A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

The sky was overcast, the sun had already set below the horizon, and the earth was dimmed. Thousands of lights lit up one by one in this huge city.

In a secret room, a man sat on a dark seat inlaid with gems. His fingers gently stroked the jade ring on his thumb while talking to a person kneeling in front of him.

"My lord, things are going very well."

whispered the kneeling man.

"According to the plan, we secretly provoked those two groups to quarrel and cause chaos. Our people have successfully encouraged those brats to do that, and the things have been secretly sent to the palace... I think they will be able to do it soon. See the results you want.”

"This time, 'that person' is dead."

"At that time, no one will notice. They will all think it was just an accident caused by a fight between children, and the blame will fall on the 'ignorant' Prince Gallan."

"very good."

The man on the seat nodded with satisfaction.

He said, "Well done."

He turned his head and looked beyond the window into the distance, looking in the direction of the royal city.

His eyes staring in that direction were dark, revealing deep disgust.

"Letting that damn bastard continue to live will only cause more trouble for me."

The extreme hatred for that bastard made this man, who had always been proud of his status as a descendant of the royal family and paid great attention to his demeanor and language, spit out vicious curses at this moment.

He looked in that direction with a sinister expression, his stern eyes seemed to see the existence that disgusted him through the sky, and he made a sound like a curse.

He said coldly: "That little bastard...he should have died long ago."

…………

……………………

Little Fatty Tarr has been very depressed recently.

Originally, His Highness Gallan said that day that he had a good relationship with him (he made up his own mind), which made him very happy. But it didn't take long for him to find that more and more people were coming to His Highness' side.

Tal is actually very self-aware. He knows that he has almost no merit and is not good at anything. So when he saw so many people flocking to please His Highness Gallan, he immediately became anxious, for fear that his position in front of His Highness would be suppressed by others.

What made him slightly relieved was that although there were more and more people trying to please His Highness, His Highness was gentle to everyone, but that gentleness was mild, and he didn't seem to have a special liking for anyone.

Huh, don't think he doesn't know.

Those people who come to please His Highness want to be His Highness's followers.

However, not everyone can be a follower of His Highness.

So far, apart from the knight of Caihos, only I, who was personally appointed by His Highness to accompany me, are barely qualified to be called His Highness's followers.

However, the little fat man still had a sense of crisis.

Although His Highness is not currently accepting new followers, there is no guarantee that one day someone powerful or someone who will please His Highness will appear... Then his position will be unstable.

No, he has to find a way!

As a result, Tal, who had a sense of crisis, jumped up and down even more. He is a chubby little fat guy with a bit of a silly look. Moreover, he is flexible and has a sweet mouth. During this time, he has already become familiar among the maids and guards in the palace.

The little fat man looks harmless to humans and animals, and his presence is not high, so almost no one will be wary of him. Taking advantage of this, he secretly picked up a lot of strange gossip, and then he ran to Garlan and told these gossips to Garlan as jokes, sometimes a little bit. The very strange news really made Garlan unable to help but find it funny.

The way His Highness smiles is so, so, so cute~~~

With this idea in mind, Little Fatty Tarr firmly promoted this matter as his career, vowing to become His Highness's pistachio and make His Highness laugh every day.

Just say that in the evening, just after dinner time, he ran to Gallan again, ready to tell Gallan a big news.

Compared with Tal's energetic appearance, Garlan seemed a little lethargic and unable to cheer up.

Because he had that terrible dream every night for the past few days. He couldn't sleep well at night, and he couldn't tell others the reason why he couldn't sleep. He could only find any excuse to fool him.

So, when Tal came over excitedly, Garlan was lying on the jade lounge chair, looking listless.

"Your Highness, I'm telling you, something good is going to happen soon -"

"Yeah."

Garlan hummed lazily, still thinking about what to do if he continued to have nightmares tonight.

"I know you have been very unhappy recently. That Prince Heimos is always targeting you. He must be doing it on purpose. He wants to embarrass you no matter where he is..."

Tal opened his mouth and scolded Heimos, but he kept saying the same words over and over again, making Garlan feel sleepy.

After scolding Prince Heymos, Tal came over mysteriously and whispered: "However, His Highness Gallan will soon have fun. Don't worry, someone will help you teach him a lesson." of."

"ha?"

Teach Heimos a lesson?

Who in this world has the ability to teach that person a lesson?

Even now, probably only King Kamos and a few other talented people can do it, but no one who can do it would be so bored as to teach an underage boy.

"Really, I hid behind and secretly overheard what Sim and his group were saying. They said that they had obtained something, and they wanted to use it to teach Prince Heimos to stop being so arrogant. Give it to your Highness Gallan. Expose your anger."

"...??"

Garlan vaguely remembered... Sim's group of people were only eleven or twelve-year-old children?

He sat up lazily and didn't bother to say anything.

Those brats wanted to teach Heimos a lesson... but they were actually sent there to be taught a lesson, right?

Tal came closer and spoke in a very mysterious tone, lowering his voice.

"It is said that Sim and the others obtained 'devil's blood'."

"what is that?"

"It's a very scary, dark thing." The little fat man said in a tone of telling a horror story. "It's almost impossible to wash off if it gets on it. The places where your skin touches it will cause pimples and redness, which will turn your skin into red and swollen." All eroded to black.”

"It is said that it is made from the blood of demons from hell that shed on the earth. Anyone who touches it will be targeted by the demons and cursed. No matter what they do, they will be very unlucky."

Garlan: "..."

This is also a kind of superstition, the kind where whoever meets someone is unlucky.

Do these people actually believe it? Sure enough, they are all just a bunch of brats.

He complained in his mind, holding his chin in his hand, and spoke lazily.

"So they are planning to get that 'devil's blood' on Heymos? To make him unlucky?"

"Yeah! They said they had a hard time getting it!"

Tal nodded excitedly.

"While I was hiding nearby and eavesdropping, I also saw the 'Devil's Blood'."

The little fat man's chubby face wrinkled into a bun as soon as he said this, showing a very uncomfortable look.

"I can't tell you... I just feel very disgusting... It's really dark and sticky, and it makes people feel uncomfortable just looking at it... Ah, Your Highness, I saw that kind of thing, will you? Will he be cursed, will he be unlucky these past two days?"

Garlan was immediately amused by the little fat man's bitter face.

"How is that possible? There's nothing that can lead to bad luck just by looking at it."

Tarr murmured unconvincedly.

"Because it looks really disgusting, and there is a pungent smell, greasy like oil, and it moves like something disgusting is squirming..."

Garlan didn't pay much attention at first. It sounded like it was just a prank played by a group of children, and I'm afraid Heimos would only teach him a lesson.

Well, those people are jumping up and down every day. Although they are surrounding me, they are not their subordinates after all. They are just study partners who study together. It is not good for me to ask or restrict them. Now let them stay in Heyi. If Moss hits a wall and suffers a big loss, he will probably become more honest.

Anyway, even if those brats were together, they wouldn't be Heimos's opponent.

Thinking this, the child who listened to Tal's words turned his head casually, and a red light fell on his face. It was the fiery red light at the last moment as the setting sun sank into the horizon, and traces of burning clouds could be vaguely seen on the horizon.

He subconsciously stared at the churning fire cloud.

Red and red...

It seemed like there was a flame burning hotly in the sky, just like the flame in his dream...

flame.

Suddenly, Garlan's eyelids twitched fiercely as he stared at the flaming cloud.

His heart beat rapidly for no reason.

[‘Devil’s Blood’…]

[Pitch black...with an unpleasant pungent smell...like oil...]

Garlan's eyes suddenly opened wide.

A very frightening thought suddenly arose in his heart that made him frightened for a moment.

The firelight of the setting sun shone in, and the burning clouds on the horizon were reflected in his golden pupils, as if in an instant, red flames were overwhelmingly attacking him.

Reflecting his pupils into a fiery red——

"...Tal."

"Yes, what's the matter, Your Highness~~~"

"Where?"

Garlan had already turned over and landed on the ground. His face was tense and he was so nervous that his breathing was rapid.

"What? Where is what you ask?"

"Where is the place where Sim and others blocked Heimos?!"

………………

……………………

The Weir Courtyard is the only way back from the martial arts training ground. It is a slightly narrow road.

When Heimos walked out of the corridor, the sun had almost set and the sky was getting dark.

There are two rows of white stone poles erected on both sides of this road. There is a shelf on the top of the stone poles, with two small braziers about the size of a palm placed on it for night lighting.

Generally speaking, street lamps used for night lighting are special olive oil lamps, which are more durable and have brighter flames. However, the road in this atrium is relatively spacious, has no tall buildings, and is slightly close to the coast, so the sea breeze is relatively strong. The shrubs and trees on both sides of the place are very dense. Therefore, the sea wind once blew down the oil lamp and caused a fire.

After that, the stone poles here were replaced with fire plates filled with charcoal fire. In this way, even if they fell, they would not burn immediately.

However, because the illumination of the charcoal fire was not enough, the stone poles on both sides were relatively close to each other, almost one meter apart.

After spending the entire afternoon undergoing rigorous training in the martial arts field, Heimos was also a little tired at the moment. He came out of the corridor and walked onto the narrow path of the Weir Atrium.

The faint light from the fire plates on the stone poles on both sides reflected on his cheeks. There were faint traces of sweat on his forehead, and a bruise on his arm was also very conspicuous.

Just as he was walking quietly alone, there was a sudden noise in front of him.

A group of teenagers about the same age as him were walking towards him across the street, chatting and laughing with each other in louder voices as if on purpose.

Heimos frowned and recognized that the people opposite him were the group of guys who made trouble for him last time. Now it seemed that this was not an accidental encounter. I am afraid that this group of people came here specifically to block him.

"Ah, Prince Heimos."

Pretending to have just seen Heimos, the dozen or so teenagers happily saluted Heimos, and then continued to walk over.

However, when passing by Heimos, the two teenagers holding porcelain jars in their hands suddenly became unsteady, swayed, and poured the contents of the porcelain jars towards him.

The distance between the two was too close, and the thing that was thrown over was liquid. No matter how fast Heymos reacted, he could only dodge half of it.

The black liquid splashed from the porcelain jar in the hands of the young man at the back and poured on him. The dark liquid started from his left arm near his shoulder and went down to his left foot, almost covering half of his body. The body is covered.

A pungent smell assaulted his nostrils, and the dark, unknown greasy liquid that splashed over half of his body slowly flowed down his body.

The uncomfortable feeling on the covered skin and the disgusting smell made Heimos frown.

"I'm sorry, Prince Heimos. My foot slipped accidentally. I'm really sorry."

The two teenagers who poured half of Heimos's body into the black liquid looked frightened, bowed their heads, and kept apologizing.

"I actually let your noble body be infected with 'devil's blood'. I am really guilty of the death penalty."

"Oh, what can we do? People infected by the 'devil's blood' will be cursed by the devil."

"This is difficult to wash off~~~"

"It is said that you will be very unlucky for a long time."

"I will be targeted by the devil in the future——"

The teenagers next to him were talking in a flurry of words. They sounded like they were worried about Heimos, but their tone sounded like they were gloating about his misfortune.

The young man named Sim who took the lead said it bluntly.

"This was originally something that His Highness Gallan asked us to find, and it was intended to be given to Prince Heimos. Unexpectedly, we gave it to you in advance. Ah, I'm so sorry." He said with a smile, "You You won't go to King Camos to file a complaint against His Highness because of this trivial matter, right? After all, our Highness is still young, and we are just joking with you."

Heimos just frowned, turned his head, and looked at the dirty black liquid on his body.

He didn't pay any attention to what those teenagers said about things like it being difficult to wash, being cursed if stained, or being unlucky - he just felt a little annoyed by the level of little brat pranks.

However, the name that suddenly broke into his ears made the corners of his eyes twitch suddenly, and his pupils suddenly shrank before slowly relaxing.

There was no expression on his face, which was mostly covered by shadows. Only his thin lips pursed, and the lip lines suddenly became sharper.

When he spoke, his voice was very low.

He said: "...Garlan?"

Heimos suddenly spoke, making Sim and others startled.

Heimos didn't know when he raised his eyes and stared at them. His golden-red eyes were like the deepest night. There was a cold glimmer in his eyes, which made people shiver in their chests when they saw it.

"No...that's right! This is a gift from Prince Gallan to you!"

Although Heimos's look made him feel hairy on his back, Sim still had the courage to answer with a stiff neck.

"He said that you'd better not appear in front of him again. Wherever he is, you'd better stay away."

[This is His Highness’s order. 】

[The prince doesn’t want you to get close to him. 】

The boy's eyes became darker and darker, and his lips became sharper.

He lowered his head slightly, and his fine black hair was scattered in front of his eyes, casting a deep shadow on his eye sockets.

…………

……………………

Burning flames...

The slowly flowing dark water...

.........The boy burned by the flames......

…

In previous lives, Heimos had always tied his arm with a snow-white bandage...

...Every life...the pair of terrifying eyes staring at me coldly...as if they were quenched with poison...

[Sim and the others said they would help you teach Prince Heimos a lesson. 】

Demon's blood...

[It is a very disgusting black liquid that is said to be cursed by the devil if it touches it. 】

No! That is--

Garlan was running forward with almost all his strength.

His chest, out of breath due to the intense running, seemed to be about to explode. The little fat man who couldn't keep up was already left behind by him halfway.

Sweat stayed down the corners of his eyes and seeped into his eyes, making his eyes sting slightly.

But he was still running forward and didn't dare to stop.

Maybe just for a second when he stops breathing, that terrible dream will be played out in front of him who is too late to catch up——

If that was really what happened in previous lives, then he would stop it at all costs this time!

We can't let that miserable thing happen again!

Finally, after a sharp turn, the end of the corridor is ahead.

Near the exit of the corridor, he saw Heimos and other teenagers standing on the path to the atrium.

The moment he saw Heimos, Garlan's eyes twitched uncontrollably.

He saw that the half of Heymos's body that was facing away from him had been doused with dark liquid. At this moment, the viscous liquid was still dripping from the young man's body drop by drop.

really.

He guessed correctly, the so-called 'devil's blood' was black oil.

Then it was also true that Heimos was burned in his dream——

Thinking of the tragic and terrifying scene in his dream, Garlan clenched his fists.

Fortunately, I caught up.

His chest, which was about to explode, could no longer hold on. He held on to the pillar and gasped violently.

Fortunately, it's not too late.

That terrible thing hasn't happened yet.

He caught up.

Thinking so happily in his heart, Garlan straightened up again after taking a few breaths and ran quickly towards Heimos and the others.

However, as he ran forward, he also felt a little puzzled.

...No matter what, Sim and his friends would never have the guts to set fire to the prince...

Was it an accident?

He just thought in confusion, ran over there, and walked down the stairs at the exit of the corridor.

Suddenly, a black shadow passed across the darkening sky.

Garlan's eyes suddenly opened wide.

The sharp arrow shot from the darkness flew across the night sky and was reflected in his dilated pupils.

The sharp arrow in the dark night shot silently from the dark place, and with a swish, it drew an arc in the air.

At the end of the arc is a brazier on the top of a stone pole.

Heimos stood under the stone pole——

With the arrow reflected in his eyes, Garlan's mind went blank.

It was instinct, or subconscious, that he rushed forward.

Following the trajectory of the arrow passing through the air, he rushed over.

Sharp arrows streaked through the night sky.

That's too late!

It is impossible for a human being to catch up with the speed of an arrow.

Garlan's hand stretched forward with all his strength——

With a snap, the arrow tip hit the fire plate on the stone pole hard.

The fire plate that was struck shook unsteadily and suddenly fell from it.

The red charcoal fire fell from the overturned fire plate, and the burning fire opened a bright trace in the dark night, falling straight towards the young man below who was half-doused with black oil.

It's about to fall on the young man's body in the next second——

Someone rushed over from behind.

Gallan stretched out his hands and used all his life's strength to push Heimos away from the fallen fire disk.

Burning coals fell from the night and fell on the tiny child.

Chichi a few times.

It was the sound of burning flesh that echoed in the silent night sky.

The burning charcoal fire left deep black marks on the child's snow-white skin.

"Garlan——?!!"

The author has something to say: So the past few lives were more than just burning hands.

Half of the body's oil, the consequences of being ignited... you will know after you think about it.