Chapter 780: Because of Friends, Not by Enemies

"You have seen something laughable, Your Highness."

Federico took a deep breath and returned to reality with disappointment and disgust.

"But I believe Jade City is still loyal. Even if it is confused for a time, in the end it will make the correct choice."

Especially when its own safety was involved.

The Scarlet Iris swept a cold gaze across the hall.

The dignitaries in the front rows either glared at him angrily or looked at him coldly. The business owners in the middle rows lowered their heads and did not dare meet his eyes. The attendees in the rear rows and corners whispered to one another, frightened and shocked.

But no one stepped forward to refute him.

"Since no one can sign this covenant, shall we dismiss?"

Federico stood in the council hall like a sharp blade, his gaze keen.

"His Highness is very busy. We still need to catch those outrageous masterminds who are stirring wind and rain."

Everyone stiffened again when they heard this and began whispering to one another.

But this time, the whispers in the hall were full of caution, fear, and disappointment.

When no one was paying attention, Thales quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then:

Thump!

A heavy muffled sound came. Everyone turned their gazes and was immediately shocked.

It was Deputy Chief Priest Fable.

He had fallen to both knees below the ducal throne. Trembling, he reached out toward the old Sunset Scripture fallen on the ground.

How...

Thales's brow twitched, and he instinctively stood.

"Deputy Chief Priest..."

"Your Highness, please believe me!"

The deputy chief priest shakily picked up the Scripture and brushed the dust from it.

"I have no accomplices, nor do I need them, much less co-conspirators."

The old priest paused and slowly raised his head.

"If one insists on saying I have accomplices or co-conspirators, if one insists on saying someone taught me, encouraged me, and supported me in making this proposal today..."

Fable looked toward Thales, his tone pained and his eyes red.

"Then it can only be you, Thales Jadestar."

At that instant, the whole hall was stunned.

"It was you and your actions that made me believe: change has already come!"

The entire hall quieted.

Even Thales froze.

What...

What did he say?

One second later, Thales, who had reacted, abruptly changed expression.

Mallos frowned slightly, and Wya was dumbstruck.

To one side, Federico returned to his senses and instinctively shouted in rebuke:

"Presumptuous!"

The lords, nobles, high officials, and great officers seated in the front row reacted immediately afterward and spoke one after another:

"Wild!"

"Slander!"

"Absurd!"

"This truly is rebellion!"

"Arrest him!"

The prince instructed the priest to incite Jade City and propose that covenant?

What kind of joke was that? If these words spread...

"What, sir, are you trying to trap His Highness in unrighteousness?"

Federico seized the opportunity and attacked with a cold smile.

"Or do you truly want to raise the flag of uprising and support a new king?"

Crash!

The council hall exploded again.

Thales's expression was stiff, and he said nothing.

With Wya at their head, the Star Lake Guards had ugly expressions and repeatedly looked toward Mallos for instructions.

"Deputy Chief Priest!"

Bishop Ledoue, the representative of the Sunset Church who had been watching his colleague from the priestly department speak with a terrified heart, finally could not hold back.

"You, you, you, what exactly are you trying to do? How can this be orthodox faith? The Goddess has given no such oracle!"

The attendees who had reacted discussed without end. Some panicked, but many were excited.

Thales coldly watched the chaos in the hall and slowly raised one hand.

Mallos was the first to understand. He urged the etiquette officers and guards to maintain order while speaking loudly:

"His Highness commands: silence!"

Perhaps because the dagger was still on the prince's seat, the discussions in the hall immediately quieted.

"The Sunset bears witness, I am serious! Everyone! Your Highness! This is neither incitement nor a trap!"

The old priest knelt on the ground, holding the Scripture, with despair and urgency in his dazed expression.

"After the selection meeting, the two Cavendills tore at each other with every method, disasters occurred frequently, livelihoods collapsed, people's hearts panicked, and Jade City seemed about to split and decline, repeating the tragedies of the past..."

He gasped for breath and finally won a little patience from everyone.

"Only Prince Thales, newly in charge of the regency, only you, Your Highness, broke from precedent, lowered your posture, bypassed the power struggle in Emerald Palace, cast aside the arrogance of great figures, and saved Jade City fundamentally, not through political tricks.

"From maritime trade to merchandise, from crafts to farming and herding, from officials to common people, you received people from every level of the city, listened to their needs, calmed their worries, and answered their doubts.

"Through this, you reconnected Jade City's blood vessels, revived the heart of the South Bank Territory, preserved the achievements the South Bank people accumulated over a hundred years, and allowed them, for the first time in several centuries, to escape the shadow of Emerald Palace's power struggles.

"You pressed the two irises and all the ghostly parties into obedience and forced them to shake hands and make peace. You also rejected the easy road of tyranny, bore by yourself the shadowy threats from higher places, and strove for a stable transition.

"It was you who made many people in Jade City realize that even without a duke, even without that family that claims to be the savior of the South Bank, the ordinary people below still need to live and move forward. They cannot belittle themselves, spin in place, and destroy their own future for the private interests of one iris family and one surname."

Thales's eyes moved slightly.

Without anyone noticing, whispers multiplied in the hall.

As the only Cavendill representative present, Federico's eyes were terrifying and his expression ugly.

"I know, I know this was absolutely not the work of a single day. From the first day you and your subordinates arrived in Jade City, you went deep among the people, visited streets and markets, investigated every field, and did not even spare the darkest gutter...

"You are also one of the few masters of Emerald Palace in all these years who personally stepped outside North Gate Bridge, cared about the truth of the murder of even a dancing girl, and personally asked about the lives of people in the deep lower levels.

"You are one of the few rulers unwilling to submit to the power traps of the iris, unwilling to bend to Jade City's established rules. In that position, you did not throw up your hands and play with authority, compromise and trade, and you refused to join with local clerks and even the Blood Bottle Gang Brotherhood."

Thales listened to his words, his gaze changing several times.

The buzzing whispers in the hall grew more chaotic, and the expressions with which many people looked at the prince also changed.

"Unlike those rulers who only know how to grasp authority and seize interests, who only know how to trade chips with great figures, calculate against political enemies, and see nothing but their own private estates..."

The old priest trembled, climbed to his feet, and waved his arms.

"Because of this, I truly believe that you have found the key to governing this city, and even the great affairs of a kingdom, Your Highness!"

Thales instinctively frowned.

Fable staggered to the steps below Thales's seat and was stopped by Wya, but he did not mind and continued speaking.

"And this is what many rulers throughout history have ignored, and what they could not understand when they were overthrown despite clearly holding great power."

The deputy chief priest panted, every word painstaking.

"Everyone, the sacred Prophet Mohasa once said: theology is the study of people."

The old priest turned toward the public in the hall.

"Rule is not realized through power, but through people, through living people."

Thales's gaze flashed.

"The controversial 'Wise King' once touched the edge of this, but his lifespan was limited, and he ran out of time..."

As he spoke, more and more discussion rose in the hall.

"And the wise rulers of the Cavendills, whether Duke Kossa who inquired of the people, the Ram-Horn Duke who honored worthy men, even the Parrot Duke, and even... also once had the chance..."

The old priest looked at Thales, then at Fed beside him, whose expression was bad. His face dimmed.

"But their character was insufficient, their wisdom not enough, and under the frustrations of reality, they too failed..."

Listening to him, Thales stared blankly at the old man.

What kind of person was this?

A genius at weighing and handling affairs, or a master at conspiracy and incitement?

Or an idealist willing to throw away his own body for faith and conviction?

"Now, it is you. You are the one who began all of this, Your Highness!"

The deputy chief priest's expression was sorrowful, sincere, and earnest.

"You followed each link and each brick, rebuilding the order Jade City lost because of high-level power struggles, stopping the selfish actions of the Cavendills dragging down the whole city through internal fighting, and preventing countless citizens from seeing their families destroyed..."

Thales was slightly moved when he heard this.

"Therefore, they, no, therefore we, gained enough courage to come here."

After saying this, Deputy Chief Priest Fable stepped back and bowed to Thales.

Behind him, the audience who had entered the palace with him to "participate in politics" stirred with discussion, while Federico's face was deathly pale.

Thales let out a long sigh and raised a hand to interrupt Federico, who was about to speak in refutation.

It changed.

After hearing the old man's account, the voice in Thales's heart sighed.

It truly changed.

This was no longer a power struggle between Renaissance Palace and Emerald Palace using Jade City as the fulcrum, unfolding around the Cavendill family's internal conflict.

Nor was it him, Zayen, Federico, Hilley, and various major figures circling, fighting, and compromising on the stage of Emerald Palace.

After the deputy chief priest proposed the covenant and tore open the last veil, what was revealed before him was something one layer deeper.

Thales looked at the old priest's hopeful eyes and calmly looked at the excited and tense expressions of most people and the worried and shocked expressions of a few.

It was this city. No, to be precise, it was every part, every tentacle, every piece of flesh and blood that formed this city.

It was the result of them gradually awakening under the pain of the Cavendill family's vicious fight, trembling in reaction, and quietly surfacing amid turbulent waves.

Thales suddenly realized that whether Fable was sincere or deliberately performing...

Even if, even if the deputy chief priest and Sunset Temple were using the chance to seize power and fill the vacuum...

What he borrowed was the overwhelming momentum of Jade City's people's anger after the duke fell, under the stimulation of days of upheaval.

"Your Highness, you do not need to..."

Federico anxiously spoke from the side, but Thales suddenly pressed a hand downward, indicating for him to be silent.

Fed could only grit his teeth and lower his head, extremely embarrassed.

"Deputy Chief Priest, your student Chadwi."

Thales spoke softly, full of exhaustion and numbness.

"How is he now?"

The old priest was still immersed in his sincere statement from before. He froze when he heard this, and many listeners were stunned as well.

"I have already said, we can only pray for his recovery..."

"He is not only your student, but also my friend," Thales looked straight into his eyes. "I need to know."

The deputy chief priest was silent for a good while.

"Chadwi's condition is not good."

The old priest spoke quietly.

"Unreasonable power rolled over him, leaving wounds that will be difficult to heal for life and poison deep in the bones. Even the most experienced temple healers and monks can only do everything they can to lessen his pain."

Wounds difficult to heal for life.

Poison deep in the bones.

Under the cautious and probing gazes of the full hall, Thales was silent for a while.

"The power that rolled over him, was it external," Thales said softly, "or internal?"

Fable frowned slightly.

"Is there a difference?"

Thales looked deeply at him.

"Is that so."

The deputy chief priest could not help turning his head, avoiding his gaze.

Finally, Thales took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

The prince sat down again and unconsciously gripped the dagger in the armrest.

"I have heard your words, Mr. Fable, but I fear I do not deserve such praise from you."

The Duke of Star Lake composed his face again.

"As for your expectations... I do not actually possess such noble and selfless character, nor am I the sort of wise and sacred ruler you describe. Even the mission that brought me here is..."

Thales paused. He observed everyone's reactions and spoke cautiously, yet sincerely.

"Right now, I only want, at the smallest cost, to let this city pass smoothly through this disaster and cross this unavoidable historical threshold. You, Mr. Fable, do you understand?"

He stared seriously at Fable, as if trying to see through his heart.

The deputy chief priest silently looked back at him, and a smile suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"Of course, Your Highness."

The old priest lowered his head and looked emotionally at the classic of faith in his arms.

"Including me, in truth, many people know, or have guessed, the purpose for which you came here. Only many still keep a lucky hope..."

Many members of the front-row audience frowned when they heard this.

"But I learned from the mortal world: if people always harbor lucky hopes, wanting both this and that, hesitating for the sake of perfect completeness, there is no way to solve problems."

The old priest took a deep breath, raised his head, and his gaze became sharp.

"Especially when you return from here to the royal capital."

At that instant, Thales's heart tightened.

So he was very clear.

"Just like the silence of the whole hall's public. How long do you intend to compromise and endure?"

Thales's eyelid twitched.

"Sign this covenant, child. Grasp Jade City. Grasp it!"

Under many shocked gazes, Fable's tone suddenly changed. The divine light in his eyes burned like torches straight into Thales's eyes.

"Grasp the historical opportunity and bargaining chip it can give you, just as it also wishes to grasp you!"

Thales jolted when he heard this.

"Presumptuous! Do you truly think there are no loyal subjects here?"

Federico was furious beyond restraint. Ignoring etiquette, he shouted to the Star Lake Guard.

"Royal guards! This man is a rebel and traitor. He is sowing discord between royal father and son. Why are you still standing there? Take him down, for His Highness! For the king! For the kingdom!"

Wya and his colleagues were all shocked, but before he could move, Mallos pressed his shoulder down firmly.

Yet the next second, the old priest, his face solemn, abruptly turned around.

"You, Federico Cavendill!"

Federico immediately froze.

"Cavendills do not perish by enemies. That is right. When Duke Cork resisted the king's might with the strength of one corner, that was indeed his slogan!"

The old priest looked at Federico, his hair and beard bristling.

"But you, Federico, you want so badly to sit on the ducal throne and hold the reins of the family, yet do you truly understand the meaning of these words?"

Federico was caught off guard.

"Wh-what?"

The deputy chief priest stared fixedly at his former student.

"'Better to die because of friends than to die by enemies'?"

The old priest sneered.

"No. Although that sentence is catchy and known to all, it is only the palest and weakest mistranslation in the modern common tongue, passed down generation after generation with errors piled upon errors..."

Thales's heart moved.

Federico looked at his teacher in shock and doubt, his breathing quickening.

The old priest spoke as solemnly and majestically as he had in a childhood classroom.

"Because the words of your ancestor, Lenster Cavendill, no, it should be Lenster Clevindios, were recorded in ancient imperial script during the War of Eradication."

Thales suddenly remembered Asda's correction of his ancient imperial script, especially the phrase at the Alchemy Tower, "toward omniscience," or rather, "I am on the path toward omniscience."

So, the most accurate and far-reaching original meaning of the tricolor iris's family motto was...

"In that chaotic age when enemies were everywhere, the homeland had split and sunk, and hope was severed, the ancestor of the Cavendill family told the Revival King this..."

The deputy chief priest took a deep breath. Standing in the council hall that belonged to the Cavendill family, his gaze became distant.

"Precisely because of the love, kindness, and friendship we possess... and precisely because of the friends, comrades, and allies we cherish..."

[Because of friends.]

The Cavendill family, no, at that time, what he was speaking of should have been the Revival King and the foundation of the new kingdom he and his brothers had painstakingly built together.

The deputy chief priest's gaze was deep.

"Believing this, upholding this, we, the descendants and inheritors of the empire, will absolutely not sink into endless malice, hostility, and struggle, and will absolutely not be destroyed by them."

[Not by enemies.]

"This... is the closest meaning we can express in the present common tongue to your ancestor's original words."

The old priest's words fell.

Thales unconsciously breathed out.

[Because of friends, not by enemies.]

Every time he heard the Cavendill family motto, he could not help frowning and feeling the deep calculation and even numb coldness behind the words.

Just like the portrait of the Fatal Iris playing with a dagger in the kingdom's Secret Intelligence Department.

But if interpreted as the deputy chief priest did...

Thales seemed to see that age when heaven collapsed and earth split, when the imperial capital cracked and sank.

The young first-generation iris stood beneath the setting sun, facing an isolated army of imperial remnants, including Tormond, all sunk in despair, with their path of retreat severed. He was firm and steady, stepping forward.

Precisely because of our love, kindness, and friendship...

We will absolutely not sink into malice, hostility, and struggle...

And absolutely not be destroyed by them.

[Because of friends, not by enemies.]

At that instant, from the ancient charm of those words, Thales unexpectedly felt a vastness and openness in desperate circumstances.

A different kind of tenacity and hope.

A force that could truly... gather people's hearts.

Thales narrowed his eyes.

The Fatal Iris Lenster... what kind of person had he been?

"Bullshit!"

Federico's furious roar interrupted Thales's distant thoughts.

"Written ancient imperial script naturally has 'suspended phrasing' and 'undetermined meanings.' Its interpretation was never unique!"

The Scarlet Iris gritted his teeth and stared at his former teacher.

"It is not your place to stand here and spout nonsense about my family's motto!"

"Indeed, it is not my place!"

Fable struck back coldly.

"Because whether you and Zayen, or countless Cavendill descendants... when you attended my ancient imperial script classes, you only did it to score highly and fulfill assignments, to satisfy your elders' wishes and the needs of power and position. You never cared what it truly meant!"

Federico froze under his rebuke.

Of course, it was not only them.

The deputy chief priest felt only sorrow in his heart.

Including old Lenster and Sona... even Duke Cork himself back then. They, the iris, these Cavendill descendants...

When had they ever cared about the true meaning of those words?

"So, because of friends, not by enemies."

Priest Fable no longer paid attention to his student and turned toward Thales.

"Since you gave us hope, Your Highness, gave us something several generations of Cavendills who claimed wisdom could not and would not give..."

The old priest shook his head and looked straight at the Duke of Star Lake.

"Then please do not disappoint us again."

At that second, Thales closed his eyes and instinctively gripped the armrest.

Again.

That familiar yet unfamiliar heaviness and suffocation he had felt before in Emerald Palace.

"No, Your Highness! Do not believe his wild words!"

Federico refuted fiercely from the other side.

"This covenant is nothing but a game. Do not forget your mission. You saved Jade City with great difficulty. Are you now going to watch it be destroyed again?"

The old priest refuted coldly:

"If Jade City stops where it is and returns to the Cavendills' old road, covering problems with false prosperity, sealing itself in place through repeated power struggles, that will be destruction!"

The arguments in the hall grew louder and were already impossible to suppress.

"Please believe me, Your Highness Thales. I proposed this difficult suggestion because I know this is a magnificent feat only you can accomplish!"

The deputy chief priest looked earnestly at Thales on the seat.

"If anyone else were sitting in this position today, even Duke Zayen with his high position and deep roots, especially him!"

His words paused, and his expression dimmed slightly.

"I would not have proposed this covenant with such willing conviction and hope, seeking to leave a little room and balance between Eternal Star City and Jade City."

Fable's words made Thales's brow twitch.

"No, Your Highness! This covenant, though he seems to praise your noble integrity, actually asks you to sever one of your own arms," Federico gritted his teeth. "All to satisfy his selfish interests and those of the people behind him. They are only another Zayen. What difference is there?"

"I know, Your Highness. This covenant seems to be restraint and limitation, but..."

The old priest's tone was sincere, nearly pleading.

"But, Your Highness, if you want to rule Jade City..."

The deputy chief priest looked at him full of hope.

"Then you must first be bound by Jade City."

At that moment, Thales's expression changed slightly.

He suddenly remembered the past.

Just like what Chapman Lampard had told him, the feeling of sitting on the throne.

He had not worn a crown.

He had been placed in shackles.

"And if, Your Highness, if in the future you still wish to rule the kingdom, and even more..."

Fable took a deep breath, clenched the Scripture in his hand, and asked solemnly:

"You, Thales Jadestar..."

He spoke word by word:

"Are you truly prepared for your rule?"

When his words fell, the council hall once again erupted into great uproar, shaking the roof.

But this time, no small amount of applause was mixed within.

"Your rule needs no comment from others!"

Federico refuted with all his strength.

"Do not forget your identity, Your Highness, the heavy responsibility you shoulder, the mission that brought you here!"

But Thales did not hear any of their words.

He only silently bore Deputy Chief Priest Fable's firm gaze and Federico's furious refutation.

He merely looked down from above, quietly observing the movements of every attendee in the hall, feeling the complex, shifting, subtly wondrous changes in each person's expression after every sentence of debate, guessing how the faint thoughts deep within each person resonated with the deputy chief priest's words today and with the great whole that was Jade City.

At that moment, the Sin of Hell's River flowed naturally, and time seemed to slow.

Thales felt as if he had fallen into a trap.

That's right.

The voice in his heart pondered:

While you were busy matching wits and courage with the two Cavendills, fighting until your eyes were red and the struggle was impossible to resolve, while you guessed and speculated about the heart of the king far away in Renaissance Palace, and exhausted yourself over every change, patching leaks and filling gaps...

Jade City's countless power tentacles, or rather, vines of interest, had already glimpsed the opening and quietly climbed to the edge of Emerald Palace's viewing platform.

In the past, they were the nourishment and assistance of generations of South Bank dukes, fed by blood deliberately cut from the iris family, breeding and growing, then loyally tamed beneath the Cavendills' whip, struggling forward and lifting Jade City and the South Bank Territory step by step to where they stood today.

And now...

Thales drew a difficult deep breath.

The voice in his heart sighed:

Now, in order to defeat Zayen, to resist the desperate counterattack he launched after losing power, to clean up the mess left after Emerald Palace's mechanisms failed, to drive the carriage stalled by the broken iris chain...

You bent down and reached out, moving every node in the structure and system, activating these power tentacles, activating... all of Jade City.

Thus, after the iris fell, after the Cavendills' rules and chains loosened, they finally merged with Jade City and became a terrifying giant with countless tentacles, crawling out of the deep sea and climbing onto towering Emerald Palace.

That's right, Thales.

The voice in his heart laughed softly:

At this very moment inside Emerald Palace, what your backside sits upon is not the ducal throne, nor a power vacuum.

It is the entire Jade City.

It is that enormous thing that formed thanks to you and has just awakened.

And through the deputy chief priest's mouth, it has extended its tentacle to you for the first time...

To save itself amid the storm of struggle between royal power and the iris?

Thinking of this, Thales could not help clenching his fist.

What should you do, Thales?

He looked at the opening and closing mouths of the deputy chief priest and Federico and felt he had once again reached a crossroads of fate.

Accept the covenant?

Sacrifice the iris's legacy, and every difficulty the prince encountered in Jade City would vanish like smoke. He could even accumulate prestige amid cheers.

At the same time, you will leave behind even greater difficulties and worse consequences in Renaissance Palace in the future, certain to shake the kingdom.

Reject the covenant?

Skillfully use Fed as a sharp blade, cut away obstacles and branches regardless of cost, suppress dissent, plunder what is needed, and serve this city up on a platter.

But that means your intention of preserving this city's vitality will fail completely, and you can only watch Jade City slide into the abyss of decline.

Thales closed his eyes.

So, Your Majesty, is this what you hoped to see? To give me such a choice?

To prove that my hopes are only fantasies and will ultimately fail.

To prove that your road is the only one, no matter the cost?

No!

Thales abruptly opened his eyes.

The choices available to him surely were not limited to accepting or refusing.

Not merely nodding in compromise or exterminating all opposition.

Not only one or the other.

There must still be a third road.

A third choice.

Facing the surging discussions and countless gazes, Thales gritted his teeth.

Only, where was it...

Where...

Think, Thales. You escaped countless dilemmas in the past. You can do it this time too. Quickly, think hard...

Delay time? Shift attention? Find a blind spot? Compromise and muddy the waters?

But unlike the specific opponents and enemies of the past, facing the vast and scattered Jade City, facing such a group composed of countless tentacles...

Thales clenched his fist tighter and tighter.

At this moment, Kongmuto hurried in from outside the hall and apologized to Mallos.

The Watchman's eyes sharpened. He asked a few questions in return until Kongmuto was sweating heavily, then personally came to Thales's side and whispered a few words.

At that moment, the prince's expression changed.

"What?"

He abruptly turned his head and stared at the Watchman.

"Why?"

The latter nodded expressionlessly, then shook his head.

"Please decide."

Thales froze.

He slowly turned his head and looked toward the empty space beyond the hall, silently thinking.

Many guests in the front row noticed the prince's change, and the direction of discussion shifted again.

"Your Highness? Has some urgent matter happened?"

Federico's eyes brightened.

"If the matter is urgent, perhaps we should adjourn for now. In any case, this topic has no meaning..."

But Thales only looked at him with a complicated expression.

"Your Highness, whatever urgent matter it is, can it be more important than Jade City's future and fate?"

Fable remained earnest and persuasive.

"This city's people, even the whole kingdom, await with hope. Our fate rests in your single thought!"

Looking at their reactions, Thales suddenly laughed very impolitely.

"Fortune turns in cycles..." he murmured.

"Your Highness?" the two asked at the same time.

Thales sighed and turned back.

"Nothing. I am only thinking... this moment is just like that moment, and Emerald Palace is just like Heroic Spirit Palace."

Federico and the deputy chief priest exchanged a glance, puzzled.

Yes, thinking, thinking again.

Thales laughed softly, both helpless and relieved.

Thinking: karma is a bitch.

Before the full audience, Thales took a deep breath, set his face, and waved his hand.

As if he had made some choice.

Under all eyes, Mallos immediately turned around. Under his command, Kongmuto and several guards hurried away.

The next second, the sound of mechanisms rang out, and a side door of the council hall opened.

"Please, spare us, and spare him as well, Mr. Fable."

A familiar voice came from outside the hall.

Tired, hoarse.

Numb.

The moment this voice sounded, everyone in the council hall changed expression together.

Except Thales.

He only looked quietly at the figure slowly walking in from the side door.

"If it is about where Jade City should go, then we can still discuss it."

That figure slowly approached with the sound of footsteps, making the listeners turn their heads one after another.

"But if it is about which prince Sunset Temple should choose, what people and what sort of support it should obtain in order to inherit the throne and rule the kingdom, thereby deciding where Jade City should go..."

A thin and gaunt man, with messy hair and stubble covering his face, slowly walked into the hall.

The moment they saw him clearly, the full audience immediately burst into uproar.

"Why is he here?"

"Wasn't he unwell..."

"No, they said it was to avoid suspicion..."

"How did he become like this?"

"From squatting in prison, probably. The prince tortured him badly and did not give him food..."

"Maybe also did not give him clothes..."

"No wonder he yielded... if it were me, I could not endure it either..."

"Wasn't it said that he had reconciled with the prince and was talking and laughing with him?"

"If you were treated like this, who would dare not reconcile?"

As that figure passed, many attendees instinctively and habitually stood, greeting and saluting him, but after the salute, they all reacted and felt subtle.

Federico gave a light snort and looked disdainfully at the man approaching step by step.

Deputy Chief Priest Fable stared fixedly at him, both hands trembling.

"Mr. Fable, I was not here, and you caused this much trouble..."

Under many complicated and subtle gazes, the current Guardian Duke of the South Bank, Zayen Cavendill, gaunt, haggard, and sickly, walked step by step with difficulty toward the highest place in the council hall.

"Do you truly want to force Jade City, the South Bank Territory, and all of us down a dead end?"

When the Duke of the South Bank's words fell, unstoppable whispers burst through the council hall.

"That is exactly my meaning, cousin."

Federico looked at Zayen's appearance with complicated feelings.

"You came at just the right time. Please restate the Cavendills' loyalty to Renaissance Palace and obedience to the system of the Stars..."

"Shut up, Fed," Zayen slowly walked forward without even looking at his cousin. "Jade City's foundation and the Cavendill family's inheritance are not for you to ruin like this."

Anger appeared in Federico's eyes.

"You..."

"Zayen Cavendill. I knew the disaster of the Youngest Son would not perish so easily."

The old priest sighed, his expression hateful and disgusted.

"Have you repented? For the countless sins you committed in this city? Have you?"

Zayen's steps paused. He glanced at his former teacher.

"Thank you for your ancient imperial script classes, sir," the Duke of the South Bank continued forward, his tone indifferent. "I have donated atonement money to your temple."

Deputy Chief Priest Fable was immediately choked with anger.

Zayen walked step by step past countless guests:

Director Mylahovich, Acting Judge Iboning, Captain Cecil, Count Lasia and his son, the Karabeyan sisters, Count Havia, Count Shukardel, the Hasha envoy of Tarenbond, the disguised servant-envoy Nausud of Congregate City, and so on.

These people had different expressions and saluted one after another, whether with fear, vigilance, courtesy, or enthusiasm.

But he only walked forward, not looking at them once.

Finally, the iris duke came step by step before the current regent of Emerald Palace.

"Welcome to the meeting, Zayen, although... you are a little late."

Thales sighed, stood, walked slowly down the steps, and extended a hand toward Zayen.

The sickly Duke of the South Bank glanced at him and did not extend a hand in return.

He only looked behind Thales, toward the throne belonging to the Duke of the South Bank, and the dagger stuck in its armrest, his gaze deep and complicated.

Thales was not angry either. He withdrew his hand, moved closer to Zayen, and said quietly:

"Honestly, for one moment, I thought this was a scheme you arranged."

Zayen only looked coldly back at him.

"She woke up."

Thales froze.

But he immediately reacted, and his eyes brightened.

"She woke up? That is great..."

Before Thales could finish speaking, Zayen grabbed Thales's arm.

The audience frowned together, and Wya was even more shocked.

Fortunately, Zayen only leaned close to Thales's ear and said coldly:

"So, what I am about to do next is for her."

Zayen snorted coldly.

"Only for her."

Thales froze.

"What?"

But the next second, Zayen released his arm and turned toward the entire hall.

"Everyone, I know what you are arguing about. I heard enough of it from outside."

He slowly walked toward the center of the hall, bearing the gazes of the full audience, just as he had once been accustomed to doing.

"Unfortunately, what Mr. Fable considers is too far away, beyond reach."

The duke spoke quietly.

And the thing he wants to change is too close.

So close that catastrophe is already at the door.

"Jade City at present does not yet have sufficient conditions to support the things he spoke of."

Zayen turned his head and stared at the deputy chief priest. The latter, indignant, was about to speak, but the duke took the lead.

"As for this His Highness Thales... you should not even think about it. The water behind him is too deep."

The Duke of the South Bank was decisive, and his tone made people shiver.

"Whoever touches it dies. I am the precedent."

When everyone heard this, they looked toward the prince one after another, and whispers rose again.

Thales only felt his eyelid twitch.

He swore that he even heard words like "King Nuin" and "Duke Val" in their whispers.

Zayen raised his head and looked toward the iris banner on the wall of the hall, his gaze deep and his thoughts unknown.

"Of course, I understand everyone's worries. No matter where the disaster comes from, the problem must still be solved. Jade City cannot continue in this chaos."

The whispers in the hall grew noisier.

"Do not worry. I thought of an idea."

The current master of the Cavendill family looked at his family emblem, and his eyes became dim and deathly still.

"I guarantee you will all be satisfied."

His tone was cold and resolute.

"Everyone will be satisfied."