Chapter 657: Confession

Jade City's Sunset Temple was not as towering, magnificent, solemn, and dignified as the Great Temple of Eternal Star City. Its strength lay instead in elegance and exquisite layout. It was an architectural masterpiece based on the pre-era triumphal style of the old Empire, while also taking into account the mathematical and geometric aesthetics of the new age.

This religious architectural style, which sought change within stability, confirmed the rapidly changing and anxious age of the Kingdom of Stars at the end of the third century. "From kings, dukes, and marquises above to common people below, everyone was painfully torn between the rules of the old world and the new thoughts of the new era. Advance, and one leaves home to walk a road full of thorns. Retreat, and one grows old in place, waiting to die." Thus wrote Boser Ka'andi in The Difficulty of the Century: Do the Stars Remain, or Does the Empire End? in Ending Calendar 349.

Those who presided over the construction of this temple were two high-ranking clergy members during the reign of Sumer the Third, the Jackal. One was the deputy chief priest of the Ritual Department, skilled in history and theology. The other was the deputy bishop of the Missionary Department, skilled in mathematics and architecture.

In that age, their cooperation and the completion of this temple in Jade City were one of the results and symbols of religious reconciliation between the Ritual Department and Missionary Department within the Sunset faith. It proved that the Kingdom of Stars' bloody religious dispute, which had repeated endlessly for a full century, the "Dispute of Ritual and Mission," had finally come to an end.

Some documents mark the beginning of this religious factional conflict with the "Vain Promise," when Tormond the Fourth, the Usurper, ignored the divine appointment decree of High Priestess Lydia Jadestar, interfered in temple affairs, and arbitrarily appointed Archbishop Nerif. They call this dispute the "Sacred-Mundane Schism." However, because of disputes over the legitimacy of the Usurper King and the court historians' terrible impression of him, this historical term has never been accepted by court historians as widely as "Dispute of Ritual and Mission," which takes as its starting point the Ascending Sacrifice, personally written on paper by the Bramble-Cutting King.

Later scholars also believe that the roots of the Dispute of Ritual and Mission can be traced upward to Sumer the Second, the Severed Line. They believe that because he was crowned king as a mere religious scholar, non-hereditary clergy gradually rose in status within the Sunset Temple, step by step gaining power, and eventually threatened the sacred and inviolable authority to interpret divine decrees and preside over rituals.

Under the mediation of the Jackal King, and perhaps also under the threat of invaders from the Eastern Continent, the supreme authority of the Sunset faith, the Sunset Temple, formally and peacefully separated.

The Ritual Department retained exclusive use of the traditional old title "Temple." All Sunset priests throughout the kingdom were placed under the administration of the High Priest of the Sunset.

The Missionary Department separated from the temple and changed its name to the "Church." Its head, the Archbishop of the Sunset, had the authority to appoint Sunset clerics responsible for missionary work in each diocese.

Thus, the temple and church worshiped the Sunset together. One was close to the divine, the other close to mankind. They divided sacred and secular affairs, recognized each other but did not belong to one another, and separated authority without declaring one side superior or inferior.

As a condition of reconciliation, priests no longer used labels such as "heretic," "false believer," "fallen," and "demon-beguiled" to attack and persecute believers with differing views, instead treating doctrinal interpretation with tolerance. Clerics removed the mark of the "Alien Star Pattern" from their robes, no longer proclaimed freedom of interpretation, and abandoned inciting lower believers to oppose priests and lords.

As for those sensitive questions that had once stirred countless storms of blood, such as whether "truth resides in sacred doctrine or hides in common life," whether "the altar or the church is closer to god," whether "priests or clerics are more qualified to speak for god," and whether "the high priest or the archbishop is higher, lower, lighter, or heavier," these religious disputes were jointly shelved, even avoided.

Because peace requires mutual trust, but trust requires compromise.

And this meaningful temple became the first, and likely to this day the only, religious building shared by temple and church, priests and clerics alike. Jade City's ritual ceremonies and church sermons were both conducted here.

At this moment, as one of the most honored guests, Thales sat in the front row of the viewing platform before the temple altar, looking solemnly and gravely at the sacred image of the Sunset Goddess. Mm, compared with the way she looked in Eternal Star City's temple, as if she would glare you to death if your eyes met, was her face here much gentler and more human?

Behind him, nearly ten meters away, countless nobles and people of status filled the remaining guest seats before the altar. They all wore dark formal clothes to pay respect to the divine. It was said that across the sea, the Temple of the Dawn was the opposite, honoring white and pale colors. They watched the chief priest of Jade City's temple recite a long ritual text in a rising and falling voice, preparing to begin the public prayer.

Thales secretly looked back. In the first row, he saw Count Lasia and son of the Marshlands, Count Havia of Saltwall Harbor, Count Shukadel of Evergreen Island, who always wore a smiling face, and the devil twins of the Karabeyan family. The twins raised their fans, whose words had this time changed to "The Sunset Protects, All Things Are Had" and "The Sunset Blesses, Success and Fame Are Won," covering their faces as they secretly blinked at Thales in front. But beside them, Miranda gave a soft "mm," and the two sisters instantly sat properly, eyes straight ahead.

Thales gave Mira a thumbs-up.

For some reason, Thales had clearly found the Karabeyan twins much more pleasing yesterday, yet upon seeing them today, he felt his head ache again.

But soon, he no longer had to worry about that headache.

Because at the far end of the first row, Hilley Covendier still looked as if she had not woken up. She rested her elbow on her knee, listlessly propping up her chin. Her head rose and fell amid the priests' chanting and the temple's solemn atmosphere.

Noticing Thales' gaze sweep over, the round-faced girl was refreshed. She silently opened her palm, then blocked the light source. The ferocious ghost face of Soul-Bone Yark smiled at him again.

Bad.

Thales hurriedly turned back.

Thinking back, Kasha and Qina were actually quite good.

"I heard you sent people to the prison early this morning," a familiar figure entered the temple under countless gazes, came to Thales' side, and lowered his voice, his tone cold. "For Dagori Moss' death."

Thales felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over him, and his mood sank.

The prince snorted softly.

"So you know."

Zayen did not sit. Instead, he bowed respectfully toward the sacred image of the Sunset Goddess and made a show of praying.

Thales had no choice but to stand and follow him, lest people criticize the Duke of Star Lake for being arrogant and using power to bully the divine. As a chain reaction, a series of clattering chair sounds immediately came from behind them, and the believers present stood up one after another, hurriedly praying.

Zayen's expression did not change.

"I was just about to tell you, Thales. About that wine merchant's accident..."

"Yes, that was Jade City's prison, your prison," Thales sneered sarcastically. "It really should be you who tells me."

Zayen was silent for a while, then said softly,

"I admit that my subordinates were lax in supervision. No, that was my negligence."

Thales raised his brows.

"Only negligence? Nothing else?"

"My condolences."

"Condolences my..."

Thales, furious and stifled, took a deep breath and at least remembered that this was a temple.

"The radiant god bears holy sunlight; the goddess' grace is endless, the Sunset's radiance boundless. May she bless our kingdom and protect this city, as she once favored King Hyman and Queen Regina, saving countless lives from war..."

Before the altar, priests stepped out one by one from both sides of the altar, each holding candles and following in turn. With the chief priest's chant, they rhythmically bowed and prayed, and the believers also opened their mouths to pray respectfully.

No one noticed that on the most honored viewing platform, the two dukes were silently confronting each other.

"Officer Cacquere told me the prison discovered Dagori Moss' death around midnight last night," Thales glanced at Zayen beside him amid repeated religious chants and spoke in a low voice. "But my subordinates also received the news around midnight last night. I still remember the celebration fireworks."

The Duke of the Iris Flowers, who was pretending to pray, opened his eyes. His gaze was sharp.

"To learn of it so quickly, it seems your Star Lake Guards are well-informed."

"Quite the opposite. I know my subordinates' abilities," Thales replied coldly. "In Jade City, where they know neither people nor places, for the news to travel from the prison to me, it must already have been delayed a long time. Dagori's death could only have been earlier than midnight, and much earlier."

Zayen's gaze sharpened. He did not answer.

"But the prison still reported that he was discovered at midnight. Why?"

Thales recalled Miranda and the others' report, narrowed his eyes, and questioned him.

"Or rather, why would the prison modify and falsely report the time of the incident?"

Falsely report the time...

Zayen quietly looked at the priests before the altar. After a moment, he smiled and spoke.

"I do not know the specifics. But I guess they modified the time of the incident because they wanted to conceal the prison's own dereliction of duty. Do not worry, I will instruct the relevant departments..."

"Enough."

Thales coldly interrupted him.

"The Sunset Goddess, and I mean literally, is above us. So tell fewer lies."

The Duke of South Coast's gaze moved, but his smile did not change.

"I do not understand."

The prince shook his head.

"Three times."

"What three times?"

Thales sneered.

"At last night's Strife Banquet, we spoke of many things, from each guest's origin and general circumstances to Jade City's past and present."

"But there was only one thing, Little Flower, that you intentionally or unintentionally mentioned a full three times."

At first, Zayen was somewhat doubtful, but he soon remembered something, and his pupils shrank.

In the temple, the religious chanting gradually lowered.

"That's right. You mentioned that wine merchant, Dagori Moss." The public prayer ended, and Thales raised his head, slowly sat down, and spoke word by word. "A full three times."

"Not everyone can make our Guardian Duke of South Coast think of them for so long. Sit down. Stop torturing the people behind us."

Zayen's expression was grave and incomparably solemn, but after several seconds, he still slowly sat.

Only then did the whole rear of the temple fill with rustling sounds as people sat down.

On the altar, the candle stand before the chief priest made a hiss, and its flame turned silver.

Amid the believers' whispers, the chief priest waited steadily as priest apprentices put ritual gloves embroidered with the Sunset emblem onto him. Then he accepted a dinner plate from an assistant, tore the holy meal, fine-grain bread, into piece after piece, and solemnly and skillfully passed each over the silver candle flame before placing them on the silver plate passed by the next priest.

On the most honored viewing platform, although Thales stared at the chief priest's movements, his words did not leave the main topic.

"Even when I asked last night whether we should release Moss, you hurriedly used Miranda to change the subject and pretended to be stunned by her beauty after she had changed clothes."

Zayen snorted lightly.

"Is that so? I do not remember."

The holy meal ceremony began. Two deputy chief priests of the diocese came forward with neither humility nor arrogance, offering on silver plates the first two pieces of holy meal roasted by the Sunset's divine fire and handing them to the two dukes.

"It is fine. I remember for you. And it is not just this."

Thales picked up the silver plate, took that tiny piece of holy meal, and bit it. It truly did not taste as good as Emerald Palace's food.

Zayen solemnly yet naturally offered up the holy meal, displaying etiquette that was many times more orthodox than the Duke of Star Lake's. Thales even suspected that he swallowed it without chewing, suffering for the sake of face.

"At the royal banquet, before Anker Byrael showed that short sword of unknown origin and cried injustice over their land problem, it was likewise a certain young and promising duke who eagerly came up to me and began talking at length about vassals' land problems."

Thales narrowed his eyes.

"Words reveal thoughts. You should remember that much, yes?"

Zayen's brows tightened almost imperceptibly.

"Tell me, Lord Zayen. At last night's Strife Banquet, why did you bring up Dagori Moss?"

Thales spoke softly, but his words were sharp.

"Unless you already knew in your heart at that time that Moss was dead, and all your words were only probing me."

Zayen gently stood and smiled as he returned the silver plate to the priest.

"Thales..."

But the prince ignored him, and the silver plate in his hand fell to the floor with a thud, startling quite a few people.

The Duke of South Coast had no choice but to smile apologetically, pick up the prince's plate without complaint, gently hand it to the priest, and return to his seat.

"So, Little Flower, you have a guilty conscience, but even though you knew early on, you pretended not to know and calmly finished the Strife Banquet, putting on an act and hiding the news of Moss' death from me the whole time."

Thales suppressed the displeasure in his voice.

"You even instructed the prison people to cover their tracks, including changing the time of the incident to midnight, just so I would not grow suspicious, thereby tempting me to believe that Dagori truly and plainly died by ordinary suicide or revenge killing?"

Zayen took a deep breath and smiled in response to every believer who walked past him to return their silver plate to the priests.

"Why?"

Thales clenched his teeth tightly.

"Dagori Moss. What reason did he have that he had to die?"

The last believer returned to their seat. The chief priest's serious expression relaxed, and he smiled as he announced that the holy meal ceremony had ended.

Only then did the noble believers relax as one. The quiet and solemn atmosphere was broken, and conversation and greetings rose and fell.

"Ridiculous."

For the first time, Zayen coldly struck back at Thales.

"Moss was a turncoat. He worked for me, yet used my resources to eat from the inside and outside, privately swallowing money that belonged to me. Even as a businessman, he was scum. Since entering the wine industry, he cheated, deceived, and harmed countless people. He did not deserve to live."

Taking advantage of no one paying attention, the duke glared fiercely at him.

"And your last involvement with him only got you covered in filth for nothing. Why care so much?"

"That was not my question just now," Thales said, not buying it at all. "What I asked was: why did you kill him last night?"

Zayen's expression changed.

He abruptly stood, frightening several guests who had been preparing to come greet the duke.

"This is not the place to talk." The Duke of the Iris Flowers glanced at Thales. "Come with me."

With that, Zayen turned and left. His face remained gloomy the entire way, and he merely nodded at greetings from others without answering.

Thales snorted coldly, stood, and followed without fear.

Now, everyone could see that something had gone wrong between the two dukes again.

Facing two auras that differed in degree but were equally bad, no one dared approach to speak. Even the devil twins shrank back while whispering to each other. Together, they raised their fans and flipped to the reverse side: "Kasha and Qina, with Cohen included as extra; drive away disaster and hardship, and surely live safely for life."

The believers in the temple began whispering cautiously again. Amid the noise, several vague phrases could be heard, something about "becoming enemies because of the sister," "brothers-in-law's misunderstanding," "bullying men and dominating women," "northern barbarian," and so on.

Thales followed Zayen to the temple's second floor. The latter pushed open a door. Inside was a rather private and dignified confessional room, two small wooden compartments connected by a sound panel. Zayen did not hesitate to pull open the door of one compartment.

Thales frowned and waved away the sharp smell. A Sunset priest with sparse hair, a ruddy face, and an air of wealth from top to bottom sat comfortably in the compartment, his large belly protruding. From time to time, he held a flexible metal tube in his mouth and puffed clouds of smoke.

"Chadvey?"

The wealthy priest, who was smoking, looked about fifty. Hearing the voice, he opened his eyes in shock, jumped up from the confessional, and hit his head on the door panel.

"Ah, Duke! Prince!"

Priest Chadvey was in so much pain that tears and snot flowed, but he had no time to care. Panicked, he hurriedly stuffed the water pipe into his robes.

"I was just... preparing for the confessions later and needed to enter a state of absolute rationality and calm..."

But Zayen was not polite. He grabbed him and hauled him out of the confessional compartment.

"Get out. Guard the door. Do not let anyone approach."

Chadvey staggered while holding the water pipe, somewhat dazed.

"But I still have to hear confessions for the noble guests later..."

"From this moment on, you have heard confession first for the Duke of South Coast and then for the Second Prince. Is that not enough?" Zayen said coldly. "Other people can go to other confessionals."

Chadvey froze for a long while. He looked at Zayen, then at Thales, and finally at the narrow confessional compartment. Suddenly, enlightenment came to him, and he understood.

He was no longer nervous. Instead, he shook his belly, openly revealed the water pipe, and smiled wickedly.

"But, Duke, the Sunset Goddess will not forgive us for falsifying things, unless..."

Thales narrowed his eyes.

"Get out. Now, Chadvey," Zayen said, expression unchanged, only his tone colder. "Then the Sunset Goddess will forgive the nice thing between you and Old Lady Pintor, keep her son from knowing it, and further keep him from seeking you out for a life-and-death duel over his dead father's honor."

Priest Chadvey instantly turned to stone.

"Mm?" Zayen raised his brows.

In the next second, the reacted Priest Chadvey scrambled out of the room and slammed the door shut.

Thales was somewhat surprised.

"That fellow, is Chadvey a priest or a cleric? Hey, have I seen him somewhere..."

But Zayen only snorted coldly and sat inside one compartment.

Since the other party had done so, Thales also snorted coldly and pulled open the door of the other confessional compartment. He waved away the smell of smoke and sat in the darkness within.

"Now you can talk..."

But before Thales could finish, the shadow in the other compartment moved.

Zayen pushed open the compartment door with a slap, came to Thales' compartment, opened the door, and squeezed in.

"Move aside," the duke said coldly.

"Hey!"

Thales was squeezed aside by Zayen and gnashed his teeth.

"Is there not an empty seat over there..."

"Smoke smell." Zayen's gaze was displeased, his words brief.

Thales froze.

"Someone who smokes should not be afraid of smoke smell, should they?"

"Someone who has been poor should not be afraid of poverty, should they?"

Thales was instantly speechless.

And so, the Duke of Star Lake and the Duke of South Coast angrily squeezed into the narrow confessional compartment, glaring in the darkness, or rather, listening to each other's breathing.

"I did not kill him."

Zayen gritted his teeth.

"I did not kill Dagori Moss, nor did I instruct anyone else to kill him."

Thales shook his head disdainfully.

"Come on. At this point, what meaning is there in quibbling..."

Zayen's breathing grew heavier.

"For Sunset's sake, I swear on the Covendier name! When the prison reported this news, Thales Jadestar, I was as shocked as you!"

Thales' words stalled.

In the darkness, the Duke of South Coast said angrily,

"Dagori Moss may have been a Secret Intelligence chess piece, but he was already in my prison, to be handled as I wished. Why would I do something unnecessary? Kill him in prison to silence him, then come back and fabricate excuses to you, looking for trouble for myself?"

Thales frowned and thought briefly.

"But your people falsified and even concealed the case, from the time to the scene, from the suspects to the facts, including Cacquere's report," the prince said methodically. "They turned a murder into a suicide and suppressed it. Moss was not an ordinary criminal. They would not dare do this privately. It could only have been your instruction."

"Correct."

This time, Zayen admitted it openly, with no intention of concealing it.

"To maintain stability."

"Stability?" Thales smiled sarcastically.

"That wine merchant entered prison because of the conflict between us. If he were murdered, he would become the center of public opinion," Zayen suppressed his anger and explained patiently. "We cannot and need not allow this matter to disturb the Strife Banquet or the beginning of the Emerald Celebration. The guests need not know."

"Tell that to ghosts! The guests did not need to know, but what about me? You even fabricated a story afterward to cover the truth just to fool me? Revenge killing? Bah!"

"That story was only used to..."

"Enough! Little Flower, I am tired of going in circles with you. Regarding Dagori Moss' death, what reason did you have that you had to hide it from me for an entire night?"

"You!"

Thales nodded angrily.

"Yes!"

Zayen said furiously,

"No, you!"

"Yes, me!"

"No, no, no! I mean you. It was you!"

Thales was baffled.

"What about me?"

Zayen was momentarily choked with anger.

He took a deep breath and raised one index finger.

"No. I mean, because of you! Because I was worried it was you!"

Thales was stunned.

"What? Worried what was me?"

Zayen panted several times and finally calmed his emotions.

"Fine. Since things have come this far, I will ask directly."

In the darkness, he turned toward Thales, his eyes cold and quiet.

"Dagori Moss. Did you kill him, Thales?"

Huh?

I killed him?

Thales froze.

"What?"

Zayen snorted coldly.

"Was he killed by your people? Or did you instruct your subordinates or people outside the palace to go into the prison and finish him?"

Thales reacted and denied it angrily.

"What kind of bullshit are you talking about? Of course not!"

"Then did you know in advance? At least during the banquet?" Zayen's tone was suspicious and pressed step by step.

"No! That is the question I should be asking you!"

Zayen gave a sarcastic sneer.

"Then do you, or your 'good friends' in Secret Intelligence, have any conspiracy plan unfolding around Moss' death to deal with me?"

Good friends in Secret Intelligence...

The image of that round-faced girl appeared before him, and Thales instantly choked.

"I do not understand what you are saying."

In the darkness, Zayen was silent for a long while.

"Hmph. I suppose so," the Duke of South Coast said coldly, his tone disdainful. "Given your cowardly and stupid appearance... you do not look capable of helping the kingdom's Secret Intelligence carry out any conspiracy."

"You..."

Thales used all his strength and relied on the Sin of Hell's River to stabilize his emotions.

"Wait. You mean you hid it from me because you suspected me?"

"Last night was the Strife Banquet, with all eyes watching," Zayen said as if it were natural and beyond question. "As I said, if your father wanted to act, that was an excellent opportunity."

"As for me, no amount of suspicion or caution would be excessive."

Thales exhaled in disbelief.

"So you even suspected me and thought Dagori's death was my doing?"

"Nonsense. That wine merchant came to you on his own initiative, Prince!"

Zayen was extremely indignant and scolded,

"You were the one who brought him into the city! You were also the one who came to tell me he was Secret Intelligence! Even after he was in prison, you still asked about him! So, of course, when Dagori Moss strangely died an unnatural death at the critical moment of the Strife Banquet, yes, I had ten thousand reasons for suspecting you first!"

Thales drew in a breath of anger.

"I... is there something wrong with your damn brain?"

But Zayen did not back down at all.

"Do not forget, you are a damned Jadestar! Who knows whether you did it? Or whether someone on the same side as you did it? Who knows whether you were going to use this matter at the Strife Banquet? Whether you had prepared some conspiracy that would catch me off guard? Who knows whether Moss' death was that butcher's knife, and you just happened to be the one holding it?"

"Me?"

Thales took a deep breath, so furious that he looked left and right but could only see darkness.

"Last night, I stood right beside you, analyzing with you the possible conspiracies of my father and the kingdom's Secret Intelligence! I stayed wary and alert the entire night! Until the Strife Banquet ended!"

Zayen said sarcastically,

"Yes. Undercover agents and spies would do the same. They would make themselves look even more convincing than you!"

Thales laughed from anger.

"And we even discussed Jade City's weaknesses together. Fine, even if you had problems and suspicions, you could have asked me directly!"

"Asked you? Asked you what? 'Hey, Thales, happy Strife Banquet. Did you kill anyone just now?'"

"You could at least have tried!"

Thales said angrily, "Are you mute? Even Faceless Kork at least has a mouth to use! My mute subordinate can use sign language!"

"I could have tried?"

Zayen had clearly grown angry as well. In the little compartment, he no longer cared about etiquette.

"Yes, I could. Of course I could! But I chose not to, because you damn well could not!"

"What? I could not?"

The Duke of South Coast flung his hand in hatred.

"Oh, stop pretending, Thales. We have been fighting for seven years. I understand you far too damn well. If I smiled at the Strife Banquet and lightly told you this matter, told you Moss was dead, told you your fun little toy and wine merchant had been damaged and lost... then, with overflowing sympathy and excessive sense of justice, or rather, with the hypocritical sanctimony of a warm-hearted saint like Prince Thales, would you not be the first to suspect me?"

"I..."

"Would you not first suspect that I robbed myself while guarding him, that I was ruthless, that I cried thief after being the thief, that I secretly silenced Moss?"

"You..."

"Would you not come with righteousness and full indignation to demand an explanation and question what had happened, just like you did a moment ago when you dropped a plate in public in the Sunset Temple and showed me that face? And like now, without distinguishing right from wrong, you cursed me roundly?"

"Zayen Covendier," Thales worked hard to adjust his breathing, each word gnashing through his teeth. "Are you damn serious?"

"More serious than your height!"

"You son of..."

"And last night was the Strife Banquet, the opening of the Emerald Celebration. A century-old tradition of the Covendiers!"

Zayen was furious.

"Who knows whether a universally known troublemaker like you, a famous calamity star, would ruin my banquet, the banquet my ancestors have never once let go wrong?

"Who knows whether your brain would suddenly short-circuit and you would go mad again, throwing out a sword in public like you did at the royal banquet and asking 'Did you bring this?' Or like at Renaissance Palace and the Imperial Conference, storming the palace and rebelling for some insignificant kidnapping extortionist? You might even create an enormous scene and chaos in front of all the Strife Banquet guests, so great that no one could clean it up or imagine it. 'No, everyone of Jade City, come judge fairly! Zayen is so very bad! Did you break my adorable, pitiful little wine-merchant boy toy on my bed?'"

Zayen pinched his voice to imitate Thales. The effect was both comical and ridiculous, but unfortunately, the Duke of Star Lake himself was not among an audience able to appreciate it.

"I am not... what kind of joke is this?"

Thales angrily struck the door panel.

"You know I would not do that, and I would never say that. I would not ruin your banquet!"

"No, I do not know!"

Zayen refuted him forcefully.

"And even if I knew, I would not know whether others would!"

"Others?"

"Yes! I do not know whether others, such as your father, have follow-up moves! I do not know whether the kingdom's Secret Intelligence would interfere from within, using your temper and personality, stirring things up and calculating an attack while even you yourself knew nothing. Who dares say that definitely would not happen? Do you dare say it? Do you know? Can you guarantee it?"

Thales' anger still had not faded.

"But if you came to me and told me the truth, I could at least guar..."

"You are just a powerless, rootless poor prince who has been rejected by Daddy and whose backside is bigger than his brain. What the hell can you guarantee?"

"You... yes, I am poor! But I have chips. I have the support of my subordinates. I have them to maintain the scene. At least I can guarantee..."

"Oh, your subordinates? Danny Doyle, who shamelessly comes to the main hall every day to freeload high-priced Tarlenbang spring drinks, then goes off to eat, drink, and play with wastrel sons, always putting it on credit before coming back to Ashford to submit the account?"

"You... he, he is only... do not just stare at him alone!"

After this round of arguing, the topic had drifted, and they had shouted until they were somewhat tired. Coupled with the stale air in the confessional compartment, both men were panting. By tacit understanding, they paused for one round of ceasefire.

Several seconds later, Zayen finally caught his breath.

"So, given that this concerned all of Jade City's tradition and the Covendiers' face, as well as the Iris Flowers' safety and rule..."

He said stiffly,

"The safest and most reliable method I could think of at the Strife Banquet was to suppress Moss' death and turn it into an ordinary case of suicide out of fear of punishment. If everyone did not know, no one would care, and no one could use it to make trouble, including our enemies."

Thales could not help sneering.

"You mean including me?"

"I said this was for the greater picture, for stability! And the facts prove that it succeeded. Everything was normal that night!"

Zayen emphasized again and again, gnashing his teeth.

"I intended to tell you after the fact, in a safer and more rational way, instead of you privately..."

"Oh, of course. After the fact, have Cacquere tell me that Moss was merely killed by a few debt-ridden ruffians seeking revenge? And I do not need to worry anymore, I can go back to my room and sleep soundly. How very safe and rational!"

Thales spat again.

"If I were not stubborn and determined to investigate further, were you planning to treat me as a fool, keep me in the dark while dealing with me insincerely, and then push me out to block the knife when disaster arrived?"

Hearing this, Zayen snorted in disdain and waved a hand.

"As expected, my guess has been proven right. Look at your childish temper, as if someone robbed your lollipop. How do you expect me to trust you?"

"I return the exact words!"

Thales said hatefully,

"Since you treat me like a fool, you had best prepare to be annoyed to death by a child's temper! Friendly reminder: the last person to taste this child's temper was named Chapman Lampard..."

Bang!

With a loud sound, the confessional compartment door was opened.

In the next second, a monster with wet red tendrils growing on its face pounced onto the door frame, opened its mucus-covered maw at the shocked pair, and made a disgusting slurping sound.

"Shhhhlurp."

In the nick of time, Zayen roared angrily, grabbed the monster's face, and tore off its skin.

"Get out!"

Thud!

With a muffled sound, Zayen threw the monster skin in his hand hard onto the floor and glared angrily at the round-faced freckled girl before him, who looked dazed.

Time seemed to freeze.

After several seconds, Hilley Covendier blinked, lowered her head without concern, and picked up the wet skin hood.

"All right. This is the Sucking Demon. It is said that long ago, a certain..."

"Get lost! Do you not understand?" Zayen, whose anger had not faded, shouted and interrupted her.

Hilley shrugged, somewhat helpless.

"Fine, fine, fine. Why so fierce? Sigh, it was not easy to bring this in."

She grabbed the Sucking Demon skin hood, kneaded it into a ball, stuffed it under her skirt, and turned to leave.

"Alas, when one encounters boring spectators who do not appreciate or cooperate, there is nothing that can be done..."

Before leaving, Hilley looked reluctantly at Thales.

"Forget it. Not every performance can succeed every time."

Watching Hilley sway out of the room, the Duke of the Iris Flowers finally gave an angry snort and closed the confessional door.

"Wild girl who lacks discipline!"

Zayen cursed hatefully, then turned his head.

"In short, right now we... you. Why are you curled in the corner?"

Under the Duke of South Coast's strange gaze, Thales slowly straightened and raised his head, wiping the sweat from his face, expressionless.

"Tying my shoelaces."