The air freezes for a while.
Garland's breathing paused for a moment.
The whole room was silent, and no one spoke a word.
Moya lowered his head, clenched his fingers, and clenched his teeth in pain.
He was the only one who knew about this matter, and he had been keeping a secret for the prince, but he never thought that the prince would say it himself.
At first he thought that the prince just wanted to give the treasure to King Garland in exchange for the help of Aaron Landis, but he never thought that the prince was...
It stands to reason that, as a loyal knight to Canal, he should have stopped the prince.
But now, he could vaguely understand the prince's behavior.
Beside Moya, the young knight who wanted to get up a second ago with grief and indignation but was held down by him stayed on the spot. He stared blankly at the back of the prince in front of him with a lost face.
Shemuer and Kaihos glanced at each other, and they both saw the surprise in each other's eyes, as well as the pity hidden in their eyes.
But in more than a year, first the country was destroyed and the family was destroyed, and then he was caught by the Gasdads on the way to escape, and then he was imprisoned in the underground for more than a year by the cult of all things, and now even his body...
What happened to the little prince, who suffered as a child, is truly a sigh.
Although he felt sympathy for the Prince of West Asia, the next moment, Xie Muer's mind started to run fast.
If it is true as the Prince of West Asia said, then it is not impossible for the Prince of West Asia to hand over the throne of Kanal to King Garlan under the premise that there is no way out and it is impossible to restore the country.
After all, although the Prince of West Asia is the last member of the Karnal royal family, he has completely lost the kingdom. He is not much different from the exiled nobles who have lost their territories.
He has nothing but the treasure in his hand.
And on this continent, the only one who can compete with the Gasdads is the iron cavalry of Aaron Landis.
It can be said that as long as Aaron Landis rejects him, then in this life, the Prince of West Asia will not be able to restore his country by his own power.
The Prince of West Asia suffered such a humiliation at the hands of the Gasdadians, and with the hatred of the country's subjugation, he must have hated the Gasdadians to the core.
He will do whatever it takes to get revenge on the Gasthards.
Therefore, under the premise of knowing that he has no hope of returning to the country, he would rather hand over the name of righteousness to King Garland in exchange for revenge on the Gasdadians.
Even if Prince West has no power around him, he is still the last descendant of the Kanal royal family and has the name of righteousness.
He is willing to hand the throne of Kanal to King Garlan, then, from now on, the name of Kanal's righteousness will fall on Garlan.
King Garland will become the orthodox of Kanar.
That is to say, the army of Aaron Landis going to Canal will be a justifiable matter in the future, and no country can object.
When the army of Aaron Landis drove out the Gasdadians who occupied Canal, Canal would become part of Aaron Landis from now on.
The territory of Aaron Landis will be twice as large as in the past, with the largest territory of all dynasties, and it will become the largest kingdom on the continent.
In addition, Kanal is a rich place. There are many minerals, especially gold mines. The water and soil are fertile, the climate is suitable, and the population is extremely large. Even if there is a war for a while, as long as you take a period of recuperation, you will soon recover...
Thinking of this, Xie Muer couldn't help but be moved.
Not only the high priest, but Kaihos also looked at Gallan with a burning gaze.
Expand the territory and conquer the Quartet.
These few words are the dreams of almost all soldiers.
No one can resist.
Even the always calm Sun Knight, when he thought of that scene, his chest could not help but become hot.
Under the scorching eyes of the two confidants behind him, the young king sitting on the golden seat lowered his eyes, as if he was pondering something.
The light reflected on his side cheeks, and the long golden hair flowed down his shoulders like flowing gold.
His lips pursed slightly, which was his habit when he was thinking seriously.
After a while, Garlan raised his eyes and looked at Xia, who was kneeling in front of him.
"Have you made up your mind?"
He said, looking at Xia.
"Although you are still young, as the last member of the Karnal royal family, you must shoulder its responsibilities."
"So, I will not treat you as a child, but as a royal family of Kanal who can talk to me."
"Every word and every decision you make determines the future of you and Canal."
"Once a decision is made, you can never go back."
Garlan looked at Xia deeply, his expression was very serious at the moment.
"Now, answer me."
he asked again.
"Have you made up your mind?"
Land of Canal.
Throne of Canal.
Canal's Millennium Glory.
Everything that is hard to give up... If it is handed over to Gallan, then he will even lose the 'Prince of Kanar' from now on, which allows him to grit his teeth and hold on to his current identity despite all the hardships.
Xia, who was still kneeling, raised her head and stared into the eyes of the young king.
The golden pupils reflected the lights in the room, shining brightly, as bright as the sunlight he had not seen for a long time.
Just like the golden eyes of the statue of Shamash in the hall he had seen before.
The young king of Aaron Landis.
He guards Aaron Landis.
protect his people.
He put the lives of soldiers above wealth.
He made the people under his rule, even the commoners and slaves in the slums, able to live full of hope and vitality.
…
Thinking of the first meeting with King Garlan and the bits and pieces he had experienced, as well as everything he had seen inside and outside the royal city in the past week or so, Xia closed her eyes with a decided look.
He said, "Yes, I..."
"prince!"
The young knight behind him interrupted Xia in a panic.
"Even... you don't have to do this!"
He desperately wanted to convince Xia to give up that terrible idea.
"As long as you become King Canal, when you grow up, you can choose a collateral bloodline of the royal family to inherit under your body, and the royal family of Canal can still be passed on, right?"
"Yes, Prince of West Asia, as your subordinate said, you can do that and continue the Karnal royal family."
Shemuel said.
At this time, he had calmed down and looked at Xia without blinking, noticing any slight changes on Xia's face.
"You must also know that King Camos in our country did not leave any descendants. King Garlan was from a sideline and was elected by King Camos as his younger brother, and then he inherited the throne."
The high priest said without hesitation.
If it were another king, he would definitely feel unhappy that he was not directly related to the royal family so bluntly.
But Xie Muer knew that Gallan didn't care about it, so he said it bluntly.
"Yes, prince, that's it, you can too..."
The young knight continued to speak eagerly.
Xia was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
The laughter was weird.
"Choose a sideline?"
The young child narrowed his eyes, but his face was full of sarcasm that didn't match his age.
The dark color surged in his eyes, and the bright lights could not illuminate his pupils, which were shrouded in darkness.
"Do you think that what I suffered was really caused by the Gasdadians?"
At the beginning, he was betrayed by the city lord who had collateral royal blood and could be said to be his distant relative, and fell into the hands of the Gasdads.
At the time, he was intent on running away.
At that time, he still had hope for the nobles of Kanal and the city lords.
He wrote several letters for help, and told his knights to flee to the nearby nobles of Kanar or the city lord for help.
But the letters for help were lost.
The Gastards took him through city after city, but no one came to rescue him.
The cavalry of the Gasdadians took him to live in the cities they passed by. At first, he tried to secretly reveal his identities to the city lords for help, but watched those city lords bow down and kneel in front of the Gasdadians. , The appearance of flattering and flattering, he was completely cold hearted.
Afterwards, the Gastards intercepted one of his letters for help, got furious, and beat him hard.
He faintly heard Gasdard's generals discussing what to do with him while he was half-conscious.
Although the Gasdadians have broken through the royal city of Kanal and conquered Kanal, many of Kanal's nobles have surrendered, and those few recalcitrants will soon be resolved. Almost all are under his control.
However, in the people of Canal, countless warriors rose up and gathered to form a rebel army, desperately resisting the Gasdadians.
Therefore, the Gasdads could not kill West Asia, who was the royal family of Kanal, but let him succeed him as king and sit on the throne as a puppet to appease the people of Kanal who resisted.
However, the Gasdadians were worried that someone would really come to rescue him. In case the descendant of the Karnal royal family was rescued and escaped from their control and fled to other countries, no matter how long it passed, as long as the Karnal orthodox royal family’s descendants were rescued. If the bloodline is still there, it will bring great trouble to the Gasdadians.
At this moment, the distant relative city lord who betrayed him came up with an idea in order to please Gasdard's general.
- The idea of making him doomed from now on.
…
"I see."
After listening to Xi'an's words, Xie Mu'er nodded slightly.
It seems that the city lord of Canal, who has collateral blood, wants to use a knife to kill people, and through the hands of the Gasdads, cut off the direct blood of the Canal royal family.
And the purpose of the Canal City Lord doing this...
Everyone present is probably already aware of this.
When the direct line of blood is cut off, there is hope for the collateral line of royal blood to sit on the throne.
Xie Muer's eyes revealed a little mockery.
Even if it is just a puppet throne, those guys will probably flock to it.
Xia stood up slowly, turned around, and looked down at the two Canal knights kneeling in front of him.
His eyes were somber.
"Canal's nobles, collateral members of the royal family... I will never forgive what those guys did."
He said, as if venom had been quenched in his voice.
"When the Gasdad attacked, surrendered without resistance, opened the gates and let them in..."
"Take the initiative to lead the way for the Gasthards... Take the initiative to become the lackeys of the Gasthards and slaughter their fellows..."
"They helped the Gasdadians besiege my father's army and killed him."
"They broke through the royal city under the command of the Gasdadians, let the king brother die in battle, and forced the king sister to death... In the end, let me suffer such an insult... They succumbed to the Gasdadians shamelessly, like Like a mad dog, they bite and persecute the Kanals who want to resist the Gasdad."
"these people… "
The child smiled sullenly with a look that did not match his age.
He turned his head and looked at Xi Muer.
"His Excellency High Priest, I know what you are worried about."
He said, "You are worried that I am just using Kanal's throne as a bait to deceive King Garlan to help me restore my country, and then set up a collateral bloodline as a successor."
He looked at Xi Muer blankly.
"You don't need to worry. Now, I don't care about the responsibilities of the royal family at all."
...he thought he was going to die by then...
When you die, you don't have to face your own broken body, and the sad future with no hope...
But he still survived.
Because he is not reconciled.
What brought him back from hell was not the responsibility of the royal family, but hatred.
revenge.
Revenge on the Gasthards.
Avenge the nobles of Kanar who betrayed him and abandoned him.
This is the only purpose of his life so far.
"I will never let those who harmed me and my relatives get the throne."
West Asia's eyes are very calm, so calm that there is only a void left.
It's so calm that it makes one's heart shiver when he sees it.
"I'd rather cut off the Canal royal family completely than let them... no."
He paused and said,
"It should be said that even if I destroy the entire kingdom of Kanal, I will never hand it over to any of them."
After speaking in a cold tone, he still showed his expressionless expression and reached out to Xie Mu'er.
"His Excellency High Priest, please lend me a dagger."
Xia and his knights came to visit Gallan, and naturally they could not wear any sharp weapons.
Therefore, he could only ask Xie Muer for it.
Xie Muer glanced at West Asia and felt that he couldn't hurt Garlan in front of him and Kaihos, so he pulled out the dagger from his waist and handed it to him.
Xia took the dagger, and stabbed directly at his thigh under Xie Mu'er's astonished gaze.
In an instant, blood splashed.
The severe pain made the corners of his eyes twitch, and he almost clenched his teeth, but without snorting, he used the tip of his sword to cut open the scarred part of his inner thigh.
He used the tip of his sword to dig out of his flesh a piece of platinum badge the size of a fingertip.
Platinum, that is an extremely rare precious thing that only Canal can refine and make in the entire continent.
The coat of arms of the royal family of Canal is made of white gold.
In order to protect the badge from being taken away, Xia smashed it off the royal ring with a stone.
No one had ever thought that West Asia had hidden it in his thigh meat, and even his guardian knight Moya was stunned at the moment.
Throwing the dagger on the ground, Xia limped to Garland and handed the bloody platinum badge to Garland.
The key to unlock the royal treasures of Canal.
Symbol of the royal family of Kanal.
Also, the proof of King Canal.
"King Garland."
The child's dark blue pupils stared at Garlan,
"Canal will be under your throne from now on."
He says,
"Please do justice to the people of Canal as you would the people of Aaron Landis."
This is the last thing he can do for the people of Canal as the prince of Canal.
Garlan didn't look at the platinum emblem that had been stretched out in front of him to symbolize the throne of Kanar, but just looked into Xia's eyes.
Those dark blue eyes were bloodshot, gloomy, and there was no trace of light.
But Xia looked at him with a firm gaze and did not waver at all.
Then, his eyes moved down slightly and landed on the hand stretched out in front of him. Perhaps even Xia himself didn't notice that the fingertips of the hand holding the badge were trembling slightly.
Garland held out his hand.
Under the gazes of everyone, he picked up the bloody platinum badge in the palm of West Asia.
The young king who sat on the golden throne said, "I will treat the people of Canal as the children of Aaron Landis."
Xia leaned over and knelt on one knee in front of Garlan again.
He let out a small breath.
It was as if he spit out all the heavy weight he once had in one breath.
He lowered his head, no one saw him, and the light in his eyes disappeared little by little.
Like ashes that are about to go out.
…
…
The platinum badge was carefully removed by Xie Muer, and after washing off the blood on it, it was embedded in a gold ring.
Then, this badge ring, like Aaron Landis' lapis lazuli signet ring, was placed on Garlan's left hand.
The pattern printed on the Canal platinum badge has many fine lines. After zooming in, it is found that it is a map.
Apparently, it is the map of the royal treasure of the Karnal family.
Garlan has no plans to move this treasure for the time being, because it is in the territory of Kanal, and he is not short of belongings now.
He continued to deal with the government paperwork accumulated during his absence, taking care of the affairs of Aaron Landis.
As for matters related to Canal, High Priest Shemuel will discuss carefully with Heimos and Kaihos, who are in charge of the military. After considering all aspects of the situation, he will report the proposal to him.
But within two days, he received bad news.
"Prince West Asia is seriously ill?"
Garlan frowned and looked at Shemuer.
"He looked fine two days ago."
"Yes, I suddenly fell ill that night. I didn't inform you because it was just a little cold. I have sent the best court physician to treat Prince Xia, but I didn't expect..."
The doctor said it was just a little cold, not serious, and it would get better in two days.
Unexpectedly, the Prince of West Asia fell into a drowsiness the next day, with a high fever that did not go away.
Shemuer shook his head.
"Your Majesty, I think the cause of his illness is not his physical illness, but a mental illness. That prince has completely collapsed."
"The doctor told me that the patient himself had no desire to live, and he was really helpless," he said.
Knowing Gallan's character, Shemuel didn't say that it would be best for Aaron Landis if the Prince of West Asia died of illness after entrusting Canal to King Gallan. result.
The Prince of West Asia is alive, and his identity will be extremely embarrassing, and maybe it will bring hidden dangers to Aaron Landis in the future.
After pondering for a while, he put down the quill with ink in his hand, and Garlan got up.
He turned to leave, and the flying light-colored cloak swept over the table the moment he turned.
"Go and call Cayhorth."
He says.
…
When Garlan came to Xia's room, the doctors and maids surrounding Xia's bed knelt down and saluted him.
The two Canal knights who had been guarding in front of the hospital bed day and night for the past two days also bent down and knelt down. They were all black and blue now, with stubby beards, and there was only a look of depression on their faces.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, if I don't have the desire to live, we can only pray for Solga's mercy."
That's what the kneeling doctor said to Garlan.
Solga, the god of wisdom, is also a legendary god who teaches human medicine and guards herbal medicine.
[Pray for Solga's mercy.]
These are the words that the doctors euphemistically told the patient's relatives to be powerless after they were helpless about the patient's condition.
"...you all step back."
Under Garland's order, everyone retreated.
In the room was the bed-ridden Xia, as well as Garlan and the knight Kejos behind him.
Xia was awake at the moment, he was lying on the bed, his pale skin that had not seen the sun for a long time was almost translucent at this moment.
An abnormal bright red appeared on his cheeks, like the last moment of the flame that was about to burn out its vitality.
He leaned against the head of the bed, and although he looked at Garlan, his eyes were empty, like a rootless duckweed, without the slightest look.
At the moment, West Asia is like a puppet without a soul.
What made Xia crawled back from the hell of dying, and what supported him to live until now, was hatred.
Cruel hatred.
When Kanal was handed over to Garlan, Sia knew that he had completed his revenge.
Soon, the Gastadians will be driven from Canal.
Those Canal nobles who deliver treason will never end well.
For him, it's all over.
His pride as the royal family of Canal... does not allow him to live on in this mutilated body.
Just as Xia was lying on the bed with his eyes blank, Garlan, who was standing beside the bed looking at him, suddenly spoke up.
"Kayhors, get him off the bed."
The blond knight, who was absolutely obedient to his Majesty, didn't care that his behavior was bullying, he went straight forward, picked up the thin child from the bed, and threw it to the ground.
The pain of falling to the ground made Xia, who was in a trance, suddenly sober up.
He endured the pain and raised his head, looking at Garlan in confusion.
"From now on, Kaihos will teach you martial arts and tactics of formation."
"… "
"In your opinion, driving the Gasthards out of Canal is the end of it all? No, that's just the beginning."
Garlan looked down at Xia who was staring at him in a daze.
"I won't forgive the Gastadians for what they did to Aaron Landis, and for the fact that they made me lose the most important person."
He said with sharp eyes.
With an unstoppable momentum.
"I will make them pay dearly for their actions."
"Pay... the price?"
"Yes, Canal is just the beginning, I'm going to drive the Gasdad out of all the countries they occupy, and let them go back to where they came from - and in the end, I'm not going to their kingdom Going to let it go."
Xia's eyes widened suddenly, and a bright light flashed in the dark eyes.
"It will take a long time to drive the Gasdadians back and break their kingdom, and this time is long enough for you to grow up and become stronger."
The child stared straight at Garlan, as if he had already thought of something.
His breathing became rapid at this moment.
Garlan leaned over and squatted in front of West Asia, his golden pupils looked at her calmly.
"Xia, do you choose to die here as Prince Canal, or to break through the borders of the Gasdadians as the general of Aaron Landis a few years later?"
A second of silence.
The child's outstretched hand tightly clenched the corner of Garlan's clothes.
The knuckles of his fingertips were almost white due to excessive force.
"Please make me strong, teach me how to be strong enough!"
Xia looked at Garlan, her dark blue eyes flashing sharply.
It was like the dying wolf cub opened its eyes again, revealing heart-pounding eyes and fangs.
"In return, I swear to the gods that one day, I will offer you... the royal city of Gastade!"
…
The corner of Kaihos' mouth, who was watching with his arms crossed, twitched indistinctly.
It seems that he must set aside time to teach his disciples hard in the future.
He thought helplessly.
But the knight complaining in his stomach looked at his majesty's eyes as soft as usual, with a bit of connivance.
The religion of all things, and the so-called god of all things, may never understand.
The most powerful force in this world is not destruction and destruction.
Truly unparalleled power...
is salvation.