Kingdom’s Bloodline

"Rumba, what do we Grand Dukes look like to you?"

In front of Luba who lost his composure, Grand Duke Lecco suddenly spoke out.

His words caught everyone's attention.

"As an ally under the sworn covenant, you should have thought about this when you used the example of the stars to convince us, shouldn't you?" The old man said indifferently: "Is it your ally, or is it a stepping stone or a victim?"

Rumba looked up sharply!

"This is our only chance! When the Kingdom of Stars recovers and becomes stronger..." Grand Duke Heisha said angrily, "Are you just watching Exeter gradually sinking and waiting to die?"

"Exter is always inferior to yourselves in your eyes, right?"

at this moment.

"Charman Rumba," Currykun Roni, Grand Duke of Qiyuan City, suddenly said, "What exactly is Exeter?"

Rumba was slightly taken aback.

"More than six hundred years ago, right here, in the feasting hall above our heads, the legendary 'Nine Knights', including your ancestors and my ancestors, who came back with blood, lifted the hero Nakaru above their heads and respected him as king together That's how the Kingdom of Exeter was born." Ronnie raised his right hand and pointed to the stone carving of Dragon Spear in the Cloud above his head.

Grand Duke Olsio's expression changed.

When Selma behind Thales heard these histories, her eyes lit up.

"After the hero passed away, when the Kingdom of Stars became stronger and stronger, and the disaster of the empire was about to come back again—it was also the ten lords of the northern land who were independent and full of conflicts. Under the witness of the queen of the sky, they wrote an oath in front of the tombstone of Nakaru, Abandon the previous suspicions and make a co-governance oath of ten grand dukes," Grand Duke Ronnie said coldly: "It is the first time that we, in the name of the Kingdom of Exeter, are like brothers in front of the precarious Cold Castle, fighting side by side, blocking John 'Dark Eye' star army!"

Rumba looked at Grand Duke Ronnie in disbelief, and then at the other thoughtful people.

Thales sighed slightly.

Wars create nations and nations create wars.

"The reason why we established the Kingdom of Exeter is to protect what we cherish in the chaotic world - to protect our family, our blood, our glory, to trust us, to be loyal to our territory and people , to protect the creed and spirit that we have guarded from ancient times!"

"We are Exeter!" Ronnie punched himself in the chest hard,

The emblem of the Code of Knights on his shoulder trembled slightly: "Only those of us who protect it and recognize it exist first, the Kingdom of Exeter will exist!"

"If for the illusory so-called 'Exter' in your mouth, we would have to sacrifice, pay, and discard even these things that we swore to protect to the death," Ronnie spat fiercely: "Then the Kingdom of Exeter has lost the meaning of its original existence—what is left of it?"

"It's just another toy of tyrants and tyrants, another ancient empire forcibly assembled under violence and oppression, forcing its people to identify with themselves, and sacrifice in vain for the empire that actually has nothing to do with them." Ronnie gave Rumba a disgusted look.

"Tell this to the Starmen," Rumba retorted fiercely, "while they escort you or your descendants to the guillotine!"

"Being guillotined by them, or being guillotined by you," Ronnie countered sharply, "To be honest, I don't see which is worse."

Rumba suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Thales!

The prince was slightly taken aback.

"But everything this boy said, decline, seizure of power, change—the so-called end of our life, nothing has happened yet!" He gritted his teeth and said, "Are you worrying about the future of your great-grandson here?"

"Everyone!"

Rumba took a deep breath.

"Even if something to worry about happens, as long as we work together, I believe we will be able to find a way to overcome it. Will us grand dukes still turn a blind eye to the problems that have reached us?"

The Grand Duke Heisha seemed to have recovered from the impulsiveness just now, and he stared at each of the Grand Dukes seriously: "But before that, we must take measures-the enemy who is close at hand and the enemy who has been for hundreds of years. Gearing up and recovering your strength gradually, isn't this even more terrifying?"

"As for the others—whether I am ambitious or not, whether I want to harm everyone, or whether I want to tear up the co-governance oath, we can talk about it slowly."

Trudida and Olesiu, the two archdukes of the south near the stars, looked at each other and thought for a while.

Thales felt anxious.

"His Excellency, Grand Duke Heisha!"

Thales couldn't help but speak loudly, attracting everyone's attention!

"There are three fallacies in your words." Thales said coldly.

Rumba's expression was suffocated.

The grand dukes turned to the prince.

"Go ahead, Your Highness of the Stars," Trudida tugged at his beard, "What's your opinion?"

Thales let out a breath, rubbed his face, and organized his thoughts: "First, you compare the threat of the stars with the trap in your proposal."

Everyone frowned slightly.

"Your Excellencies."

"When he told you the example of the stars and what Mindis III and his successors have done in more than a hundred years?" Thales took a deep breath and said solemnly: "You There really should be deep fear."

Rumba was taken aback for a moment, not understanding why he supported his assertion.

"But the fear does not come from the fear of the enemy country," Thales asked himself before the dukes asked questions, and changed the subject: "It comes from pure, heartfelt vigilance and panic."

He took a step forward, hung the dagger back on his waist, and showed the most heavy and gloomy expression the prince knew.

"This is no longer the well-used struggle plot in knight novels, and it is no longer the short-sighted political tactics of assassination, framing, marriage, land struggle, war, etc. by brain-dead nobles back and forth." Thales whispered Dao, trying to play up the atmosphere with a neutral tone.

Trudida narrowed his eyes and said with his tongue, "Short-sighted?"

Grand Duke Olsio snorted dissatisfied.

"I don't mean to offend, but," Thales gritted his teeth, "but the actions of Xian Jun are no longer in the above category."

He raised his head: "It's the ruler sitting on the throne who silently strangled the throats of the vassals, and then step by step, bit by bit, inch by inch, slowly and weakly but never stopped. Tighten that hand of power."

The Grand Dukes listened quietly.

"He will smile, and use the gradual but unstoppable gentle flood to submerge the status, power, wealth, privileges of the vassals, and the lords who have become famous for a while, one by one, one by one, and one by one, all of them will be suffocated in the long river of history Here, the ashes are wiped out, and they will never turn over."

"Power flows quietly and slowly in his chess game, and history rolls forward aggressively between his fingers." Thales imagined the amiable middle-aged king in the portrait, and suddenly felt a chill in his heart a feeling of.

"This kind of road, this kind of change, this kind of threat, once it starts, no matter whether it is perceived or not, it is no longer within the control of the lords, and it is not the struggle and contradiction you are familiar with," Thales said with difficulty. ground opening:

"Even if you put 10,000 ultimate swordsmen in the palace, even if you build an iron wall that reaches into the clouds in the city, even if you dig a moat that floods hundreds of miles outside the city, even if you win the battle on the battlefield Hundreds of thousands of battles have been handed down from generation to generation, even if you use rare wisdom and strategies to defeat countless powerful and terrifying enemies, even if you win a reputation and prestige that is unparalleled in the world, even if the legendary dragons and disasters are constantly guarding you. By the pillow..."

"It can't stop this general trend, and it can't stop your destined decline and defeat."

The expressions of the princes became serious.

Rumba gritted his teeth.

"Facing it, no matter how big, strong, and boundless the power is, it's just a joke."

"So, what's scary is not the threat, but that you clearly know where the threat is," Thales said sadly, "but you are still powerless and can only sit and wait to perish."

The faces of the princes all changed.

"Once you think that this kind of threat is happening behind you, do you still want to promise Rumba and walk hand in hand with him on such a road?"

"Enough," Rumba said decisively, interrupting Thales with an angry face: "I'm tired of your baseless clamor and bewitchment, kid."

He strode towards Thales.

The prince was shocked, and Thelma turned pale.

But Rumba was only halfway there when the figure of Grand Duke Ronnie appeared in front of Thales.

"Stand back, Rumba." Ronnie tapped the hilt of the sword at his waist, his face turned cold: "I haven't compared swords with you, but I'm happy to give it a try."

Rumba's expression froze.

"Northern people," Grand Duke Lecco said softly, "Don't act like a low-level gangster who just draws his sword and kills the whole family to vent his hatred."

Thales took a deep breath to relieve his tension.

"Your second fallacy, Rumba," Thales forced himself to continue: "Do you think what I said is groundless?"

"No," Thales said forcefully, "The Star Kingdom is the best example."

The eyes of the grand dukes froze.

"Everyone, how did Lumbard exaggerate the power and strength of the stars to you, and talk about our threat?" Thales turned around, intentionally or unintentionally, pulled Thelma to the front of the other grand dukes, "Before he In the depiction, has the Kingdom of Stars become a giant dragon that is only one step away from soaring into the sky?"

"I don't know how much you know about the stars, but what I'm going to tell you next is the only news circulating among the guardian duke and the imperial earl—that is, the six wealthy families and the thirteen noble families. It may be the truth, or it may be the truth. rumor."

"On the day I left Eternal Star City and embarked on this unfortunate journey," Thales gritted his teeth facing the gazes of the grand dukes, "an unexpected person came to me and told me... "

The figure of the one-eyed Duke appeared in front of Thales.

"In the Kingdom of the Stars, in the East China Sea Territory, Cullen of the Sun Sword and Shield has become a shrinking tortoise, submissive to the royal family; , Iris Cavendir's lineage is shaky, and two baronies were confiscated by the royal family a few days ago; the Duchess of Tobak in the Blood Moon has been reduced to the point where she cannot survive without the royal family; The giant horned deer were cornered and had to gear up and try to fight back."

The expressions of the princes changed, surprise, deep thought, doubt, all kinds of emotions.

"As for the northern region you are most familiar with, that imperial family that has enmity with Lombard for generations, Arend of the White Eagle, has already been reduced to a vassal of the royal family under the heavy fist of the royal power after the conspiracy was exposed."

"These are just the six most prestigious families, the thirteen noble families below, and the traditional nobles below. When their power and status were deprived, what did they experience?"

"You want evidence? The stars are your evidence!" Thales said loudly: "Look at our current situation! The country is chaos at the meeting, do you think it's just acting?"

Rumba closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly.

"However, this is far from the end." Thales looked at the expressions of the grand dukes, and said heavily: "They, those deprived will not just sit back and wait for death, but wait for an opportunity in secret and fight back from the Jedi—you Do you think Arend just wanted the throne on a whim!"

He took a step forward, pulled open the clothes on his chest, revealing the burnt scar of Quaid, and gritted his teeth: "Since I was found, I have experienced countless assassinations and conspiracies, large and small. I even slept in Fuxing." The faint tension and blood can be smelled in the palace!"

Thelma covered her mouth, looking at the scar on his chest in surprise.

Trudida whistled, and Olsio folded his arms.

Grand Duke Lecco looked serious.

"The nineteenth nobles are just one of the representatives—this kind of dissatisfaction will not be limited to the big vassals and nobles, but will spread to the whole country, and all the affected people will become unmanageable riots and dissatisfaction."

"The bloody struggle of this kind has never ended, it just hibernates quietly, and will even erupt again one day until the final victory is decided." Thales said coldly.

"Mindis III's chess game has reached its climax after more than a hundred years," the prince turned his head, his tone firm: "And I can tell you with certainty: The Kingdom of Stars is at its darkest moment, on the brink of danger, The contradiction between the new order and the old blood..."

Having said that, Tels paused for a moment, his pupils froze.

A terrible idea climbed into his mind instantly.

darkest...

most dangerous...

new order.

old blood.

At that moment, Thales opened his mouth with astonishment on his face.

His hands trembled slightly.

No way?

"What's wrong?" Olsio asked impatiently, "Is it stuck?"

Pulled by Selma, the prince came back to his senses, but he still couldn't calm down the panic in his heart.

But he still tried his best to contain his emotions and pursed his lips.

"This is your third fallacy, Rumba," Thales suppressed the doubts in his heart, and said with difficulty: "You think that the chaos and weakness of the stars are only temporary, and once we recover, we can return to the peak. Can you be invincible to the west?"

"No."

"Just as there is no change without cost," Thales panted, "there is no change without risk."

"The decline of the nobles is the price, and their counterattack is the risk that the stars face."

Speaking of this moment, the expressions of the grand dukes were already wonderful—among them, even Luba frowned.

"The current weakness and turmoil of Xingchen is not accidental, but inevitable after embarking on this path," Thales said while reasoning, shocked by his new guess: "This is what the sage left for Xingchen." thing."

His face was pale, his expression was in a trance, and he remembered the words left by Cyclops.

Thelma looked at him worriedly.

"I don't know how long the stars can last, I don't know where this country will go, and I don't know what kind of results it will usher in," the prince said out loud, for the first time without any purpose, sincerely and truly He opened the mouth and said: "Is it fragmented, or is it the end of all hardships?"

"I only know that in this torrent, whether I or King Kessel, whether it is the six wealthy families or the thirteen prominent families, we are all trembling and precarious."

That's all.

Whether it's true or not—Thales convinced himself, at least...

At least it is enough to convince them and shake them.

"And in this torrent, the biggest and most terrifying wave..." Thales gritted his teeth, and pressed his hand on his chest.

There was a map given to him by King Nun.

"You should have heard of it."

The Grand Dukes looked at each other with doubts in their eyes.

"That's right," Thales breathed painfully in front of the grand dukes, and said the answer he had just guessed in the countless memories and clues:

"The tragedy where everyone loses and there are few winners."

In front of Thales's eyes appeared the Canxing Tomb of the Fuxing Palace, the countless large and small stone pots and urns, and the young Duke of the Tebak family appeared. Under the astonished eyes of the Dukes, he subconsciously whispered:

"The Year of Blood."