Chapter 755: Raise a Cup Against a Common Enemy Part 2

Place a bet.

Gambling table?

Facing Zayen and Thales, who were both looking at him, Federico was covered in cold sweat and muttered to himself.

How had the topic's direction...

Come here?

"I know, cousin. I do not like this result either," Zayen said slowly. "But he was right about one thing: this is the choice with the smallest loss for all three sides."

Thales nodded lightly, doing his best to shake off the nonexistent net with deep breaths.

"Smallest... loss?" Federico seemed like a captain finding his compass again in heavy fog, his eyes bright as he looked toward Zayen.

"When we were young, Priest Febel said in political lessons: the triangle reaches balance."

Zayen lifted the teacup, but did not drink. He merely rubbed the rim carefully.

"If one of the three sides thinks of suffering a smaller loss..."

"Then it means the other two sides suffer greater losses," Federico interrupted him. He glanced at the silent Thales and spoke in a daze. "You forget, I also attended his classes, right before you..."

"Before I went to study in the East Continent," the Duke of South Coast revealed a dangerous smile at the corner of his mouth. "Fortunately. Fortunately, you did not forget."

Federico's expression changed slightly.

The triangle reaches balance...

Then the other two sides...

"What do you say, Fed?"

Thales looked at the Eternal Clock and checked today's schedule.

"Become viscount, or shall I find you another place to go?"

Federico looked at Thales, whose face was tense, then at Zayen, who seemed to have everything calculated. Suddenly, he discovered that he was the only person in the study still standing.

Abrupt and isolated.

Thinking of this, Federico's expression became even uglier.

Yet after only a few seconds, the exiled noble took a deep breath. He withdrew his expression and sat properly back into his seat, serious and thoughtful.

The height in the study returned to balance.

Worthy of a Covendier.

Seeing Federico so quickly adjust his mindset and return to calm thinking, Thales could not help admiring him inwardly.

Worthy of the person able to topple Zayen.

Worthy of a person who, even after more than ten years of exile and dependence on others, still crawled back to Jade City for revenge.

If he had not been born this way...

Thinking of his own past as a hostage in Exstedt, Thales stared at Federico at this moment, understood something, and slowly nodded.

A good opponent.

The voice deep in the boy's heart spoke approvingly.

Only, was he also a good ally?

Thales's mood sank.

"Relax. I do not mean to force you to set aside hatred and love each other," thinking of this, Thales opened his mouth again, trying to add weight. "One day, you will have the chance to decide life and death between you again. At that time, I absolutely will not interfere."

Perhaps he would even gladly fan the flames.

The Covendier brothers frowned together.

"After all," Thales sipped the tea and deliberately repeated the words he had once used to tease an opponent, "I am not some demon."

"That is true." Zayen caressed the teacup and mocked, "How could demons be as cruel as you?"

"Thank you for the praise."

Thales was not angry at all. He even tasted more mate tea.

Mm. Once one became used to it, the bitterness faded.

"But I have no chance to win anymore, do I?"

Federico, deep in thought, looked dazed.

"Just as I said before: returning to Jade City, returning to Emerald Palace, returning to the home field he has managed and ruled for more than ten years, it will be difficult for me to beat him, even with Your Highness's support."

Thales's teacup paused.

"Is that your reason for not daring to place a bet?"

Zayen mocked his cousin.

"When you returned so aggressively for revenge, did you not have 'noble help'?"

Noble help...

Federico's expression changed slightly, but he did not answer.

"I understand, Fed This decision is not easy."

Thales observed him and deliberately lowered his head to glance at the schedule again, speaking gently.

"It is fine. Think it through slowly. Before the Praise Banquet, you have plenty of time."

"It is not absolutely necessary to think it through," Zayen added neither salty nor bland.

"I suggest you shut your mouth, Zayen," Thales turned to the Duke of South Coast and withdrew his pleasant face. "Incidentally, as a reward for you, from now on, you are free."

Federico frowned and turned to look at Zayen, who also froze.

"Reward? Free? Now? Even before the Praise Banquet?"

Zayen paused, then smiled disdainfully.

"After this spreads, will people think that you appointed me the winner from the start?"

Federico lowered his head and clenched his fist.

"Do not push your luck, Zayen," Thales said coldly. "Before the Praise Banquet, I remain regent. If you think Jade City is too big and want to go to the capital to sit in prison, I welcome you at any time."

Zayen's smile froze.

"The meeting has already run overtime. You may leave," Thales lowered his head and pretended to draw several meaningless circles on the schedule he had already annotated. "I still have a pile of things to handle today."

"This is not reasonable."

Federico suddenly spoke, making both Thales and Zayen turn their heads.

"Your Highness, Zayen, the conversation you just had, muddying water, gambling table..."

Federico took a deep breath, as if he had thought of something. His expression changed repeatedly.

"None of it is reasonable."

Thales's brow twitched.

"Nonsense."

Zayen said with disgust,

"If there were a more reasonable method, who the hell would be willing to muddy water with him and stake Jade City at the table?"

"No!"

Federico abruptly raised his head, emotions agitated.

"You, Zayen. You are the gambler urgently waiting to turn the game around. His Highness is the dealer with other plans. You, all of you, cooperated with His Highness and acted... to create the situation, to emphasize to me that he has already won completely and that you had no choice but to lower your head, leaving only me isolated and best advised to assess the situation?"

Thales coughed repeatedly. Zayen's expression did not change.

Federico looked at Zayen, his face solemn.

"Right. I should have thought of it earlier. His Highness's progress in controlling Jade City came so easily, so lightly, even before the kingdom's Secret Intelligence Department... no. Without your active cooperation, without the secrets you leaked, without your help opening every key passage, with only the little bargaining chips I gave him, this would have been impossible."

Federico slowly shook his head.

"So Zayen, you gave up resistance long ago. You compromised completely in exchange for His Highness's lenient handling. As for waiting until the Praise Banquet, killing the other if one had an accident first, a discount for agreeing first, rewarding him with freedom... ha, acting. All of it was acting."

Federico's laughter was desolate.

Thales was utterly embarrassed. Zayen remained silent.

"Because in today's three-party negotiation, the person His Highness wanted to persuade was me from beginning to end."

Federico took a deep breath, anger hidden in his eyes.

"Because to you, I am the one closest to the 'banker.' I am the most difficult to compromise with, and the most dangerous, most unstable factor."

When his words fell, the study quieted.

Thales lightly covered his forehead and closed his eyes.

Damn it.

He hated clever people.

What Zayen said earlier was right. The other person in this palace...

Was also a Covendier.

Then what should you do?

The voice in his heart spoke to him:

And you, Thales, do you have the ability to pluck the strings again and force him back into your net?

Without noticing, Thales clenched his fist.

"Listen, Fed"

Thales sighed. He pointed at Zayen and told the truth.

"I originally planned to be frank with you and lay everything out. It is just that this fellow Zayen could not lower his face even if he died. He said he could not agree too quickly, that I had to leave him some dignity, or he would never compromise..."

Federico kept staring at Zayen, the cold smile on his face never fading.

"Did he also say he understands me well, and only if you create an atmosphere where the two of us compete with each other and stir up my competitiveness and indignation would I agree to compromise?"

Thales paused and was about to explain, but he thought of something. In the end, he only sighed and looked elsewhere.

"It seems he does not understand you that well."

Especially after more than ten years of exile under someone else's roof.

"Sorry, Fed"

At this moment, Zayen finally broke his silence.

Ignoring the look Thales threw him, he slowly turned toward Federico.

"I apologize."

This made Thales look at him with new eyes.

Oh. This fellow can apologize?

And to an enemy?

Until Zayen's next sentence, full of disdain:

"I overestimated you."

Thales raised his brows slightly. No. I overestimated you.

Indeed, people do not change.

Federico's gaze turned cold.

"That is right. He and I, we colluded, reached tacit understanding, conspired together, say it however you like. But so what?" Zayen said softly.

Federico frowned and met Zayen's eyes.

Only Thales was caught between them, awkwardly smoothing his scalp.

"So... what?"

Federico narrowed his eyes and slowly repeated his cousin's words.

Zayen nodded.

"You saw through our scheme. Very good. That embarrassed us for a while. But do you have any other choice?"

Federico did not answer.

"If I were you, Fed, I would bring out a little Jade City official wisdom. Even after discovering something strange, pretend not to know, cooperate with us to act it through, and accept the conditions with gratitude. That would be the end of it."

Zayen casually lifted the teacup.

"Why insist on exposing it and making everyone embarrassed?"

Federico curved his lips.

"So I am not you."

Zayen nodded, then shook his head, and casually blew on tea that was not hot at all.

"It seems you truly left Jade City too long ago. So long you forgot your surname."

Federico's expression changed in rage.

Thales frowned.

Was this truly all right?

Their goal was to reach compromise, was it not?

At that moment, Federico stared fixedly at his cousin. The expression on his face first showed anger, then surprise, and then release.

"No. This is not you, cousin."

Federico giggled, as if this were the most ridiculous thing in the world, contrasting sharply with Zayen's serious face.

"You could not compromise so easily, risk placing a bet so decisively..."

He glanced at Thales.

"I suppose the idea I gave His Highness took effect?"

Thales's eyelid twitched. Zayen's face darkened slightly.

"Tsk, tsk. It seems it worked even better than imagined. For Hilley, you probably spat out even your underwear." Federico observed Zayen's expression and sneered without stopping. "Should I say you are too weak, or too afraid to die?"

Zayen's face became uglier and uglier.

Bad, Thales instinctively felt something was wrong.

"And I had been hoping you would resist to death, ultimately going heroically to martyrdom, so I could obtain my revenge."

Federico narrowed his eyes.

"I overestimated you."

As Fed laughed, he did not forget to look toward Thales.

"You should not have hidden this from me, Your Highness. You should have let me enjoy his panicked state too, the useless appearance of him enduring humiliation and lowering his head to bow before you, just to preserve his sister."

Zayen clenched his fist, closed his eyes, and struggled to suppress anger.

Thales frowned.

"Fed, that is enough."

"Enough?"

Federico turned his gaze toward Thales.

"Your Highness, I thought you said you would be frank with me."

Thales's face tightened.

"I am being frank now."

"No. You and him first made a deal behind my back, then put on a show in front of me. That is not frankness."

Federico's voice gradually became cold.

"That is use."

Thales's heart sank.

Zayen opened his eyes.

"Then what do you want?" the Duke of South Coast asked coldly. "For him to kneel down and beg you? For me to kneel down and beg you? For all Jade City to kneel down and beg you?"

Federico's face changed.

"I want truth."

"Truth?"

Zayen laughed.

"Then why are you still standing here and bargaining over title, power, and who gets to live?"

"Because without power, truth is meaningless."

"No," Zayen said. "Because without power, you are meaningless."

"Enough!"

Thales slammed the table and shouted angrily:

"Am I here to play house with you?"

Perhaps because his voice was too loud, a knock came from outside the door, along with Wya's worried inquiry.

"I am fine! No need to come in!"

Thales irritably soothed his subordinates outside the door, then turned back and sighed.

I knew it.

"Fed, people break cages in order to walk out of them," Thales remembered the killer prisoner in the ghoul tunnel and spoke softly. "Not to reinforce them, carry them, and see only them from then on."

Fed said nothing, thoughts unknown.

"And I said, Federico..."

Thales paused here, and even he felt the remaining words were hypocritical.

"As long as you agree... your father's guilt will eventually be cleared..."

"Why?"

Federico did not appreciate it.

"Because he was innocent from the beginning, or because I compromise here and make a shameful deal with you?"

Thales was momentarily speechless.

"And him?"

Fed turned angrily toward the opposite side and pointed directly at Zayen.

"Whether it was seizing power and usurping position, framing others, fabricating crimes, or covering the truth, where is the punishment he deserves? Does that also vanish after the deal is made?"

Thales's heart sank.

"Truly?"

At this moment, Zayen, who had remained silent, stiff-faced and lost in thought as if emptying himself, suddenly spoke, drawing both men's attention.

"Is that truly so?"

Zayen slowly turned back, light gradually gathering in his empty eyes.

"What you want, Fed, is only the truth?"

Federico froze.

"What?"

He looked at this version of Zayen and asked warily:

"What sophistry are you going to make now?"

Zayen snorted coldly.

"The one making sophistry is you, Fed"

"What do you mean?"

Zayen suddenly smiled.

"Tell me, all these years, hiding in the underground world of the Night Kingdom, depending on others, living without daylight, your days were not easy, were they?"

Federico's expression changed. His face darkened.

"Thanks to you."

Zayen smiled coldly.

"You must be tired of being manipulated as a bargaining chip, still having to pose and sell your value so those inhuman old things would reward you with a mouthful of leftovers?"

Federico's final trace of a smile disappeared.

Zayen continued with ill intent.

"And to escape those days, to crawl out of that mire, to take back everything you once possessed, Federico, what price are you willing to pay?"

Federico turned away coldly.

"I have had enough of listening to your nonsense, Zayen. Your Highness, I think..."

But Zayen refused to let him go. He shouted loudly:

"Be honest! What you want is not the truth at all!"

Zayen sneered and lightly raised his hand, slowly clenching it into a fist.

"It is power."

Federico trembled slightly.

Thales also propped up his arm.

"Power that lets you change your circumstances, forget the past, and numb yourself."

Zayen clicked his tongue, full of contempt.

"Perhaps also the status and attention that let you return to the center of the stage?"

Federico stared at Zayen in disbelief, anger hidden in his eyes.

Thales coughed.

"Zayen, perhaps we should return to the topic..."

"This is the topic!"

Zayen interrupted him without courtesy.

"Since you keep talking about truth, Fed, and even use it as your protective talisman to accuse me of hypocrisy and coldness, then, my dear cousin, let us speak of it clearly!"

He looked straight at Federico and enunciated word by word.

"What. Is. Truth?"

Federico's gaze sharpened.

"All the ugly things you want to conceal with effort. Your father and my father..."

He spoke softly.

Zayen sneered.

"Then why, Fed? Use your intelligence and think. Our fathers, Lenster and Sonar, that pair of brothers who once trusted each other without gap, why did they turn against each other and fight internally?"

He raised his voice and roared:

"Tell me!"

Wya was knocking outside the door again and asking. Thales had to continue soothing his subordinates through the door.

Perhaps frightened by his cousin's sudden change in attitude, Federico stared blankly for several seconds before speaking with difficulty.

"Jade City."

He clenched his teeth.

"Back then, Jade City's political struggle was intense. They stood in different camps, representing different groups and completely opposite interests..."

Zayen pressed coldly:

"What camps, what groups, what interests?"

Federico frowned and looked toward Thales.

"Do not look at him! You are a damned Covendier!"

Zayen's face was cold, as if he had brought out the attitude of reprimanding a younger brother.

"Look at me. Answer me!"

Federico seemed shocked by Zayen's decisiveness. He took a deep breath and only then continued.

"Your father, Uncle Lenster, he made mistakes in governance, impatient and radical..."

"Truly?"

"Yes!" As if unwilling to show weakness before Zayen, Federico involuntarily increased his tone and quickened his speed. "Tax systems, labor service, official systems, land, commercial shares, the Jade Legion, the Blood Bottle Gang... especially after the Bloody Year, Uncle's measures went too urgently and too quickly, provoking much opposition..."

"Whose opposition?"

"Everyone!"

Federico roared the answer. He took a deep breath and adjusted back to a normal tone.

"Everyone besides the beneficiaries."

Thales listened from the side and felt an inexplicable unease.

Federico stared at Zayen.

"My father saw the hidden dangers in the duke's actions. He remembered old feelings, valued human sentiment, and hoped to slow the pace, adjust the methods, and leave room..."

"Leave room?"

Zayen's voice was cold.

"Leave room for whom? The Blood Bottle Gang? Old nobility? Merchants who made money from the old order? Officials who treated offices as family property? The people who profited from the old mud?"

Federico's lips moved.

"He wanted to protect Jade City."

"He wanted to protect the Covendier family," Zayen corrected, his voice painful. "Whether my father or yours, whether duke or viscount, they stood in the same camp from beginning to end."

He said it with pain.

"The Covendier camp."

The Duke of South Coast abruptly lifted his head and stared at Federico like he was interrogating a prisoner.

"You know all this, Fed You know. You knew from the beginning. You understand your father."

Federico stared blankly back at Zayen.

"But you do not care. Neither your father's final wish nor his sacrifice as a Covendier."

Federico's face changed.

Zayen smiled coldly.

"Because what you care about is only yourself, and your own status and interests."

"No!"

Federico instinctively denied it.

But Zayen ignored him and continued coldly.

"Do you know why the condition we offered you was Viscount of Archsea City?"

Federico clenched his fist.

"Because I know, Federico Covendier: from the very beginning, what you wanted was neither truth, nor justice, nor even revenge, not to see me punished. What you wanted was not even a satisfying end of gratitude and enmity!"

Federico's eyelid twitched.

Zayen coldly stated the conclusion, not even caring about polite speech.

"You are not stupid, but you have risked your life to connect our fathers' old grievance to me, and blame the suspect on me, not because you truly think so, and not because that concerns your father's innocence, but only because I, because I am fucking sitting in the current Duke of South Coast's seat."

Thales instinctively looked at the expensive chair beneath his own butt.

Whether from anger or shame, Federico trembled slightly.

Zayen smiled coldly.

"You did not accept the compromise just now not because you hate me, and not because the truth remains unclear, but because you think the loot was split unfairly. Even if you become Viscount of Archsea City, you will still be a step below me, obeying my orders, subject to my control, bowing to me."

Federico's face was dark.

"As for our fathers' old case, what you hate is not injustice, nor unfairness, nor that justice and truth cannot be upheld."

Zayen shook his head.

"What you truly hate is that the unjust strong power does not belong to you. You hate that you cannot profit from unfairness. You hate that the justice and truths being upheld somehow were not effective and did not just so happen to stand on your side."

Federico froze.

Zayen's gaze sharpened.

"And you, Federico, I have seen through you. You are not worthy to be Uncle Sonar's son. You are not worthy of the Covendier name."

Federico shook all over.

"What. Did. You. Say?"

He clenched his teeth, anger burning.

"Enough, Federico Covendier!"

Zayen suddenly raised his voice and laughed loudly.

"The so-called truth. How your father, Uncle Sonar, died back then, and even how my father, Duke Lenster, died..."

The Duke of South Coast spoke hatefully.

"Do you truly know nothing at all? Are you truly unclear?"

Federico was shocked and furious. He looked at Zayen and Thales, yet hesitated to speak.

"You, no. What sophistry are you going to make again..."

But Zayen continued. His eyes were dark and cold, never leaving Federico.

"That is right. For our family, for his elder brother's ideal, Uncle Sonar exhausted all his strength and self-righteously burned himself, igniting the last bundle of firewood the old era left in Jade City to prevent it from spreading to the whole city, even if it meant he himself had to be buried in the fire."

Zayen paused, his voice hoarse.

"Only before that, an accident came first."

The Duke of South Coast tiredly shook his head.

"My father died. He died precisely when contradictions could no longer be managed. Uncle naturally became the most suspicious suspect."

"No!"

Federico could not help arguing.

"My father, my father defended himself, explained... He did not murder the duke. He did not murder his brother..."

"Of course he did not!"

Zayen abruptly interrupted him.

"But if he insisted on defending himself, if his subordinates resisted like you, only to push him onto the ducal throne..."

Zayen swept a glance at Thales, his gaze making one shiver.

"Then that would have played directly into the enemy's hands."

Thales instinctively repeated:

"Enemy?"

Zayen ignored him and only continued looking at his stunned cousin.

"Duke Lenster was in the middle of a political struggle and died by assassination. As his political enemy, Viscount Sonar refused to admit to the crime. Thus, forces loyal to the Covendier family split into two factions. Jade City became precarious, about to recreate the old days when King Eight Fingers and Duke Cork stood against each other as equals..."

He smiled coldly.

"For external enemies, could there be a more suitable moment to intervene in the iris?"

Thales reacted and said in surprise:

"Wait, you mean Viscount Sonar-"

Bang!

Zayen slammed down the teacup, his gaze icy.

"Shut up, Thales."

Thales frowned and thought carefully.

"I do not understand. Why? What does this have to do with my father..." Federico was dazed.

Zayen sneered.

"What is there not to understand?"

He spoke hatefully, with repeated emphasis and fierce attitude.

"The Duke of South Coast was killed. Uncle Sonar could not argue his innocence no matter how many mouths he had. Jade City was split apart, and enemies were at the gates. They were about to come!"

By the end, Zayen's chest rose and fell. His breathing was hurried, and he could not restrain himself.

"They?" Thales could not help interjecting.

"Thales, shut the fuck up!"

This time, Zayen did not even look at Thales. He almost tore the words from his throat.

Sensing the other man's unusual agitation, Thales could only remain silent.

Federico said nothing. He only stared blankly.

"With a great enemy before us, if they delayed and did nothing..."

Zayen sensed his loss of composure and began consciously adjusting himself, but still could not hide the trembling in his tone.

"They would be like today, standing above, sending envoys to Jade City, branding Uncle as a suspect in fratricide, taking out the 'Roderick Ordinance' to arbitrate the Covendier family's 'brothers killing each other,' determining the punishment the family should receive, deciding the iris succession, and even going a step further, turning Jade City or even South Coast Territory into something in their pocket."

"They?" Fed opened his mouth with difficulty, but only repeated Thales's question.

"At that time, the whole city was terrified, subordinates each harbored their own schemes, the major forces had strayed in heart and virtue, even the lowest Blood Bottle Gang had been thoroughly dismantled by them. The situation was worse than now," Zayen nodded with difficulty. "I think Uncle Sonar, your father, sat between his brother's corpse and the ducal throne, unable to advance or retreat."

Zayen spoke quietly.

"So after discussing with my mother, Uncle Sonar, he made the bravest choice, before they could fully strike and take Jade City."

"What?"

Federico instinctively gripped the teacup before him.

As if that tiny cup handle was the only handle in the world at this moment.

"Yes, Fed"

Zayen closed his eyes.

"Only if your father sacrificed himself. Only if he confessed then and there. Only if he died in prison. Only if he used righteousness and reason to force Judge Brennan to bend the law for private reasons and go against his conscience, leaving this case without witness after death and cutting it off. Only if this case was urgently and silently given final conclusion..."

Zayen said painfully,

"Could the endangered iris barely cut off its own wrist to survive, and endure the vicious poison that the enemies had prepared for long, one arrow meant to kill."

At this moment, the entire duke's study became completely quiet.

Silent as death.

Federico did not move.

Thales could hardly believe it.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered Chief Judge Brennan's sincere and heartfelt will.

There were a few lines in it that Thales had never been able to understand no matter how he looked:

Ever since that judgment was made eleven years ago, I knew this day would eventually come...

That so-called justice, morality, and law, are they merely tools we use to unite ourselves and gather public hope? Is their meaning to deceive the masses, to uphold strong power, to serve rule? Is their value worse than none, their meaning clearer in darkness than in light?

Where should the boundary between public justice and public interest lie? And where should the people with the authority to interpret them stand?