Close Combat Mage

Chapter 296 – Duo Mei’s Decision Pt. 2

The desert’s terror could only be compared to that of a great sea. Once one entered either, it was impossible to guarantee survival, no matter how strong one was. Storms, quicksand, bitter cold, scorching heat…the desert’s terrors couldn’t be described with just words.

A month after Suo Jia’s group had entered the Greater Trade Routes.

In the distant Holy Light Empire within a gold and jade palace, Duo Mei stood there trembling with a letter in her hand. Tears had already blurred her vision.

The letter had been secretly sent. There were only a few words on it: Suo Jia had already entered the Greater Trade Routes!

As she looked at the letter in her hand, Duo Mei recalled the expectations that Suo Jia had had of her in the past. That’s right…the reason Suo Jia had given them so much equipment with complete disregard to cost was because he’d hoped that they would travel through the Greater Trade Routes together. However, they had betrayed Suo Jia’s friendship.

It was now nearly two years since Suo Jia had left. During this time, the fire wind warriors seemed to have enjoyed glory, splendor, wealth and rank. They had heavy authority within their grasp, and they were proud of their success. However, they knew that this wasn’t really the life they had wanted to live. How could phoenixes that had flown high up in the air for so long be willing to crawl into a chicken’s nest to live in for their entire lives?

Money? Power? Status? Glory? Everything seemed so childish. Their hearts had lost their objectives, their souls had abandoned all direction.

Did they regret it? That’s right…since the day they’d left Suo Jia, their regret had been like a malicious bug, constantly eating away their hearts. This kind of pain not only couldn’t be forgotten as time passed, but instead grew even fiercer.

“Crunch…” Duo Mei crumpled the letter in her hand into a ball, and suddenly stood up. With a strong sigh, she hurriedly rushed out of the room to quickly pack up her bags.

Half an hour later, Duo Mei stood with a determined expression in the study room of the Fourth Prince, the current emperor of the Holy Light Empire. Across from her was the emperor, glaring at her with a furious expression.

The Fourth Prince took a deep breath and said, “Duo Mei, I have never been unkind in my care towards you these past years. When you wanted power, I gave you power, when you wanted money, I gave you money, when you wanted glory, I gave you glory. Yet now you’re telling me you want to leave. I can’t understand this at all!”

Duo Mei firmly looked at the Fourth Prince and said shakily, “Your Majesty, because of my devotion towards you, I betrayed Suo Jia two years ago. However, you’ve already become the noble Emperor. I think…that I’ve already completed my duty, and now is the time for me to leave your side.”

“Hmph!” With a cold snort, the Fourth Prince shouted angrily, “Do you still plan on trying to keep me in the dark? Don’t think I don’t know that your sudden departure is definitely to search for Suo Jia! Am I wrong?”

Duo Mei took a deep breath, and didn’t deny it. Instead, she nodded and said, “That’s right. Your Majesty is completely right. I’m leaving now in order to go search for Suo Jia in the Greater Trade Routes. No matter what, I owe a promise to him!”

“Promise?” The Fourth Prince knit his brows together in doubt.

Duo Mei resolutely nodded and replied, “Yes, we indeed had sworn loyalty and devotion to Your Majesty, but…we had also sworn to Young Master Suo Jia as well. This promise is something I plan to uphold with the rest of my life!”

“Huk!” The Fourth Prince abruptly stood up and roared, “This is betrayal! You know that Suo Jia and I are irreconcilable mortal enemies! Let me ask you, if Suo Jia returns to get his revenge, how would you treat me? Don’t tell me you’d go against him?”

Duo Mei narrowed her eyes at the Fourth Prince’s question and after a long while, strongly replied, “No…Your Majesty, no matter what, I will never personally harm Your Majesty. The animosity between you and Suo Jia should be resolved between you two alone. I definitely won’t intervene. However…that only applies to you. Aside from Your Majesty, I won’t owe anything to anyone else!”

“You!” The Fourth Prince pointed a finger at Duo Mei and roared, “Duo Mei! You’re being too brazen. This is betrayal. You’ve already gone back on your promises before, do you want to destroy all your oaths?”

Duo Mei smiled at him in contempt and stressed, “Your Majesty, even if I destroy my oaths, you are the reason for it. Originally…you had ordered me to follow Suo Jia and obey his commands. Because of your self-contradicting words, we no longer knew who to follow!”

Duo Mei breath became more rushed. “Your Majesty, we’ve already helped you gain the throne. Right now, you’re the noble ruler of the empire. We’ve been acting on our oath of loyalty to you. However…under your instructions, we also swore loyalty to Young Master Suo Jia, so for the rest of my life, it’s time for me to put my other promise into practice!”

“Such impudence!” The Fourth Prince bellowed. “I’m the emperor of Holy Light Empire. As one of my citizens, you are obligated to listen to whatever I say. You want to betray me, betray the Holy Light Empire?”

Duo Mei forced a smile and said resolutely, “Your Majesty, perhaps you don’t understand. To us warriors, promises and oaths are more important than anything else. Since I’ve established oaths, I must carry them out. Because Your Majesty has already made me betray Young Master once…I no longer owe the Empire anything!”

Duo Mei respectfully bowed and declared, “Duo Mei will now leave. From today onwards, I will be faithful to only Young Master Suo Jia for the rest of my life!” She slowly straightened her back, and after coldly glaring at the Emperor, confidently turned to stride out the door.

“Hmph!” Seeing this scene, a dark smile suddenly appeared on the Fourth Prince’s face. He coldly stated, “Duo Mei, I’ve known for a while that I couldn’t possibly raise you to be skilled enough. However…where did you think this was? Did you think you could just come and go as you pleased?”

“Clang!” The Fourth Prince suddenly raised his teacup and smashed it onto the ground as hard as he could. With a fierce clatter, the teacup shattered into pieces. At the same time, figures flashed outside the study, and began to jump into the room from the windows and the door.

Duo Mei abruptly froze in her tracks and surveyed her surroundings. The people that arrived entered her vision; they were nobody else but her Angelic Six-Winged Phoenix sisters that she’d known for so many years!