Kingdom’s Bloodline

u… will be very terrible.”

Thales did not say a single word.
Beldin patted Barney’s shoulder, but the latter did not acknowledge him.

A few seconds later, Thales raised his head and gave a relieved smile.
“Not too long ago, I met a prince.
Another one.”

The group was puzzled, only Quick Rope’s expression changed drastically.

“He told me that the way we choose to live determines our story.
It has nothing to do with power and status.
If I constantly seek personal gain, live in fear, curry up to someone’s favor for the sake of schemes, and place great importance on power and personal benefits…”

Thales unintentionally looked at Quick Rope as the latter stood among the group.
He sighed and said, “…then I will never be free of the shackles of power.”

His words made everyone fall silent.
Thales looked at every single one of them.

“Just like you now, your choices determine what you will obtain.
Will you choose to chain yourself to another set of shackles that bears another name… or will you choose true freedom.” Thales sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

The group’s expression changed somewhat.
Even Barney Junior lowered his head a little.
While many of them began to think deeply, a voice that had not been heard for a long time rose and cut through the wind.

“You are not like your father.”

The people turned their heads around and found to their surprise that the person who spoke was Zakriel, who stood at the periphery of the group.

‘Father.’ Thales remembered the scene where he first met his father in Mindis Hall.
He then remembered the Northern Territory, Dragon’s Blood, and Blade Fangs Camp.
He also recalled the crown and scepter on the throne.

‘Father…’ But Thales’ mind only wandered for a while before he smiled at the Knight of Judgment.

“Because I am not him, and I will never be,” he said with certainty.

Zakriel stared at him fixedly before he suddenly snorted.
“Not necessarily.”

Those words made Thales’ smile falter.
However, Zakriel said something else next, “Your mother passed away.”

Thales was immediately stunned!

The Knight of Judgment said faintly, “Do not look for her anymore.”

In an instant, all eyes were on Zakriel.

‘…passed away?’

Once Thales registered his words, he asked in surprise, “What do you mean? You know my mother? TherrenGirana?”

Zakriel just shook his head, and his expression became indifferent again.
“No, but remember my words: She is already dead.”

This time, Thales stared at him for a long time.
‘He said… she passed away.
Then…’

In the end, the prince could only sigh in resignation to Zakriel’s face, while the man remained as silent as a block of ice.

“Oh well, I suppose you will not tell me.”

Zakriel did not answer.
He just stared at him coldly.
Thales snorted softly next.

“‘She has passed away.
Do not look for her any longer.’ Zakriel, do you know what the most interesting aspect in language is?”

Zakriel scowled.
The prince narrowed his eyes.
“People love placing the main points of their speech at the end.”

His words took Zakriel by surprise.
Thales smiled.
The war horses neighed in the distance.

The prince sucked in a breath and gave up on questioning Zakriel any further.
He turned his head around and gazed at the gradually rising sun.

“Royal Guards, this is the last time I use Thales Jadestar’s status to order… no, tell you.” The Royal Guards immediately stood in respect.
The prince said airily, “Your nightmare is gone.
Your darkness is no longer around.”

He looked at every person with a serious gaze.

Barney had on a stubborn expression; Beldin looked worried; Tardin appeared dejected; Canon still shrank back into himself; Bruley was filled with indignation; Zakriel remained silent; and Quick Rope looked absent-minded.

Thales smiled.
“From now on, live, in the truest sense of the word.”

Once he finished saying that, Thales did not care about the others’ reactions.
He turned around resolutely and walked to the sand dune in the distance, Roman waited for him there.

Thales walked through the sand, just like he did when he went to them—by dragging his exhausted body over.
He walked to where he belonged.
The morning sun shone on him and cast a golden light on his back.

‘My time with them is over…’ All that had happened in the underground prison came to his mind.
He felt incredibly sentimental.
‘What a pity…’

“Your Highness.” Beldin’s chokingly weak cry resounded behind him, but Thales only shook his head and continued walking.
He did not turn his head around.

‘Farewell, Royal Guards,’ he thought in his heart, ‘May the nightmare the Jadestars brought to you disappear from now on.’

A faint thud travelled from behind him.
In his daze, Thales did not turn his head around.
But in the next second, more thuds arose, and they did so consecutively.

The cavaliers and mercenaries in the distance seemed to have seen something.
A small commotion rose among them, and they looked at Thales’ direction.

‘Huh?’ Thales’ train of thought was interrupted.
He stopped moving.

Roman frowned in the distance, Ricky also stopped talking to his subordinates.
They both looked at Thales.

When he encountered so many abnormal signs, Thales turned his head around in puzzlement… and was then stunned.

‘This is…’

The morning sun shone on the desert that was filled with endless yellow sand.
Six stubborn figures leaned forward slightly, as though they were cast irons rooted in the desert.
The light and shadows made their figures indistinct, but their postures appeared uniform under the light as they received the baptism of the morning and the wind of the desert.

‘This is…’ Thales stared dumbly at the sight before him.
‘Zakriel, Barney Junior, Beldin… the Royal Guards.’

The wind blew gently.
At some point of time, all the Royal Guards had gone down on one knee on the sand.
They did not say a word, and neither did they move.
Their faces could not be seen clearly, and their expressions could not be discerned.

They had their right hands placed over their chests, while their left arms were placed behind them.
They bowed their heads in the direction of the prince, as if they were paying their final respects.

At that moment, Thales watched the six figures kneeling on the ground, and he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his chest.
He pursed his lips, but in the end said nothing.

With the ghost of a smile on his lips, he raised his right fist and tapped it gently against his chest before he turned his head around resolutely.
The six figures behind him lowered their heads even further.

The Legendary Wing scowled as he watched this scene from afar.
In the distance, the six injured men knelt on the ground, between the golden sand dunes, and lowered their heads in salutation towards one direction.

Closer to him was a thin and frail teenager walking slowly towards him under the brightening sky.
He seemed to have some difficulty walking, but his footsteps were firm.
His expression was one of anguish and relief.

It looked like a portrait.

“Jadestar,” Roman murmured before he snorted.

Josef watched the six figures in a bad mood while he stood among the Disaster Swords.
Next to him was Samel, who was so engrossed with the scene that he was dazed.
Josef said scornfully, “If you want to, you can join them, since you cannot forget them.”

Samel’s expression darkened before he turned towards Josef.
“I thought you would understand it better than I do.”

Josef was startled.
“Understand what?”

Samel snorted before he looked at the horizon.
“Can you forget your wife and child, Josef?”

‘Wife and child…’ Josef froze.
He subconsciously tightened his grip over his sword hilt and clenched his teeth.

When he saw Josef react this way, Samel sighed.
“Yes, I know.
But there are certain things that you can never regain once you lose them.” Samel watched the six figures slowly stand.
His tone was melancholic.
In the next moment, Samel’s befuddled gaze became resolute again.
“Aside from the future, we no longer have anywhere else to go.
We have nothing.”

Samel turned around and left, leaving behind Josef, who had a complicated look on his face.
Josef watched the six figures before he looked at Samel’s back.

Klein walked over and asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”

Josef shook his head, turned around, and packed up his luggage.
“It’s nothing.”

Under Klein’s astounded gaze, Josef grumbled indignantly.
“Tsk, presumptuous citizens of the Empire.”

In the distance, Thales suppressed his urge to turn his head around, and kept pressing forward until Quick Rope’s voice rose behind him.

“Hey!”

Thales turned his head around, surprised, and he instinctively grabbed the baggage shoved into his arms.

“Your luggage.” Quick Rope stood behind him, and he sounded a little dejected.
“And… your bow.”

Quick Rope tossed the Crossbow of Time at him, throwing Thales into confusion for a while.

Quick Rope sighed and watched the Royal Guards, who stood up slowly and began to move further away from them.

“Are you sure you don’t want them? They’ll be very good aides, and they have a very rare and deep tie with you; they’re loyal to you and are willing to go through thick and thin for you.”

With some difficulty, Thales carried his luggage over his shoulders.
He exhaled, smiled, and said, “Perhaps.”

Quick Rope frowned and said, “You know that your identity puts you at a disadvantage… If you have them as your subordinates, then perhaps, when you run into any accidents in the future…” He did not continue.

Thales smiled a little.
‘Yes, indeed, that’s why…’

“Disaster Swords,” Thales suddenly said, “Did you know that they deliberately find people who were forced into a corner and have fallen into the bottomless abyss? The Disaster Swords use their despair and the emptiness they feel, then give them empty promises to capture their minds.
They take advantage of them, while these people are in peril and driven into a corner, then take them in as part of their own.”

Thales stared at Quick Rope, who looked puzzled, and said seriously, “Even if the person who pushed them into the abyss is not Ricky, I still hate that kind of feeling.”

Quick Rope narrowed his eyes to show that he did not understand.
Thales sighed and moved his gaze away from the Royal Guards’ backs.
He looked at the sky.

“It’s as if there is a hand no one can see controlling fate.
It torments these pitiful souls in the dark until they are injured from head to toe, descend into madness, and are filled with despair just so that when I stand here today, they will willingly become my pawns, and I can use them as I please until we reach the conclusion that was preordained.”

Quick Rope was stunned.
Thales said airily, “But I can’t do it.
I can’t be that hypocritical, shameless, and selfish.
They aren’t my chess pieces, just like how I am not fate’s chess piece.”

The duo remained quiet for a few seconds.

Quick Rope sighed and said, “If my father were here, he will definitely say you’re stupid.”

‘King Nuven? Yeah, maybe.’ Thales smiled.

“Did you know that Ricky said my Power of Eradication has always been moving along the flow, is fickle, and directionless? I think what he said is right.
That’s why I made my own decision.” Thales stared at Quick Rope.
“Just like how you made your own decision.
That’s all.”

His words made Quick Rope’s expression fade away, and it was replaced by a contemplative look.
A few seconds later, Quick Rope suddenly said, “You’re different now.”

Thales was surprised.
“What’s different?”

Quick Rope shook his head.
“I can’t tell, but…” Quick Rope frowned and evaluated Thales.
Then, in all apparent seriousness, Quick Rope put on a solemn and stern expression.
“I can sense it.
Compared to the Thales I met in the desert… you seem to have gained something, but also lost something.”

The two faced each other and remained quiet for a few seconds.
Thales raised an eyebrow and smiled, resigned.
“Maybe… I grew up.”

Quick Rope raised his eyebrows.

“You know, this trip taught me many things.” Thales sighed softly and looked northwest.
It was the direction from whence he came.
He looked a little engrossed with the view.
“In fact, I learned more… than what I learned in the past six years.”

Quick Rope watched him and sighed.
“So, this is farewell.
You’re going back to be a prince, right?”

Thales snapped out of his daze.
With a faint feeling of sadness, he said helplessly and mockingly, “Yes, I believe so, back to the shackles of power.”

‘Shackles of power.’ Quick Rope remained quiet for several seconds.

“Thales, what do you think of my father as a king?” Quick Rope suddenly asked.

“As a king?” Thales was stunned.

‘King Nuven?’ When he recalled the name, Thales remembered many past events, and he could not help but frown.
‘Nuven the Seventh of Eckstedt… as a king…?’

While he watched Quick Rope’s expression—he could not tell whether it was grief or indignation—Thales sighed and said, “He is, without a doubt, an overlord of his generation.
He was farsighted, his methods of ruling surpassed the others; he was wise, brutal, and merciless.”

‘Just… very unlucky.’ Thales lowered his head dispiritedly.

“Yes.” Quick Rope seemed to have remembered the past.
He nodded absent-mindedly.
“Then what do you think of yourself when you compare yourself with him, Thales Jadestar?”

‘Me? With King Nuven?’ Thales was stupefied again.

In a few seconds, he remembered King Nuven’s resolution when he challenged Poffret, his ruthlessness when he killed Alex, his might when he rebuked the archdukes, his resolve when he handed Triumph over, his bravery when he personally went out to battle the calamities, and his countless schemes plotted behind the scenes that set him and Lampard up…

Thales could not help but laugh.
“No, I won’t be able to measure up to him even after I have lived out my whole life.”

Quick Rope fell silent.
His facial color was not good, as though he remembered something unhappy.
He spoke with a sigh a few seconds later.

“Listen, Thales, I don’t know how the wise Kings of Eckstedt like the Dragon King, Winter King, Steel Breaker King, and the Whisperer led their armies and conquered lands, neither do I know how the Kings of Constellation like the King of Renaissance, the Oath Keeper, and the Virtuous King made their countries flourish and brought about great order…”

When he said the names of these famous people, his tone was not as relaxed and humorous as usual.
Instead, it was rather serious.
Thales found it hard to adapt to the change.

During that second, Quick Rope’s face was stern, and it made Thales instinctively straighten his back.
He felt as though the person before him had returned to becoming Moriah Walton.

“But after today, I have come to learn at least one thing.” Moriah stared at the teenager.
“Thales, be it my father or my brother, they cannot hope to compare to you, not even one bit.” He shook his head slowly, and his tone was firm.

Silence fell around them, and it lasted for a very long time.

While he stared into Moriah’s firm gaze that allowed no disagreement, Thales was completely taken aback.
‘What… did he say?’

When Thales finally wrapped his head around Moriah’s words, he blurted out instinctively, “Moriah, you—”

But Moriah interrupted him.
“Thales, become a king, a good one.” King Nuven’s second son drew close to him slowly and pressed a hand against Thales’ shoulder.
At that moment, Prince Moriah Walton’s eyes shone with a light that was rarely seen.

“Because from today onwards, I believe that you will be much better than the other kings.
You can prove that even if you are bound by the shackles of power, you can live differently.”