Chapter 659: The Self-Righteous Brother

The round-faced freckled girl pulled Thales' hand with one hand, while skillfully lifting her skirt with the other, revealing the rough, thick traveling boots that clashed completely with her dress. She thumped up the steps, practiced, swift, and nimble.

"Where exactly are you taking me..."

"Quiet. Watch the road. I will not compensate you if you fall."

Thales had no choice but to follow Hilley all the way up the stone stairs, arriving at the third floor of the Sunset Temple.

Toward this eldest daughter of the Covendiers, who had appeared so abruptly last night, Thales' mood was complicated. He did not even know what attitude he should use toward her.

Without question, Cecilia Covendier was absolutely not as innocent and pure as she appeared in the portrait, or as Zayen described her. At the very least, her interest and skill in building atmosphere, shifting attention, dressing as a ghost, and frightening people were beyond ordinary reach, truly unmatched. Thales was indignant about this.

Second, as Zayen's sister, the secret identity she revealed was shocking and hard to believe.

Yet considering the kingdom's Secret Intelligence abilities, as well as King Kessel's air of assured victory, this fact, that the noble lady of the Iris Flower family had been turned by Renaissance Palace, did not seem entirely impossible to accept.

Moreover, Thales remembered the official reason he had come to Jade City and discovered that the origin of everything was this girl.

But the problem lay precisely here.

Thales calmed himself and looked at the girl before him, who was dragging him forward.

That night, when King Kessel had personally visited Star Lake Castle, he had said to Thales that the Covenant between father and son, seemingly divided but actually united, was a secret that absolutely could not be spoken to outsiders. Even the kingdom's Secret Intelligence was included among those outsiders.

Yet last night, this noble spy lady who had received King Kessel's instructions claimed to come from the kingdom's Secret Intelligence, and knew perfectly well the purpose of Thales' trip to Jade City.

This could not help making Thales suspicious.

What did she know?

What had King Kessel told her?

How much did she know about the Covenant between himself and King Kessel?

To what extent could he trust her?

Would this endanger him?

And there was another point. When Thales thought of it, his mood could not help sinking.

Thales, how do you know that in the matter of Jade City, and even in the matter of the Covenant, King Kessel did not conceal things from you, deceive you, or mislead you?

For example... Hilley Covendier's existence?

Or, beyond that, how much else had he concealed?

For the king, to what extent did this so-called absolute secret that "could not be spoken to outsiders" hold true?

At that moment, the voice deep in his heart was full of vigilance and quietly reminded him.

Perhaps, perhaps that was only empty talk your father used to make you feel at ease and obey.

And he himself never cared.

Once there was profit to be gained, once the situation required it, once there was a better reason, the Iron Hand King would not hesitate to sell you out, regardless of cost.

Just like his attitude toward you in the past.

Or perhaps the future will be the same?

Thinking of this, Thales grew even more uneasy.

Before long, they turned onto a corridor, and could vaguely hear the crowd roaring outside the windows.

"Ah, we are here!"

Hilley came to a door at the end of the corridor and tried the handle.

"Huh. Locked."

Hilley stepped back, snorted coldly, and pulled a thin hairpin from her hair, moving it toward the lock.

Amid faint rustling mechanical sounds, Thales' expression changed slightly.

"What are you doing?"

"Picking the lock."

"Picking a lock inside the temple? You are a Covendier, a young lady from a ducal house!"

"What, you have never seen a noble pick a lock?" Hilley did not turn back, only focusing on the lock.

Thales froze, then said indignantly,

"Actually, I really have... with this technique, can you do it or not?"

Hilley waved a hand.

"Shut up. Do not disturb me."

She pulled out the hairpin, took a deep breath, and waved her palm around the lock.

"Everything is about attention, about misdirection," Hilley muttered to herself, focused, her palm moving faster and faster. "That's right. So I only need to guide the lock's attention, and while this lock is not paying attention, I can successfully open it..."

Misdirection...

While the lock is not paying attention...

Thales' expression became strange.

"Uh, perhaps that is the trick to magic, but are you sure it is also the trick to picking locks?"

Hilley whipped her head back, her gaze dark and unfriendly.

"Are you doubting me?"

Thales remembered this girl's methods and hurriedly piled up a smile.

"No! I am only raising a tiny, insignificant..."

Just then, the lock opened with a click.

Hilley's expression brightened, and she hurriedly turned back.

"See? While the lock was not paying attention!"

Thales looked at the door slowly opening, then at the hairpin still in Hilley's hand, and frowned.

"Are you sure you opened it?"

At that moment, an old man in priest robes poked his head out from behind the door, cautious.

"Who... Lady Hilley?"

The old priest behind the door let out a breath.

"Hah, I thought it was some bold little brat... uh, you again, Prince Thales?"

Thales looked at Priest Chadvey, whom he had met not long ago, and squeezed out an awkward smile.

"It is you, Chadvey." Hilley was not surprised at all, instead looking enlightened. "I remember that at the confessional door, I told you to go farther away, did I not?"

"Y-yes, but..."

Chadvey looked behind him, then at Hilley. The grievance in his eyes was extremely clear.

Is this still not far enough?

Thales followed his gaze and looked behind him. Only then did he discover that behind the door was the temple's rooftop.

Hilley pushed the door open and stepped in, as if it were only natural.

"Give up the place. Go out. Do whatever you should be doing."

Chadvey's expression changed.

"But, miss, this is one of the few places where one can hide from work..."

"Go out now." Hilley shrugged. "And I will pretend I do not know about the affair between you and Count Pintor's mother."

Thales' mouth twitched, while Chadvey's expression changed greatly.

"I... you, you cannot do this..."

"Do you want me to say which room in the New Suburb you two use every Wednesday?"

In the next second, Chadvey darted out nimbly and disappeared before the two.

Only then did Thales follow Hilley onto the rooftop, then start in surprise.

Citizens packed the temple square below in a dense black mass. They queued and were divided into sections. Some listened to several clerics preach, while others followed the priests in reciting prayers and receiving the holy meal.

"You have offered much this year, for yourself, for your family, and even more for Jade City and the Sunset Goddess," a priest said with closed eyes, leading the people in prayer.

"Those who repent sincerely and act in accordance with what they have received," a cleric stood high and preached loudly, "the Sunset forgives your sins!"

But no matter which it was, they never forgot to bring out the donation box.

"What is this?" Thales asked.

"Public Prayer Day."

Hilley casually braced her arms and leapt, sitting on the edge of the rooftop. Her boots dangled in midair, making Thales frown repeatedly.

It seemed she was not afraid of heights.

"When great figures and rich people hold public prayer in temples and altars, churches and sermon halls, the vast majority of citizens, by which I mean poor and ordinary people, hold public prayer here."

"I see."

Hilley snorted softly.

"The Emerald Celebration is a citywide carnival, but unfortunately, the Sunset Temple believes all revelry, drinking, gluttony, games, drug abuse, pleasure, and even excessive bedchamber activity, are fallen acts that violate doctrine and show extreme irresponsibility toward one's body and soul."

With that, Hilley braced her arms behind her, leaned her upper body backward, and looked at Thales upside down.

"But here, in Jade City, custom and discipline have achieved a clever and convenient balance."

Thales instinctively covered his eyes, twisted his head, and ducked back, but Hilley did nothing.

"The temple presides over public prayer, and the church handles sermons. They judge your actions over the previous year. Of course, most of the time, that depends on how much you donated. Then they announce that your revelry over these seven days is the reward you deserve after fulfilling your duties and working hard. It is right and proper, natural and justified, and blessed by the goddess. So after you eat the holy meal, listen to the sermon, leave the temple, and come down from the church, you can go drink and revel happily with complete satisfaction and no burden."

"That convenient?"

"To fit reality, there is an even more convenient version. Revel for six days first, then drunkenly come do public prayer on the evening of the seventh day after the celebration ends. That still counts too, though the donation may need to double. But facts prove that donations on the final day are the highest."

While Thales wondered whether, if this girl slipped and fell, he could walk out of Jade City alive, and whether the Kingdom of Stars could avoid civil war, he suddenly discovered that Hilley had not made this strange movement to frighten him again. She was reaching for something on the ground and lifting it up.

"This is... a water pipe?" Thales frowned at the pipe she lifted.

"Oh, not bad knowledge."

"No way. In the Sunset Temple?"

"Chadvey is an old smoker. He has a full set of tools." Hilley did not even look at him as she skillfully took out tools. "I only need to bring the mouthpiece and tobacco leaves. Aha, here are the leaves he did not finish smoking. Good goods imported from Turo."

"Zayen is one thing... why are even you so skilled?"

"Who do you think taught my brother to smoke?"

Thales had no choice but to shut up.

Hilley swiftly lit the water pipe.

"Want a puff?"

Thales smiled awkwardly and waved his hand, politely refusing.

"I remember now." Thales looked at the water pipe and suddenly understood. "I have met Priest Chadvey before, at a meal a few days ago. At that time, he said, 'Only a civilized and devout marriage will receive the blessing of the Sunset Goddess,' then weirdly hinted that I was neither civilized nor devout."

"My brother must have ordered him to do it," Hilley said, taking small puffs of smoke. Amid the curling smoke, her whole person looked elegant and mysterious. "When I was little, because I played a small joke on the Karabeyan sisters, I nearly got sent to the temple to receive instruction, study etiquette, and improve my upbringing."

"A small joke?" Thales looked doubtful.

"At that time, Chadvey spoke righteously and helped me muddle through."

"Oh, spoke righteously in order to muddle through..." Thales' expression was odd. "Do you not think there is something wrong with that sentence?"

Under bright sunlight, Hilley breathed out a mouthful of smoke, raised her arms to the sky, and stretched comfortably on the rooftop.

"It was also from that time that I discovered that although the old fellow was not devout in faith, his taste in tobacco was not bad."

If she had not been holding a water pipe, this image should have been beautiful.

No. Actually, holding the water pipe amid the curling smoke gave her a different sort of charm.

Thales shook his head, waved away the smoke smell, sat on the floor, and returned to reality.

"You learned smoking from Chadvey?"

"You insult me, Your Highness. Does one need to learn this thing?"

"..."

"Aside from that, Chadvey also has a believer who came from a street magician background. That is why he can make himself seem full of miracles and radiant with divine light during rituals and sermons. Of course, I also benefited greatly."

Benefited greatly...

Thinking of what he experienced yesterday, Thales swallowed.

"All right, let us begin." Hilley took advantage of the momentum to lean crookedly on the rooftop, basking in the sun, lazy. "Whatever you want to ask, now is the time."

"Right... right here?"

Thales stepped forward, looked at the crowd below, and said sarcastically,

"Excellent. There are at least ten thousand people below. If they raise their heads, they can see us!"

"Not that many. Eight thousand at most."

Is that important?

Thales suppressed his desire to retort.

"Why not go to that confessional just now? It is more hidden..."

"Only fellows who have read too many knight novels and gone stupid think spies all meet in airtight darkness, believing that is safest because no one can see them," Hilley said disdainfully. "If you want to talk privately, it is best to do it openly in public, chatting calmly as if nothing is happening. Like this."

But after taking a puff of smoke, she frowned.

"Oh, sorry. Did I understand wrongly? Do you want to find a dark, cramped, unknown corner and do certain things with me that, mm, cannot be done under the open sky?"

Thales' expression changed, and he remembered the Karabeyan twins.

"Ahem, madam, please respect yourself..."

"Excellent!"

Hilley's eyes lit up as she lay flat.

"A dark and oppressive narrow space can enhance the atmosphere of terror! It is perfect for Wall-Separated Ghost Weeping!"

Wall-Separated Ghost Weeping...

Thales' smile instantly disappeared.

"You are right. Here is very good."

Hilley looked at him as if she had seen through something. She smiled mysteriously and looked beyond the temple.

Looking at the strange girl lying before him, Thales' brows only tightened further.

"To be honest, Lady Covendier, from last night until now, I have been thinking about your role."

"I understand." Hilley breathed out another mouthful of smoke. "A good performance always makes the audience toss and turn, stay awake all night, scratch their hearts, and remember it for a long time."

"And after frightening the audience and letting them experience a period of sensory stimulation, one must give them a soothing period to understand and digest the previous feeling, applaud the performance, and conveniently cultivate atmosphere for the next climax."

But Thales ignored her nonsense and went straight to the point.

"My father. Aside from those code phrases, what else did he tell you?"

"Do you mean the part you should know, or the part you do not need to know?"

Thales froze.

"There is still a part I do not need to know?"

The Second Prince, the kingdom's heir, the king's secret collaborator, was he truly just a decoration?

Hilley shrugged without confirming or denying it.

"Fine." Thales cleared his throat and set aside his displeasure. "Then if I ask about the former, the part I should know?"

"The Stars shall revive, royal power shall rise, and Jade City, even the South Coast Territory, will soon return to royal rule and submit to royal civilization," Hilley answered very crisply. "And we will be witnesses to this history. Of course, if matters do not go smoothly, we will be participants."

Witnesses to history.

Participants.

"I do not understand," Thales folded his arms. "Why did he tell you this? The sister of the first target of this trip?"

Hilley turned to the side and waved the pipe at Thales.

"Yes. Just as I initially did not understand why His Majesty told you about this. The person who openly opposes him in the kingdom."

Thales shook his head.

"That is different."

"But I can understand it," Hilley answered extremely quickly. "Because in this mission, His Majesty needs an unexpected force. There are some things that the kingdom's Secret Intelligence cannot do, and had best not know."

An unexpected force.

Things the kingdom's Secret Intelligence cannot do and had best not know...

Thales frowned slightly.

"Good. My turn." Hilley's eyes turned. "In that suspicious, soundproofed little confessional, what did my brother say to you?"

"He said," Thales raised his alertness to the highest point, "that he did not kill Dagori Moss."

"The wine merchant who followed you into the city?"

"Yes." Thales stared at her carefully, wanting to see clues on the girl's face. "So, was he killed by the kingdom's Secret Intelligence?"

But Hilley shook her head.

"I do not know."

"What?"

Thales looked doubtful.

"Stop joking. You appeared one moment and warned me that 'others would handle the rest,' and Moss died the next. How could there be such a coincidence under heaven?"

"I said we use single-line contact. How could I know what the kingdom's Secret Intelligence does?"

"No. For such a major matter, even with single-line contact... how could you not know?"

"You are the Second Prince, and did you not also not know?"

"I... I am not one of Secret Intelligence!"

"I am not one of Secret Intelligence either."

"Then you can contact... what did you say?" Thales reacted and was a little astonished.

"I said, I would very much like to help." Hilley shook her head unconcernedly. "But unfortunately, I am neither one of the kingdom's Secret Intelligence people, nor do I have any way to contact them. I cannot confirm it."

Hearing this, Thales froze again and pressed,

"What? What did you just say you are not?"

Hilley shrugged.

Thales was incomparably puzzled.

"But last night, did you not say..."

"Say what?"

"Your last sentence. Remember?"

Hilley became doubtful and thought for quite a while.

"Oh, you mean 'The kingdom's Secret Intelligence greets you'?"

Thales raised his brows.

"Yes?"

"Oh, that line."

Hilley's expression remained normal, as if this was only a small matter.

"That was used to adjust the atmosphere while saying goodbye."

Adjust the atmosphere...

The rooftop was quiet for a long while. For a time, only the sound waves from the square could be heard.

Several seconds later, Thales urged the Sin of Hell's River and used all his strength to maintain a smiling face.

"What? Atmosphere?"

The doubt that kept me awake all night, you explain it lightly with one phrase, "adjust the atmosphere"?

"Do you not think that farewell line was cool and interesting? It happened to raise the suspenseful atmosphere to its climax."

Hilley took a puff of smoke and took out a ghost-face mask from beneath her sleeve.

"A magician's greatest reward is enjoying the audience's expression of disbelief after finishing a trick."

Thales did not know what an expression of disbelief was.

He only felt that his brow was twitching at this moment.

"If we were to do it again..."

The round-faced girl sat up, her gaze turning cold.

She approached Thales, her expression bland yet her gaze deep.

"By the Great Lord's light, boundless in grace and might, Quintana from the distant mountains and earth greets Your Highness."

Thales took a deep breath.

So that meant...

Hilley put away her expression and lay back down on the rooftop, but then she remembered something and froze.

"Wait. So..." The girl frowned and turned back. "You did not actually think I was Secret Intelligence just because of that line, did you?"

Yes.

What else?

"Of course not. How could that be?" Thales coughed and worked hard to squeeze out an expression of calm indifference. "I saw long ago that you were not part of the kingdom's Secret Intelligence. Just now, I was only testing you to see whether I could probe out your details with one sentence."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Sigh, please." Hilley looked at him pitifully and shook her head. "We are the people His Majesty personally chose to 'decide as circumstances demand.' Since that is so, of course only we can disturb Secret Intelligence's plans. How could we let Secret Intelligence disturb ours?"

"I know!"

"Do not go."

"Do not go where?" Thales was still in a state of embarrassed anger.

"Do not try to search for or contact the kingdom's Secret Intelligence." In that instant, Hilley's voice was ethereal, drifting away with the smoke. "My brother not only rules this city, he also controls it, owns it, and dominates it to a degree you cannot imagine."

Owns it, dominates it...

Thales' expression changed slightly.

"But at the Strife Banquet," he probed, "Zayen was very uneasy. He spent the entire night worried and afraid, guarding against the king's next step..."

"For the sake of friends, not for the destruction of enemies."

Hilley interrupted him.

The girl turned toward Thales. At this moment, she no longer smoked, and her gaze was sharp.

"Do you think you are my brother's friend, or his enemy?"

"And what does my brother think you are, his friend or his enemy?"

Thales froze.

He was just about to speak, but Hilley cut him off again.

"To sum it up, which side of him do you think he would let you see?"

Thales' expression disappeared, and he fell into deep thought.

Hilley looked at Thales, her gaze deep.

"If you contact Secret Intelligence and fail, that is fine. But if you succeed, you risk exposing both sides and bringing destruction upon their operation."

Hilley turned back.

"And I do not need to remind you: the kingdom's Secret Intelligence should not even know of our existence."

Thales emerged from his complicated thoughts and took a deep breath.

"If that is so, what role exactly should I play here?"

"That is the part His Majesty called 'you do not need to know.'" Hilley shrugged.

"Ha. Thank you," Thales said sarcastically. "Thank you for informing me that I am apparently not my father's favorite child."

"Think more openly. In this mission, everyone has their own role to play, even me." Hilley snorted softly. "Just as His Majesty must also have told you certain parts that only a prince deserves to know, and which I 'do not need to know,' right?"

Certain parts that only a prince deserves to know...

Thales squeezed out a smile of victory in hand.

"Right."

Wrong.

He did not tell me a damned thing.

"So, we are even. Are you happier now?"

Thank you. Not at all.

But in the next moment, Thales' gaze changed.

"Then why?"

He stared at Hilley, who was lying comfortably and preparing to take another puff. "As a Covendier, why do you stand on the king's side against your brother?"

Hilley's hand, which held the pipe, stopped.

"Skip this question," the girl said expressionlessly. "Ask another."

Thales narrowed his eyes.

"Then do you know what fate Zayen Covendier, your brother, will face once our mission is completed?"

Hilley's gaze froze.

"You broke the rules."

"What?"

Hilley turned toward him, her eyes cold.

"I believe you have violated His Majesty's instructions and spoken of the part I 'do not need to know.'"

His Majesty's instructions...

Thales frowned.

"That means you actually know, right?"

He pressed, "Then why?"

Hilley frowned.

"You asked the skipped question again."

On the rooftop of the temple, the youth and the girl looked at each other, silently confronting one another.

But several seconds later, Thales smiled.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I was only thinking." Thales shook his head, sighing with emotion. "If Zayen knew that Jade City's greatest enemy came from beside him, from his closest kin..."

Hilley's expression turned cold.

"Do not worry. He is not you. Even if he discovered the truth in the end, he would not cry."

Thales' expression changed slightly.

"What do you mean, 'he is not me'?"

Hilley snorted coldly, and the freckles on her face moved slightly.

"With my brother's personality, he would only clench his teeth hard, wipe away one tear in a corner no one could see, then raise his head in the next second and force out a smile: 'Excellent, sister. As expected of us Covendiers, always loyal to king and country, never falling behind.'"

Hilley turned toward Thales.

"Then, on the surface, he would respectfully obey. Behind the scenes, he would continue thinking of ways to make trouble and cause sabotage in the way he is best at. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Although your description is strange," Thales narrowed his eyes, "my instinct tells me you may be right."

Hilley and Thales looked at each other. Several seconds later, she smiled.

"I know what you want to ask, Your Highness."

Hilley sneered softly.

"Yes, that is right. I know. I know what fate my brother will ultimately face in the current situation."

In the next second, Hilley's expression became firm.

"That is why I am doing this."

"Because this is the only way to save him."

This time, Thales' expression moved.

"Save him? You are doing this to save Zayen?"

The round-faced girl nodded.

"I am not stupid, Your Highness, and neither is my brother." She looked at the sky. The pipe in her hand had not moved for a long time. "But when facing the same matter, many people make different choices."

"Just as His Majesty gave you the authority to use your discretion," above the Sunset Temple, Hilley stared in a daze at the sun hidden by clouds, "and I, so long as I complete the mission and objective His Majesty gave me, can under that premise do everything I can to reverse my brother's fate."

Thales frowned.

"Is that so?"

"What else?"

"I... I thought..." Thales hesitated, but Miranda's image appeared before his eyes.

"You thought I wanted to become duke myself and take his seat?"

Hilley raised her brows and sneered disdainfully.

"Do not joke. That seat is very tiring. Once you sit on it, you are no longer human."

Thales' heart moved.

"That makes sense." The prince let out a breath. "And yet, precisely those who are still human envy those who are no longer human."

"That is reasonable." Hilley nodded and acknowledged it. "Unfortunately, few listeners understand."

"Since that is so, why not try talking to Zayen?"

Thales could not help saying,

"With your help, we can talk terms with him together and bring this matter to a dignified end."

And avoid blood and storm, Thales thought in his heart.

"Dignified?"

Hilley shook her head.

"Do not be fooled by how he pretends, warm and rational." The girl put down the pipe and absentmindedly pulled a rather exotic pendant from her collar. Several golden threads spiraled around a red gemstone. "Deep in his bones, Zayen is a radical and stubborn fellow, irritatingly so. Until the very end, his heart will never die."

Until the very end, his heart will never die.

Hearing this, Thales fell into thought.

Hilley looked at the slowly spinning pendant.

"Moreover, in his eyes, I am only a little girl who understands nothing, am I not?"

"That is why you came to find me." Thales suddenly understood. "You revealed your identity to increase your chances and achieve what you want."

Hilley clenched the pendant in her palm, her gaze sharp.

"Therefore, can you help me?"

She jumped down before Thales and slowly extended her right hand.

"Then I can help you. We help each other."

Thales lowered his head and looked at the girl's extended palm, frowning.

"Fine. At most, I will add one more condition." Hilley sighed and withdrew her palm. "As long as you help me, I will stop frightening you in the future. How is that?"

Thales looked at her, then suddenly smiled.

"What are you laughing at now?"

Thales shook his head and looked toward the sky. The sun burst out from behind the clouds, forcing him to narrow his eyes.

"I think Zayen probably always believed that he was the one protecting you."

Hilley's expression moved.

"Yes," she lowered her head and put the pendant back inside her collar, "just like all self-righteous older brothers."