Kingdom’s Bloodline

"How did it end?"

In the moving carriage, Rumba lowered his head, fiddled with his sword absently, with a delicate expression, but did not answer. "Le" Wen "Xiao" Said|

"King Nuen is dead, but Dragon Clouds City is still strong, and there are four important Grand Dukes in the Palace of Heroes, I don't think they are all fools." Thales observed the Grand Duke's expression, and said cautiously: "And Prince Xingchen assassinated the king of Gongju—this result will definitely not satisfy everyone, especially when the army of the Black Sand Territory appears suddenly."

Thales stared at Lumbard's face closely, and said softly: "How are you going to explain to them? Or don't explain at all, just kill everything?"

Rumba said nothing, with a wooden expression on his face.

Thales clenched his fist slightly.

The carriage is still moving, and I don't know how far it is from the Palace of Heroes.

I don't know how far away from the end of my life.

no solution anymore.

Take strong medicine.

"If there is no accident, once the news of Nun's death spreads, the king election meeting will be held soon," Thales took a deep breath, and said lightly: "Do you think you still have a chance?"

Sure enough, Luba moved his eyes and looked at him.

Thales suppressed the tension in his heart, and responded to him with the calmest expression.

"Not to mention that you are Nun's enemy in the first place, and you have a terrible reputation for murdering brothers," Thales said after a word: "The princes will not let you become a king."

Rumba's eyes were fixed on his sword.

"King?" The Grand Duke raised his voice and pronounced the word in a questioning tone. Then he snorted softly and repeated it sarcastically:

"king!"

"You were born in the Canxing royal family, a descendant of the emperor, the natural, orthodox, and legal ruling family of the entire Star Kingdom," Lunba said quietly, "Of course you don't have such concerns, right?"

Thales' heart moved, and at that moment, he seemed to have caught something.

"Concern?" He asked naturally.

Rumba ignored him,

His sharp eyes still stayed on his old saber: "From Nun's grandfather, they have regarded the black sand collar as a thorn in their side. At that time, Walton had already started Dragon Clouds City's monopoly on the throne."

The little slippery head blinked.

"When it came to Nunn's father, the Walton family began to try to control the black sand collar," Lumbard continued, his eyes were a little dazed:

"For example, calling the youngest son of the Grand Duke of Black Sand into the White Blade Guard, or in the name of the king, marrying his daughter, the noble Princess Exeter, to his father, the heir of the Grand Duke of Black Sand."

Thales frowned slightly.

He seemed to have heard a similar story during the duel between King Nunn and Pfeiffer.

"That's how my parents got married," Lumba sighed, and then a rare smile appeared on the face of Grand Duke Heisha: "Unexpectedly, this marriage that was purely based on the king's will is not bad--listen to the old man The servants said that the mother tried every means to make the father fall in love with her, and bore him two sons and three daughters, and this kind of love lasted until the father became the Grand Duke."

The carriage drove into a narrow alley, as if taking a shortcut, or taking a long way?

Rumba's words continued:

"In this way, my father used his own strength to resist the erosion of Dragon Clouds City, even though this erosion originated from the woman he loves the most - family and power. He has been hovering on this balance all his life."

Thales and Little Slick listened quietly.

Such a Grand Duke of Heisha is rare.

"Since we were very young, Harold and I have been taken by our mother to and from Dragon Clouds City and Heisha Ling," the Grand Duke Lombard exhaled, his eyes full of nostalgia: "Until we became adults, until we became adults. Harold began to take over the governance of the Black Sand Territory."

"Harold?" Thales's heart moved, the name seemed a little strange: "He is..."

Lombard paused.

"Harold Rumba, my eldest brother," the Grand Duke's eyes flashed gray and sarcasm: "A ridiculous fool."

"There is no one more stupid than him in the world."

He said quietly.

The little slippery head seemed to remember something, and she looked at Luba with a slightly pale face.

From Lumbard's tone, Thales felt a different emotion.

"You don't have a brother, do you?" Rumba's eyes still stayed on the sword. A few seconds later, he said lonelyly:

"Lucky."

Thales raised his eyebrows: he thought of the two small stone urns in Canxing's tomb, his sister and brother in name.

Lydia and Luther Brightstar.

Rumba gently drew his sword.

The Grand Duke had a complex expression, and his fingers lightly brushed the sharp blade.

"Until twelve years ago," Lunba raised his head slightly, looked at Thales, his tone turned cold:

"Everything has changed."

His actions made the prince feel cold.

etc.

Thales' brain started to work.

Twelve years ago... Twelve years ago again?

That means……

"Unprecedented civil strife broke out in the Kingdom of Stars, and it was in chaos," Lumbard's voice sounded in the carriage, narrating the history that Thales is all too familiar with: "Since the Fourth Continental War, Exeter has waited for a rare opportunity in a hundred years : Let the Northland be unified again, and the threat from Broken Dragon Fortress will be completely wiped out from then on.”

Thales stared blankly at the sword in Rumba's hand.

"Nun is ready to send troops south. He contacted almost every grand duke. In response, Harold, as the heir of the Black Sand Territory, was sent to attend the leaders' meeting in Dragon Clouds City," Lumbard slowly inhaled. Taking a breath, he continued:

"An accident happened."

Thales' heart skipped a beat.

"A follower in Harold's team suddenly jumped up and assassinated Nunn's eldest son," Rumba's rough voice was low and majestic, as if there was a hidden power, and he snorted coldly: "That self-righteous and cruel man is good. Kill him, Prince Suriel, who was carved out of the same mold as his father, died in Harold's team like this."

At that moment, Thales' heart skipped a beat.

The second prince was digesting Lumbard's story motionlessly, while his hand was firmly held by the little slippery head, getting tighter and tighter.

He has heard the story.

Just last night.

"The news has reached Heisha Ling." Lunba pressed his sword hilt, his face turned cold. "Father has even made preparations for Nuen to make a big fuss and start a war with Dragon Clouds City."

"Unexpectedly, Harold, who should have been responsible for this, received not a single censure, neither imprisonment nor seizure."

"Nuen comforted him softly, personally excused him, and even continued to let him participate in the meeting, and sent him back to Heisha collar with courtesy," Lunba sneered, "Even if Nuen lost the most important The eldest son, Harold, was also spared—the father felt something was wrong at that time."

Rumba looked at his saber, but his eyes began to lose focus, as if he was looking at something else: "I still remember the day Harold came back, he returned Nunn's opinion at the dinner table and persuaded his father to support Dragon Cloud City, Even to prepare for the war, the king's officials must be admitted."

"Father and he had a violent argument."

"I had to stop in the middle, so that they would not draw their swords at each other," the Grand Duke said slowly:

"It was also on that day that Father suddenly realized that Harold Rumba, his eldest son and heir in high hopes, had, like his youngest brother Caslan, become a dragon in the past thirty years. The most staunch supporters and obedients of King Xiaocheng and Gongju."

Thales frowned deeply: "Like Beacon City?"

Peifit's face of despair appeared in front of his eyes.

Rumba turned to him blankly.

Taylor's heart tightened.

"It's like Beacon City," he affirmed Thales' words lightly: "Father can't bear such a fact."

"Father thinks that if this continues, it will only be a matter of time before Harold inherits the Heisha collar, and we become the king's vassals," Lumbard said with a chill on his face, "Even the seat of the Heisha Grand Duke is very important." It will soon become a vassal matter that Dragon Clouds City can settle with one word."

"Talking, threatening, scolding, teaching, and even asking me to persuade him from the sidelines, my father tried to use all means to change Harold's mind."

"But it's all in vain."

The little slippery man shrank behind Thales palely.

I saw the terrifying Grand Duke Heisha lowered his head, his face was rather gloomy: "Finally, father has made up his mind to take back Harold's inheritance rights."

"Things got messed up at that time," Lombard shook his head slowly: "Father mentioned this idea a little in front of the vassals, and he immediately encountered fierce opposition and persuasion."

"Not only that, but since the day my father insisted on depriving Harold of his inheritance, the harvest has decreased, financial difficulties, and business routes have been blocked: the troubles in the Black Sand Territory have also increased strangely. What happened in Fengzhao City , and now it’s happening in Heisha Ling.”

Rumba sneered, with deep irony in his tone:

"When the entire black sand collar was boiling, my father woke up. In the past thirty years, Dragon Clouds City has not only infiltrated the blood of the Lombard family, and what Nunn has done is not only to win over Harold. .”

"Harold refused to give in, and his father refused to compromise. The situation in the territory is getting worse and worse: the forces supporting Harold, both inside and outside, are beyond the scope of his father's handling. He is getting more and more desperate, more and more Haggard," Lunba's tone became lower and lower, and the emotion in his words became paler and paler: "Heisha collar is no match for Dragon Cloud City at all."

"Finally, on the day when the king's messenger arrives again."

"Father, physically and mentally exhausted, called me to his room."

Thales only felt a chill down his back.

He couldn't help thinking of Charmain Lombard's famous, or rather vicious, or even notorious deeds.

Rumba raised his head and looked towards the streets of Dragon Clouds City outside the window: "I still remember my father's eyes, which were full of determination and gloom."

Thales couldn't help but grab the little slicker behind him.

"He talked to me for a long, long time." Grand Duke Heisha's eyes became colder and his tone became calmer. "I hugged his thigh and cried, begging him with all the words I can think of."

"I even pulled back my sleeves to show him the hunting wound I had when I was fourteen—Harold dragged me out of the mouth of a snow leopard."

The Grand Duke's words became more and more dull.

But Thales' heart became tighter and tighter.

Just listen to the grand duke of Lombard narrating as if nothing had happened: "'Son, we are Lombard, the blood of the rebel king,' my father said: 'Our ethnic language is'never_yield' (never_yield). Internally.'"

"'Either to the emperor or to the king.'"

The Grand Duke exhaled, the darkness in his eyes was extremely deep, and his tone was firm and decisive: "'We will never surrender.'"

Thales listened to Luba's words in a daze.

The little slippery head widened his eyes.

Rumba snorted lightly. He lowered his head and looked at the weapon in his hand: "In the end, he gave me this sword."

The old weapon with the scabbard worn out and the hilt worn out.

As if it was his most important treasure.

"A week later, I challenged Harold to a duel in public, and my father approved it."

Thales held his breath, not even daring to let out a breath.

"Mother knelt in front of the study and cried all night, and father sat in the study with the lights on all night," Rumba slowly turned his saber, stroking the iron fist symbol on the hilt: "until my mother fainted and was killed." The servant will send you away."

There was a moment of silence in the carriage.

For a moment, only the sound of wheels rubbing against the ground remained in my ears.

"This is..." Thales opened his mouth to speak with difficulty, but was interrupted by Rumba.

"On the day of the duel, Harold had at least three chances to end my life and his brother's life." The Grand Duke said calmly, but his voice was hollow and trembling:

"At least three times."

Rumba's hand stroking the hilt of his sword stopped moving.

His voice became ethereal, as if speaking from far, far away.

"Finally, when I pierced his heart, I saw his face clearly," the Grand Duke said calmly, "He was smiling."

Lumba took a deep breath, and his expression was hard to discern with his head down: "It's exactly the same smile as the day I was dragged out of the snow leopard's mouth."

Thales sighed.

It's just...

"Harold pulled my collar and whispered the last word in my ear," Rumba hummed softly, as if telling a story about someone else's family dinner: "'Remember, Charmain.'"

"'We will never surrender.'"

Rumba chuckled indiscriminately.

Thales raised his head, staring blankly at his sword.

Belonging to Grand Duke Heisha, the brother-killing sword.

"The next day," Rumba's voice came from next to his ear:

"Mother jumped from the highest lookout post in the castle."

"On the third day, Nunn ordered me to go to Eternal Star City to declare war on the entire star."

Thales and Xiao Slick were both motionless.

Wordless sorrow filled the carriage.

The story of the Lumbard family made him feel mixed feelings.

"One month later, at Leman Pass, when Kingdom Fury broke through to his father with the last remaining courage, his father did not hide, nor did he raise his sword, and let Mu twist his neck," Lumba laughed softly. "It was only later that I suddenly realized that my father was probably looking for death."

"Perhaps under Hell River, he can be reunited with his mother and Harold."

Rumba stopped talking.

Thales exhaled slowly.

"So, all you did was to seek revenge?" He raised his brows and asked in doubt: "Do you want Nuen to pay the price, or do you want Dragon Clouds City to be destroyed?"

Rumba sneered mockingly, leaned back slowly, and exposed his face to the light again: "Hate? That ridiculous thing?"

"Don't compare me to a coward like Peifitt."

Thales frowned.

"Then why did you tell me this story?" the prince asked suspiciously, "Don't tell me, you just want to talk to someone who is dying."

Grand Duke Heisha's eyes slowly dimmed.

Rumba looked down at him and shook his head slowly. His tone was low and cold, and his words were cold and compelling: "You are indeed special, child, but your vision is still at the level of those ordinary people."

"As for what I really want, it's more than self-preservation, revenge, the death of a king, or the destruction of a territory," Lombard breathed in slowly, his tone firm: "It's a little bit more."

Thales stared at Luba's face seriously, trying to figure out his thoughts in his mind.

"Of course," Lunba snorted softly, "You were born in the Canxing royal family and lived in the era after the 'Xianjun', so you won't understand this kind of sorrow."

The Grand Duke's words ended here, Rumba closed his sword and said nothing more.

Thales was slightly taken aback.

Xianjun.

It wasn't the first time he had heard this name from the people of the North.

The last time I heard him was from King Nun, Thales didn't react at that time.

But this time, Thales remembered.

He subconsciously touched his chest.

Xianjun, Mindis Canxing III.

One of the Three Star Kings.

The king does not honor the blood, but the blood is honored by the king.

Why? Why both King Nun and Grand Duke Lombard mentioned the Supreme King of the Stars more than a hundred years ago?

What did he do?

And what does Rumba want?

Thales bowed his head deeply.

"I don't understand," Thales panted sharply, trying to sort out all the confusing things: "I thought that everything that happened last night was just a desperate counterattack by you to protect yourself, a fast move to fight back to the death ..."

"If Heisha leader doesn't do this, then Dragon Clouds City will..."

Rumba turned his gaze and looked at him intriguingly.

Thales bit his lower lip tightly.

"Bring other forces like Shiles, mobilize so many troops into the city, switch them under the eyes of the 'dark room', and even buy assassins to assassinate the king." The second prince raised his head and said anxiously: "You This plan is not strict at all."

"If it weren't for the coincidence of disaster invasion, which made the king far away from the protection of the White Blade Guard, you wouldn't even succeed at all..."

At this moment, Lunba snorted coldly and interrupted Thales heavily.

"coincide?"

Grand Duke Heisha's gaze became sharp again.

"Indeed, in normal times, my plan, which is full of mistakes and omissions, has no chance at all," Lunba said calmly:

"The King Gongju, who is heavily surrounded by the white blade guards, sits in the highest palace of heroes in the city, sits in the impregnable Dragon Cloud City, has the most abundant and powerful soldiers, enjoys the most abundant and sophisticated supply weapons, and also controls the dark room. eyes and ears."

"Even if my two thousand people are extreme fighters, it's impossible to kill him in this situation."

Thales was slightly taken aback.

so……

"You're right, if there were no accidents caused by disasters, it would bring chaos to Dragon Clouds City, the oversight of the city gates and gates, the king's enlistment ban, the mistakes of the White Blade Guard, and the Palace of Heroes The emptiness of the shield area brings martial law," Lumbard said softly:

"It's simply impossible to accomplish this just by relying on my cooperation with Shiles, Urad, or other allies."

Thales' gaze froze.

He heard another hint from Rumba.

Thales' complexion slowly changed.

"You, what do you mean?" The second prince asked slowly and with difficulty in his most cautious, careful, and lightest tone.

No.

impossible.

Rumba sneered lightly.

"They didn't tell you anything, did they?"

The tone of the Grand Duke Heisha seemed to be mocking an ignorant child: "Whether it is the disaster or the assassination."

"Disaster? Assassination?"

Little Slick instinctively felt that the atmosphere in front of him was not right.

Sure enough, at the next moment, with an unbelievable guess, Thales leaned forward suddenly, raised the volume in an instant, and almost asked with a roar:

"'who are they?"

"Who else is working with you?"

Rumba shook his head slowly, his eyes full of contempt and sneer.

"Guess what," the voice of Grand Duke Heisha was very steady, as if this was a very relaxing chat:

"What kind of allies and forces can cover everything for me, open joints, make plans, and even create disasters for me, which is an almost impossible 'coincidence', and support me to complete such a feat?"

"What kind of existence can cause such a storm in Dragon Clouds City?"

Thales was dumbfounded.

He didn't dare to think about the answer in his heart.

No way.

Will not.

At this moment, the carriage stopped.

Thales came back to his senses and glanced outside the car.

"This is not the Palace of Heroes," the second prince was stunned for a moment, "What are you going to do?"

Rumba exhaled slowly: "One of my collaborators wants your life."

Thales' eyes widened.

"Let's take a look," Grand Duke Heisha opened the car door and said coldly, "What price can you sell it for?"

————

Star Kingdom, Eternal Star City, unknown underground.

The torch has been gradually extinguished.

The first ray of sunlight freely passed through the iron window smaller than a palm, casting a "#" shaped shadow on the ground.

At this moment, a rough voice came from the closed cell:

"Sunrise."

Outside the cell, the sturdy figure sitting on the chair slowed down for a moment before slowly raising his head.

"Yes," the sturdy figure wearing the crown said lightly: "The sun is rising."

"I guess you're not the kind of person who can sit with a traitor across the prison door for half the night," the Duke of the North in the cell asked sarcastically through the gate on the prison door: "What happened?" what?"

The figure on the chair made a heavy and majestic voice: "Did you see it?"

"Whenever you have something on your mind, you'll sit alone in a daze," Val Arend snorted lightly, "I still remember when you were punished to go to the Xicheng Police Department for an internship because you made a big fuss on Red Square Street. "

"You came back with a bruised nose and a swollen face on your first day at work, and that's what you looked like."

The sturdy figure trembled slightly, and at that moment, there was a hint of agility and a smile in his voice: "You know, Ji Ni is very strong."

The answer was the cold snort of the Duke of the North.

silence.

After a while, the sturdy figure stroked a bright star badge in his hand, and asked lightly:

"Wa, will you miss them?"

The prisoner behind the small gate seemed to be slightly taken aback.

"Who?" the Duke asked in a low voice.

The robust figure reveals a pair of tired blue eyes, which are full of unknown feelings.

"Family," he said calmly, his voice still low: "Those people we take for granted in our daily life, but we only remember them after we lose them."

The people in the cell did not speak.

So the strong figure continued:

"For example, the old Duke of Arend, and your brothers, Rohan, Kur, Nulanor, and your sister, your wife, your eldest son and second son..."

"Boom!"

There was a loud pounding sound from behind the cell.

"Enough," the Duke gasped heavily, with long-suppressed anger, and said: "What's the point of saying this now?"

A few seconds of silence.

"No, it makes sense."

The sturdy figure stood up slowly.

"Almost." He said flatly.

The prisoner behind the cell did not answer.

"I'm here to tell you," the visitor outside the cell said slowly, "Twelve years ago, the chief culprit of the river of blood in the northern border..."

"The king of Exeter who gathered his army and went south to attack."

The Duke of the North paused behind the prison door.

His face reappeared on the gate.

His breathing was getting heavier and heavier.

There, he looked outside the cell, looked at the supreme king of the Star Kingdom, King Kessel V, with a tall and strong figure, and said in a deep voice with the most indifferent and terrifying tone:

"The guy who slaughtered the city for three days after breaking through the Broken Dragon Fortress, and then sent troops into the northern border in the spring."

"The sinner who hanged your father from the city gate, chopped your brother into flesh, caused your sister and wife to disappear, your two sons died, and your youngest daughter was paralyzed."

"The tyrant who burned, killed, looted, raped and plundered your family's land in the northern border, and committed many crimes."

"That hateful enemy that made the disaster of Star Kingdom even more serious..."

"Boom!"

The Duke of the North slammed his hands on the iron fence beside the gate.

His knuckles were pale, and his fingertips trembled slightly.

"What did you say?" The Duke's voice trembled.

"Nun Walton VII died unexpectedly last night," King Kessel V said in an indisputable cold voice.

"The so-called natural king has already paid the price for his atrocities."

A deathly silence.

It seemed like a century had passed before the Duke's heavy breathing eased down.

"What did you do?" Val raised his head, and cast his most incredible gaze at his former close friend, the current king:

"Kay!"

"How did you do it?"

"What exactly did you do?"

Kessel didn't answer, but looked at the Duke coldly, and said slowly:

"Last night, dragon blood flowed on the northern land."

"This is where the chaos of Exeter begins, and the kingdom of the dragons will perish," said the king with a terrible chill in his voice: "With a bloody light, the long-gloomed stars will rise again."

"Brilliant."

"Better than ever."

As soon as Kessel finished speaking, he turned around without hesitation and left the cubicle.

He ignored the hysterical and frantic questioning of the Duke of the North behind him.

The High King pushed open an iron door expressionlessly and walked out of the corridor.

There, an old figure wearing a black cloak and holding a cane bowed slightly to the king.

"Is everything going well?" asked the king coldly.

"Of course," the kingdom's chief intelligence officer, the master of the secret department, 'Black Prophet' Morat smiled. He raised his body, his tone was relaxed and flat: "My lord."

"Just one small accident."