Kingdom’s Bloodline

No one spoke.

There was a dead silence in the cell.

"Are there any questions?" Black Prophet's voice came coldly.

No one answered.

Until a clear and childish male voice sounded:

"Yes."

All eyes turned to Thales again.

But he didn't speak right away.

Thales let out a long sigh, with a tired expression, as if hesitating or thinking deeply.

After a while, the second prince's voice came with difficulty:

"Your Majesty...was he aware of the plan? Before I set off north?"

Black Prophet did not speak.

But Thales already understood.

"So, the rumors are not wrong." Thales raised his head with a gloomy face, looked around the crowd, his eyes especially paused for a moment on the bewildered little slippery head: "The people of the stars colluded with the disaster and murdered King Nun , trying to spark civil unrest in Exeter."

A sense of powerlessness hit him.

"Why?"

The image of the old, tired but undiminished white-haired king flashed before Thales's eyes, and he was depressed: "If it is to ensure that Exeter does not invade the stars, then I can completely achieve it through diplomatic mediation—the fact Now, we've reached it."

In his line of sight, Xiao Huatou lowered his head deeply, unable to see his expression clearly.

There is only boundless silence at the other end of the black hole.

Raphael showed a faint smile unabashedly.

"Just a few hours ago..."

Thales looked lost and his eyes were lost, as if he saw the king's head rolling to the ground again.

"King Nunn proposed to form an alliance with us," he said with a sad tone and a hoarse voice, as if he wanted to incorporate the suffering and torture of these days into his own words, "Walton and Canxing."

"We help him check and balance the princes in the country, and maintain the existence of Walton after the death of King Nun. In exchange, he will try his best to maintain the peace between the two countries and give us time to recuperate," Thales said weakly. Feeling dizzy and confused, "The dilemma caused by Moral's death has been solved, and now..."

Wyatt opened his mouth in surprise, Cohen was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and then thought about it, Miranda remained silent with a cold expression.

Thales closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh with sleepiness and fatigue.

Now, everything that King Nuen said has been blown away with his death.

Disaster, rumba, assassination.

Disaster in the Shield Zone.

It's all damn it.

The weird black hole on Raphael's arm trembled.

"Hey hey hey haha..."

It was Black Prophet's cold and hoarse smirk that answered Thales.

The laughter continued for several seconds.

Thales' brows began to gather.

"Put away your useless innocence, Your Highness—you don't look like this in the Hall of Stars," finally, Molat's laughter turned into indifferent words, which came faintly from the empty cell: "You still Do you really think that we will rely on your mission to create miracles and eliminate the flames of war?"

Listening to the black prophet's taunting words, Thales took a deep breath, holding back the impulse and anger in his heart.

"The problem has already been solved," he said through gritted teeth, "With the power of Dragon Clouds City, Exeter and Xingchen could live in peace..."

"Solution?" Black Prophet interrupted him.

"Of course, the genius prince used superb means to persuade King Nun not to trouble the stars," the Black Prophet said indifferently, and his words were full of jokes that sounded lame and ugly to Thales: "Friendly two countries And here comes peace..."

"How long?" Until the head of the secret department changed the subject: "Five years? Ten years? Or fifteen years?"

Thales exhaled impatiently.

With an extremely uncomfortable rhythm, the Black Prophet's sneer sounded slowly.

"My lord, do you really think that a covenant between the two families can maintain the peace between the two countries?"

"You think the prince is waving his hand towards Dragon Clouds City on the horse,

Nodding to the princes in the secret room, can the ambition and greed of the dragon be dispelled? "The Black Prophet's voice suddenly rose, and there was a trace of solemnity and sternness in his words:

"Even Tormund and Nakaju from six hundred years ago couldn't do this."

Thales was slightly taken aback.

"Do you know how many times that King Nun dreamed of planting the black-bottomed red dragon flag on the Broken Dragon Fortress in the past 30 years, and bringing the northern border of the stars under the rule of the Exters?" The words of the head of the secret department were like poisonous snakes. The letter, rustling, also makes people inexplicably terrified.

"It's been twelve years. From the king to the grand duke, from the nobleman to the commoner, they all want to go south again in their dreams," Black Prophet said with a sneer: "The provocations of the three grand dukes on the border have never stopped, and the temptation of Dragon Clouds City has never ceased." It happens every year—what do you think Prince Moral sent to the stars for?"

Rebuild the "Fortress Peace Treaty" - Cohen slightly lowered his eyelids, and silently added a sentence in his heart.

Thales looked at the weird black hole on Raphael's arm, and said nothing.

"They are not unknown people," the Black Prophet's words came slowly from the black hole in the young man's arm: "They are northerners, born to fight with swords, who have been famous all over the world since the age of ignorance. Northlander - do well to bear that in mind for the rest of your life, Your Highness."

"They have the ancient style of the north that takes pride in joining the army and killing the enemy. They have a strong physique honed in the cold and hardships. They have a tough army built with iron, blood and honor."

"They have Orion civilians who can draw half-full cold pine longbows without training, invincible heavy cavalry who are good at charging with magic spears and spear arrays, and glacier sentries and white-bladed guards who dare to face orcs head-on .”

"They also have conscript soldiers who have no complaints about service and sacrifice, and can walk dozens of miles a day with a few pieces of bread in winter, and there are soldiers who train three times a year in major territories, who can withstand 70% of casualties and will not collapse. The elite standing army." There was a chilling aura in Morat's words.

"They were born for war."

Listening to all this, Miranda's face became colder and colder. Recalling the fight in the past three years, her fists slowly clenched.

The Black Prophet paused for a second, and the lights in the cell seemed to get darker, covering everyone's faces in shadow.

Thales pursed his lower lip: "But..."

The Black Prophet didn't let him continue.

"Little prince, have you seen the war twelve years ago?"

The Black Prophet's words made Miranda, who was supporting Raphael, froze, and the female swordsman couldn't help frowning slightly.

"Have you ever seen the heavy cavalry from the North land shaking the mountains, and the epee infantry and swordsmen flooding the city wall? Have you heard the sound of siege cones beating the city gate and catapults bombarding the city wall? Have you ever seen corpses strewn all over the fields and starving people everywhere? Have you seen the hopeless eyes of the starving people wandering in a trance? Do you know how long the depression and desolation in the northern border have lasted?"

Thales clenched his fists tightly, but felt that there was nowhere to vent the strength in his hands, and the scar on his palm began to ache again.

In front of his eyes, there flashed the light infantry under Broken Dragon Fortress who vowed to besiege them to the death, and did not flinch in the face of the beast-like Alaka Mu—those northerners.

At the same time, Miranda's face became extremely pale.

She seemed to see the past again.

A nightmarish past.

That piece of white snow.

Raphael pursed his lips slightly, he grabbed the female swordsman's hand intentionally or unintentionally, exerting a little force.

Cohen, who took all this into his eyes, sighed secretly in his heart.

Miranda, and Raphael.

The two of them are the ones who experienced those disasters most directly.

Thales stared at the wriggling black hole, swallowed his saliva in a messy mind, and sighed: "We have reached a consensus—Nunn is old, and what he needs to care about is what is behind the king, and it is Walton. The continuation of Dragon Spear in the Cloud is a game between Dragon Clouds City and the other grand dukes, not the stars..."

It was the young man with red eyes who answered him this time.

"You've got the point, Your Highness," Raphael raised his head slightly, his red eyes sparkling under the unextinguished light: "The biggest problem is: Nunn is getting old."

"Yes, he may still be able to restrain Exeter, suppress the nine grand dukes, and keep Broken Dragon Fortress and the northern border quiet for a few years with his wrist and remaining power," the young man from the secret department said coldly, "but in that And after that?"

Thales' breathing stopped suddenly.

The dirty air in the cell, which was already unpleasant, seemed even more dignified.

A long sigh came from the other end of the black hole.

"After the death of King Nun, it doesn't matter who takes the throne in Exeter," Black Prophet's voice seemed to be a little tired: "But what method do you think the new king will use to use it?" How about collecting the greatest benefit and reputation at the smallest cost in order to prove, accumulate, and consolidate your status and prestige as the successor king?"

"What method will he use to appease the princes who lost in the election of the king, and what chips will he use to reward those princes who supported him?"

Thales closed his eyes and exhaled a breath that had been depressed for a long time.

He knew what the black prophet was going to say.

"Isn't it because of the disaster twelve years ago in the southern Star Kingdom that is weak, has no vitality, and the royal family is unstable?" Molat's voice became extremely cold: "Isn't Exeter thinking about three or four hundred people?" The Cold Castle, Watch City, Lonely Old Tower, and Broken Dragon Fortress? Isn’t it the supreme glory to unify the Great Northland region where their ancestors lived for generations?”

Thales was slightly shocked.

He looked at the little slippery head unconsciously, and a terrible thought came to his mind.

King Nun married him to his granddaughter.

Under the premise that Canxing and Walton take care of each other, among their future blood descendants, one will inherit Canxing's surname and the other will inherit Walton's clan name.

From then on, the Kingdom of Stars had an excuse to intervene in the internal affairs of Dragon Clouds City and hinder Exeter, which could not only ensure the survival of Walton, but also increase the prestige and leverage of Stars.

but……

And vice versa?

Once an accident happened to him—Thales himself, would Exeter Kingdom and Dragon Clouds City also have a bargaining chip to interfere with the Canxing royal family and make demands on Xingchen?

Thinking of this, Thales felt a chill in his heart.

He suddenly thought of the one-eyed Duke of the Stars, the family language of the Gosd Nantriest family: There is a price for war, and a reward for victory.

Raphael let go of Miranda's wrist calmly, and took his boss's words calmly, "Defeat the stars, take down the fortress, and unify the North—no matter which one of these three goals is achieved, it will be enough for the new king. Add color to the crown of the king, and lay the foundation of the throne of the king."

The Black Prophet's cold snort resounded in the air, and even the black hole in Raphael's hand trembled.

"The conflict between Star Kingdom and Exeter will never disappear because of the decision of one family, even if you are crowned in the future." Molat said lightly: "We fear them."

"Just as they fear us."

"So, once there is an opportunity, there are benefits, and conditions—how could they not go south?"

Thales lowered his head.

The Black Prophet's words gave him a real pressure.

"Once they go south - facing such an opponent, how long do you think we can hold on with our orphans, widows, mothers and defeated soldiers in the north?"

"Lady Sonia Sutherley is known as the flower of the fortress, and she is resident in Broken Dragon Fortress. People say that if Sonia doesn't bloom, the fortress will be impenetrable—it seems beautiful, but you know, she is leaving On the first day of guarding the fortress, a will was made and entrusted to the royal family for safekeeping, and it has been twelve years since then.”

"Because she knows that it is very likely that one day in the future - when the north wind blows and the giant dragon roars into the sky, the flowers of the fortress will wither in the north and never return."

"Do you know how much we paid for the peace of the "Fortress Peace Treaty"? Do you think it's just because of the words of the 'star cunning fox'?"

"And do you know how much we have paid to maintain this fragile peace and protect the dying northern border and the weak kingdom from the poison of war?"

All Thales' words were blocked in his throat, and he felt an unspeakable boredom welling up in his heart.

"The nobles are all complaining about His Majesty, about why he brought an empty and fragile country to fight the desert war with no benefit at all five years ago," Black Prophet's voice sounded gloomy and indifferent, but it contained A palpitating sense of power:

"However, those fat-brained and short-sighted moths will not know, and they don't want to know: the stars after the bloody year, if we don't fight the seemingly crazy desert war, we don't need a Jedi victory to show our national strength, no price The tragic blood washes away our determination, and we don’t need the skulls of the orcs and the altars of the bone men to prove that our swords are still sharp..."

When Cohen heard this, he suddenly realized that Huai Ya even squeezed the hilt of his sword rattling.

The voice of the Black Prophet continued: "I'm afraid that as early as five years ago in the winter, the 'natural king' Nun VII, who enveloped the entire northern sky and threatened the entire territory of the Northland, would tear up the "Fortress Peace Treaty", Bringing the heavily armed Northlanders all over the mountains and plains to get back what they lost at the negotiating table."

"Where is the future, where is the controversy over the royal succession - where is the day when you will be called His Highness!"

"Do you think that after Nun, there will be no such king?"

Thales didn't say a word, but just stared at the empty ground.

Raphael nodded slowly, and the young man took the words of the Black Prophet, and said with a blank expression: "Five years have passed, and Exeter has gradually figured out our cards, and the confusing and deterrent effect of the desert war is no longer. As you saw in the Hall of Stars, with a little poke from Rumba and Arend, the split between the royal family and the nobles made the Yankees feel safe."

"Why do we perform 'Dragon Blood'?" Raphael lowered his head and said calmly in the darkness:

"This is the answer, and it is also the meaning of 'dragon's blood'."

"What we want is not just a few years of false peace, not years of fear, not dangerous negotiations and confrontations." Raphael's face was pale, his pupils were blood red, and with a complicated expression, he bowed slightly to the prince:

"It's that the kingdom under the disadvantage is no longer worse. It is the peace and stability in the north of the stars for decades or even hundreds of years. It takes a long time for the stars to recover from the huge damage of the bloody year. It takes a long time for your family's surname and rule to become stable again. , After a long time, we are strong again, fearless, just like before."

"Under this goal, even the life and death of King Nun becomes insignificant."

Thales raised his head, realizing something.

"Lumba's behavior marks the shattering of the myth of Exeter since the founding of the country, and proves that the so-called co-governance oath of Nakaju is just a dead letter, and the creed that the Northland believes in is also pale and powerless," Raphael smiled slightly. "What's more, a grand duke blatantly killed the king - and there has been a precedent since then."

"The earliest precedent is the mourning Grand Duke Tan of Welland Territory." Thales snorted feebly, and his eyes drifted to the little slippery head intentionally or unintentionally: "He is no longer the first one."

The little slippery boy, who had not dared to take a breath from just now, raised his eyes and looked at Thales, but he could only see endless fatigue and gloom in the latter's eyes.

Raphael frowned slightly, his words froze.

"I get it now."

Thales sighed, and his own understanding came to mind.

"What you need is not revenge, not rebellion, not even anyone's death," the second prince took their words after a deep sigh: "but to tear off the camouflage and whitewash of the Nakaru oath, and put Aix The most deep-rooted contradictions in the Turks - the opposition between the king and the grand duke have been fully exposed and stimulated into an unmanageable chaos."

For example, a Grand Duke of Exeter succeeds in killing the king through violence and conspiracy, which will bring unparalleled shock to the children of the North Wind and the Dragon, and bring a devastating blow to the belief in the Northland forged by Nakaru, breaking The ten Grand Dukes adhered to the principles of nearly seven centuries.

For example, under the legend of the founding of the country of heroes and dragons, the thoughts that the grand dukes should not have, their weird thoughts outside the king selection meeting, their other ambitions outside the co-government oath, and their desires in Eke In the six hundred years of Sturt's six hundred years, only when he dreamed back at midnight can he think about one or two greedy thoughts.

More importantly, and more urgently:

The death of Nun, the rebellion of Lombard, and even the possible subsequent civil war in Exeter-this will bring the shadow and precedent to the next king of Exeter, and bring the new king's control over his nine co-rulers The grand duke's unprecedented vigilance and doubts also brought endless suspicion to the grand dukes about their joint king.

At that time, the feat that King Nuen once gathered seven grand dukes and hundreds of thousands of troops to attack southward and cross the Broken Dragon Fortress may no longer be so easy to achieve.

Raphael nodded in affirmation of his words.

He understood the reason for the secret department's actions, but Thales still couldn't be happy.

His heart was as heavy as before, as if there was a sharp thorn lying in it, which made him quite uneasy all the time.

For some reason, Kessel's words reappeared in front of his eyes:

Fight for the stars, die for the stars, live for the stars.

Thales shook his head, as if this would reduce his heavy emotions a bit.

Obviously, he failed.

"Did the secret department succeed?" Thales finally sighed, and asked what he wanted to ask the most: "If it succeeds, why am I here?"

The black hole trembled again—the black prophet spoke.

To Thales' surprise, this time Morat Hansen actually uttered a question: "I'm also curious, what happened in Dragon Clouds City?"

Raphael's face changed, and his expression became serious.

"According to the plan, you should now stay in the Palace of Heroes and spend the night as the distinguished guest of Exeter under heavy siege. In the vassals that are in trouble afterwards, rely on your neutral status to pass me Fang negotiated and returned to the country," the young man from the secret department spoke with a little heaviness: "But for some reason, King Nun decided to leave the Palace of Heroes, and took you out of the palace—so much so that you fell into Lumbard's hands. "

Thales's heart tightened, it wasn't Nunn who took him out of the Palace of Heroes.

but...

He couldn't help looking at the little slick-she had seen Ashida.

I have also seen Hei Jian and their confrontation.

"What else?" the prince asked calmly, skipping the question intentionally or unintentionally.

"Besides," Raphael raised his eyebrows slightly, "our plan has some accidents."

"Ten minutes before the time you said," Morat's cold and hoarse voice still made people uncomfortable: "Tell me."

Raphael's eyes were serious, and he looked around at the crowd, with countless thoughts of unknown meaning flashing in his eyes.

In the end, these thoughts converged into three words, which he spit out gently from his mouth:

"Catastrophe."

"And Rumba."