Kingdom's Bloodline, page 440
"Is it because you know about the Alliance of Freedom, the storm that Eckstedt and Dragon Clouds City are going through? Is it because you are worried for your home and your country, so then you took the risk to go north, to confirm the situation with your own eyes?"
Dean did not speak. So Thales spoke up once more.
"Answer me, Dean." Thales sighed. "Are you him?"
This time, Dean slowly lifted his head.
"Him?" Dean said nonchalantly, "Who?"
"You know who I'm talking about."
Dean laughed. He slowly lifted his arm and pointed at Thales.
"You… You are quite suspicious too, no? A person travelling alone from the north, and you somehow fell in the Great Desert." Dean tilted his head. He swept his gaze across Thales' body. "In your hands are a military crossbow which is very clearly not one used by commoners, and a sharp dagger which cuts through metal as if you're just cutting through clay."
Thales felt his back and waist suddenly go tense.
"Your demeanour is very formal, very courteous, very particular towards details. At first glance, I can tell that you're well-educated. This is why during the first few days, the others did not wish to talk to you. Ah, perhaps with Quick Rope as the exception. He is a block-headed young man who was scared by the great sea.
"As for you, you're smart. At least you fabricated your own background to match your demeanour. At first glance, whatever you said sounded quite reasonable."
Dean laughed coldly.
"But what puzzled me was that you're different from most of the nobles. No matter how hard the sand is or how cold the rock is, you could still lie down and fall asleep easily. We gave you dried jerky for a few months, bread so hard that you couldn't bite into it, stewed vegetables with a rancid smell, or burnt food, but no matter how awful the food was, you could still swallow them effortlessly, and you ate them as if they were normal food.
"It was as though you have long since become accustomed to it. At the very least, you are unlike those important men in the castles I know.
"So, you were either born into a family that turned rich overnight and did not have time to be like those bastards living in castles, who become dumber and more selfish with each generation..." Dean narrowed his eyes, his expression was stern. "Or there must be a wise and rational man in your family who obtained his wisdom from experience, knowledge, time, and hardship. He chose to use the cruel, chilling gales to form the next generation of his family into tough men instead of using food and fences to feed you into a pig."
Thales was still, and he listened in silence.
"And as for Wya Caso?" Dean laughed disdainfully, and the look he gave Thales was as ice cold as before. "Next time, when you tell another Northlander your name, you better not use the same surname as the Cunning Fox of Constellation, Gilbert Caso."
Thales was slightly shaken.
"That year in Broken Dragon Fortress, that Constellatiate came alone, withstanding the anger of Eckstedt and the six archdukes. They talked, debated, and at last, when the time came for them to sign the treaty, he gained quite the reputation." Dean lifted the corner of his lips.
Thales shook his head regretfully. "Sorry. It's the first time I left home. Too many things happened suddenly, I was a little nervous."
Dean's eyes shone.
"So, who are you, then?" he asked in a whisper. "You're only around ten, but you possess extraordinary agility and sharp reflexes. I suspect that is due to the Power of Eradication. You're even a secca who can manage not to pee his pants despite his first meeting with the terrifying orcs, and even went through their murderous coming-of-age ceremony."
Dean lowered his head and hid his expression in the darkness where the moon did not shine. "According to what Tormorden said, those Constellation cavaliers are after you, isn't it?"
Thales breathed slowly. He clenched his fists tightly, then unfurled them slowly.
"Listen, I don't intend to make this matter complicated." The Constellatiate prince opened his palm, then used his calmest and most serious tone to say, "I originally thought that I could find the army in Blade Fangs Camp and let them do the job… but I did not, I waited until now."
Dean nodded gently and his lips curled into a smile. "So you do have a high status, and you even have quite a deep connection with the officials." The bald mercenary sneered. "But you hid your name up to this very moment, was it because of me?"
Thales ignored what he said. "I just need you to answer me a simple question, Dean," he said in a calm manner.
Dean looked at him with much interest. The mercenary nodded. "What a coincidence. I, too, Wya."
In the suffocating silence, both of them watched each other silently in the dark and sealed room. It lasted until Thales opened his mouth again.
"So, Dean..." The prince cleared his throat, and finally asked his last question seriously and warily, "Are you Moriah Walton? That wilful prince who escaped from Dragon Clouds City six years ago?"
Dean did not answer, neither did he move. In fact, he did not even bother to spare Thales even the slightest hint of unnecessary emotion. He just stared at Thales coldly.
While he lifted his head and let the moonlight shine on his clear, angular facial features, he opened his mouth to ask slowly,
"What about you, Wya? Or should I call you... Thales Jadestar?"
Thales tensed up.
"The culprit who threw all of Eckstedt into turmoil, who changed all of Dragon Clouds City?"
Chapter 386: Prince Versus Prince |
Moonlight shone through the window, which was only covered by a few pieces of plank. It illuminated the face of the thirty-something-year-old mercenary before Thales' eyes. He had stubble all over his chin, an apathetic gaze, and a relaxed posture. There was a cold hint of a smile at the corners of his lips.
His leather armor was fastened to his upper body, and he never took it off even when he slept. It was covered in scratches and seemed like it had gone through a lot of hardships with its owner while he moved all about the peninsular. Tied to the armor were the various tools mercenaries carried with them: a pocket knife, scissors, bandages, hemostatic powder, ropes, flint stone, and tinder…
'How did he survive all these years?
'From a prince to…'
Thales stared quietly at him, at the tough-looking man who seemed like he had gone through quite a lot.
"So, it is indeed you?
"Prince Moriah?" he asked faintly.
There was silence...
Followed by more silence.
The man before his eyes did not move.
It was as if Thales was dreaming.
Through Thales' Hell's senses, the shabby little house covered in dust seemed deserted and still. Separated from them by a wall, only the sound of Quick Rope breathing reminded Thales that everything before his eyes was real.
"Even though I heard a long time ago from Archduke Poffret—or I should say the 'late' Archduke Poffret—that you wanted to be a mercenary…" Thales said, "I never really thought—"
Dean cut him off.
"Moriah Walton." The bald mercenary's expression did not change. He shook his head slowly. "This name hasn't surfaced for a long time...
"Ever since its owner died in an assassination six years ago.
"Why are you so preoccupied over someone who's already dead?"
Thales took a deep breath.
"The Black Track… How does that place feel?" the prince asked softly.
"What?" Dean furrowed his eyebrows.
Thales laughed.
The unusual experience of fleeing Dragon Clouds City from Shield District played in his mind.
The wheelchair-bound veteran whose thoughts did not match what he said; Old Crow who spoke in a profound manner; Kurtz, the cheeky and carefree seamstress; and Kevin the sneaky driver.
It made him emotional. "When I was still in Dragon Clouds City six years ago, I heard from Gleeward as I chatted with him that they also took a deal where they led someone through the Black Track. Their employer was very generous and gave them a remuneration of three hundred gold coins."
Dean's expression slowly became grim.
"Three hundred isn't a small number," Thales said with a sigh. "Just to get out of Dragon Clouds City?"
Dean said nothing.
"But, here's the problem," Thales continued to speak in the dim little house.
"Someone who can take three hundred gold coins out in the blink of an eye's definitely someone of status who's powerful and rich. There aren't many people like this in Dragon Clouds City, but I can name quite a few; rich merchants from Camus Union, bureaucrats and nobles from Axe District or Spear District, suzerains with rich territories or even the former disciplinary officer, Vlad, who monopolized the black market.
"However, people like that most probably have many methods to seek refuge outside the city no matter who they offend in Dragon Clouds City. Why does this particular person insist on choosing the most expensive, hardest, farthest, and most troublesome method to get out?"
Thales fixed his gaze on Dean. In the dark, he could feel that Dean's breathing was rising and falling a little.
"Unless..." Thales inhaled deeply.
"Unless this person offended and had to face the supreme power of Dragon Clouds City."
Dean slowly shifted his leg off the bed and stared solemnly at Thales.
"In the face of King Nuven's pursuit and the entire city's spies, all of his power as well as influence aren't worthy to be mentioned. Additionally, all his communication channels couldn't be used. He could only go to the area where the common and poor people gathered to find the local tyrant: that stubborn, boorish, and crippled veteran, who's known to dislike King Nuven... All so that he could leave the city through a secret passage normal people would never think of."
Thales' gaze became increasingly sharper as he looked at Dean. "Plus, six years ago, who exactly was that person of unusual status, being pursued at all costs by the entire Dragon Clouds City?"
Dean curled up the corners of his lips a little.
"The Black Track, Gleeward." The mercenary mulled over these words. "So, that's how it is.
"So, you also fled through that veteran?"
He gazed back at Thales. "You bothered everyone in the Western Frontlines, and perhaps, even made all the soldiers in Western Desert Hill enter the Great Desert to work together with you?"
Thales did not answer him. At that moment, the prince's expression was incredibly obscure and hard to decipher.
"So, you've been hiding among this team of mercenaries?
"Letting go and abandoning everything, including your father, bloodline and… and coming here to become an ordinary mercenary?
"Why?"
At that moment, as Thales stared into Dean's eyes, King Chapman's figure in the carriage appeared in Thales' mind.
'"Walking away from a problem doesn't mean that one has escaped it, and cowardly avoiding something doesn't mean that one is free."'
'"But he will."'
'"After we find him."'
Dean was silent for a few seconds.
"I'm doing what I'm best at, that's all," Dean sneered and shook his head. "Just like you."
Thales exhaled loudly and with furrowed eyebrows, he said, "Moriah, do you understand your current situation right now?"
"Moriah is dead; that's what I know," Dean answered him coldly. "And no matter who told you that he isn't dead—"
Thales raised his voice and cut him off.
"If Moriah's dead, there wouldn't have been so much trouble!"
The prince solemnly said, "But if he's still alive, even just for a day, he'd still be King Nuven's descendant and the first in line to inherit Dragon Clouds City as well as the Walton bloodline. His existence, and even his possible return would pose as a strong challenge to the current owner of Dragon Clouds City.
"Do you know what that means?"
The mercenary's chest started to rise and fall.
He lowered his head and flatly said, "Let me guess, someone doesn't like this fact and the possible connotation behind Moriah's possible survival, right?"
Thales chuckled.
Dean lifted his head. His gaze was clear and calm. "Then, is it the new Archduchess of Dragon Clouds City? I've heard that your relationship with her's quite good."
Thales' gaze froze.
"Or is it Lisban, the one who's actually in power and has absolute control over things?"
Dean enunciated each word in a cold tone, "Or perhaps… it's the new king who hates the Walton Family to the core?"
Thales sighed softly.
"Perhaps it's one of them," the teenager said gravely.
"Your niece, Saroma Alex Walton... Her position would waver because of your existence. As for your cousin brother, Chapman Lampard, he did not want to see a strong and powerful male heir gain ownership of Dragon Clouds City.
"You're a threat."
Dean stiffened.
"So, it's true that there are people who already know that Moriah is still alive," the mercenary said slowly. "You, Thales Jadestar, no matter who you cooperate with, you're here to kill or capture me to eliminate the threat."
It was as if everything around them froze.
In the dimness, only two equally sharp pair of eyes—one green and one black—stared at each other.
Dean's eye color was slightly lighter than what Thales remembered from King Nuven's. It was without that ineffable oppressiveness, which was normally in Kin Nuven's eyes. However, it had a peculiar undertone like an owl that lurked in the dark, and Thales could not help but furrow his eyebrows because of it.
"Exactly, all hidden problems will disappear in a flash if I kill you," Thales said softly.
"And by capturing you, I'll obtain an excellent chess piece to be used as a bargaining chip when strategizing against Eckstedt in the future."
The temperature between the two seemed to drop below freezing point.
Meanwhile, the silence lasted until Dean slowly spoke.
"Then, what are you waiting for?" The mercenary's expression became harsh, something rarely seen on him. He placed his palm on the hilt of his axe. "You have the entire camp as your back-up, Your Highness."
The stillness in the room reached a new level.
Through Thales' Hell's senses, even Quick Rope's breathing appeared softer while he remained sleeping in the room next door.
Nonetheless, the stillness continued for a few more seconds.
In the dim house, Thales shut his eyes and sighed softly.
He moved back slowly until his back was pressed against the wall.
The sheathed JC's dagger pressed against his lower back, making Thales grit his teeth quietly.
"No," he said arduously.
The moment he spoke, Thales felt as if a heavy burden had just been lifted off his heart.
"No matter why you left, and no matter why you came back, Moriah..."
The Prince of Constellation opened his eyes silently. "Go."
The bald mercenary—Moriah—was a little startled.
"Go, Moriah, disappear from our sight and never come back again," Thales said flatly.
Moriah fixed his gaze on him without saying a thing.
After a while, the mercenary from Northland slowly lowered his head.
"Why."
His voice became very deep and hoarse. When it sounded in the dark, Thales could not help but think of the former Archduke of Black Sand, Chapman Lampard. He had not become the King of Eckstedt yet, but he had experienced many changes in his life.
"A few days ago, you had a chance to return to the army loyal to you and order them to capture me, but you didn't.
"You had a chance to lay your hand on me just now, but you turned and left," Moriah said, enunciating each word. "Now you have a chance to hold me captive, but you're letting me leave?
"Why?"
He was speaking faster with every passing minute.
Thales leaned against the wall and slowly stopped using his Hell's senses, which was making him feel rather uncomfortable.
He snorted softly.
"Because… Perhaps because you saved my life?"
Thales curled up the corners of his lips, feeling slightly melancholic. "And I'm showing my gratitude."
Moriah shook his head slowly.
"Don't make me laugh." He raised his gaze and looked straight at Thales. "In the game of power, the fact that one saved your life is worth nothing.
"You definitely have another reason.
"Definitely."
Thales furrowed his eyebrows and froze.
"Why?"
The teenager said quietly, "Why do you care so much?"
Moriah arched an eyebrow. His expression was rather cold under the moonlight.
"Since you ran away without a care for anything six years ago, abandoning all of Dragon Clouds City," Thales continued, "why do you care about my reason six years later?"
Moriah remained silent for a while.
"Ran away without a care for anything? Is that so?"
His smile was a little disconsolate. "Do all those who know that Moriah's still alive think of him this way?
"That's really… lamentable," Moriah muttered.
Thales did not immediately speak. He observed Moriah and took in the former Prince of Eckstedt's expression and reaction.
However, Moriah shifted his gaze back to Thales. "But you still haven't explained why you decided to spare me."
Thales pursed his lips.
'This man…'
"Six years ago, I only went to Eckstedt because of your 'death', Moriah.'
"I know everything about you."
He sighed softly. "I know that you learned martial arts from Nicholas, and observed King Nuven's political tactics beside him in Heroic Spirit Palace. I know that you were friends with the deceased Conkray Poffret. I also know that you're sick of political strifes, and you've dreamed of being a mercenary since you were young.
The moment Thales said that, Moriah was expressionless.
However, Thales felt inexplicably uneasy.
Despite that, when the arrow was on the string, it had to be sent flying. He forcibly suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and continued to say, "I even know that you have a lover of a lowly status, who may be a prostitute. I also know that King Nuven was extremely dissatisfied with her, and both of you had a major argument because of it the day before you were supposed to head south on a diplomatic mission."
