heroically—what glory! But who would know that my brothers, the sons of Arend, remained by his side until death! Rohan, Kur, and Norlanur!"

"The Star Prince's body was solemnly carried back to the capital, but beside him, my brothers were hacked to pieces by Exter's axemen! I could only retrieve the pile of sticky flesh mixed with mud and blood afterward for burial!"

"Who remembers them!"

“My sister and wife’s carriage disappeared in the chaotic wilderness of war, and there has been no news of them for twelve years. I have had countless nightmares about them—God knows what they went through!”

"You dare say I only have one daughter as my heir? Why do you think I sent my seven-year-old daughter to the Tower of the End? To groom her as my heir? Bullshit! I sent my daughter to the Tower of the End because I was afraid that when I wasn't there, Miranda would be devoured alive by starving people who would scale the ruins of the Cold Castle!"

King Catherine V closed his eyes tightly, and many people in the hall lowered their heads as they recalled that period.

Val trembled as he said, "Having gone through that hell, the desert war five years ago, how dare you, Kaiser Star, complain that we have too few troops? That our army is not as strong as it was five years ago! That we can't even muster five assault squads of cavalry!"

"You think I hate you? You think I hate that you didn't marry my sister? You think I hate that you betrayed her and made her a priestess who never married?"

"No!"

"I hate Canxing! I hate your damned family!"

"All the disasters are the fault of your delusional idiot father, your uncle who mistakes rudeness for humor, your gloomy elder brother, your self-righteous, arrogant, and useless brothers, and you, the supreme king who was born with the blood of an imperial tyrant!"

"It's this family, the Starry Sky Clan, always associated with disasters, bringing a bloody year to the stars, bringing such a hell!"

Disaster?

Getting involved with disaster...?
Thales was startled and instinctively looked at Gilbert beside him.

But the latter simply pursed his lips tightly and remained silent.

"You think you're some kind of tragic monarch? A member of the Starry Royal Family, now down to just one? No!" Val roared madly, "All you've ever cared about is yourself, your will, your world! What do you think you've come to this point? Everything you did in the Crimson Year was your own fault!"

"Just like your damned father, you and he both know what your choices will bring, but you never care!"

"You have never understood your vassals, never cared about your subjects, never paid attention to those around you—Iron-fisted King! Don't you find it ironic when they call you that—you're not iron-fisted, you're just cold-blooded!"

At the peak of his emotions, Val roared in a desolate and desperate voice:

"Saridon and Shadow Shield, why don't we just wipe you all out at once!"

"If it weren't for you bringing that monster back..."

The king suddenly opened his eyes and shouted:
"enough!"

Kessel, his expression agitated, angrily rebuked Aaron:
"watt!"

"You're still as stupid, as dumb, and as biased and stubborn as ever!"

Kessel stared intently at Val, his eyes filled with complex and unfathomable emotions.

You only believe what you want to believe.

"You're like a stupid, dull piece of wood, ridiculously ignorant."

Val gasped for breath, staring blankly at the king.

“Guards,” the king said wearily, slumping down, “take Duke Aarond to the dungeon.”

What?! I heard my Qidian collection has exceeded 100?
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(End of this chapter)