Kingdom’s Bloodline

"This place can't be held."

Glover led his mount and stood in front of a wide and exquisite double iron gate, looking at the exquisite garden in front of him and the Dragon Kiss Fountain in the center, as well as the three-story house with tall colonnades ahead, with a serious expression.

"What, what?" Beside him, D.D guard Doyle, who was checking the teeth of the mount, asked suspiciously.

All around, the royal guards assigned to protect the prince followed the royal ceremonial officer and the city hall's administrative officer, and entered this gorgeous manor in an orderly manner, together with the flattered local servants and guards. Most of them were recruited from the central and outer suburbs Canxing's private soldiers are doing troublesome handovers and propaganda.

"Complicated terrain layout, troublesome outpost settings, unnecessary decorations, bright star private soldiers recruited from different places," the vanguard officer Glover swept his gaze from the gate wall to the backyard garden in the distance, and the vigilance in it became more and more serious. strong:

"And a labyrinth garden bigger than the North."

In the bustling and busy atmosphere, the vanguard officer looked around and handed over the mount to a vanguard subordinate, frowning even tighter.

"Better than the North..." Doyle next to him subconsciously said, and immediately understood what he had said, and smiled brightly.

"Relax, zombie, this is Mindis Hall, not Broken Dragon Fortress."

Regardless of the face of the vanguard wing guard, Doyle stuffed the rein into the opponent's other hand very naturally, and watched the other party take the mount away with an unhappy expression of "where are you guard wing guards?" , and then turned around with satisfaction:

"And we're not here to fight."

Glover snorted.

He looked at the avenue outside the iron gate, and then at the house at the end of the garden, with a cold tone:

"The prince should have lived in the Fuxing Palace."

The vanguard officer has a long sentence, which seems to have deep meaning.

But Doyle tutted and shook his head.

"No, no, although we didn't know each other well before, I know that you don't have many vanguard posts..."

Glover pursed his lips.

"The Tormund Hall where His Majesty and the Queen are staying is unclear..."

D.D held up three fingers proudly,

Break down one by one:

"But the Ballard Room is very narrow, the Elan Court is a bit too high and very cold, and the Sumer Hall is too dark..."

"Compared to these famous big grottoes in Fuxing Palace, believe me," Doyle waved his hand gracefully to the exquisite garden in front of him:

"You'll like it here better."

Glover narrowed his eyes.

"At least, at least there are in Mindis Hall, there are..."

Doyle paused for a moment, then slid his fingers across the iron gate, the garden, the fountain, the avenue, the main hall, and finally pointed to the sun above his head, smiling lightly:

"……bright?"

Glover folded his arms and looked away, snorting speciously.

Obviously not satisfied.

"Besides, do you know how high its artistic value is?"

Doyle's eyes lit up, and his words changed.

Glover frowned.

"Do you know its place in the history of architecture?"

The guard turned around and opened his arms, as if to hug his eyes:

"Let's not mention that this is the famous Wise King's Palace... But look at the garden, look at the reliefs, look at the floor tiles! Not to mention the many art collections in it!"

"Think about it, if a banquet is held here, the ladies of the royal capital will definitely scramble..."

Doyle turned around with a dance step, with a sweet face.

Glover remained motionless, but looked at Doyle with a look of disdain.

"What's wrong?"

D.D shrugged, with a puzzled look on his face:

"Is it wrong to love art and love beauty?"

Glover looked away, took a deep breath, and exhaled stiffly through his nose.

Familiar carriages and shouts could be heard in the distance, as if a person was directing the transportation.

Doyle, who was immersed in art and beauty, changed his face.

"Oh no, that's Stowe and Forby..."

He immediately jumped to Glover's side, with a serious expression and a tense body, stretched out his arms and pointed to the Mindis Hall:

"Quick, quick, pretending to be talking to me, discussing defensive posts or defense plans, very attentive and serious..."

Glover was at a loss:

"What?"

"Only in this way, we don't have to be assigned to help with logistics." Doyle's face remained unchanged, his lips moved slightly.

Glover is still puzzled:

"But...why me?"

"Because he never asks the vanguard officer!" Doyle whispered through gritted teeth.

Surrounded by a group of officials and private soldiers of Canxing, the logistics officer Shi Tuo and the flag officer Fubi passed by with several subordinates and several carriages, and left suspicious and puzzled eyes on Doyle. But after seeing Glover with a serious face, they dispelled their doubts and left.

Only then did Doyle let out a sigh of relief, and his whole body relaxed.

Glover looked at him more and more strangely.

But Doyle had no embarrassment at all. He naturally returned to the state of admiring the scenery with a face full of intoxication. When he turned his eyes, he saw the quiet man in the gap between the shadows and the fir gate in the distance. A boy standing still.

Doyle narrowed his eyes and looked at the still, slightly lonely prince. The servants and guards around him seemed to have some kind of tacit understanding, and they avoided the prince perfectly while they were busy working. meters away.

But they cast cautious glances from time to time, glancing past the silent boy.

"I bet you that kid just got spanked."

Glover cast a subtle glance at D.D.

As if afraid that the other party would not believe it, Doyle narrowed his eyes:

"Trust me, I know how it feels, he's acting calm now, but it's all fake..."

Doyle stared deeply at the prince's back, with melancholy eyes, feeling quite touched:

"But in the deepest part of his heart, he just wants to find a place where no one is around, and cry happily..."

Glover looked at him, frowning more and more tightly.

"This is not what you should be beaking," the pioneer officer coughed seriously:

"Guard Doyle."

But Doyle snorted softly.

"Come on, that broken sword in the morning...you are also very upset, aren't you?" Doyle arched Glover's arm, ignoring the other's ugly face, with a taste of gloating:

"I'll bet all my money on you, our esteemed Duke, we've finally met someone with a heavier sword than him."

Glover didn't answer, he just looked at the porch of Mindis Hall and frowned deeply.

There, the Duke of Thales stood quietly.

He just stared at the porch, silent, motionless.

As if cut off from the surroundings.

"are u there?"

Thales spoke in a daze:

"Did you see it?"

In response, a calm and calm voice came from behind:

"Yes, I see it."

But it wasn't the person Thales expected.

The boy closed his eyes and sighed slightly.

"The royal family's private soldiers and servants did a good job of maintenance and saved a lot of trouble."

"We can move in after we complete the assessment and inspection," the watchman Mallos stepped forward, stood beside the Duke, and looked at the main hall of the manor with him, his words were thought-provoking:

"Congratulations, the new owner of Mindis Hall."

Mindy Hall.

new owner.

Thales didn't look back.

The boy just quietly looked at the familiar and unfamiliar houses in front of him, from the pillars to the gate, from the carpet to the interior.

But this time, familiarity seems to be greater than strangeness.

Mallos seemed to feel a little bit of the atmosphere, and he also remained silent, standing quietly with the prince.

The servants and guards were still busy, coming and going in a hurry, but subconsciously avoided further.

After a few seconds.

"You don't know."

Mallos frowned slightly.

Thales was expressionless, and slowly said:

"You didn't know in advance that you would be stationed here, did you?"

"Otherwise, you don't need to come to evaluate and inspect when things are critical."

Mallos was slightly taken aback.

But the Duke of Xinghu laughed.

"You're not even going to become Star Lake Guards," Thales lowered his head, feeling a little lonely:

"Because the title of Duke of Xinghu was decided on a temporary basis after you set off, and was canonized hastily."

Because... a sword.

Mallos paused for a few seconds, frowning slightly, not knowing what to think.

Thales sighed:

"Similarly, you are not planning to come to... Mindis Hall."

In the seemingly disordered words of the Duke, Mallos seemed to hear something, and hesitated to speak.

But Thales took a deep breath, and when he looked back, he had already put on a smile.

"By the way, when setting up defenses, don't forget to prepare silver weapons, and maybe blessed weapons."

Silver weapons...

The change of topic caught the watchman off guard:

"Why?"

Thales snorted, took a few steps back, and looked at the roof and balcony of Mindis Hall:

"Beware of unwanted guests."

Under Mallos' puzzled eyes, the prince's tone carried a touch of nostalgia:

"Like...a vampire?"

Mallos was taken aback again, confused.

But Thales didn't explain further.

He just sighed again, raised his head, and stared blankly at the pillars.

"It looks smaller," the boy said subconsciously:

"I remember that the colonnades here were very high before."

Mallos moved his eyes and looked at the prince deeply.

With a little bewilderment, Thales walked through the porch, and vaguely saw three giant portraits on the wall under the chandelier, facing the gate.

And the three people in the painting.

One turned his back to the setting sun, held his gun and rode his horse, as brave as ever.

One stands in the deep forest, with a sword and shield in hand, as firm as ever.

One sits indoors, flipping through books with a stick, as kind as ever.

Looking at the three people in the painting, Thales' eyes were a little erratic.

He subconsciously raised his right hand and pressed on his chest.

Somewhere there, the skin still seemed to be aching.

"It's also revisiting the old place," Mallos followed, his tone indifferent, "You didn't have such an expression when we saw the Fuxing Palace."

Renaissance Palace.

Thales sneered.

"The first time I entered the Fuxing Palace, I was stabbed and seriously injured. I was unconscious and carried in."

Mallos narrowed his eyes.

The prince's expression was slightly sarcastic:

"Revisiting the old place, what kind of expression do you expect me to have?"

But Mallos' answer exceeded his expectations.

"laugh."

Thales frowned:

"What?"

Mallos took a step forward and stood with him in front of the fir gate, staring at the statue of the Three Kings on the wall inside the hall:

"You need to laugh."

"This way they don't have to suspect that your father doesn't like you," Mallos narrowed his eyes slightly:

"Or vice versa."

Thales paused first, then was stunned:

"them?"

Mallos remained indifferent, he nodded without looking at the Duke:

"The royal guards are elites of all colors, and their sense of smell is very keen."

Thales turned around subconsciously.

Around him, the royal guards were still busy, either directing logistics, handing over servants, or assigning tasks...

Can't see any difference.

Thales was silent for a while, then suddenly giggled.

"do you know."

"I have a friend who also advised me: Laugh."

Mallos looked at the prince, only to see that the latter took a deep breath, looked at the sky from a distance, and said with emotion:

"Because life is hard enough."

"Laugh to make it lighter."

The young man was a little dazed, as if seeing that piece of yellow sand again.

"So, does it have it?"

Mallos stared at Thales who was inexplicably moved, and said abruptly:

"After you're done laughing?"

Thales came back to his senses and shook his head.

"I don't know," the boy said with a difficult smile:

"I hope."

The Prince turned and was about to enter the porch.

"This place, this manor," Mallos said again, causing Thales to slow down:

"Do you know why it's called that?"

this place?

Why is it called this name?

Thales withdrew his steps and glanced around.

The prince gestured to the portrait on the far right on the opposite wall:

"he?"

In the painting, a middle-aged man with grizzled hair smiled friendly at him.

Ke Mallos shook his head.

"No."

The watchman folded his arms and looked at the hall with a little more respect in his eyes:

"Although Mindis III did live here more than a hundred years ago, and most people thought it was him... But no, Mindis Hall, it's not named after the wise king."

Not Xianjun's name?

This aroused the boy's interest.

"Very good," Thales turned around with great interest:

"Please enlighten me, my... captain of the personal guard?"

Mallos didn't care about the slight strangeness in Thales' tone. He turned around and looked in the direction of the Fuxing Palace with deep eyes:

"In the 333rd year of the end calendar, the twenty-second supreme king was crowned, and his name appeared for the first time on the king's genealogy of the stars."

Thales raised his brows: How many...how many? twenty two?

That is……

"This king is weak and sick at a young age, so he had to move out of the palace, find a place to recuperate, and entrust the state affairs to his uncle and the imperial council."

Mallos' words were very steady, just like his indifferent face, but the story he told was not necessarily delightful:

"In just one year, the young king died of illness, leaving no heirs behind."

The watchman stamped on the floor tiles under his feet:

"After that, the suburban manor where he died was named after him as a memorial."

Mallos looked at the prince indifferently.

Entrust state affairs to uncle, go out of the palace to recuperate...

My nephew died young, leaving a name to commemorate...

The story is short, doesn't even have a plot, and isn't very auspicious.

The charm behind it is even a little...unspeakable.

But Thales still showed an expression of "that's how it is".

"So, um, the suburban manor," Thales pointed to the surroundings, trying to answer:

"You call Evening Star 'the Suburbs'?"

Mallos frowned slightly, obviously dissatisfied with the prince's attitude of focusing on the key points: "It used to be."

"I call this 'urban sprawl.'"

Thales raised his eyebrows:

"oh."

"However, three and a half centuries have passed. When we stand here and mention the original owner of Mindis Hall," the watchman snorted softly, looking at Thales with meaningful eyes:

"Even Canxing's direct descendants don't know about 'Mist King' for a long time."

Thales was a little embarrassed:

"I, uh..."

But he quickly noticed the title Mallos mentioned:

"Mist King?"

Mallos nodded.

He stretched out his hand and knocked on the expensive fir door with a deep tone:

"Regardless of his life and death, Mindis I, who died young, is known as the 'King of the Mist'."

"During his lifetime, his rule was like a mist, seemingly tangible, but in fact it was intangible."

"As a biography after his death, his stories are like fog, coming and going in a hurry, and disappearing quietly."

Suddenly, Mallos' eyes sharpened:

"Nobody remembers."

"Nobody cares."

Thales shuddered subconsciously.

"So take care of yourself, especially when the whole guard is around."

Mallos' eyes focused back on Thales, which shocked the latter, who was still somewhat passive and lonely:

"No matter what you've been through..."

The watchman's tone turned cold:

"You know, among the many inconspicuous and forgotten masters in Mindis Hall, you are not the only one who is sick and miserable."

Sick and miserable.

Thales swallowed subconsciously and rubbed his face.

"But like the Mist King..."

The watchman snorted coldly:

"No one will remember."

Mallos looked in the direction of the Fuxing Palace, his eyes blurred:

"Nobody cares."

silence.

It has to be said that at that moment, Thales was a little embarrassed when someone pointed out his concerns and problems.

After a while, the young Duke of Xinghu forced himself to laugh dryly:

"thanks for your encouragement."

"Lord Mallos."

It's not that exciting though.

But the watchman didn't respond to his thanks, but just glanced at him lightly:

"I'll let you know when the upstairs room is ready."

"Your Excellency the Duke."

After Mallos finished speaking, he strode into the Mindis Hall.

Thales looked at his back, thoughtful while being embarrassed.

"That Uncle Wang."

The boy spoke suddenly.

Under the portrait of King Fuxing, Mallos froze for a moment.

"Mist King's...uncle who acts on behalf of the country."

Thales' eyes were burning:

"After Mindis I died of illness, did he succeed to the throne?"

The back of the watchman was still for a few seconds.

"certainly."

Mallos turned around with a deep expression:

"Su Mei Canxing, who was in charge of state affairs, finally inherited the throne from his nephew who died young and had no heirs."

"That is the 'jackal' Sumerian III in history."

Thales exhaled, knowing it in his heart.

But Mallos’ words were not over yet:

"by……"

"...The body of the Duke of Xinghu."

Thales was startled.

But before he could ask, the watchman walked away without looking back.

Disappeared above the stairs.

Thales was left alone, thinking about the meaning of this story.

A few seconds later, the prince smiled in relief.

Interesting.

Whether it is the owner of Mindis Hall or the Duke of Xinghu, the stories of his predecessors are so...

Intriguing.

Thales glanced at the direction in which Mallos disappeared, turned and left the porch, walked towards the garden, put on a smile while waiting, and looked at the busy crowd around him.

He suddenly found that among the servants and private soldiers who were coming and going, there were two figures that were so different. One was relaxed and the other was standing by the pool with a serious face, discussing something seriously.

Thales recognized the two people, so he walked slowly towards them.

"You didn't want to come, did you?"

By the fountain, Doyle looked at the maids in the distance and narrowed his eyes:

"You know, the Glover family is the best among the 'Seven Attendants', the backbone of the Royalist Party, they have been trusted for generations, and they hold high positions."

Beside him, Glover frowned fiercely.

"Your father is the predecessor of Minister Joke Mann, and your brother is in the Finance and Taxation Department, with a bright future."

Doyle's attention was still on the maids, and he didn't even look at Glover, feeling emotional while narrating:

"Your Majesty is also determined to forge ahead, young and vigorous."

"But here you are, to catch this unlucky muddy water."

Doyle turned his head and stared at Glover curiously.

"Why?"

But this time, he seemed to hit the iron plate.

Glover also turned his head and stared at him coldly.

Like staring at a piece of rotting meat at a butcher's stand.

There was a long silence.

After a while, D.D, who didn't get a response, could only smile awkwardly and turn around consciously.

"Well, it doesn't matter if you don't want to say it."

"But I'm different."

Facing a gaze that finally couldn't stand him, Doyle released a perfect smile to the maid who was peeking here:

"During the years when our family was prosperous, Doyle got too close to the old dignitaries, and the relationship was so intricate...so that in the next three generations, there was no one who could be reused by the Fuxing Palace."

Glover didn't speak, but he withdrew his gaze.

Doyle looked at the red-faced maid who turned her head under the wall, her eyes froze:

"They are worried that if this continues, the family's status in the 'Seven Attendants' will be lost sooner or later, just like Tardin, Belletti, and..."

Doyle paused for a moment, turned his head in the direction of Mindis Hall, and sighed:

"Mallos."

Glover didn't speak, as if he didn't hear.

"So I was forced to come here."

Doyle raised his eyebrows:

"My father's idea is beautiful: from the king's personal guard to the prince's personal guard, maybe finally back to the king's personal guard, and finally..."

D.D's face was slightly dimmed:

"Of course, that's just... a beautiful idea."

Glover's eyes flickered slightly.

"After all, it's past the age of relying on the size of the fief," Doyle sighed lightly, with a helpless expression and a deep tone:

"And we are neither the six richest families nor the thirteenth-ranked families."

In front of the motionless Glover, Doyle said faintly:

"We are just... Canxing's attendants."

stealing fragrance