Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 754 Choosing Generals
After seeing off his guest ("You'll make him suffer a terrible death, won't you?" - Belicia's intriguing words before leaving), Thales returned to the dungeon to face Lausanne II, who was clearly not the same as before.

"I heard you finally agreed to see me again?"

King Lausanne II raised his head with difficulty, his gaze piercing through his disheveled hair, first looking at the person beside him:

"I only see you."

Beside Thales, Lady Cecilia Kevindir, looking displeased at losing face ("Fine, your method works better than the Soul Bone Jacques, are you satisfied now?"), crossed her arms, frowned, and spoke with a hint of threat:
"Oh? Are you sure?"

Thales looked around and quickly tried to smooth things over:
"Um, well, Hilla, with you here, he's not very willing, so..."

"I stayed."

Hillary was resolute, blocking all possibilities.

Thales raised an eyebrow and quickly changed his tune:
"Ok."

The prince looked at the assassin with an undiminished smile:
"See, I tried my best."

King Lausanne II scoffed:
"Try harder."

"Are you sure?" Hilly coldly tugged at her gloves. "Do you want me to try harder?"

As Thales forced a smile, preparing for another round of persuasion, the vampire assassin gave a desolate laugh.

"Stop this good cop/bad cop act," he said, turning his head to the side, his demeanor indifferent and unresponsive to Hilly's threat. "I'm tired of it."

His attitude of giving up everything made Thales and Hilly both frown and exchange a glance.

"It seems you had a good chat with your old friend?" Thales asked tentatively.

King Lausanne II remained silent for a moment:
Why did you decide to contact her?

Very good, since she's willing to talk, then we don't need to try to get rid of the young lady anymore.

“Because I can’t hold onto you—in every sense of the word,” Thales sighed.

Whether physically or mentally.

Lausanne II looked at him again.

“But fortunately, I’m starting to realize that in my position, I don’t have to do many things myself,” Thales shrugged. “If I want to catch you, I just need to go find those, well, those who have caught you before.”

It's just...

He pursed his lips.

The second prince's influence is probably still not significant enough.

At least... Black Sword refuses to come?

"As for Belicia, well," Thales pondered, "sometimes, instead of coercion, letting you chat with an old friend and let things unfold naturally might yield better results?"

Miss Hilla, standing to the side, took it personally and glared at him angrily.

King Lausanne II scoffed and laughed.

"Her acting was so good that I couldn't even tell how much of it was genuine emotion and how much was deliberate."

Thales' expression changed slightly:
"You knew she was acting?"

"I hope I don't know."

"Then why are you still willing to see me?"

The vampire assassin raised his eyes, his face expressionless:

"I didn't agree to see you because of her."

Thales's brow twitched.

But you only agreed after you met her.

But Thales, thinking this through, nodded to himself, steering the conversation back to the key point:
“I understand. You were caught up in the power struggle in Emerald City back then, betrayed and utterly defeated in the conflict between the Blood Bottle Gang and the Brotherhood, which is why you returned to Emerald City years later to seek revenge. Now I'm missing the last piece of the puzzle, and I need you…”

Have you ever lost?

Thales was taken aback:
"what?"

King Losang II, covered in wounds and burdened with heavy shackles, gasped for breath and spoke in a daze:
"I mean, Your Highness Thales, in your short life, have you ever lost?"

what?
lose?
The topic had strayed too far from the main point, and Thales was caught off guard, unsure how to steer the conversation back on track.

"I told you, we should use my method."

Hilaire, who was listening in, sighed, looking like she had known this would happen, and shook her head disdainfully.

But Thales raised his hand, asking Hilly to wait a moment.

He put himself in the other's shoes and tried to understand Lausanne II's thoughts:
"Have I ever lost...? Why do you ask that?"

King Lausanne II raised his head and carefully examined him in the dim light.

"From our first meeting, I could see it in your eyes, Your Highness."

The assassin narrowed his eyes:
“You are a stubborn and obstinate person, and perhaps you have even been called foolish and naive.”

Hilaire couldn't help but glance at the prince, while Thales remained silent.

"You must have experienced trials, hardships, tribulations, and setbacks... Perhaps most people cannot even imagine them, but you gritted your teeth, convinced yourself with your willpower, and persevered in overcoming them. Each time, you became stronger, more resilient, and more unshakable—just like all the great heroes throughout history."

Lausanne II managed a strained smile:

"Like a fine ancient imperial sword, it becomes sharper with each polishing and stronger with each battle, inspiring awe and envy in everyone, and is coveted by all."

But his smile vanished instantly, and his words took a turn:
"Except for one thing."

The assassin said coldly:

"You have never experienced failure."

Thales listened attentively to his words and couldn't help but smile.

"Then you are wrong."

Thales looked around at the bottomless darkness and felt a moment of disorientation:
"On the contrary, I have experienced countless failures, as well as many seemingly successful failures, including far too many helpless and compromising choices..."

Abandoned houses, Mindis Hall, Mangrove Manor, Restoration Palace, Heroic Palace, Dragon Sky City, Blade Fang Camp, White Bone Prison... and the Empty Bright Palace before us.

"You are the one in the wrong, Your Highness."

As a prisoner, King Lobsang II mercilessly criticized the temporary warden before him:

"As long as your will has not been broken, you have not failed."

Thales' eyes flickered.

“As long as you still hold onto a sliver of hope that you can ‘not give up’ or even ‘start over’,” the assassin shook his head, “then what you’re facing is far from failure.”

At that moment, an endless, dark despair welled up in Lausanne II's eyes:

"That kind of utter devastation, that makes you deny everything about yourself, your faith shattered and all hope lost, so that you just want to give up everything, become numb and escape, or even end it all."

Lausanne II's words seemed to spread like ink in the air, blurring everything around him:

"In the face of such a devastating defeat, thoughts of revenge, resentment, and regret cease to exist, or at least become insignificant."

Thales frowned upon hearing this, seemingly lost in thought.

"Precisely because you have never experienced such a defeat, Your Highness," the vampire assassin said quietly, "that even now you still don't understand. You're still like those ordinary people, still thinking I came back for what... Ha, revenge?"

Thales could sense the deep despair and pain in the other person's words, but he didn't want to beat around the bush anymore:

"Then why did you come back? To avoid failure again?"

King Lausanne II gave a sorrowful smile.

“If a sword has never broken, shattered, or damaged,” he said coldly, “then it will never be able to see its own material in its own fragments and broken edges.”

The assassin glanced coldly at Thales:

“Your Highness, like the protagonists in those chivalrous novels who succeed in the end, you have never truly lost, so you naturally cannot understand the meaning of a completely broken sword, stripped of its edge, struggling to be drawn again after being reforged.”

Thales frowned, still completely bewildered.

"Why is a sword that has been reforged and recast wielded again?"

King Losang II sneered:
"Just for revenge—to shatter the sword that once shattered him?"

He gritted his teeth and glared, looking like a madman.

"And then what? So that one day it will be shattered again, melted down, and reforged once more?"

Thales remained silent for a long time.

He's going crazy.

The prince's inner voice quietly told him:

Whether in the past or present, this hateful, pitiful, and tragic killer has been worn down to the brink of death by life and the oppression of power.

His reunion with Beliccia was the final straw, breaking his last line of defense.

What you can get out of him... is probably not what you think.

"If it weren't for revenge," Thales's question became cautious as he thought of this, "then why did you return with your sword, willingly becoming a pawn, killing and disrupting the situation? Was it for profit? Ambition? Justice? Or just a sense of pride?"

It can't be like Rumba... ending the cycle and getting new and old, right?
Seeing that he still did not understand, King Losang II did not answer, but instead burst into laughter again.

"Hahahahahaha..."

The laughter was mournful and chilling.

Seeing that the other party was so unyielding, even someone as patient as Thales couldn't help but lose heart.

“Perhaps you are right, Hillay,” the prince said, his face darkening. “Perhaps we should try your method.”

Find that soul-bonded Jacques...

“Find the craftsman,” Hilla suddenly said.

Thales paused, then turned around:
"what?"

King Lausanne II's expression also changed slightly.

In their line of sight, Hillary stood blankly, muttering the assassin's words:
"If a sword can only reveal its true material after it has broken..."

Seeing his companion's condition, Thales couldn't help but worry.

"If the reforged sword is not for revenge, not to find that enemy sword to shatter it, determine the victor, and restore its sharpness..."

Fortunately, Hillary only took a deep breath and came to her senses, looking back at the two of them:
"Then this sword must be for finding the source."

source?

Thales looked bewildered, while Lausanne II looked surprised.

“For example, the craftsman who initially forged the sword,” Hilly said in a deep voice, “ask him about the material of the sword, ask him why he forged the sword this way, ask him… why he made the sword.”

The young lady closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and seemed to sense something:
"Press him on why the fate of a sword, from the very beginning, is destined to be a series of repeated collisions, shattering, and...reforging."

Hilly finished speaking.

Both she and King Lausanne II looked somber and remained silent.

Only Thales was completely confused and had to cough to remind him:
"All right?"

“Perhaps, Your Highness,” Losang II said, his smile wry, “perhaps I should see this young lady.”

“Well,” Thales said, even more confused, “I really don’t understand.”

Hilly took a deep breath and looked back at the present:
"He did not come for revenge, Prince, but for the answer."

"Answer?"

Thales became increasingly confused:
But isn't the answer already obvious?
The reason why King Lausanne II ended up in this situation...

"The Brotherhood? The Black Sword? The Blood Bottle Gang? Turnbull? People like Belicia who betrayed you? Emerald City? The Duke? Viscount Sona? Struggles for power? Political infighting? Even the Kingdom's Secret Service and... even our Starry Sky Royal Family?"

Upon hearing the last name, King Lausanne II revealed a cold, sharp gaze beneath his disheveled hair.

Thales' eyes lit up at the sight:
"All the things and factors that led you to this state? Is this the answer you're looking for? All these people involved...?"

But when Lobsang II looked at him, he still gave a faint, cold smile.

"What matters is not people, because 'people' are insignificant."

This time, it was Hilly who spoke again. The young lady of Kevin Deer murmured in a low voice:
"What truly matters is: What makes a person human? Why is a person human?"

What makes a person human? What is the purpose of being human?

Thales listened thoughtfully and tentatively asked:
"Why... Why... These two sentences sound the same."

“They are the same in the common language, but in the language of… they are different parts of speech,” Hilly sighed and shook his head. “The former asks what makes a person human, while the latter asks what a person does to be human.”

Why...

do what……

Thales squinted as he listened.

Hilly whispered:
"Like that great lawyer who was...

Thales realized:
"Slimani?"

Hilla nodded, a rare look of pity on his face:
"Tell me, is he more human when he is suffering and struggling, or when he is living a life of luxury and high status? Is he more human when he is self-reliant and hardworking, or when he acts heartlessly and harms others for his own benefit? Is he more human when he succumbs to reality and sacrifices his conscience, or when he suddenly realizes his mistakes as his time is up?"

These words left King Losang II's lips moving, his expression bewildered.

This left Thales completely confused.

He had to pat the other person's hand and cautiously ask:

"Hilaire? Wyana? Good girl, are you... alright?"

Hilly snapped out of her daze and shook her head.

“This is not what I said, but...someone said it,” the young lady said vaguely, leaving Thales puzzled, “and it is also someone’s 'way of life'...rule of conduct.”

Someone?

[It's not just me saying this...]

Thales shuddered.

Just now, he was certain he heard a sound, indistinct and seemingly coming from underwater:

[Little Six Fingers, this is a principle we both share...]

Hilaire trembled slightly, her face turned pale, and she bit her lower lip.

My partner...

The next second, the indistinct sound disappeared.

Meanwhile, King Lausanne II remained lost in thought, seemingly oblivious to everything.

Thales knew this wasn't the time to press for answers, so he swallowed hard, scratched his throbbing ears, and buried his doubts deep inside.

"Okay, so what exactly is it for?"

The prince turned to the assassin and pressed him for an answer:
"If you want to know why you've ended up in this state, then Belicia should have already told you everything..."

But this time, King Lausanne II stopped telling riddles and spoke frankly:
"I have had three lives."

Thales and Hilly exchanged a glance.

The vampire assassin looked at the flickering lamplight and spoke in a daze:
"In my first life, I was a squire of Knight Joaquin, a prospective knight who rose from the bottom."

Full of youthful vigor, naive and impetuous.

"In my second life, I am a ruthless killer from the Blood Bottle Gang, who kills without blinking an eye and shows no mercy."

Having experienced ups and downs, he became cynical and resentful.

"My third life... I am a monster returned from hell, cursed with immortality, to curse those who deserve to die."

Cold-blooded, numb, twisted, and extreme.

"Years ago, because of Joaquin, I came to Emerald City with the King. However, due to a conflict with other attendants, I was falsely accused of oppressing the people. Thanks to the mediation of Crown Prince Midil and the integrity of a certain local judge, as well as the King's magnanimity in personally apologizing, I was able to be exonerated."

King Lausanne II spoke clearly and calmly, his expression unchanged, as if he were retelling someone else's story.

Thales and Hilly exchanged a glance, both resisting the urge to interrupt and ask questions.

"But the royal family's reputation was damaged, and I felt uneasy and guilty about it, so I decided to do something to make amends: at the subsequent election, I put on the armor of my classmate's attendant and took his place in the competition."

All calamities begin from this.

The vampire assassin raised his head and, amidst the gray and murky atmosphere, rediscovered the clear yet resilient servant of the past.

"Wait, doesn't your classmate have any objections?" Hilly finally couldn't help but ask first.

“In that wrongful conviction in which I was framed, Aknet was injured in the hand because of me and was unable to fight,” Lausanne II scoffed. “I feel that I also have an obligation to do something for him.”

He said in a daze:

"And so, I held my breath, gritted my teeth, and fought my way through, winning every match until the final."

Thales' expression shifted:
"The opponent is Prince Horace?"

King Lausanne II nodded absently:

"The Sword of Light".

As a knight's squire and mentor, Joaquin was well aware of his own abilities, but before setting off for the Emerald City, he repeatedly reminded himself not to participate in the competition and not to show off...

Looking back now, many years later...

King Lausanne II shook his head, banishing the inappropriate memories from his mind:
"But the day before the match, some people with ulterior motives contacted me."

Upon hearing this, Thales and Hillay both moved simultaneously.

"They promised me that as long as I lost the match gracefully after the fierce duel, allowing the second prince to win smoothly, it would fulfill the royal legend of Horace returning victorious from the Tower of the End..."

King Lausanne II said in a deep voice:
“After that is done, not only will there be the rewards of the tournament, but they will also help me settle the aftermath of that wrongful case, including the conflicts with other servants and the matter of wearing someone else's armor and impersonating someone else. Neither Aknet nor I will be punished, and if one day... they will not forget my achievements.”

Hilly showed a look of disgust and spoke Thales's true feelings:

"Unsurprisingly—don't tell me you agreed?"

King Losang II looked on with fascination, then shook his head.

“After that, other people also found me.”

He continued:

"Compared to the previous group, they are more articulate, more assertive, and more... righteous."

Losang II's Numb Tunnel:

"They told me that the crown prince had already been established and the throne was already decided. For the sake of the court and the stability of the kingdom, it was not appropriate for the second prince to win the championship at this time, let alone enjoy the cheers of the crowd and gain boundless prestige."

The overall situation in the palace...

The kingdom is at peace...

"Moreover, the Crown Prince has gone to great lengths to clear my name, and I should repay his kindness in due time... or something like that..."

He took a deep breath:

"So... if possible, they can help me to be more aggressive and play the game more intensely, so that I can openly 'get out of control' and cause Horace to be seriously injured and crippled—they even put a bottle of poison in my bag for this purpose, so that I can 'act according to the situation'."

Thales and Hillary frowned in unison.

This resulted in the prince being severely injured and disabled.

This is not as simple as intentionally losing the game.

"And these two groups of people, one in front and one behind... put you in a dilemma?" Thales said in a deep voice.

King Lausanne II snorted coldly repeatedly.

Two groups of people?
Or... were they all the same type of people from beginning to end?

"Then why don't you just go directly to the king?" Thales couldn't help but ask, "Confess to him and ask him to make the decision?"

King Lausanne II scoffed. “When Janne and Federico, each with their own ulterior motives, were trying to persuade you to do as they wished, Your Highness,” he didn’t answer directly, but instead asked the prince, “why didn’t you go to the wise and virtuous King and ask him to make the decision?”

“I…” Thales hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

“To place unrealistic expectations on greater power or stronger beings, hoping they can solve problems,” Hilly murmured from the side. “That is the first step in error.”

Thales couldn't help but ask:

"It was 'it' that said it again?"

Hilly flinched and looked up.

"That was the first truly difficult duel of my life," the assassin said, thankfully interrupting their conversation in time. "The difficulty wasn't in skill, but in psychology."

He gave a soft hum:
"That's right, the Sword of Light returned from the Tower of the End, and he is very strong."

The eyes of King Lausanne II gleamed:

"But it's still not that strong."

Especially among the courtiers around him, each with their own ulterior motives and sycophantic attitudes, who had fabricated a story about him as "the greatest martial artist in the history of the Shining Star Royal Family."

"After five rounds, I found his fatal flaw."

At this point, King Lobsang II sighed:
"But at that moment, my heart was in turmoil."

His tone was calm, but his words flowed in rapid succession, faintly revealing his past struggles:
"Should I really make a move? How should I do it? Where should I start? What should I do? Will it be a hard-won victory or a graceful defeat? What will be the consequences after I make a move? What about the Crown Prince's favor? What about the Prince's reputation? And what about the King's attitude? What about the teacher's stance? As a squire, what should I consider? Righteousness or integrity? The greater good or my own self? Adhering to etiquette or following my instincts?"

Hearing this series of hesitations, Thales suddenly remembered what Hillai had relayed to Jacques the Soul Bone:
What makes a person human?
What makes a person human?
Hilly was silent for a moment: "In the end, you still gave in, deliberately lost?"

"Do not."

King Lausanne II curled the corners of his mouth, sneered, and shook his head.

"Horace saw my hesitation, and instead of pressing his advantage, he even tried to comfort me... But I, I..."

At this point, Lausanne II's breathing quickened.

Come, cast aside your worries, exert all your strength, defeat me, conquer me, surpass me, and seize the crown of this election...

Before his eyes, amidst the cheers of tens of thousands, Horace's deep, indifferent words, seemingly unconcerned with everything around him, flowed out inch by inch from the gaps in his mask:
Even whether you win or lose is irrelevant, servant... because you didn't come here to compete, but to prove yourself...

Horace moved with slow, dangerous steps, the nine-pointed star pattern on his armor shining brightly.

Whether you win or lose, you're just proving yourself, proving that you can be the sword of our family, the pawn of our kingdom... My sword, my pawn...

The nine-pointed star flag at the venue was incredibly heavy.

Only in this way can you embark on your journey, prove yourself, earn a title, become a nobleman, a servant, and be qualified to serve me, to us, and to die for the kingdom...

The Sword of Light flicked its wrist, unleashing a chilling sword light:
【……knight.】

Therefore, this is the meaning and value of a knight in the prince's eyes.

King Lausanne II fell into deep thought.

No one knew that on that day, the power of those words far surpassed any exquisite sword technique.

These, along with the words spoken to him by those with ulterior motives before the competition, and his own chaotic thoughts, all intertwined, forming an invisible yet incredibly heavy chain...

In that arena, where the cheers were deafening and the atmosphere was electric...

It crushed him completely.

"Later I gradually came to understand..."

King Losang II sneered:
"What kind of knightly tournament is that? What kind of tournament? What kind of competition? I wasn't even competing with anyone, and it wasn't even a competition of martial arts."

Instead, it's comparing itself to something else... comparing... who knows what it's comparing itself to.

"Selecting generals."

Suddenly, Hilly spoke up, and the two of them turned to Miss Kevin Deer.

“From the very beginning, this tournament has been called ‘Selection Tournament’,” Hillai said quietly, “not a tournament of martial arts.”

Her words made Thales think deeply.

Centuries ago, the Duke of Cork held a knightly tournament in the Emerald City to select soldiers and generals to counter the war threat posed by Horace I the Eight Fingers, using power and wealth as bait.

Or rather, it's about preparing to select people to die on the battlefield.

"I lost."

King Lobsang II gave a sarcastic smile and continued:
"I lost before I could even react."

When he came to his senses, all he could feel was the deafening, overwhelming cheers around him.

And above them, the large flag with the double stars and cross fluttered in the wind.

Hilly snapped out of her daze and sighed.

“That’s fine,” Miss Kevin Deer said gently. “Second place is also very good.”

Second place...isn't that pretty good too?
Lausanne II's eyes were slightly unfocused.

The next second, he scoffed dismissively.

Of course.

When the two sides in the duel are the nine-pointed star and... no, the kingdom and everything else, the chess player and the chess piece...

runner up……

It is my destined destiny.

King Lausanne II took a deep breath and returned to reality:
“After that, my identity was discovered, but I was eventually pardoned for impersonation and was even selected for Crown Prince Midir’s guard—just like those foolish guards around you now.”

Foolish Guardian...

Thales's mind conjured up the image of DD grinning foolishly while hugging a small teddy bear.

King Lausanne II closed his eyes:

"And shortly after that, the Crown Prince had an accident."

"I know."

Thales picked up where he left off, his tone heavy:
"The eldest son of the king fell from his horse and was seriously injured. He was bedridden and in a coma, and even became disabled in both legs. This also caused the queen to give birth prematurely and unfortunately die."

Hilly raised an eyebrow, looking surprised.

Lausanne II responded with a cold laugh.

"Oh, so the Crown Prince's fall from his horse is being blamed on you, a newcomer who hasn't been in the team long?"

Hillary curled her lip:
Did you tie his bootlaces incorrectly or something?

Thales frowned at the young lady's flippant tone and gave her a reproachful look.

But this time, Lausanne II remained silent for a very long time.

Only when Hilla began to wave his hand impatiently did the current prisoner, the former knight's squire, let out a soft snort:
"It wasn't a fall from a horse."

Upon hearing this, both Thales and Hilly were taken aback.

King Losang II said quietly:
"Just like being seriously injured and unconscious, falling off a horse was just an excuse to cover up a worse truth."

An even worse truth?

Thales and Hilly exchanged a surprised glance.

And that was...

"Midiel has gone missing."

King Lausanne II spoke in a nonchalant tone:
"For more than three years, there was no news of him."

Thales and Hilly both stared wide-eyed.

"Neither alive nor dead could they be found."

King Losang II then slowly revealed a royal secret:

"For the sake of the dignity of the royal family and the stability of the kingdom, and even more so for the safety of Midir's life while he was out in exile, the Palace of Restoration kept the news under wraps. To the outside world, they only said that he had fallen from his horse and was unconscious, seriously injured and unable to see guests. In reality, they were secretly searching for his whereabouts without stopping for a moment—even those in the know felt that the hope was slim."

what?
Upon receiving this news, Thales and Hilly were both stunned for several seconds.

It wasn't until Thales was the first to react.

"And the reason he fell from his horse—no, the reason he went missing—was..."

“Assassination,” Lobsang II said with an indifferent expression, “a meticulously planned assassination—for the order of succession to the throne.”

His tone was sarcastic:
"It's boring, clichéd, and completely unoriginal, isn't it?"

The assassin's expression changed:
"But this same old charade, which everyone is tired of seeing, comes at the cost of countless people's misfortune."

Hilly's eyes flickered:
"Like you?"

King Lausanne II remained silent for a moment.

"I am to blame."

He said slowly:

"The security loophole... did indeed originate from me, from me, the newcomer."

By the time Joaquin heard the news and rushed back from the military camp... it was too late.

Thales snapped out of his daze, exchanged a glance with Hilly, and asked in unison:
"Who? Who did this?"

King Lausanne II's eyes narrowed.

The next second, as if recalling something unpleasant, he reacted violently, trembling all over in his shackles, and then laughed coldly:

"Hahahaha...who did this...who did this..."

Thales and Hilly were both puzzled.

Several seconds later, having finished laughing, King Lausanne II took a deep breath, his gaze unfathomable:
"Do you know how long I was subjected to this question, this one question alone, back then, while I was chained to all sorts of torture devices and subjected to all sorts of methods by the lackeys of the Kingdom's Secret Service, day and night, through all kinds of heat and cold, every minute and every hour, in a relay, for how long?"

Two years?

Three years?

Reasoning with them, appealing to their emotions, using gentle persuasion, coercion and inducement, torture to extract confessions, speaking softly and gently, using drugs, inducing hypnosis...

Thales and Hilly exchanged a surprised and embarrassed look.

"Then you...don't know who it is?"

"Does it matter?"

King Lausanne II suddenly opened his eyes and raised his voice:
"You hurt me, I hurt him, he hurt you, you pretend he hurt me, I pretend you hurt him, and he pretends I hurt you..."

He shouted angrily:
"What power struggles, royal intrigues, isn't it all just the same old childish brawls? They've run out of new tricks!"

The roar of King Lausanne II echoed through the dungeon, causing the distant lights to flicker and the shadows to ripple.

The killer, having vented his anger, trembled violently, his eyes glazed over, and his emotions remained unsettled for a long time.

Thales and Hilly carefully kept silent.

Until the prince took a deep breath and changed the subject:
"I heard from Thor that in the end, you... you were imprisoned in the Bone Prison?"

Lausanne II's gaze gradually focused.

The prison of white bones.

Yes, the prison of bones.

He should have ended up in a much worse situation.

But Joaquin...

Joaquin...

King Lausanne II gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

That damned, self-important grand knight, grandmaster, stinking old man...

"I don't know, I don't know who's behind this."

He took a deep breath:

"But I know... after that, the brilliant second prince Horace, who had returned from the Tower of the End, was forever banished from the Palace of Restoration, exiled to the northern fortress, far from the kingdom's center, to endure hardship and guard the borders, practically imprisoned in a military camp..."

The vampire assassin's emotions were complex when he spoke of this former adversary who had influenced his life:
"Throughout his life, he was despised, rejected, wary of, monitored, hated, and even betrayed by his own father..."

Thales listened with a pounding heart and utter astonishment.

"In the end, he could only go north alone and die to prove his loyalty, in order to barely gain a reputation for sacrificing himself for his country and being loyal to his father... a pitiful reputation."

“Prince Horace…” Hillay said in surprise, “because…the late king suspected him?”

Thales went a step further, revealing the suspect:

"Because he is the biggest beneficiary of the crown prince's disappearance?"

King Lausanne II nodded, then shook his head.

Yes, but more than that.

His eyes were unfocused, and his expression was dazed.

"Through the relentless investigation by the Kingdom's Secret Service, several people with strong suspicions were identified. Under severe torture, they confessed that they had tried to win me over in private before the election."

Thales and Hilly were both startled and looked up.

Will they elect someone?
"They said that the reason I deliberately concealed my strength, impersonated someone else to participate in the competition, and intentionally lost to the second prince in the final selection was to gain the opportunity to surrender to Horace, and..."

King Losang II sneered:
"The opportunity to join the Crown Prince's Guard."

Thales understood.

“The witnesses, the physical evidence, the motives, and even countless details—they all spoke the truth, all of which truly happened,” Losang II said sarcastically. “And I was indeed inexplicably defeated by Horace for reasons beyond my ability, which brought him fame and, in turn, I was spared the charge of impersonation and was able to join the eldest son of the king.”

Even more surprisingly, Secret Service found a bottle of poison in his baggage—it looked like he was preparing to commit suicide.

Haha, poison, poison!

King Losang II barely managed to suppress his laughter.

"So when people—whether kings or beggars—examine everything, they will find that I, I look exactly like the key executor of the murder of the crown prince."

Lausanne II's eyes were cloudy.

As a powerless, taciturn commoner servant, all he could do was cry out that he was wronged, just like he always had...

He was at a loss.

There is no denying it.

Thales listened with a heavy heart.

An ordinary person—no, he has already stood higher and more extraordinary than most ordinary people—unfortunately stepped onto the stage of power and stood bewildered at a crucial juncture.

All that awaited them was the mockery of fate.

Power, ruthlessly crushed, is worn down to its last breath.

“So, Midil is missing, and Horace has fallen out of favor,” Hillai said, his expression normal, even having the energy to count on his fingers, “because of you alone, there are suddenly two fewer names in the line of succession to the Star Throne?”

She couldn't help but click her tongue and say:

"Tsk tsk tsk, the late king actually only sent you to prison, he was really magnanimous."

Lausanne II clenched his fists involuntarily—including the one he had lost.

“Hilary,” Thales had to whisper, reminding her to be mindful of the other person’s emotions.

“Don’t forget, his wife also died in childbirth because of this,” but King Losang II didn’t seem to care. Instead, he added with a sneer, “She also gave birth to a princess, who is mentally challenged.”

From an outsider's perspective, he was undoubtedly deeply sinful.

From this perspective, isn't the king truly magnanimous?

Haha, hahahahahaha!
King Lausanne II laughed heartily to himself.

As the bard's poem says: What are you waiting for? Why don't you hurry up and shout "Long live the Emperor!" and praise his wisdom?
"No wonder the selection committee wants to erase your runner-up title..."

Hilly couldn't help but sigh:

"And it declined after that, with hardly anyone going there or daring to go, probably because of you..."

“Hilay!” Thales had to shout to remind her.

Hilly realized what was happening and pouted:

"Alright. So what if you had listened to the other group during the election, and won the championship but even seriously injured the second prince..."

King Lausanne II smiled, a clear and relieved smile.

“The outcome might be slightly different,” Thales sighed, “but I’m sure there’s another conspiracy unfolding around him.”

Many things are destined from the very beginning.

The three of them looked at each other in silence for a long time before Hilly broke the silence:

"After that..."

"He is back."

"Los Angeles II said quietly."

"Crown Prince Midil, who had been missing for nearly three years, miraculously survived and returned to Mindis Hall."

His expression was a mixture of a smile and a sob, his tone laced with sarcasm:

"Aside from the obvious fact that his legs were completely crippled, no one knows what he went through. Well, apart from the king, I doubt anyone would dare to ask."

The assassin shook his head:

"After his return, he did many things, such as pardoning a large number of people, including me—although by then, I no longer needed his pardon."

His words were sarcastic.

Thales and Hilly exchanged a glance.

"As for that damned source blood, that miraculous elixir that can revive the dead and heal the wounded," said Losang II with a bitter expression, "he found out where I was after returning to the Mindis Hall and personally handed it to me."

“You?” Hilla asked doubtfully.

King Lausanne II shook his head, gradually lost in thought:

“It’s not just me; he wants to make up for my teacher’s loss and Joaquin’s loss.”

"What loss?"

Hilly wanted to ask more questions, but Thales stopped her and shook his head.

“But Joaquin refused,” Losang II said absentmindedly, seemingly lost in his own world, “so it remained in my possession until…”

He shifted his gaze to his own body, which was covered in blood and grime, with granulation tissue wriggling from his wounds.

King Lausanne II chuckled, whether in despair or relief, it was hard to tell.

Hearing this, Thales was filled with emotion and continued the conversation:
"Until your second life."

The life of King Lausanne II.

The life of an assassin.

King Lausanne II remained silent.

"Okay, it's not your fault, at least not entirely your fault."

On the other side, Hilly ignored Thales's angry reminder and, quite appropriately, shrugged and sighed:

"Having had that experience, if it were me, I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to kill someone too!"

(End of this chapter)