I'm really not a Sanctuary Warlock.

He knew that beating around the bush with this woman was pointless; if he showed any weakness, he would be devoured alive.

"Oh?" Enoria took a sip of red wine and looked at him with interest.

“Alice.” Lynn stared intently into Enoria’s eyes and said, word by word, “The granddaughter of Marquis Laurent, I escorted her all the way here, but just as we were about to reach the royal city, [Silence] forcibly abducted her from my side.”

Lynn took a step forward, his eyes turning extremely aggressive: "Could it be that the dignified guardian of the kingdom is abducting people in the street on the orders of the royal family?"

A brief silence fell over the room.

Only the bronze incense burner in the corner was still slowly emitting white smoke.

Enoria chuckled softly as she looked at Lynn's accusatory expression.

There was no trace of embarrassment at being exposed in that laughter; instead, it was filled with the mockery of a superior looking down on the struggle of an ant.

"Hehe, that does have a connection."

Enoria's composure made Lynn uncomfortable. She walked to the French windows and looked out at the brightly lit royal city at night.

“I sent the Annihilation. To be precise, the Annihilation had been watching you ever since that little girl left Holy Song City.”

Enoria turned her head and looked at Lynn, her eyes showing a hint of genuine appreciation: "I just didn't expect that Annihilation would spare your life, which led you to track me down here, and now I'm in danger."

“In that case, hand her over.” Lynn’s voice was low. “I accepted the commission, so I must take her away.”

"Give it to you?" Enochia seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. She put down her wine glass, her eyes instantly turning arrogant. "Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about your place? Who do you think you are talking to?"

"I will not hand over Alice to you." Enoria's tone was firm and left no room for negotiation.

“If you’re worried about the little girl’s safety, you don’t need to.” Enoria looked at Lynn’s tense face, her tone revealing a condescending arrogance. “That old bastard Laurent thinks that sending his granddaughter to Valerius’s mansion will preserve her meager immortal bloodline? Utterly foolish.”

Enoria sneered: "I know exactly what kind of person Valerius is. If Alice falls into his hands, she will only have her arms and legs broken, be locked in a dark basement, and become a pure breeding tool until she is drained of her last drop of blood."

“But I’m different.” Enoria raised her chin slightly, her eyes flashing with fervent ambition and absolute confidence. “The royal family needs the bloodline of immortals to consolidate its rule, but I will not use such despicable means. I will give her the best education, the best resources, and the most honorable status.”

She stared at Lynn and announced, word by word, a decision that would shake the entire kingdom:

"When the king grows up, Alice will be the queen of this kingdom."

Lynn's pupils dilated suddenly, and his heart skipped a beat.

Good guy.

He gasped inwardly.

He had imagined countless reasons why the royal family would try to take Alice away: dissecting her for research, drawing her blood for medicine, or even sacrificing her directly. But he never thought that Elonia would actually plan to marry Alice to the four-year-old new king!

"Don't you think this is much better than falling into the Duke's hands?" Enoria smiled with satisfaction as she looked at Lynn's shocked expression. "The Queen's position is second only to the Emperor. The protection the royal family can give her far exceeds that of a rigid and selfish Duke. She can not only live a good life, but also possess the power that countless people dream of."

Linn was silent.

From a purely rational perspective, the conditions offered by Enoria were practically a windfall.

For Alice, becoming the mother of a nation was indeed an incredibly broad path to success.

If Alice were still that timid girl shivering in the snow, only knowing how to rely on him, Lynn might really have turned away and felt that this was the best place for her.

but……

Suddenly, an image flashed through Lynn's mind of Alice's palm igniting a vibrant green flame of life in that icy valley.

“It is indeed a very good arrangement.” He took a deep breath, raised his head, and looked directly into Enolia’s eyes. “If she were just an ordinary descendant of an immortal being, this might be the best ending for her.”

“But, Your Highness,” Lynn’s voice became extremely sharp, “what Alice wants now is freedom.”

Enolia frowned slightly.

"Freedom?" She seemed to have heard an extremely childish word, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips. "In this world, freedom is something that must be earned with strength and blood. What freedom does a little girl with no power have? Without the protection of the royal family, she won't live for more than three days."

“She’s no longer helpless,” Lynn interrupted her without backing down. “You should know better than I do what she’s in charge of.”

Enoria's eyes instantly turned cold.

Lynn knew he had hit the nail on the head.

What the royal family values ​​is no longer the bloodline of an immortal being, but a living girl who embodies the nascent form of divine authority.

It is precisely because she has demonstrated such terrifying power that the royal family is even less likely to let her go.

"Now that you understand, you should know that there's no room for negotiation." Enoria had completely lost her patience. She turned around and walked towards the bed. "For the sake of your merit in escorting her, I won't kill you today. Get out of the palace and never show your face in front of me again."

"What if I don't leave?" Lynn stood still, her voice as cold as ice.

"Then I'll have your corpse chopped up and fed to the dogs." Enoria said without turning her head.

“Your Highness, you are a smart man. You should know that everything has its weaknesses and everything has its costs.” Lynn’s hand slowly reached into the pocket of his robe and touched the cold black velvet box.

He didn't take the box out; he just gripped the withered finger bone inside tightly through the fabric.

“What leverage do you think you have to threaten me?” Enoria stopped and turned around, staring at Lynn as if he were already dead. “My wealth? My power? Or my life? You’re too naive.”

No, I'm not interested in your life.

Lynn raised his head and said frantically:

"If... I possess the ability to make His Majesty the King completely lose control and turn into a monster at his birthday banquet tonight, in front of all the nobles in the world."

Lynn paused, looking at Enoria's instantly frozen back, and asked, word by word:

"Will Your Majesty change your mind?"

The air stopped moving for a moment.

There was no burst of magic, nor any deafening roar, but Lynn felt a terrifying killing intent that almost crushed his soul, filling the entire room as if it were a tangible substance.

Enoria turned around.

That face, which was originally cold, arrogant, and seemingly never showed any emotion, was now filled with chilling anger.

Her eyes were fixed on Lynn, and a faint, unnatural crimson tinge appeared deep within her normally black pupils.

That wasn't the anger of a politician, but the fury of a lioness whose absolute taboo had been crossed and who was ready to tear everything apart.

"You're asking for it."

As she finished speaking, four blurry figures suddenly appeared out of the shadows in the corner of the room without warning. They had no facial features, were completely wrapped in tight black night clothes, and held dark red short blades coated with deadly poison.

Level 78! All of them are top-tier bodyguards below the demigod level.

Lynn's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat. With just one gesture from Enolia, these four people could cut him into mincemeat in a fraction of a second, and he wouldn't even have a chance to summon the temple guards.

But he did not back down. He knew that in front of a woman like Enochia, taking a step back would mean utter ruin.

“You can try.” Lynn forced himself to steady his slightly trembling fingertips, put his hands in his pockets, and gripped the black box tightly. “If my heart stops beating, or if my mental energy fluctuates violently, His Majesty the King may lose control.”

"Guess what, when the king transforms into a mad, winged eagle and goes on a killing spree in front of those nobles, will your carefully cultivated royal power survive tonight?"

Lynn's words were like poisoned knives, piercing precisely into Enoria's most vulnerable heart.

Enoria stared intently at Lynn, her chest heaving. She didn't doubt Lynn's words, because she saw a reckless madness in the young man's eyes.

"You think you can threaten me like this?"

Enoria suddenly took a deep breath, her fury vanishing instantly, her voice as soft as a whisper in a lover's ear:

"You're from Holy Song City, right?"

Lynn's heart sank, and a terrible premonition welled up inside her.

“Aren’t you afraid…” Enoria pointed a finger painted with bright red nail polish at Lynn, “that I’ll skin all the people you know, everyone you care about, and hang them on the walls of Holy Song City?”

Lynn closed his eyes, took a deep breath, shook his head, and looked at Enolia, who was so close to him, his tone so calm it was frightening.

"Your Highness, you have made a mistake."

Lynn took his hands out of his pockets, empty-handed, and laid them out in front of Enoria.

"I'm not standing here to take you down with me; this is just a suggestion." Lynn's gaze passed over Enoria, landing on the enormous dressing mirror. "Even if you kill me now, or order the massacre of the entire Holy Song City, killing everyone I care about, it won't change one fact—"

"That is, as long as I die here, His Majesty the King will still lose control."

Lynn looked directly into Enoria's eyes, a mocking smile playing on his lips: "If you kill me, you lose your son and your throne; if I die, I lose my friends. Since we're both going to lose our most precious things anyway, why don't we each take a step back?"

Enoria's eyes flickered intensely. She stared intently at Lynn, as if assessing the veracity of his words.

Just when the two were at an impasse...

Suddenly, a series of extremely hurried footsteps came from outside the heavy double wooden door of the bedroom, followed by a maid rushing in:

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! His Majesty the King... His Majesty the King... has fainted in his bedroom."

Chapter 188 Get Out of the Royal City

"Ok?"

I haven't even started yet.

Lynn's brain was working at lightning speed. Could it be such a coincidence?

The atmosphere in the room became tense with the maid's trembling announcement.

Enoria's back suddenly stiffened.

The next second, she turned her head, her narrow phoenix eyes fixed on Lynn. Her gaze no longer held the arrogance of a superior, nor the calculations of a politician, but rather an undisguised, insane killing intent.

"What did you do?" Enoria's voice carried a chilling glint.

"If I said I didn't do anything, would you believe me?" Lynn didn't back down at all. He still had his hands in his pockets and met Enolia's gaze without flinching.

Enoria looked into Lynn's eyes, trying to find a trace of a lie within them.

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager... His Majesty..." The maid outside the door was almost crying, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

Enolia took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to kill Lynn on the spot. Her son's life was now uncertain, and she didn't have time to waste here with Lynn.

"Send him to jail. No one is allowed to approach him without my order!"

Enoria dropped the order, not even glancing at Lynn again, and, lifting her skirt and barefoot, dashed out of the bedroom like a gust of wind.

The four guards in the shadows instantly appeared.

Four dark red short blades coated with deadly poison simultaneously blocked Lynn, completely sealing off the space around him.

"Don't be nervous, everyone." Lynn cooperated by slowly pulling his hands out of his pockets and raising them above his head. "I'll go with you."

Without a word, the guards immediately bound Lynn's hands with heavy, dark gold shackles.

The feeling of his magic being instantly severed made Lynn frown slightly, but he did not resist and let the guards escort him deeper into the palace.

On the other side, to the east of the palace, lies the king's private sleeping quarters.

The extremely luxurious room was now filled with a strong smell of magic potion.

On the enormous velvet bed, the four-year-old new king Olivier lay there, deathly pale.

His eyes were tightly closed, and his small body convulsed uncontrollably under the quilt. His forehead was covered with fine sweat, his lips were a sickly bluish-purple, and he occasionally let out incoherent, painful murmurs.

Several royal physicians dressed in white robes were gathered around the bed, sweating profusely as they performed various diagnostic and soothing spells.

"boom!"

The door to the sleeping quarters was suddenly pushed open.

Enolia strode in, her once languid and elegant long dress now appearing somewhat disheveled.

"what's the situation?"

Chief Physician Victor trembled and quickly turned around, kneeling down on one knee in front of Enoria.

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager... His Majesty... His condition is very bad."

"I'm asking you what happened! He was perfectly fine an hour ago, why did he suddenly faint?"

“His sanity... His sanity is too low!” Viktor stammered. “His Majesty’s sanity suddenly plummeted, dropping below the warning line of sixty, and is now approaching fifty!”

Enolia's hand suddenly loosened.

Viktor collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

“Fifty…” Enoria took a half step back.

In this world, sanity is an absolute line between life and death.

Once you fall below 70, hallucinations will begin; below 60, the whispers of evil gods will echo in your mind; if you approach 50... that means the tentacles of the abyss have begun to substantially invade your soul.

“The evil god has already invaded his mind.” Victor wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. “His Majesty is currently in a state of extreme mental derangement. His soul is fighting against those indescribable fears, which is why he is exhibiting these physical spasms and coma.”