In the deep and dark dungeon, Thales silently recalled the experience recounted by the vampire killer, while Lausanne II looked blank.
No one responded to Hilley's words, which were either teasing or sarcastic.
"Then why don't you go back?"
Thales asked quietly.
Lausanne II raised his eyes numbly.
Thales took a deep breath:
"After Crown Prince Midir returned, no matter what the truth was, at least everyone, I mean, most of the people involved in the case were wronged, but why are you still willing to stay in the Blood Bottle Gang to do illegal business and collect money to kill people?
Even if he does dirty work, he refuses to go back to Mindis Hall and get up again from where he fell..."
"he?"
Lausanne II suddenly raised his voice.
"Midir?"
He sneered, his tone sad and disdainful.
"Of course, when he found me, handed me the blood, and sincerely apologized to me, hoping to relieve my anger and grievances and seek my forgiveness, he was so kind and compassionate that he almost gave me his wife.
The look... tsk tsk tsk, it looks so sincere, courteous and sincere, and it is really in line with the big shots who are humble and humble. A few bullshit words moved the common people to tears. I am a loyal minister and a filial son.
They persuaded themselves, and from then on they fell in love with him, devoted themselves to him to death, gave him a lot of excuses, framed him a lot of certificates, and beautified a lot of images for him. They wished they could give him their wives to borrow.
It’s a scene of begging for a child.”
Thales frowned and tried not to reply to the other party's extreme and indignant words:
"But if the tragedy that involved you was not his wish or his..."
Lausanne II interrupted him, his tone impatient and full of hatred:
"Look, what am I talking about? Giving him a lot of excuses? Isn't this what it is?"
Taylor was speechless for a moment.
Why is he so...excited?
The prince sighed:
"To be honest, I neither know nor understand him, but I..."
"You will," Lausanne II interrupted him again, "when your large group of personal bodyguards, loyal ministers and filial sons who are standing outside will admire you, respect you, be loyal to you and worship you for various reasons in the future, but they all
The time when my family is ruined and my family is ruined because of you, and I will never be reincarnated."
Thales couldn't help but be startled.
"When you are like this, you can still hold their hands with tears streaming down your face and hold their hands sincerely, and say to them in the most heart-wrenching, gentle and understanding manner, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I blame myself too. I will make it up to you. Can you forgive me?'"
?', thus moving them to the point of being obsessed with it and taking pride in it, in exchange for more people coming forward to die for you again, and you repeat this process sincerely over and over again, and when you get used to it..."
Lausanne II raised his eyes, his eyes full of coldness:
"You will get to know him."
Thales didn't fully understand.
But at that moment, as he stared at Lausanne II and listened to the other person's inexplicable narration, he felt chills all over his body.
"Sounds like a cult." The eldest lady's voice came muffled.
Thales glanced aside and whispered:
"Hile!"
"Ha, you are right, Miss."
Lausanne II smiled softly.
"As for Midir, the man who perfectly blended cruelty and coldness with compassion and gentleness. He always had a smile on his face, a tender heart, and a broad mind. In fact, he was planning and calculating people's hearts. Not only did he make it impossible for everyone to escape from his grasp,
We also need everyone to understand his pain and hesitation, and sympathize with his compassion and dilemma for the evil crown prince..."
Lausanne II snorted coldly:
"A cult, there is no more appropriate description than this."
What?
Listening to these descriptions, Thales frowned.
He had previously thought that even if he was in a miserable situation, even if his personality was extreme, and even if he was affected by the undercurrents surrounding the royal family, Lausanne II would at least not praise that person, pardon his sins, and leave him with medical treatment.
The Crown Prince of Midir who has the cure for illness...
"I understand that because of him, you have been affected and experienced misery, and you have enough reasons to resent him..." Thales continued following the other person's words.
"Why?"
Xi Lai narrowed his eyes and asked doubtfully:
"Why this description? Why not 'hypocritical', 'insidious', 'cunning', or other words that describe people? Why do you say he is, 'the evil crown prince'?"
Thales' eyes moved.
"Haven't you heard that evil often appears in the face of innocence?"
Lausanne II lay on the ground, looking at the darkness above his head, and spoke coldly.
"And it's not me. The above comments and descriptions," said the vampire killer with a cold look, "are all Joaquin's words."
"Grand Knight Handro Joaquín?"
"Your knight master?"
Thales and Hilley were both shocked.
Thales glanced at Hilley and asked:
"Why? When?"
Lausanne II sneered.
"Just after Joaquin, after he had a hopeful visit to the "awakened and recovered" Crown Prince Midir."
He narrowed his eyes:
"Joaquín is crazy—or, close to crazy, talking nonsense."
crazy.
crazy?
What's the meaning?
Thales remembered something, and couldn't help but look at each other with Hilley, seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.
"And in his madness, Joaquín said, he felt it."
Lausanne II said quietly:
"He's different."
I saw the vampire killer’s eyes dimly:
"After returning from a disappearance unknown to anyone, the wise, kind, and compassionate Crown Prince Midir has disappeared."
Thales looked confused when he heard this.
"He seems to be still gentle to everyone, even more gentle than before," the killer said coldly, "but Joaquin said that there is an unknown and strange poison mixed in that gentleness."
gentle.
Highly toxic.
What's the meaning?
Thales was stunned.
"And unspeakable evil is gathering behind him, hovering above his head, lurking in his shadow, like a chess player holding a piece, inducing him to uphold the noblest humanity and do the most legitimate purpose.
The worst choice.”
Hilley frowned.
"'They got him,' Joaquín said, or drunkenly, God knows what it meant."
Lausanne II changed the topic and sneered:
"But who knows, maybe the crown prince is this kind of person, but he hid it better before, hahahahahaha..."
It's just that those people who were immersed in his gentle face couldn't see through his true face at all.
Thales was in a complicated mood and didn't know what to say.
After countless experiences, he knows that everyone is complex and has many faces, and will reflect different faces in the eyes of different people.
But only Midir Shining Star, his late uncle, seemed to be the only one who, among countless people over the years - from the Iron Fist King to the Black Prophet, from Ji Ni to Sak'el, whether it was Ki
An old minister like Albert who was full of admiration and admiration, or an opponent full of respect and admiration like King Nunn - he still maintained a radiant and perfect image in his mouth.
Everyone misses him and praises him.
generous.
kindness.
gentle.
bright.
Desirable.
But this was the first time, the first time someone had described him in such an almost paranoid way.
In other words, accuse him.
evil?
Why?
"But I'm not surprised."
Lausanne II calmed down his expression, perhaps remembering his own experience. He stopped being sarcastic, but his tone was gloomy:
"No matter who has experienced such drastic changes, especially if they have physical disabilities, it will be difficult to remain the same."
Xi Lai on the side murmured and nodded:
"Well, having both legs broken is indeed a big setback."
Lausanne II paused for a moment. He looked at Thales's expression and suddenly understood something.
"You don't know, do you? Even if you are a shining star?"
A cold smile appeared in the killer's eyes.
"Don't know what?" Thales raised his eyes.
Lausanne II smiled.
"Although Joaquín also hesitated and hesitated, and although no one in the entire palace dared to mention it and kept it secret, I guess people have eyes and ears. The beautiful Princess Saoirse's forced smile every day has already explained everything."
Thales and Hilley both frowned:
"What do you mean? What does it mean?"
"During those missing years, Midiel not only lost both of his legs."
I saw the vampire killer’s cold eyes:
"He has completely lost the ability to reproduce."
Thales was shocked when he heard this.
"What?"
Hilley was also surprised. She glanced at Thales:
"You mean Midiel can't...that anymore?"
"Hilai!" Thales couldn't help turning his head.
Hilley shrugged:
"What's wrong?"
Thales' mood was a little complicated.
Even though the person is deceased, he still doesn't want to gossip too much, especially involving the other person's personal affairs and misfortunes.
"He... Midir can't give birth to his own heir. It's enough for us to know this."
Hilley couldn't help but curl his lips.
Lausanne II took a deep look at Thales.
"I guess from that time on, the high-ranking insiders in the Fuxing Palace all knew one thing..."
Lausanne II sneered:
"That is, the crown prince's return has not only failed to solve the most critical succession issue in the kingdom..."
Thales sighed and took over the topic:
"It even went further and worsened it."
So, if what Lausanne II said is true...
If Midir, as the crown prince, is destined to be unable to have descendants and legitimate heirs...
So what did this mean to the Kingdom of Stars at that time, and even what it meant to the Bloody Year that followed...
Thales fell into deep thought.
Remember the National Conference? Thales?
The voice in his heart quietly sounded:
What happened when your father had no heirs?
"So you don't go back to Midiel anymore because... he's broken?"
Feeling Thales's eyes, Hilley quickly added:
"I mean, because his personality has changed?"
Lausanne II was silent for a long time.
"not only that."
Thales ignored the voice in his heart and tried to return to the present.
"Just before Midiel returned..."
The vampire killer spoke again, with mixed emotions:
"When I was imprisoned on the border, serving a long sentence, when I was in the most despair and pain, and just wanted to disappear from the world and destroy myself - I met Turnbull."
Thales and Hilley looked at each other.
"Your old gang leader?"
The killer shook his head:
"He was not the gang leader at that time."
"Until he climbed the high tree of Kevin Deere?" Healey said.
Lausanne II smiled.
"He? Climbing high branches?"
The killer sneered:
"Turnbull is a very special man, quite a special person."
Lausanne II narrowed his eyes:
"He mocked everything, sneered at everything, and looked down upon everything...not to mention those big shots who were in high positions but inferior to pigs and dogs, even some well-known upright and virtuous officials like Mr. Qingtian, even if they were wise in everyone's eyes
The benevolent sage kings, those perfect people who even the bitter ones can’t help but praise their virtues..."
"It's not that I can't help but sing praises, I just have to."
Thales was in a daze and unconsciously repeated the voice in his heart.
"What?" Hilley turned his head.
Lausanne II also frowned and looked at him.
Just listen to Thales faintly say:
"I mean, if people don't try to force themselves to praise virtues, or in other words, force themselves to follow the logic of praising virtues, force themselves to believe in the plot of 'upright officials, virtuous officials, virtuous kings, and saints', and force themselves to believe in those who sit at the top of power.
He must be a saint and a perfect person, or at least a good person, forcing himself to believe that the injustice and suffering before him are accidental and temporary, and will one day be made up for by the masters of the sky in the form of private visits to the mortal world, and with the cheering encouragement from the left and right.
If we find similar people and force ourselves together to believe that life can get better..."
Thales sighed sadly:
"Then how sad this day must be."
Lausanne II remained silent while Hilley frowned slightly.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Thales came back to his senses:
"It's okay, I just... suddenly felt a little emotional."
Perhaps it was Midiel's experience and tragedy that made him feel something.
Lausanne II snorted coldly and returned to the topic:
"As for Kevin Deer, or the Bright Star Royal Family, what do you call those 'high branches'? Turnbull may climb them for survival and profit, but he will never feel how great, how noble, how sacred they are.
Inviolable - in the era of the Red King, he might have been a free-spirited green man who despised the court."
Thales felt that the tone and expression of the vampire killer's words were quite complicated, including disdain and regret, and there seemed to be a hint of... admiration and envy?
"But he wasn't in that era," Healy said.
"That's right."
Lausanne II admitted slowly:
"He's not in now."
He was no longer in the Red King era, when the kingdom was in dispute and the government and opposition parties were fighting, the rivers and lakes were vast and turbulent, and countless legends were born.
In his era, the palace was deep, the kingdom was majestic, and power and rule had already penetrated into the blood and bones of every commoner.
They have already been subtle and unstoppable, turning every corner of the kingdom into a replica of the palace regulations, including granaries and even septic tanks.
Without exception.
So Turnbull also evolved - or rather, became deformed?
"Regardless of interests, situations, and conflicts, in the struggle for power, Turnbull can always see through the key nodes," Lausanne II said with a confused expression. "Faced with different opponents, he always takes advantage, relies on and betrays him.
His freedom, well-founded advance and retreat, his sophisticated means, and his proficiency in actions are beyond my reach. It seems that he was born to wave the tide of power. I even sometimes thought: If it had been him who had been in the position of little attendant,
I think I can walk higher, more steadily, and more smoothly."
At least it won’t be such a...failure?"
"Do you really think so?" Thales expressed doubt.
Lausanne II glanced at him with a playful expression.
"At least Turnbull used his attitude and methods to help me understand certain truths."
The vampire killer sneered:
"Whether it's hypocrisy, sincerity, kindness, or insidious, what happened to me has nothing to do with my immediate boss or the kind of person Midiel is.
"Even if he is really a good man, a great saint, even if he is not a guy who can use an apologetic smile, a gentle and generous tone, and force people to die by playing with moral principles that crush people...
"Will my experience be better, and will I be saved and protected? Will my destiny change?
"Could it be that those flies that surrounded him and his family and the throne, both inside and outside the court, wouldn't they squat in the dirty sewers and plot as always, just waiting for people like me to approach?
After he was injured and fell down, did he pounce on him and eat his corpse?"
Lausanne II's series of rhetorical questions made both Thales and Hilley frown.
"After I have figured this out, I no longer need the perfect Crown Prince Midir, whom everyone praises and wishes to die for, to take pity on me and save me."
"And I also thought of what Horace said to me on that day," Lausanne II said coldly, "on the field where the election will take place."
Thales and Hilley were stunned and looked at each other blankly.
Only the vampire killer had a gloomy expression, staring at the endless darkness on the ceiling.
[Use all your strength... to prove... to prove that you can become the sword of our family... the chess piece of our kingdom... and become a... knight who is qualified to serve me, us, and the kingdom...]
"I lost that duel."
Lausanne II said softly:
"But I don't know since when, words and gestures like Midir's, no matter how sincere the speaker is, how courteous the corporal, or how charming, can no longer make me willing to bow down, but can only make me feel sick to my stomach.
Gagging.”
Thales remained silent.
"Even... the more Midir is a saint, a perfect man, a good person, and... then in that position, he will attract more people - whether they are moths to the fire or food.
Rotting flies bring more and worse tragedies.”
He paused for a moment and closed his eyes.
It was quiet in the dungeon.
"So this is the reason why you won't go back," Thales said slowly, "You won't go back to the Crown Prince, or even to Joaquin."
No more returning to the world of knights.
No more going back to the old life.
"You know, I once envied Turnbull. I thought that his contemptuous attitude and his flexible methods were the best way to face power." Lausanne II suddenly said.
"Once?" Hilley raised an eyebrow.
"Until I see his end—and mine."
Lausanne II said quietly.
"So now I understand better: Even if you leave the heights, even if you hide in the lowest corner, even the smartest people, those who are comfortable in the wave of power," Lausanne II sneered, "can't escape the power.
curse."
It is inevitable to be involved in it and be polished beyond recognition.
Thales couldn't help but feel emotional.
"Or worse."
"Swimmers drown in water," Miss Kevin Deere sighed. "Turnbull cannot escape the curse of power and capsizes in the wave of power. Perhaps it is because he is so comfortable in the wave of power."
Perhaps, whether it is successful or embarrassing, it is the curse of power.
The voice in Thales' heart sounded silently:
It's just two sides of the same body.
"It's not just power, it's not just strings that control a spouse or chains that imprison..."
Thales opened his mouth slowly and said what was deep in his heart:
"It's more of a system, a system, a structure, an environment, a context, a field, a domain... whatever you want to call it."
Hilley and Lausanne II were both silent.
Thales sighed:
"Because it is everywhere, even if no one knows it."
Don't take a break because you are a king or a beggar.
There is no exemption based on whether you are wise or foolish.
"Tiles?"
Hilley's call brought Thales out of his thoughts.
Damn, I got distracted.
The prince looked at the miserable-looking vampire captive in front of him and quickly gathered his thoughts.
"So, after leaving Mindis Hall, you were disheartened and joined Turnbull's army. However, you and Turnbull were defeated long before the Emerald City changed hands." Thales sorted out the time clues.
"Then I guess that neither you nor Turnbull have anything to do with the inside story of the assassination of the old Duke of Leinster, or at least know very little about it?"
Lausanne II's eyes were gray and motionless.
"Is there any need to ask?" Xi Lai crossed his arms, but his words were no longer as aggressive as before, but more helpless and pitiful. "You see, he doesn't know anything about this question..."
"The murderer."
Unexpectedly, Lausanne II suddenly spoke up and interrupted Shilay.
"The murderer who was bribed by Viscount Sonar to assassinate the old Duke, but was eventually caught and confessed, Bolwin," the vampire killer said slowly, "I knew him - I knew him before he died."
Before death...
When you were alive or when he was alive?
Thales choked off these inappropriate words in his throat.
"Is this the gangster boxer you killed when you came back this time? Little Bolwin's father?" Thales recalled the clues.
"For the sake of the past, I wanted to spare his son's life," Lausanne II admitted, "but it seems that Federico didn't think so."
Thales and Hilley looked at each other.
"Very well, you know the murderer of the old Duke, so?"
"Old Bolwin, he was originally a hired killer contacted by Turnbull from outside," Lausanne II said, "the purpose is to share the business pressure - or as people say: to contain me."
"The Blood Bottle Gang was once managed by Uncle Sona...so he had a way to bribe this murderer?" Shilai asked.
"A hired killer who can be used to contain you must be very powerful?" Thales asked.
Lausanne II looked at the prince and then at the eldest lady. Faced with two questions with different emphasis, he finally only answered the one he knew the answer to:
"It's okay."
Thales and Hilley looked at each other.
Before they had time to wonder which question the other party was answering, the vampire killer spoke again.
"But considering the Kongming Palace at that time, especially the Duke's living room, which seemed loose but was actually heavily guarded..." He snorted coldly, "With Old Bolwyn's skills, let alone breaking through the defense, he even sneaked in
It’s hard to even get close.”
"how do you know?"
"I tried."
Thales and Hille nodded simultaneously, but were immediately startled.
"you……"
"Don't worry," Lausanne II said calmly in the face of Xi Lai's surprise, "I'm not going to your house to kill anyone."
At least it's not someone who kills your family.
Hilley's face brightened slightly.
"So you're saying that old Bolwyn, the official murderer, didn't kill my father?"
Lausanne II sneered.
"Unless the old Duke hired him to kill him, no matter how much money Sonar gave him, Old Bolwyn couldn't do it," he said disdainfully, "He can't be the murderer."
Both Thales and Hilley were silent.
Therefore, in the Duke's assassination case, at least the conclusion about the real culprit was wrong.
Then old Bolwin's confession was just...
very good.
Thales said silently:
It can be considered a gain.
"Do you have anything else to ask?"
Lausanne II looked depressed:
"While I still have the energy to speak."
Hilley frowned and thought hard.
However, Thales organized his thoughts and said:
"You, now that things have happened, do you still have any unfulfilled wishes?"
Lausanne II frowned slightly:
"What? What happened here, are you finally going to send me on my way?"
The prince shook his head:
"Or in Heeley's words: Did you finally achieve what you wanted when you came back this time? Did you find the source, meet the craftsman who 'forged the sword', and inquire about the material of the sword?"
Lausanne II was silent after hearing this.
Xi Lai finally came back from his thoughts and asked: "So, if Uncle Sona really wants to hire criminals through blood bottles, do you still remember the actual process..."
But Lausanne II interrupted her with a sneer.
"I found it, Your Highness, but it's not a craftsman," Lausanne II said quietly, "but a cage."
Thales and Hilley both frowned.
"As for the material of the sword..."
I saw Lausanne II’s sharp eyes:
"Tell me, Your Highness Thales, when you face the entire cage, when whether you break away from it, break it, or explore it to understand it, you are only strengthening it..."
The killer narrowed his eyes:
"What should you do?"
This time it was Thales' turn to be silent.
He raised his gaze and looked at this immortal swordsman who had been fooled by fate all his life, but hesitated to speak.
"I do not believe."
Both of them looked to one side: Xi Lai took a step forward and raised his eyebrows.
"Although you sound very miserable and hopeless...but I don't believe that this cage is so omnipotent and unsolvable."
Thales still frowned, while Lausanne II sneered.
"I also never believe that all we can do is reinforce it."
Hilley said softly, looking around the dungeon seriously.
"Moreover, if this cage still needs to be reinforced, or in other words, there is still room for reinforcement..."
Miss Kevin Dill narrowed her eyes:
"Then it must be weakened or even damaged."
"Isn't it?" asked the last question, and Hilley poked the thoughtful Thales.
Thales took a deep breath, glanced at the pocket where the bone ring "Gortaksa" was hidden, and showed a reluctant smile to his companion:
"Yeah, maybe."
The eldest lady was not very satisfied with Thales' ambiguous answer, but just as she raised her eyebrows, Lausanne II spoke.
"You are a good man, Your Highness, at least you act like you are."
The vampire killer’s eyes are complicated:
"Just like Midir."
Thales sighed.
He has heard similar words a lot.
In the past, Thales would have considered this a compliment.
But today, here, after hearing the lamentable experience of this vampire killer, being described like this made him feel complicated.
"Thank you." Thales said perfunctoryly.
Lausanne II put away his smile and remained expressionless:
"So you will fall, Your Highness, hard."
Thales frowned slightly.
"Then I'll get up again."
He looked at the other person, unwilling to show weakness.
Hilley also raised an eyebrow at him.
The vampire killer snorted disdainfully.
"Of course, I have no doubt you can get up, but look at me now."
Lausanne II, dragging his broken body and wearing shackles, narrowed his eyes:
"With what attitude are you going to get up? What are you going to do when you get up? Revenge? vent your anger? prove yourself? make your enemies regret their mistakes? continue your unfinished business? or overcome the obstacles that trip you up? or break this unbreakable prison
cage?"
"Just don't be like a certain person and go find a swordsmith." Thales sarcastically said insincerely.
Lausanne II was not angry, he sneered.
"But one thing is certain."
"When you get up again, Your Highness," his eyes changed, "you will no longer be what you were in the past."
The other party's expression and the implications of his words made Thales feel very uncomfortable, and he suddenly wanted to leave this place.
"Of course it's not what it used to be."
The young man put away his expression and replied coldly:
"I will get better."
Stronger.
Stronger.
"Which kind is 'good'? What is 'good'?" Lausanne II asked with a sneer.
"Let's go," Hilley said suddenly, expressing Thales's innermost thoughts, "There's nothing more to ask here."
Thales nodded gratefully, took one last look at Lausanne II, and turned to leave.
Hilley took a deep look at the prisoner and followed Thales' footsteps.
"And you, girl, are you really determined to be his queen?" Lausanne II sneered.
Both Hilley and Thales couldn't help but be stunned.
"Huh," the eldest lady reacted. She turned around with a look of disdain, "Just this idiot? You think too highly of him..."
"Then get ready."
Lausanne II put away his smile.
"Because one day, you may have to wield a knife against the person next to you who has become a stranger."
His words echoed in the dungeon, cold and cruel, making both Shilay and Thales frown: