Boulder City, Duke's Palace.
“Cough cough cough… cough cough cough…”
Violent coughing sounds were heard intermittently. The old Duke Andre of Borde was lying on the bed, looking haggard, completely different from the vigorous man he was a year ago.
The burning incense in the brazier emitted light blue smoke, exuding a mixed scent of spices and medicine.
The huge bedroom had its windows closed and was deserted. The only person serving the old duke was his personal maid who had followed him for many years.
"Your Excellency the Duke, it's time to take your medicine."
The maid held a tray in both hands and said respectfully.
The old prince opened his cloudy eyes and took a look with difficulty. He saw a silver vessel filled with black powder and a goblet filled with water on the tray.
"Hmm... What... What is this?"
He asked in a hoarse and weak voice, the difficult and slow voice seemed to be dragged out from a carriage that was about to fall apart.
"This is a secret elixir that His Royal Highness Philip looked up from an ancient oriental book. It is made by mixing the powder of the thousand-year-old mummy Yin with Koria ointment, along with the holy water from the church. It should help with your condition."
The maid said respectfully.
"Mu... Mu Nai Yin? Cough cough cough cough..."
The old duke's voice rose slightly and his coughing became more intense.
"Your Excellency the Duke..."
The maid placed the tray beside the bed and quickly stepped forward to calm the old duke.
The old duke opened his mouth, took a few breaths with difficulty, and said weakly:
"Help... Help me up."
The maid supported the old duke's arm, which was as thin as a dead tree, and helped him up with difficulty.
Through the mercury mirror on the bedside table, the old duke's turbid eyes reflected his own haggard appearance and gray and messy hair, and his expression was somewhat gloomy.
He opened his mouth tremblingly, and the maid carefully mixed the black powder with holy water and fed him little by little.
The lake-like "elixir" entered his throat, carrying a strong spicy flavor that choked the old duke and caused him to cough violently again. He only swallowed it with difficulty after taking a few sips of holy water.
As the elixir entered his stomach, the old duke soon felt a warm force gradually spreading throughout his body, nourishing his increasingly decayed body.
After regaining some strength, the old duke's increasingly sluggish thoughts slowly began to turn:
"You... you just said, who... who brought the prescription?"
"Your Excellency, it's His Royal Highness Philip."
The maid replied respectfully.
"Phi... Philip...? He... is here already?"
The old duke was stunned.
"Your Excellency, His Royal Highness Philip arrived last night and is now waiting outside with Lady Eleanor."
The maid said.
The old prince was silent.
After a long time, he sighed and said in a hoarse voice:
"Let them... in."
The bedroom door was pushed open with a creaking sound like a rotten dead wood, and the third prince Philip and Eleanor walked into the room hand in hand.
"Master Andre (Father)..."
The third prince and his wife came to the bed together and bowed respectfully to the old duke.
The old duke stared blankly at his daughter whom he had not seen for many years.
After not seeing her for so many years, she seemed to have lost a lot of weight.
Her eyes are no longer as bright as before. Perhaps royal life also brings great pressure.
Thinking of this, the old duke felt a little guilty.
Perhaps... he shouldn't have allowed his daughter to marry into the Crescent Royal Family.
If there is no marriage, he can still let his daughter marry a son-in-law and continue to inherit the territory.
If there had been no marriage, his daughter could have always been by his side, and he would not have to be alone in his final moments.
Unfortunately, there are no ifs in this world.
When he found out that he had an illegitimate child, he gave up his daughter.
Perhaps this was the punishment from the God. His daughter became a bargain for him to consolidate his rule, but now, he not only lost his daughter, but also Lai Nuo.
The Bolde family, which has been passed down for thousands of years, may be extinct in his generation.
Recalling the tall figure who slammed the door and walked out a year ago, a dark light flashed in the old duke's eyes.
The old duke didn't know how to describe his current mood.
despair
sad
No…
When the issue of his family's extinction really came into his mind, he suddenly found himself much calmer than he had imagined.
It may be that I don’t have the energy to think so much anymore, or it may be that I’m really tired.
Looking back on his life, he succeeded to the throne at the age of fifteen when the kingdom was in turmoil. He followed His Majesty the King to fight on the battlefield and defeated the enemies in the Star-Moon War time and time again.
During his life, he participated in countless battles and killed countless enemies.
The army of the Falling Star Kingdom would tremble when they heard his name, and the people of the Crescent Moon Kingdom would cheer when they saw his army.
He is known as the greatest duke of Boulder in a thousand years, Andre the Lion.
He has been full of vigor and he has been the center of attention.
He holds great power and has the final say in the principality.
He was extremely powerful and in charge of the kingdom's army. Even His Majesty the King would consult his opinions in the court.
However, it was also he who, in order to take advantage of the war to advance further in the kingdom, over-consumed the family's resources in successive years of warfare, exhausting the thousand-year-old foundation of the Bold family.
However, it was also because of his years of delegating power to the nobles in order to gain their support during foreign expeditions, which led to his gradual loss of control over the territory today.
A male lion may be very powerful when he is young.
But, there will be a time to grow old.
And when he died, the huge country of Bolder... did not even have a loyal noble to accompany him.
He could even trick a little girl who was still wet behind the ears!
The old duke knew that this was also related to the fact that he had been pushing too hard to consolidate power in recent years.
But what can he do
He just didn't want to leave a precarious Boulder to future generations.
Just like when His Majesty the King inherited the Crescent Throne.
Or maybe... he was wrong from the beginning.
Perhaps, he shouldn't have spent most of his life on the battlefield.
Perhaps he should pay more attention to his territory.
Maybe he should pay more attention to his family.
Perhaps, he should have changed his way of treating the Castel family, the earl and countess who had a promising future, and the little girl who seemed young and ignorant but was actually unfathomable...
A year is enough time for Duke Bold to investigate some things and figure some things out.
But it's too late.
Thinking of this, the old duke couldn't help but raise his head tremblingly and look at his only daughter.
"Eleanor."
He stretched out his hand to his daughter with difficulty, and Eleanor quickly stretched out her hand and shook it:
"Father… "
Feeling his daughter's warmth, the old duke felt more at ease.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that everything else seemed unimportant.
That's all.
never mind.
Whether it is the Duchy of Bold or the Castel family.
He is tired and he needs to rest.
As for my daughter...
Even if she didn't become a powerful duchess, with the royal family as her backing, at least... she could live happily.
He owes his daughter his whole life.
Now, perhaps it's time to pay back the debt.
Thinking of this, the old duke took a deep breath and sat up with great difficulty.
"Your Excellency the Duke..."
The maid rushed over to support him, but he refused.
The old duke sat on the bed, panting. The once high and mighty Chiyang warrior now found it so difficult to even get up.
He looked directly into the eyes of the third prince Philip, and his cloudy eyes seemed to become sharp again at this moment.
"His Royal Highness Philip..."
The old duke held the third prince's hands and used all his strength at the moment:
"I... know your ambition, and I also know... your desire to control Bolder!"
"Everything I have... can be given to you, everything in Boulder... can be given to you!"
The third prince Philip looked at the dying old man in front of him with some surprise, as if he had not expected that this Bold Lion, who was rumored to regard his family as his life and had a stubborn, gloomy and cruel personality, would say such words.
"But I have one condition..."
The old duke changed the subject.
He stared into the third prince's eyes, as if he wanted to see through his heart:
"I... I want you to treat Eleanor well. I want you to... make her... happy!"
After hearing the old duke's words, Eleanor trembled slightly, and her blue-gray eyes seemed to flash with a wave.
The third prince Philip's eyelids drooped slightly, and when he raised his head again and looked at the old duke, he had put on a bright smile:
"Of course, your Excellency Andre."
"Eleanor is my most beloved wife, and I will make her happy."
After hearing the third prince's promise, the old duke finally felt a little relieved.
"Ahem... Remember what you said."
He coughed violently a few times and said.
After his worries were put to rest, the old duke felt as if his strength had suddenly faded away.
His body slid down slowly uncontrollably, and his eyes, filled with a bit of guilt and pity, stayed on his daughter.
However, when his eyes slid across his daughter's sleeves, he suddenly saw the dense scars beneath the shadows.
The old duke's breath almost stopped instantly.
He suddenly regained his strength, almost struggling to reach out his hand towards Eleanor, and then pulled off her sleeve.
Under the sleeves, the arms that should have been white and smooth were covered with bruises and hideous scars.
The old duke's expression changed almost instantly.
A corrupt and astonishing pressure suddenly erupted from him, and the extraordinary power that had been unable to be mobilized was boiling again at this moment.
The old duke angrily grabbed the third prince by the collar and shouted:
"Philip! What... is going on?!"
The third prince Philip looked calm.
He slowly and forcefully pushed the old duke's dry fingers away from his clothes, then gently stood up, looked down at him, and sighed softly:
"My Lord Duke, it would have been great if you had said what you just said earlier."
The old duke raised his head and looked at him angrily, but suddenly felt a pain in his abdomen and could not help but spit out a mouthful of dark red blood with a "wow".
In an instant, he felt the strength in his body being rapidly drained away, and the burning pain quickly spread from his stomach to all parts of his body.
The old duke raised his head and looked with difficulty at the maid standing beside him, only to see that she slowly moved to the side of the third prince and stood respectfully, looking at him with only indifference.
The old duke opened his eyes wide:
"you… !"
The third prince moved sideways to block his sight, leaned forward slightly, and smiled:
"My Lord Duke, I never like charity, nor do I like being forced to trade anything. I hate being a bargaining chip for others to trade with me even more."
"What I want, I must get with my own hands, no matter what methods or means I use."
"The Duchy of Boulder and the Earldom of Castel, I will get them myself."
"besides… "
He lowered his head, leaned over to the old duke's ear, and whispered:
"You shouldn't have the intention to kill in front of me."
Looking at the third prince's devilish smile, the old duke showed anger.
He stared at the other person's eyes, and his eyes were like a cannibal, wishing to tear the third prince into pieces...
But soon, he suddenly laughed again:
“Ahem… Hehe… Haha…”
"Bold... and... Cass... Castel... what..."
“Hehe…hahahaha…”
The old duke just laughed heartily; his laughter became more and more wanton, more and more insane, and more and more compassionate.
Facing the old duke's meaningful smile, the third prince frowned slightly:
"My Lord, is there anything funny?"
However, the old prince did not answer.
He still had that wanton smile on his face.
But his eyes had lost their final focus.
A trace of turbid tears slowly slid down his old cheek, and his hands also slowly slid down.
Until the moment he took his last breath, his blue-gray eyes were still wide open.
"Is he dead..."
Looking at the lifeless old duke, the third prince frowned slightly, feeling extremely bored.
However, the old duke's weird smile made him feel inexplicably irritated.
Hearing intermittent sobbing sounds coming from beside him, the third prince looked at his wife beside him.
His expression turned cold and he said:
"Did I make you cry?"
Eleanor shuddered slightly, lowered her head, and said in a trembling voice:
"Hmm... Woof..."
"Yeah, good boy."
The third prince rubbed her head with satisfaction.
Then, he ordered the maid beside him:
"Let's take care of this place. The old duke has passed away. From now on, Eleanor and I will be the masters of Bold."
The maid shuddered slightly and bowed her head in awe.
The third prince took Eleanor's hand and walked out of the bedroom.
Returning to the hall of the Duke's Mansion, he naturally sat down in the main seat.
Soon, the guards rushed in from outside the door, came to him breathlessly, knelt on one knee, and presented a piece of parchment with both hands:
"My lord, there is an urgent message from the north! The young earl of Castel has returned to the territory!"
Philip frowned, took it quickly, opened it quickly and started browsing.
As he watched, his face suddenly turned gloomy.
He threw the parchment to the ground and cursed:
"Useless, a bunch of useless people! They can't even stop a little girl!"
"With this strength, you still want to return to the Falling Star Kingdom?"