Chapter 664: Taking a Step Back

Not good. Did he guess?

"I don't understand. What do you mean?"

The Second Prince lowered his right hand without changing expression and brushed the JC dagger at his waist.

Zayen stared at him without blinking.

"You don't understand, Thales?"

The Duke of the South Coast narrowed his eyes.

"Why don't you think about it more carefully. Do you truly not understand?"

Thales' expression did not change. He only heard his own heart pounding.

Calm down.

If Zayen had seen through him, if he knew that Thales was only putting on a posture while secretly cooperating with the king from inside and outside...

What would he do?

Turn hostile immediately? Attack? Announce it to the world? Drive him out of Jade City?

Or...

But in the next second, Zayen smiled faintly.

He turned back, picked up the water jug, and refilled Thales' empty cup.

"Listen. Secret Intelligence killed Moss, but that was only the beginning. Their purpose was to attract your attention, provoke us into opposing each other, and make you follow that clue all the way down."

Zayen set the jug down and gave Thales a meaningful look.

"Just like now."

Thales steadily lifted his cup.

"You already said that before."

Zayen did not look at him again. He only poured himself a cup of clear spring drink.

"And they killed that wool merchant named Diop for the same reason: to spur you and your people into action."

Thales' brow moved.

"Really?"

The prince fought down the urge to snort coldly.

"Secret Intelligence killed Diop to bait me?"

Zayen nodded.

"They understand your character. They know you will step forward and charge at the front."

There must be something there.

The voice in the depths of Thales' heart told him: behind the deaths of Moss and Diop, there must be something Zayen was desperate to hide, desperate enough to use Secret Intelligence as a shield.

"Too bad my people failed to keep that white-clothed Secret Intelligence killer," Thales sighed naturally. "Otherwise we might have asked him a few things."

"My people failed as well," the Duke of the South Coast said evenly. "But that is Secret Intelligence. It is normal."

The white-clothed killer.

Thales carefully observed Zayen's expression, but unfortunately gained nothing.

No, perhaps not nothing.

After all, the voice in his heart muttered, you knew from the beginning that Zayen could not be trusted.

After all, the true essence of an alliance is betrayal.

Zayen paused slightly.

"But there is no doubt that Secret Intelligence treated you as a chess piece. They wanted you to come forward on their behalf and deal with me. From Moss to Diop, and perhaps to the next person after that, again and again, until you dig out the secret weapon Secret Intelligence prepared and use it in one stroke to pull me, and Covendier, down from power."

"Secret weapon?"

Thales nodded.

"So there really was something wrong with Diop?"

Zayen fell silent.

Several seconds later, he seemed to make a decision and nodded.

"Correct. Aside from the wool business, Diop had another identity: he was an accountant for Emerald Palace's secret accounts."

"Secret accounts?"

"Agents such as Dagori Moss bring Jade City certain gray income that is difficult to speak of and difficult to enter into the books," Zayen answered frankly. "And Diop was one of the people managing those hidden accounts."

"You mean illegal income, bookkeeping, and money laundering?"

The Duke of Iris snorted softly.

"If Secret Intelligence had dug up his identity and his accounts, then had you, just as you were earlier, righteous and indignant, make an open and just accusation, then yes, it would have brought Jade City quite a lot of trouble. It would have left me and my officials scrambling for some time."

Thales frowned.

If Zayen was telling the truth, then Diop managed Jade City's hidden accounts. That was why Moss went to meet him.

But Zayen had actually confessed it so bluntly?

That meant he had long since prepared everything.

He was confident that everything behind Diop had already been cleaned up, leaving not the slightest clue or handle for his enemies, especially Secret Intelligence.

Thales' mood grew heavier.

"Of course you would not let that happen," the prince said expressionlessly. "So you hurried to cut off the clue, even prepared a scapegoat suspect, and closed the case dead and sealed to make sure it could not raise any waves?"

Zayen nodded.

"During the Emerald Celebration, this matter cannot become the focus of the whole city, or it will be exactly what Secret Intelligence wants."

"Just like Moss?"

Zayen confirmed it.

"Just like Moss."

Thales was silent for several seconds.

"Then you should have told me about Diop first."

"I should have," Zayen admitted without any burden. "But please understand. This involves Jade City's internal operations and finances, and perhaps some illegal income that should not see the light. I did not want more people to know, at least not before I removed the threat and ensured safety."

Removed the threat. Ensured safety.

Did not want more people to know.

For some reason, looking at the master of Jade City before him, Thales thought of Secret Intelligence.

"Of course. I can understand. It makes sense. It holds together." Thales curled the corner of his mouth.

"Believe me, Thales. The current method of handling this is ideal." Zayen raised his cup. "You and I, beneath our struggle in the open, have cleverly maintained Jade City's balance."

Thales' expression moved.

"Balance?"

Zayen took a sip of clear spring drink.

"First, Secret Intelligence failed to get what they wanted. Diop's case has entered the normal process, silent and uneventful, without causing an earthquake or dragging out chaos."

"Yes. A debt dispute. Bedron got drunk, committed violence, and killed in a fit of anger. It could hardly be more normal," Thales said quietly.

"Second, you did not fall into Secret Intelligence's trap and become their chess piece, causing our relationship to break and the situation to fall out of balance."

"Thanks to you cutting off the clue in advance and stopping me from obtaining Secret Intelligence's 'secret weapon' against you."

"Third, if I truly wanted to make trouble for you, Thales," Zayen set down his cup and suddenly raised his voice, "how could those subordinates of yours who went to investigate Diop have escaped the Jade Legion's blockade and encirclement so easily?"

Thales frowned deeply.

Several seconds later, the prince took a deep breath.

"So Diop's line is broken. Whatever conspiracy lay behind him..." Thales said slowly, "What do you think Secret Intelligence will do next, and how should we respond?"

Zayen's lips curled.

"Whether Moss or Diop, their deaths represent Secret Intelligence's desire for incidents, for change, for chaos." He carefully studied his own wine glass, looking at the distorted scene through the glass. "And we give them the opposite."

The opposite.

"You mean dead water, like the cases of Moss and Diop. One an old grudge killing, one a debt dispute?" Thales said faintly.

Zayen did not answer. He only smiled.

"Aside from this, Zayen, there should be nothing else you are hiding from me, right?"

Thales stared fixedly at him.

"If there is, now is the time to confess it, so that another accident like yesterday's does not happen and damage the trust between us for nothing."

When his words fell, Zayen was silent for a long time.

"I cannot make guarantees, because even partners with aligned interests will keep something in reserve," the duke said. "But I can say this: if something like yesterday happens again, you will be informed beforehand."

Thales looked at his expression and slowly nodded.

The two dukes each held their own thoughts and spoke no further.

For a moment, the dining room sank into suffocating silence.

Until Zayen coughed.

"Now, if we have nothing else..."

"But you know, Zayen."

Thales suddenly spoke.

"If your Jade Legion, if they had truly caught my guards at the murder scene," the prince looked at the duke, "then I would have been stained with the evil reputation of murder and unable to defend or clear myself. I probably could only have left Jade City in disgrace and withdrawn from this chess game."

Zayen paused.

"Perhaps."

"Then why not? Why did you not simply drive me out of Jade City that way?"

Thales stared straight at Zayen, as if he wanted to see through his heart.

"In that case, no matter what backup move Secret Intelligence prepared through me, no matter what role they expected me to play, it would have been weakened or even made useless. Once and for all. Done and over."

Zayen was silent for a long time.

The atmosphere in the dining room became strange.

"Because we have an agreement. A cooperation," Zayen said slowly after a while, his voice a little tired and hoarse. "We are still in the same carriage, resisting the most powerful person in this kingdom, are we not?"

The Duke of the South Coast raised his head, recovering his smile.

"If you left, would I not lose an ally who can resist the king together with me? On this point, I believe we ought to be aligned, Thales."

In the same carriage, resisting the most powerful person.

Looking at the other man's appearance, Thales unconsciously reached into his pocket and touched that savage bone ring.

"No."

Thales' answer made Zayen's expression change slightly.

"The reason you did not drive me out of Jade City once and for all is not because we have an agreement."

The prince said it seriously.

"It is because of my father."

"Because you dread him. Because you fear him."

Zayen's smile froze for an instant.

Thales set down his cup and sighed.

"This time, whether or not the purpose was to look over my betrothed, I was sent to Jade City by His Majesty the King."

"No matter how annoying I am, no matter how much you hate me, as long as I remain in Jade City for one day, you can use me to spy on Renaissance Palace's plans, spy on the king's actions, and guard at all times against the schemes Secret Intelligence uses through me, whether it is my marriage, my character, or the deaths of Moss and Diop."

He raised his head.

"But if this open chess piece of mine is forced away, crushed by your methods, and leaves the board completely, who knows how Secret Intelligence will react? Who knows how my father will react? Who knows what other methods they will use, methods unknown to you? Perhaps impossible to guard against. Perhaps escalating further. Perhaps with a terrifying price."

"And that is why I have not yet been driven away by you. Or rather, why you do not dare drive me away," Thales said lightly. "See? Facing him, you, and me as well, do not even have the right to overturn the chessboard, turn around, and say, 'I quit.'"

Zayen's gaze slowly focused, pinning itself to the wine glass.

"Your Highness, is it not a little too early to start mobilizing rebellion?" the duke said with ill intent.

Thales paused for several seconds.

"You did not understand me," the prince said softly. "Or do you not want to understand?"

Thales clenched the bone ring in his hand.

"When I was in the Western Desert, I asked Falkenhausen: if you knew in advance that the king had ill intentions, and knew in advance of the other party's conspiracy, why did you not stop him beforehand?"

The Duke of the South Coast said nothing.

"The Duke of the Western Desert answered smoothly and cautiously. He said that conflict was necessary. He said that sometimes doing nothing is the best choice," the prince said absently. "But behind that trace of slyness and wisdom, I saw fear. A deep fear belonging only to the Guardian Duke of the Western Desert, the Lord of the Wasteland, Duke Cyril Falkenhausen. That fear may not have been exaggerated or obvious, but it lurked so deep that he did not even have the courage to glance at it in secret."

Zayen was expressionless and did not answer, but he clenched the napkin in his hand tightly.

"Yes. The meaning of my staying here is, just as you said, to maintain balance," Thales said, suddenly somewhat dispirited. "To maintain the tacit understanding between the two sides, to keep this struggle without blades and bloodshed within a range you can understand, accept, and respond to."

"Because the butcher's blade hanging over our heads is intimidating you and me, intimidating everyone. Even if we resist, we must be respectful and polite. We must be rational and peaceful. We dare not act rashly or cross the line. We dare not break this terrifying balance."

Zayen still did not answer.

But that was better than a thousand words.

The dining room became completely quiet, until Thales let out a long sigh.

"So what meaning is there in this?"

Zayen lifted his gaze.

"What?"

Thales' tone was filled with emotion.

"I mean all of this. Our struggles, including yours with Renaissance Palace, and mine with my father. Conflict, cooperation, resistance, infighting, scheming, back and forth. What meaning is there? In the end, it is nothing more than friction beneath the butcher's blade, war inside a cage."

He stared at Zayen, his mood low.

"Why, Zayen? Why must we be like this?"

Zayen was silent for a while, but then suddenly laughed. His smile was bleak and tragic.

"Because this is who we are."

Thales came back to himself and met his eyes.

"Sorry. I spoke too much and lost my composure," the prince said in a low voice.

But unexpectedly, Zayen shook his head.

"We all have moments like this."

The duke was slightly lost in thought.

"And you are right. Friction beneath the butcher's blade."

In that instant, for the first time, Thales felt that the man before him was in the same room as him, sitting at the same dining table.

Thales collected his thoughts, drove away the unnecessary emotions, and took a deep breath.

"Speaking of which, you know things have not become that bad. We do not necessarily have to reach that step."

"Which step?"

Thales paused.

"My father. Perhaps, perhaps he does not intend to wipe everything out."

Zayen narrowed his eyes.

"If I can..." Thales took a deep breath and tried his best to make himself sound confident. "As long as you and Jade City take one step back..."

But Zayen interrupted him.

"Take one step back?"

The Duke of the South Coast looked at him with a half-smile.

Facing the other man's gaze, Thales clenched the bone ring in his hand as if it could give him strength.

"What I mean is..."

"I know what you mean," Zayen said coldly. "I understand now. The matter in the Western Desert some time ago was probably solved by you in the same way: take one step back. Heh."

Thales frowned slightly.

"Take one step back. Correct. Power returns to the throne. Finances are handed upward to the center. Rule becomes subordinate to Renaissance Palace. Resources flow into Eternal Star City."

Zayen leaned back in his chair in a rare posture of relaxation, counting each point.

"Jade City sheds the halo of frontier autonomy. The Queen in the city lays down her freedom and pride. Covendier throws away the authority to dominate one side, willingly becoming the Supreme King's slave, servant, tool, weapon, bargaining chip, and stepping stone. Then we help, influence, and control other backward territories, distant borderlands, and unruly subjects, creating more of our own kind again and again, until every inch of the kingdom is the same, in order to realize his grand ambition: from now on, Stars will be united from top to bottom, moving like his own arm, just like the empire of old."

Thales' heart sank. He was about to speak, but Zayen did not pause.

"But why?"

The master of the Iris turned his head, his gaze as sharp as a blade.

"Jade City's system was built by us over many years. The wealth of the South Coast people was accumulated by us bit by bit. The prestige and position of House Covendier here were fought for through hardship all the way."

"Why should we pay? Why should we contribute? Why should we cooperate? Why should we sacrifice? Why should we ruin our own house to aid disaster? Why should we serve the public and the nation? Why should we hand over everything we have gained, owned, governed, and occupied, to pay more taxes, perform more labor, shoulder more debt, support the royal army, assist the capital's officials, write the history of Jadestar, strengthen the authority of Renaissance Palace, achieve the glory of the Nine-Pointed Star Crown, realize the Supreme King's ambitions, and share and bear the disasters brought by those high officials and nobles sent from the center, such as the Bloody Year?"

Thales wanted to say something, but still gritted his teeth.

The duke continued with a cold smile.

"Why? Why should the South Coast people, who live the best, are in the best condition, and are prospering more than anyone in Stars, voluntarily step back for no reason to support the idlers of the entire kingdom, so that the mountain savages of the Cliffs, the crude barbarians of the North, the treacherous merchants and lazy men of the Eastern Sea, the sandland troublemakers of the Western Desert, the bandits and robbers of Blade Fief, and that group of capital lords from the Central Territory who look down from above, despise everything, and see everyone as coming from some remote backwater, can snatch away all we have, share our dividends, and drag down our lives?"

"All because some ancestor of yours, who knows how many generations ago, got drunk one day and stumbled outside to piss while shouting, 'Stars remain'?"

Facing Zayen in such a state, Thales took a deep breath.

"You just said, 'see everyone as coming from some remote backwater,' correct?"

The prince looked at the duke and showed a powerless smile.

"But you, you speak as if the South Coast Territory were a single person, a fisherman stranded on a deserted island with no kin or support, relying entirely on himself. You speak as if Covendier has always been isolated from the world, as if the last seven hundred years did not exist, as if you alone built the Jade City of today with your own strength."

Zayen frowned.

"But this world has no isolated islands, Zayen. You are not outside Stars, not different from the kingdom, not alone in the world."

"Without the population, territory, history, culture, and market of the entire Kingdom of Stars behind the South Coast Territory's well-developed transportation network of waterways, how do you think your proud ocean trade could have been realized? Where would the resources and goods you transfer go? Every Queen's Day, would the Emerald Celebration still have so many guests from foreign countries and distant lands coming to seek business opportunities and profit?"

Thales raised his head, his words firm.

"Commerce, markets, raw materials, supply, land, systems, history, politics, migrants, culture, too many things. The South Coast Territory is not merely drawn on the kingdom's map. It is deeply embedded in the vast system called Stars, interacting back and forth, merged into one whole, hard to separate from each other."

Zayen was silent for a while, then sneered disdainfully.

"How long have you lived in Renaissance Palace since you grew up, Your Highness?"

Thales was stunned.

"Long enough to believe that the kingdom is you, and you are the kingdom?"

Zayen's words turned cold.

"According to what you just said, Stars and Eckstedt have fought and stopped for many years. Their histories are connected and their experiences are shared. They have long since interacted back and forth into a whole hard to separate from each other. Why do you not go to Black Sand City, offer up the Nine-Pointed Star Crown and the Scepter of Stars, kneel on both knees with tears of gratitude, and call Chapman Lampard Father? Or cross the Sea of Eradication to Dawn Hope City and swear loyalty to 'Kadil of the Far Mountains and Earth.' Perhaps he will show mercy and allow the Jadestar Family to become the eighth clan serving him."

Thales swallowed.

"I will not make that kind of sophistry, but you understand what I mean." The prince felt deeply tired and shook his head. "Sometimes, for peace, for stability, for balance, perhaps we must pay a price."

"Who?"

The Duke of Iris questioned him fiercely.

"When you say this, when you so readily say, 'we must pay a price,' who is this 'we'?"

"Is it you? Is it the king? Is it the Kingdom of Stars? Is it the Central Territory? Is it the capital? Is it the Jadestar Royal Family? Or is it those who can eat their fill, dress warmly, and hold high positions within that sentence, and therefore pretend to be righteous as they carry it everywhere to tell others?"

Thales did not answer.

Because he had no answer either.

He only gripped the "Cortacsa" in his pocket tightly.

He knew that no matter how he answered, it would appear pale.

"And who is the 'price'?"

Zayen said disdainfully.

"Is it me? Is it the South Coast Territory? Is it Jade City? Is it House Covendier? Or is it some commoner among them, muddle-headed and helpless, who can only let this vast mechanism called Stars slaughter and arrange him as it pleases?"

Thales let out a laugh.

"A commoner?"

He shook his head helplessly.

"Those words should be spoken by ordinary people struggling to live, not by a high and lofty frontier duke whose own palace is splendid and magnificent."

"When facing the ancient and eternally authoritative Jadestar Royal Family, when facing the descendant of the imperial bloodline who has climbed to the summit and looks down over Stars," Zayen snorted coldly, "who can say he is not a commoner, left to be slaughtered?"

Thales fell silent.

At last, he sighed.

"Honestly, with what I have seen and heard these past few days, I quite like Jade City..."

"As much as your father likes it?" Zayen interrupted him without courtesy.

Thales frowned.

"So there really is no room at all?"

Zayen looked at him seriously and smiled.

"When I was young, at a family dinner, my father once said something: 'As long as someone is willing to step back on their own, there will always be room.'"

Thales tightened his grip again around the bone ring "Alliance" and felt a trace of hope.

"Your father, the old duke, was a wise man."

But mockery appeared on Zayen's face.

"Until my uncle coldly added: 'Those words are only useful to the strong.'"

When the words fell, Thales understood.

The two of them were silent for a long time.

"Your uncle. He is quite interesting too," Thales said bitterly.

"Not interesting enough."

"Then do you think my father will take a step back on his own?"

Zayen sneered.

"What do you think?"

Thales looked at him, his gaze flickering.

"What if he is forced?"

The Duke of the South Coast paused. He raised his cup, only to find that it was already empty.

"In this country, who can force him? Force the Supreme King?" he said faintly.

Thales turned his head.

"Believe it or not, Zayen," the prince said seriously, "the kind of fear we face, he has it too."

Zayen snorted coldly.

"I do not participate in rebellion, especially the kind doomed to fail."

The two of them faced each other in silence.

Several seconds later, Thales took a deep breath and stood.

"I understand. Then, may we have good luck."

But just as Thales was about to walk out of the dining room, Zayen suddenly called out to him.

"Thales, if, I mean if, if things truly reach that step, can I trust you?"

Thales stopped and thought for a while.

"No. You cannot."

Zayen frowned deeply.

Thales turned around.

"You know that yourself."

But in the next second, Thales smiled faintly.

"However, at least you can trust interests." He nodded. "And right now, our interests are aligned."

Zayen looked at him and likewise nodded.

Thales turned, opened the door, and left.

But the instant he stepped out of the dining room, Thales' expression cooled.

"Did you collect the interest you wanted, Your Highness?"

Mallos, who had followed him at some unknown time, asked him this.

Thales paused for a while.

When he spoke again, he cleared all luck and weakness out of his mind and threw them beneath the Prison River together with the nonsense Zayen had just casually spun.

Because you know, Thales, the voice in his heart said coldly.

Behind you, Zayen is the same.

Even more decisive than you.

"Moss and Diop," the Duke of Star Lake said coldly. "One was Zayen's agent merchant, the other an accountant who managed his hidden accounts. They must be hiding something."

Mallos raised an eyebrow.

"Dig three feet into the ground, Tormond. Even if you dig through the mineral veins beneath the South Coast Territory, find their secret."

Mallos was silent for a while, then used his usual tone.

"But Your Highness knows they are already dead, and the clues are broken, yes? Moreover, according to the official records, both of them died from perfectly normal..."

"I do not care!"

Thales rarely raised his voice, causing Wya, who was waiting for them in the distance, to turn his head.

"Find a way, Tormond. Find a way, no matter what it is. Even if it is that black-clothed killer." The prince's gaze burned. "I have a feeling..."

Thales released the bone ring in his pocket.

"As long as we dig deep enough and dig something out..."

He looked toward the gardens outside Emerald Palace and clenched his empty palm into a fist.

"Jade City will be ours."

Mallos said nothing more.