Chapter 737: Big Fish Eat Small Fish, Part 1

"Very good. Once everything is said plainly, matters become much simpler."

Behind the desk, Thales clapped lightly.

"Ladies Karabeyan, let us discuss a business deal."

Kasha and Qina glanced at each other and gave disdainful little snorts from behind their black folding fans.

"You want us to stop here?"

"Give up the fight and help you tame Jade City?"

"So you can depose Lord Zayen?"

"Stage a respectable coup?"

The devil twins waved their fans back and forth, their expressions cruel and theatrical.

"Then cut the iris flower into pieces."

"Knead Emerald Palace flat and round."

"Let the wealth of the South Coast flow into the royal treasury."

"And let Jade City's prosperity scatter like smoke?"

"One sentence each, and you have said everything I wanted to say." Thales opened his arms and smiled gently. "That is what I like about you."

The sisters sneered together. Their wrists flicked, and the black fans flipped again.

On the fan surfaces were painted even more obscure vulgar dialect phrases.

Thales stared at them for a long while and still failed to understand.

"What does that mean?"

Kasha smiled brightly.

"Dialect. It means Your Highness speaks very well."

Qina's eyes shone.

"We are simply overwhelmed by your favor."

"Oh. Thank you." Thales could not help frowning, but he had no wish to investigate further. "Then what is your answer?"

"Impossible," Kasha refused.

"Unrealistic," Qina sneered.

Thales raised his brows.

"You should understand. We spent so much effort, and so much pretty little money..."

Kasha narrowed her eyes.

"All for the sake of dismantling this pile of building blocks called Jade City until it is scattered and on the verge of collapse..."

Qina focused on picking at her nails.

"And now you want us to put it back together perfectly?"

"How much shadow and emptiness would that leave in our hearts?"

"How much regret and disappointment?"

Thales sighed and leaned back against his chair.

"I have not yet had time to report to Renaissance Palace how you obeyed in appearance while opposing in secret, obstructing me from the middle and throwing Jade City into disorder," he said heavily. "You should know that your elder brother is in the capital, suspended and reflecting on his errors because he broke the ban and forced his way into the palace."

The two sisters did not turn pale as Thales expected. Their gazes merely cooled.

"Oh, then we really have you to thank for that!"

"The prince most filial to his father under heaven!"

Thales lifted his eyes.

"Then I will ask again. What is your answer?"

The twins exchanged a glance and answered decisively.

"No!"

Thales frowned.

"Go ahead and complain to His Majesty!"

"Then come back and tell us the result?"

"It would be best if you left stupid brother with an intact corpse!"

"At least one that can still be sewn together!"

Facing the two young ladies, whose smiles only grew more brilliant, Thales could not help frowning.

"You two... you really are Cohen's sisters? His blood sisters?"

The two girls exchanged glances, covered their mouths, and laughed.

"Of course we are!"

"Only, before the family..."

Kasha's smile vanished, and her tone chilled.

"An individual is simply insignificant."

Qina snorted coldly.

"Even if that individual is the family heir."

"Besides, if Karabeyan was willing to let the heir stay in the capital, right under Renaissance Palace's nose, does that not already explain the problem?"

"Just like you staying in Dragon Clouds City."

Whether it was the content of the final sentence or the coldness within it, Thales's mood sank.

"It seems I guessed wrong before."

Thales came back to himself and sighed.

"You came to Jade City not to wipe Cohen's backside after the palace intrusion."

He looked seriously at the two girls whose smiles were gradually cooling.

"What you, or rather House Karabeyan, truly cares about is this political struggle itself. The struggle between Renaissance Palace and Emerald Palace, between Eternal Star City and Jade City. A struggle tied to the kingdom's future."

Kasha and Qina said nothing.

Thales continued.

"What House Karabeyan truly fears is this. If you had not come, if you had not joined this coup that is sweeping the South Coast and affecting the pattern of Stars, then regardless of the result, the Twin Towers and Long Sword would find it hard to take a single step in the South Coast Territory afterward."

Thales said with disdain:

"Before this objective, Cohen Karabeyan is, at most, an extra garnish. Am I right?"

The two sisters sneered.

"He is a garnish..."

"But you are not."

Thales's expression changed.

"What do you mean?"

The two Karabeyan ladies exchanged a glance.

"Things have already come this far, little Thales. Jade City has lost control and drifted away. It worsens day by day, link after link."

"But you insist on going your own way, rejecting all objections and condemning Zayen, replacing the duke."

"The situation can only grow worse."

"Even more impossible to reverse."

"Those dissatisfied with you are not limited to ugly Hilley. Those working in secret are not limited to Karabeyan."

"People in every trade and profession will resist you. At minimum, they will obey openly and disgust you in secret."

"As the situation deteriorates, even those who support you will inevitably begin to question you."

"More people will flee because of it."

"At the very least, their hearts will no longer be with you."

"And you will be powerless."

"You will only be able to sit and watch the prosperity fall silent."

"Watch livelihood wither."

"Let alone seize the South Coast, fill the national treasury, and win back His Majesty's trust."

"Expand royal power, raise your reputation, and lay a firm foundation for your own throne?"

Thales remained silent, frowning more and more as he listened.

Kasha and Qina smiled together, then changed their tone.

"Yet even now, instead of thinking of a perfect plan, you cling to trifling details and think only of shirking responsibility?"

"You want to blame your own poor governance entirely on subordinate vassals?"

"You even want to complain to His Majesty and use our stupid brother, use someone else's weakness, to threaten us and vent your anger?"

"You lose a fight and run to your parents? You cannot compete with people, so you compete with fathers and mothers?"

The Karabeyan sisters sneered.

"Whether our brother lives or dies is not important..."

"Whether Karabeyan suffers is no great matter..."

"But doing this will strike at what little trust King Kessel still has in you."

"It will also let the entire kingdom know that their heir to the throne is weak and incompetent, unworthy of his position."

"A little wastrel who shifts blame, bullies the weak, fears the strong, and is useless once he leaves Renaissance Palace and his family connections."

"A petty good-for-nothing, stubborn and self-righteous, who can scrape three feet of soil from the ground and turn a wealthy land into ruins."

The two young ladies' sweet, gentle voices fell away.

Damn it.

After hearing this confident analysis, Thales had no choice but to close his eyes and gently rub his forehead.

Threatening them was useless.

The voice in the depths of Thales's heart analyzed calmly:

They know you can barely protect yourself.

The prerequisite for making them unlucky is that you must first become unlucky yourself.

Then... what should he do?

"Not bad. Very perceptive, and very realistic." Thales let out a long breath. "Sorry, but I really do want to ask again. Are you two truly Cohen's sisters?"

Kasha and Qina looked at each other and smiled, then gazed gently at Thales.

"Then little Thales, are you truly the powerful Duke of Star Lake?"

"The unshakable heir to the throne?"

"The heroic blood of Jadestar?"

"The son of the Iron Fist King?"

Kasha smiled.

"Is your blood truly gilded?"

Qina licked her lips curiously.

"Does it glitter beneath the sunlight?"

Thales could not help laughing.

The two ladies also covered their mouths and laughed.

As if this were nothing more than the most ordinary idle chat.

Where was the flash of blades? Where was the malice of human hearts?

"Then why Zayen?"

The two girls smiled like blooming flowers.

"Pardon?"

"I mean, I am curious." Thales propped up his chin, his expression solemn. "In this political storm, why are you loyal to Zayen? Why stand on the side of the iris flower, even to the point of personally entering the field, taking risks and making trouble?"

Kasha and Qina froze at the same time.

But they reacted extremely quickly, leaving no gap.

"You ask why?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Their eyes brightened, and they gestured with their hands.

"Lord Zayen is the Duke of the South Coast and the master of Jade City."

"The ruler of Emerald Palace, head of the iris flower, an important minister supporting the kingdom!"

"An old family friend."

"A loyal political ally by blood!"

"Better to die for a friend."

"Than survive through an enemy!"

"Naturally we must stand together."

"And resist outside aggression!"

"If you want us to betray him..." Kasha deliberately dragged out the last words and looked at Qina.

"You have to pay more?" Thales suddenly said.

The twins, who had been singing in harmony, froze at once.

"Pay what?"

"What money?"

"Sorry." Thales waved his hand and suppressed his laughter. "A certain joke from the Western Desert. Do not mind it."

The two Karabeyans looked at each other and frowned together.

"This is bad, sister."

Qina turned her head, hid her face behind the folding fan, and whispered.

"He has learned to disrupt our rhythm."

Kasha raised her fan to cover her chin and nodded.

"What should we do?"

"We can only bring out everything from vocal class..."

"You know," Thales said with a light laugh, raising his volume, "I can hear you..."

Kasha and Qina suddenly raised their heads and snapped in frustration:

"We know!"

Thales did not show the least anger. He spoke softly:

"But he cannot."

"Who cannot?"

"Cannot what?"

"Zayen Covendier. If the condition he offered for your cooperation was marriage with Karabeyan..."

Thales took a deep breath and said seriously:

"Believe me. He cannot."

The aggressive twins froze at those words.

"Cannot what?"

"What can he not do?"

Kasha and Qina's faces shifted slightly, but they adapted with incredible speed. One clasped her hands in delight, the other shyly covered her face.

"Eek! Oh my, why would Your Highness bring this up..."

"How can you speak of such things in front of young ladies..."

"Do not say our sincere wish out loud!"

"What if it stops working once spoken..."

"Young ladies must be reserved and self-controlled, shy and graceful..."

"Especially when it comes to the great matter of marriage..."

Thales sighed.

"Believe me. He will not be a good husband."

The study fell quiet once more.

Kasha and Qina looked at each other and put on expressions of contempt and disdain.

"What did he say?"

"He said Lord Zayen is not a good husband?"

The two sisters burst into mocking laughter.

"How is that possible?"

"The duke is clearly young and rich!"

"In the prime of life!"

"High in rank and great in power!"

"Wealthy beyond measure!"

"He also has a good father..."

"Especially a good father..."

"The best father..."

"His father is dead," Thales said expressionlessly. "That is precisely why Zayen lost power."

"That is exactly why he is a good father!"

"Sometimes a dead father is the best father!"

Thales frowned hard.

"But I can say for certain that Zayen will absolutely not die early after marriage, letting you become duchess widows with wealth, power, titles, and no husband's restraint."

Kasha and Qina's laughter abruptly stopped.

"Yes, I heard your idle talk these past few days." Thales shrugged. "Especially the parts about husbands dying early so you could become widows."

His words paused, and his gaze flickered.

"But as I said, I heard it, and I understood it. Zayen cannot. He will not hear it, and he will not understand."

At that moment, the way the sisters looked at Thales changed.

They glanced at each other and burst into a small laugh.

"Oh my, husbands dying early... that was only angry talk."

"Polite talk!"

"Your Highness must not take it seriously..."

"Not too seriously!"

Thales interrupted them coldly.

"But from what I know of Zayen, if he married you, not only would he not die early and let you profit..."

The two Karabeyan ladies' smiles stiffened slightly.

Thales grew serious.

"He would probably drain every bit of value from you, from your dowry and reputation, to the influence of your maternal family, to your faction's stance, even to your ability to produce heirs. If either of you showed any covetous thoughts or improper ambitions, he would ruthlessly hand you two one-way tickets for an overseas trip. Once everything was done, he could cry his eyes out and transform into the perfect widower, then subtly manipulate public opinion until everyone felt every fault lay with his dead wives, while he was merely a deeply loving good man, a responsible head of household, and an eternally good husband."

The sisters' smiles gradually disappeared.

Thales lowered his voice and pressed further:

"Deception, use, vigilance, restraint, destruction... just as he treats his subordinates, his servants, the enemies he wants removed, and even certain allies. For example, Karabeyan?"

Thales took a deep breath and looked at the expressionless sisters.

"Of course, I imagine you knew all this beforehand?"

The study was quiet for several seconds.

Kasha Karabeyan snorted coldly. She leaned back, lifted her skirt, and crossed her legs in a posture that was not at all elegant.

Qina Karabeyan likewise slouched loosely against the armrest.

Whether Kasha or Qina, the smiles on their faces had vanished without a trace.

"It seems Your Highness truly understands him," Kasha said coldly.

"Perhaps you would be more suited to marrying him?" Qina mocked.

Compared with before, their voices had turned deep and cold, no longer sweet and cute.

The joking, banter, and absurd humor all vanished in that instant.

"In that case," Thales smiled faintly, "do you still want him as a husband?"

At that moment, three people in the study looked at one another in silence.

"In truth," Kasha said with a cold laugh and a shake of her head, "we do not need husbands at all."

"It is merely that this world needs us to have a husband," Qina said expressionlessly.

"Or at least to act as though we need one."

"That is why we need a husband who dies early."

"So the world can think we have a husband."

"Or at least had one."

The twins snorted together.

"Satisfied?"

"Is that so?" Faced with their serious appearance, Thales instead became much more relaxed and was no longer teasing or stiff. "But historically, Covendier and Karabeyan, both on the South Coast, are well matched. They have married again and again. The genealogies are tied very closely..."

"Rest assured, Your Highness," Kasha said softly, yet brooking no doubt. "This time, in our cooperation with Jade City, there is no matter of marriage."

"Do not be jealous, little Thales. You still have a chance to steal love with a horizontal blade," Qina said coldly.

The twins stared fixedly at Thales, as if they wanted to swallow him whole.

Thales nodded after listening and pondered for a moment.

"Oh, that is good. But will you truly not consider it? If you mean to cooperate with Zayen, marriage may guarantee both sides..."

"Enough, Your Highness. There is no need to keep probing."

Kasha spoke coldly, cutting off the topic.

"As for why House Karabeyan would cooperate with the duke..."

"Since Your Highness has already investigated your way to us," Qina snorted, "should you not know it clearly in your heart?"

"Oh? Please enlighten me."

Thales politely lifted both hands, indicating that he was all ears.

Kasha sneered.

"Covendier and we are not merely close in geography."

Qina clicked her tongue.

"Nor merely connected tightly in genealogy."

The twins seemed to share a single heart. Even when discussing serious matters, they could still pick up one another's sentences, one after the other, almost as though they were one person.

"For so many years, Jade City has flourished, and the South Coast Territory has been wealthy and developed."

"And Vola Territory has ridden its eastern wind and risen with it."

"All of this depends on the reforms and new policies that Emerald Palace has consolidated generation after generation and spread throughout the South Coast."

"On a governance system growing more complete by the day, and a commercial foundation growing more stable by the day."

"Yes, I have heard as much." Thales nodded solemnly. "Since the foundation laid by Federico the Parrot Duke, the South Coast Territory has followed a consistent direction. It has developed steadily for a hundred years with little reversal, until now."

Enough to serve as a model for Stars.

The Karabeyan sisters snorted coldly and continued.

"Then you should know that the clothing and food businesses, the industries and livelihoods on which we rely..."

"The former students and old subordinates, partners and allies who support and depend on us..."

"Have long taken root in the soil cultivated by Jade City."

"Their bodies are supported by the roots and stems extended by the iris flower."

"Agriculture, industry, crafts, merchant groups, and trade all depend on it."

"Law, governance, territorial management, all are connected and linked."

"Even the common households in our own fief..."

"Even this handmade casual outfit on your body..."

Thales's expression stiffened. He lowered his head and looked at his clothes.

Kasha swept her sleeve.

"Given the present situation, of course we could side with you."

Qina snapped her fingers.

"Help you replace Covendier and take Jade City."

"We could even replace him, enter Emerald Palace, and let the Twin Towers and Long Sword try their hand."

"But if that were to invite in external royal force, capital power, and cause a major change in Renaissance Palace's policies..."

"If the South Coast Territory changed overnight and the foundation of its governance were shaken, that would be like losing the lips and leaving the teeth cold..."

Their tone changed, alert and wary.

"Lifting a stone only to smash our own feet!"

Thales frowned.

"External royal force, capital power." He thought of all the different figures at the royal banquet and could not help murmuring, "Are they so terrifying?"

"Terrifying?" Kasha smiled sarcastically. "Your Highness, what exactly does Jade City possess that makes the capital's eyes turn red? Is it merely that there are many fools with too much money?"

"Put another way, what exactly does Jade City do better than the capital? More intelligently? More enviably?"

Thales's brows moved.

Qina sneered.

"You have never had proper dealings with the public and private figures, officials, merchants, clerks, and functionaries under your family or around the capital, have you?"

"Or rather, all your dealings are the sort where you raise your brows and they immediately nod, bow, and serve tea?"

Thales's gaze shifted.

"What do you mean?"

Kasha sneered.

"Let us put it this way. For a long time, if the merchants under us wanted to pass through the Central Territory, if their business needed Eternal Star City..."

Qina snorted coldly.

"That meant twice the cost, most of it spent greasing palms along the way and paying respect up and down."

"Opening channels, advancing layer by layer, smoothing connections. The premise being that you must have connections in the first place."

"Especially for profitable businesses. A few regulations, a few market officers, a few collusions between officials and merchants, and they can make us lose everything."

"One trip back and forth, one entry and one exit. Sending goods along the Herding River to sell in Eternal Star City takes more effort than crossing the ocean to Far Eastern Saint Lin City!"

"They interfere in heaven and earth, make a mess of everything, and still scrape off a great share!"

"And that is considered good, provided the officials you meet take money and actually do the work, and the merchants sign papers and pay."

"But if you meet those who take money yet do nothing, then demand more money if you want something done, getting something for nothing all the way until you cannot hold on and go bankrupt..."

"That is not all. If you meet people with hard backing, cruel hearts, and dirty hands, people who are not satisfied with mere tribute..."

"They force you to accept their 'technical investment,' appoint their people to 'enter and guide,' give them 'channel dividends,' even some damn 'joint operation'..."

"Or worse, after the business turns into a merchant group with prefixes like 'royal,' 'state-owned,' or even 'Stars,' yes, the road is open, and no competitor dares even look up at you..."

"But the business itself rots! Tribute costs more than net profit. There are more little bosses than workers, more people occupying seats and taking money than people doing labor, more people pointing and giving orders than people running around doing hard work..."

"Barely operating, insolvent, and within a few years the business collapses. All competitors are squeezed away, there is nowhere to seek profit, the merchant group suffers endlessly, and in the end everyone scatters, perhaps still owing dividends to every side!"

"Investors, operators, upstream and downstream, buyers and sellers, even the industrial environment and the public treasury. Not one of them gets anything good..."

Thales's mood grew heavy as he listened.

The two sisters spoke through gritted teeth.

"Only countless relatives and children of noble people in the capital fatten themselves, eating until their bowls and basins are full, until their brains and intestines are stuffed with grease. And every one of them still believes they are pillars of the state, that they have found routes for national welfare and the people's livelihood, founded industries, poured out blood and thought, made great contributions, and achieved brilliant political results..."

"Once the industry is desolate, they fly away like locusts, flying elsewhere to eat other people in other trades..."

"Then when someone works bitterly from nothing and finally picks the business back up..."

"They, or a new wave of their relatives and children, fly back again and repeat everything..."

Thales was silent for a while.

"You are surely exaggerating somewhat. In fact, I have heard similar complaints, but those were..." Thales paused. "Those were complaints from the Camusians, including insightful people within Eckstedt, about the Kingdom of Eckstedt. Toward the Kingdom of Stars, they were not so..."

"Of course!" Kasha interrupted him.

"The Camusians started exactly this way themselves. They understand these routes far too well, and their relationship with the capital's powerful people is excellent!"

"Foreign capital, domestic nobles, absolute power. The three are simply a perfect match!"

"It would be hard for Stars not to become rich and strong!" Qina said mockingly.

Thales sighed.

"With matters in this state, does the king not know? Do the gentlemen of the Imperial Conference not know?"

"The king? The Imperial Conference?"

"Who do you think the money ends up with?"

"Whose relatives and children? Whose descendants?"

"From royal charters above to fly-sized clerks below!"

"Everyone takes money, everywhere there are relatives. Who dares, who wants, who is willing to stick their head out and expose such a thing?"

"Donkeys and horses share one trough. Those above and below walk the same road. Who can, who is able, who may handle this matter without getting smeared by filth or entangled by obligations?"

"Some people want to. But can they?"

"Some people can. But do they want to?"

Thales could only sigh.

"In Jade City, with rules passed down for generations, such a matter can be brought to Judge Brennan. Even the duke himself has to obey the law obediently and spit out whatever he has eaten!"

"In the capital, who can you find? A judge? Who does not know that their own close kin are promoted through tangled roots and branches, and everything depends on the faces of their 'relatives'? Prime Minister Cullen? Apart from swaying left and right in court politics and smoothing mud, what can he do? The king? His Majesty has to worry about great matters of state and the revival of Stars. Even when his son acted cute and asked him for money, the boy almost got cut down with one slash!"

Perhaps... perhaps because the iris flower dukes know.

Thales was silent, and only the voice in his heart spoke softly.

They know that if they act recklessly, if they do whatever they please, if they do not obediently follow the law, then one day, after destroying their own long wall, they will be eaten by even bigger fish from the capital with even bigger appetites.

But those big fish, the supreme kings of Stars through the ages, if they act recklessly...

In the Kingdom of Stars, where is there an even bigger fish that can eat Renaissance Palace and make the kings feel fear?

An even bigger fish.

But Thales immediately thought of the Bloody Year, and could not help clenching his fists.

"I understand."

Thales let out a long sigh.

"More than a century ago, under the wise king's new policies, people were promoted regardless of origin, capable officials were raised, abuses removed, and reforms renewed..."

"The abuses were removed," Kasha said sarcastically, "but the mouths that eat and the hands that reach also multiplied..."

"Those civil officials who tested their way up and climbed all the way up are much smarter when eating people than the foolish relatives of noble families!" Qina said unhappily.

"Even the newest and best furniture will eventually gather dust and grow old," Thales said gravely. "It now appears that Mindis the Third's successors failed to carry on as he envisioned, failed to keep the system he left behind operating in a healthy way..."

Instead, they let every part of the kingdom develop unevenly, with contradictions layered from top to bottom...

On the contrary, one corner of the kingdom, Jade City, mocked as a place that only parroted others, inferior to Eternal Star City in status and scale...

Emerald Palace, whose authority and power were hard to compare with Renaissance Palace...

House Covendier, whose fame and lineage were inferior to the Jadestar royal family...

"Now do you understand?"

The twins spoke coldly.

"If we help you, we may gain temporary favor from the prince and perhaps His Majesty's regard."

"But we would turn the South Coast Territory into that, ruining the governing foundation and wealth-gathering base of several generations?"

"Your crown would be steadied."

"But the legs of our stool would collapse!"

"Then you would issue us a certificate of praise?"

"With the words 'Prince Thales sincerely thanks you' written on it?"

"Or would you bestow a love letter and let us become your ladies-in-waiting, lovers, and confidantes..."

"Left and right in your embrace, drinking and singing every night?"

The two sisters were sarcastic and cutting, making Thales frown repeatedly.

"For precisely this reason..."

"Though the royal family holds great power and unmatched authority..."

"Though it is domineering, forceful, and allows no opposition..."

"For the farmland at our own doorstep, and the livelihoods of our own people, even if we are orphans and widows..."

Qina's final words rose with generous passion, and Kasha cooperated by snapping her fan.

"We must still exhaust every effort..."

"And rise to fight back!"

The two sisters' words fell, and Thales remained silent for a long time.

"So," the prince said quietly, "cooperating with Zayen and doing your utmost to preserve Jade City is House Karabeyan's choice based on interest and position."

Kasha and Qina looked at each other and slowly nodded.

"That is the fact."

"And also reality."

"Such is the current situation."

"Such is the trend."

"It is natural."

"It is right and proper."

"Mm. It sounds like an unsolvable problem. The nobles of the South Coast will not compromise no matter what."

Facing the two sisters, who looked pleased as though victory were already in hand, Thales nodded lightly in thought.

"But then why so late?"

"What?"

"Late in what?"

Thales breathed out.

"I am asking, since your interests are aligned, your positions the same, and your resolve to resist the royal family so firm, why did you not act earlier to help?"

The sisters' expressions changed slightly.

"Why not cooperate with Covendier before the Election Assembly, frame someone, pour dirty water, or whatever else, and drive me back to the capital early, preventing trouble before it happened?"

Thales shrugged and spread his hands.

"Why insist on waiting until Federico appeared, the whole city was in uproar, the duke was imprisoned, and Emerald Palace changed hands, before you arrived late, stirred up wind and rain, threw Jade City into chaos, forced me to compromise, and forced Renaissance Palace to retreat so power could be returned to the duke?"

The Karabeyan twins fell silent together, their smiles withdrawn.

The study was quiet for several seconds.

Thales looked at Kasha, then at Qina, his expression deep.

"It was our error. We underestimated how matters would develop," Kasha suddenly said, full of regret.

"Who could have expected His Majesty's methods to be so thunderous..." Qina nodded in supplement, her expression grief-stricken.

"By the time we reacted, it was already too late."

"We could only mend the sheepfold after the sheep were lost, and do a little compensation..."

"Or perhaps it was intentional," Thales said coldly. "You deliberately delayed until the situation was irreversible, so you could name your price?"

Kasha and Qina's eyes moved.

He has really learned to interrupt!

The two sisters secretly gnashed their teeth.

"That way, you could let me, let Zayen, and even let His Majesty see..."

Thales extended two fingers and pointed unceremoniously at the two guests.

"That in this storm, you Karabeyans are the key figures holding the key and pacifying the situation?"

As for the damage Jade City suffered because of it...

Thales felt disdain in his heart.

First, as long as it was not total destruction, it could still be saved.

Second, if the South Coast Territory lost Jade City...

Was there not still Vola Territory?

"If my guess is true, then at least it proves that your dread and hatred of Zayen are no less than your fear and rejection of Renaissance Palace," the prince said gravely after drinking some tea. "In other words, compared to the 'incompatible rules and irreconcilable positions' you mentioned before... we still have something to discuss, correct?"

The twins' smiles disappeared.

"Your Highness truly spares no effort..." Kasha said coldly.

"In sowing discord," Qina said with disdain.

Thales smiled.

"According to your argument, if the capital's powerful people stretch their hands into Jade City, it is like a savage prehistoric crocodile charging into a pond of little fish. That is why you support Zayen, to protect the rules that benefit everyone in the South Coast Territory."

The prince's tone changed.

"But do not forget. The reason Zayen protects and obeys this system of rules is because this system benefits him most. It is his system."

Thales narrowed his eyes.

"For example, only after I took over Emerald Palace did I discover that more than ninety percent of the most profitable industries in the South Coast Territory are located around Jade City, or are closely tied to Jade City."

At that moment, the twins exchanged glances.

"And within Jade City, more than ninety percent of the businesses and trades have, in every position, relatives and partners of House Covendier, former students and old subordinates, gloves and spokesmen. The right to decide and the right to distribute profits are firmly controlled by Zayen. His word is final. Other powers, whether nobles or merchant groups, even House Karabeyan, noble as the rulers of Vola Territory, must breathe according to his nose. At most, you eat a little more of the scraps than others."

Thales's tone shifted.

"So, aside from different positions and different degrees, does this not resemble those 'capital nobles' you were just complaining about?"

The twins both frowned.

"So I suspect that under this set of rules, House Covendier itself is a terrifying great shark. Of course, perhaps not as large or fierce as the prehistoric crocodile of Emerald Palace."

Thales's eyes sharpened.

"But it is still big fish eating small fish. Whether you are eaten by a shark or by a giant crocodile, there is no essential difference. Just as your dread of Zayen and your fear of my father differ only in degree. Inside, they are no different."

Thales narrowed his eyes.

"Especially since, compared with the king far away in the capital, you are too close to Zayen. You have dealt with him for too many years."

The twins exchanged a glance. Their faces were solemn, and they said nothing.

"You understand him too well. Aside from the fact that from birth he has sat in a high position, looking down and controlling his vassals, Zayen himself is clever, cunning, ruthless, meticulous, young and vigorous, smooth in every direction, skilled at guiding situations, good at dividing people and playing with power, especially good at soothing and winning people over. Yet at critical moments, he is absolutely cold and merciless..."

Thales continued.

"He treats every person under him as a chess piece and a bargaining chip, calculating value and squeezing out energy to the greatest extent. And yet his image is perfect and beyond criticism. No matter how many grievances his subordinates have, they cannot voice them. He always makes people sympathize and think, 'With such a good boss, subordinates should willingly endure overtime and unpaid wages.'"

Once his words fell, the two young ladies sank into silence together.

"The reason you want to drag him down from power, let him first be bitten by the giant crocodile before he escapes, is not because he is not a 'good husband,'" Thales said, setting down his teacup. Though he was speaking of another person, he felt a strange resonance in his own heart. "It is because he was never an easy superior to deal with."

Thales narrowed his eyes.

"Especially for restless colleagues and subordinates."

At that moment, Kasha and Qina were expressionless, but their eyes were cold.

"But you know this."

Observing their reactions, Thales finally confirmed it.

"You knew it long before you cooperated with him and tried to help him seize Jade City back."

This time, the two sisters were silent for a long while.

But Thales was patient and waited quietly.

After some unknown amount of time passed.

"Of course we knew," Kasha said softly.

"Like a wife understands her husband," Qina said coldly.

"Like a subordinate understands her superior."

The twins spoke as if intentionally and unintentionally.

"Like a son understands his father."

"Like a subject understands his king."

"Even when the latter is so selfish he is unaware of it."

Thales thought of Ambassador Hashan's evaluation of Zayen and his dread of him, then thought of his own experience in Renaissance Palace. For a moment, he too fell silent.

"But so what?" Kasha came back to herself and took a deep breath.

"This will not change the facts," Qina said coldly.

"We still will not help you."

"On the contrary, you, after being humiliated by the Covendier siblings, have lost your reputation and have nowhere to retreat."

Thales remained silent for a long time.

"Set His Majesty aside," he sighed. "Zayen. Does he know you are so two-faced, so ready to profit from another's misfortune, and so determined to trip him no matter what?"

Unexpectedly, the twins showed no fear at all and sneered together.

"I thought you understood the duke very well."

"It seems that is all."

Thales frowned.

"Do you think Lord Zayen failed to consider this when he asked us for help?"

"Do you think he is not willingly paying the price of being bitten hard by the giant crocodile before receiving aid?"

Thales's face changed slightly.

He looked at the two sisters, whose expressions were calm and who felt no shame, and suddenly understood.

So that was how it was.

Zayen knew.

They knew as well.

In this game of chess, everyone knew what price they had to bear and what consequences they had to face.

Yet they still advanced without looking back.

Because within the kingdom, the rolling furnace had already been lit.

Scorching hot, burning everything.

It allowed them no hesitation.

He realized again that the sisters before him were not like Tanganga, people who would submit before fear and threats.

But...

"Do you not feel tired of it?" Thales said quietly.

"Tired?" the twins asked strangely.

Thales sighed softly.

"Yes, tired. This is something Mira... Miss Miranda once said to me."

The Karabeyan sisters exchanged a glance, seeming disdainful.

"Mira?"

"Miranda?"

"That northern lunatic?"

"That iron-hard savage woman?"

Thales nodded.

"To you, this trip to Jade City, this storm of power seizure, this unusual political game, no matter how well or brilliantly you do it, even if you drive me and Renaissance Palace out..."

The prince's gaze drifted as he recalled Miranda's act of pledging loyalty to him in Star Lake Castle.

"The South Coast Territory will still belong to House Covendier. It will still be Zayen, this superior whose inside and outside do not match, who holds power."

Thales looked at the two girls.

"Jade City will still operate as it did before, unchanging."

The Karabeyan sisters paused, seeming both indignant and puzzled.

"Is that not good?"

"Is that not the goal?"

Thales shook his head.

"As for the two of you, Kasha and Qina, the true operators of House Karabeyan..."

He gazed at them quietly, his tone carrying pity.

"Even if you reach the peak in that position, reach the limit, do the best possible job, and I think you already have, you still bear the world's expectation that you must 'marry a husband.'"

Kasha and Qina's gazes sharpened.

"You must still operate with all your strength and fight for room, in order to preserve your own value and freedom. At the same time, you are forced to disguise yourselves, pretend madness and play fools, and search for that ideal 'husband who dies early'..."

Thales thought of something, and the more he spoke, the more emotional he became.

"You still can only spend costs far beyond the returns to 'grease palms up and down and smooth relationships' on another level. To do things you dislike, to dress yourselves in appearances you are not used to, merely for the sake of..."

Thales let out a long sigh.

"Do you truly not feel tired?"

This time, the two sisters were first confused, then lowered their heads and remained silent for a long while.

Until they suddenly raised their heads and spoke again, with a few almost imperceptible threads of anger in their voices.

"When Your Highness questions us, you stand above us, justified and confident."

"Yet you forget your own position and circumstances!"

Thales's brows moved.

Kasha and Qina spoke one sentence after another, their cold words stabbing straight into the old tender places of the prince's past.

"Were you born a bastard by choice?"

"Were you sent to Eckstedt as a hostage by choice?"

"Did you encounter danger at Blade Fangs Camp by choice?"

"Did you duel at the royal banquet by choice?"

"Did you leave for old, worn Star Lake Castle by choice?"

"Did you come on this mission to Jade City by choice?"

The two sisters snorted angrily together.

"And do you truly..."

"Not feel tired?"

Thales opened his mouth to speak, but had no answer. He could only remain silent.

So the devil twins pressed on with barbed words, seizing victory and pursuing.

"In the Kingdom of Stars, you seem to hold a lofty position."

"In truth, you are redundant and awkward!"

"Your relationship with His Majesty is complicated. You suspect each other, rarely trust each other, let alone entrust important work."

"Yet you refuse grievance, refuse compromise, always crashing about and stirring up trouble."

"His Highness the prince acts as regent in Jade City, seemingly respected by everyone."

"In truth, no one cares!"

"You sit in Renaissance Palace, seemingly high in power and issuing orders."

"But you are only a puppet on strings!"

"Because intelligent people all understand that the two ends of the string belong only to King Kessel and Duke Zayen, pulling back and forth."

"What everyone is waiting for is simply whether the royal center or the iris flower family will win."

"Who cares which way your backside points, what smell comes out of you, or what shape the thing you squeeze out takes?"

"In this game between Emerald Palace and Renaissance Palace, you are, at most, an extra garnish."

Kasha sneered.

"That is why you need to flail desperately right now and fight for a sense of presence."

Qina clicked her tongue in revenge.

"So you do not drown in the spray kicked up by powerful people fighting."

The two sisters looked at each other.

"And do you truly..."

"Not feel tired?"