Kingdom’s Bloodline

ation City to become allies with us. ” Quick Rope trembled a little.

”Yet, no matter how hard I tried, how hard I expressed my sincerity as well as regret, and how I guaranteed that I would… There was no more warmth in Conkray ’s smile.

”Hatred, envy, and madness…
That was all I could decipher from him.
It was no longer possible for us to drink without any grudges between us like we used to in the past. ”

His last few sentences were extremely bleak.

”As for Chapman Lampard, the first time I saw him after the war, I understood something of importance. ”

Quick Rope chuckled.
”My cousin brother, Chapman, who used to be level-headed, gentle, and well-behaved ceased to exist anymore.
There was only a dead look in his eyes, along with pain, emptiness, and coldness.
Only the taciturn and quiet Archduke of Black Sand Region was left in his body.
It was as if the souls of his deceased family members still hung over his head, and they refused to leave.

”Every time I talked to him, a chill ran down my spine, even if it wasn ’t cold.
Either I was talking to a dead person, or in his eyes, I was the dead one. ”

Thales thought of the Archduke of Black Sand Region.
He remembered how the archduke ’s would vary between shades of brightness and darkness under the illumination of fire, and he clenched his fists.

”They were all twisted, Thales, twisted, ” Quick Rope ’s voice echoed in the room.

”All of them, including my father and elder brother, were twisted and held captive, Thales.
They were held captive and enslaved by power.
They lost themselves because of power. ”

The former Prince of Eckstedt coldly said, ”They became something else while they were bound by those shackles.
They were apathetic tools, cold-blooded scums, and paranoid tyrants.
They were everything but themselves. ”

Thales was taken aback.

A conversation he had a long time ago with someone else echoed in his mind again.

’ ”The things that are truly scary and terrifying are not the calamities. ” ’

’ ”But ourselves. ” ’

’ ”To what extent will we normal people fall for the existence of these so-called calamities? How much will we degenerate, and how much of our morals will we sacrifice? ” ’

Quick Rope ’s tone became hurried.

”Thales, if you want to enter this circle and even climb to the top, the first thing you have to is to submit to power and let go of your body and mind.
You have to let its world and its perception of the world rule every single inch of your being.
You have to become someone that even you can ’t recognize.
Only by doing so will you be able to start playing the game and excel in it.

”I heard that they found you from among the commoners, Thales, ” Quick Rope called out to him softly, jolting the absentminded Thales out of his thoughts.

”If that ’s the case, think carefully about what sort of person you ’ve become after taking the role of a prince.

”Can you still choose your own path and do what you want to do? ”

Quick Rope ’s words were like a sharp knife, stabbing straight into Thales ’ heart.
”After becoming a prince, are you still yourself? Are you still Thales?

”Or have you… become something else?

”What have you gained, and what have you lost? ”

Thales listened quietly.

’ ”You know, I suddenly realized that I…
I almost can ’t recognize you anymore. ” ’

’ ”Hahahaha… It ’s not just you.
A lot of times, when I stare at the man in the mirror… I almost can ’t recognize… who he is. ”

When he thought of this, he subconsciously reached behind his back and gripped JC ’s dagger tightly.

The dagger he brought over from the Abandoned House…

His past…

A few seconds later, Thales shook his head with a dreary expression.

”I don ’t know, ” he said

”What do you think? ” he forced those words out of his mouth.

Quick Rope smiled.

”Just like you… ” The former prince tapped the wall and leaned stiffly against it.
”I don ’t know either.

”But I know… how it will end. ”

Quick Rope ’s gaze was focused, and his eyes sparkled brightly.

”I don ’t know how Soria died, and no one told me what that suspicious hunting trip was about.
However, ever since I became the damned heir, I felt that I understood one fact: Soria was fated to die.

”Not because of a certain person, conspiracy or accident.
It was due to his position.
Even more so, it was due to him being born to tread this path and live in this environment.
His resolution, callousness, and ambition were an omen.
While he was used to advancing in the dark, navigating through cunning schemes with great ease, going back and forth when it came to politics, waving his sword in the battlefield and climbing the snow peak while wind and frost blew against his face in the Kingdom of the Great Dragon… it meant that he would one day die from them, sooner or later.
If it wasn ’t this time, it would be the next time.
One day, his way of life would come back and swallow him whole. ”

Thales inhaled deeply.

’Come back and swallow him whole. ’

What the Raven of Death said about Soria was still vivid in his mind, but Quick Rope ’s words helped him gain more understanding.

”This has nothing to do with your power, Thales.
On the contrary, the more powerful you are, and the bigger your influence is, the tighter these shackles will bind you.
The deeper you ’re sucked in, the more you can ’t escape from it. ”

Quick Rope stared at him coldly.
”Just like our fathers, and just like the current Chapman Lampard. ”

The room became silent again.

Just like that, a corpse and two people of unusual identities sat facing one another in silence.
They were illuminated only by the moonlight and fire.

”That ’s it? ”

After a moment, Thales forced himself to speak.

”That ’s the cause of your change?

”Are these all your reasons for running away? ”

Thales relaxed his grip around the dagger behind his waist and sighed.
”When both King Nuven and Poffret told me your story, there was always a girl involved. ”

Quick Rope stirred slightly.

He sat up straight without realizing it himself.

It was rare, but Quick Rope flashed a smile that was not gloomy.
”If you heard it from them, they probably said nothing good. ”

Thales arched an eyebrow.
”So? ”

Quick Rope froze for a moment.
He then glanced at the Prince of Constellation with a strange gaze.
When he spoke next, his tone was profound and gentle.

”Thales, you ’re young.
But… have you ever loved someone, or, been loved by someone? ”

”Sometimes, immature love is all the more unforgettable, ” Quick Rope said quietly.

Thales was about to shake his head.

However, at that moment, he recalled a voice.

It was a gentle and pleasing female voice, which had only appeared in his memory fragments.

’ ”What? Love stems from affairs? It sounds so exciting… ” ’

His body went stiff, stopping him from shaking his head.

’ ”Then, is what we ’re doing right now considered an affair… ” ’

It was the voice that made him subconsciously tremble, and caused him pain everytime it appeared.

The voice belonged to someone he could never remember.

’Her? ’

Thales quivered a little.

”Perhaps, ” Thales said instinctively before he nodded absentmindedly.
”Perhaps I have. ”

’Her. ’

Moonlight shone into the house, as though it was gently caressing the two silent people.

Quick Rope stared at the prince for a long time.
In the end, he flashed a faint smile.

”That ’s nice. ”

Quick Rope hugged himself and shifted his gaze away from Thales to the moon outside the broken window.

”It is a form of happiness, whether it is you caring about someone, or someone caring about you… ” he said airily.