Novel Full Chapter 673: Each Dealing with Their Own Trouble
Chapter 673: Chapter 673: Each Dealing with Their Own Trouble
Facing the silent Charles, Zara was anxious, but she didn’t rush him.
She knew the current situation was too complicated for anyone to come up with a perfect plan quickly.
While the two stayed quiet, the Serpent Empress suddenly moved.
That tiny motion drew the attention of everyone present.
Charles immediately stepped closer to her. Since the distance between them was already very short, even he started to feel the curse’s power creeping into his body.
Strange whispers filled his mind one after another.
That was a clear sign — the curse had begun to invade his thoughts.
He knew he couldn’t stay here for long.
After a quick glance up and down at the Empress, he immediately stepped back to his original spot.
“Did you find anything new? What’s wrong with Her Majesty?” Zara finally couldn’t hold it anymore and asked anxiously.
Charles nodded, then shook his head.
“I did find something new, but… I still don’t fully understand Aria’s condition,” he said honestly.
His answer made both Zara and High Priest Kent a little disappointed, but they had expected as much.
“So what did you find? Is it related to the curse?” Kent asked in a low voice.
Charles nodded again.
“Yes. I found that the curse on Her Majesty is becoming more and more like the curse energy flowing under the oasis — in that underground river. So I think I might have a clue.”
He suddenly stopped talking.
Zara and Kent both waited for him to continue, their eyes fixed on him.
“What is it? Why did you stop?” Kent asked hesitantly.
Charles didn’t answer.
Instead, he rushed out of the Empress’s Great Pyramid as fast as he could, heading straight toward the underground river beneath the oasis.
His sudden action shocked both Zara and Kent.
Zara didn’t hesitate for a second — she ran after him.
Kent stayed behind, staring at Zara’s fading figure, and muttered in confusion,
“What did he discover? The curse on Her Majesty… and the curse under the oasis are becoming alike. Could it be… Charles is going there to find a way to break Her Majesty’s curse?”
High Priest Kent’s guess was already very close to the truth.
Charles indeed believed that if he wanted to break the curse on Aria, he had to look for clues in the underground river.
But he didn’t think the answer would definitely be found there.
He already knew that the curse on Aria was cast by Aldany. And knowing Aldany, he must have combined several different spell methods to make sure the curse was as strong as possible.
Still, for Charles, even finding a single clue about how to break it would be enough.
Once he had that, he was confident he could completely lift the curse from Aria.
While Charles and the others were dealing with their own tough problems, the Stellar Empire’s crown prince—who had just returned to Gold Fortress—was also handling his own troubles.
In fact, his problems were far more complicated than Charles’s.
The biggest one was obvious: his power had been severely weakened.
During the Battle of Withered Tree Fortress, the Stellar Empire’s troops suffered massive losses.
Especially when the fortress collapsed—most of the soldiers fighting inside never made it out alive.
For the crown prince, fourteen days was nowhere near enough time to rebuild his forces.
And if, by the time of the final battle after those fourteen days, his strength hadn’t fully recovered, his influence and authority would drop sharply.
Harbor might even start ignoring his opinions completely.
That was something the crown prince could never allow.
So the moment he returned to Gold Fortress, he immediately sent messengers urging the reinforcements from the rear to arrive as soon as possible.
His second major problem was his relationship with the Ancient Academy.
During the Battle of Withered Tree Fortress, he’d had several clashes with them.
Although he eventually followed Harbor’s advice, that was only because Harbor’s strength was overwhelming.
If, in the upcoming decisive battle, he still couldn’t fix his relationship with the Ancient Academy’s members, the final outcome could turn out just as disastrous.
Because of that, he had no choice but to send his guards to invite Harbor over.
This time, Harbor didn’t delay.
Barely fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the crown prince’s quarters.
“I hope I didn’t disturb you,” the Stellar Empire’s crown prince said with an uncharacteristic smile.
He knew Harbor must be preparing for the final battle against Charles in fourteen days.
Harbor, just like always, spoke without any expression on his face.
“Of course not,” Harbor said calmly. “Even though the final battle with Charles is only fourteen days away, I still have some free time. Your Highness, you called me here to discuss the battle strategy, right?”
Harbor asked it straight out.
He had always been a direct man—someone who hated wasting time on pointless talk.
The Stellar Empire’s crown prince smiled and shook his head.
“The battle strategy is important, yes. But what matters even more is how well we work together.”
“I think our cooperation is already fine,” Harbor cut him off before he could continue.
He spoke flatly, without hesitation.
The smile on the crown prince’s face slowly faded.
The air in the room grew tense.
“Your strength is indeed far greater than mine,” the crown prince said coldly, “but that doesn’t mean I have to obey your every word.”
Harbor stayed as calm as ever.
Expressionless, he nodded once.
“So, what exactly did you want to tell me, Your Highness? I know you’ve had conflicts with Maxwell before, but I can assure you—during the final battle, he’ll follow your orders.
I won’t allow any internal conflict within our ranks. Every member of the Ancient Academy knows my stance. They won’t dare to damage our cooperation.”
After saying that, Harbor stood up.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be taking my leave.”
Without another glance, he turned and walked straight out.
The Stellar Empire’s crown prince clenched his fists in anger.
He could feel it—Harbor didn’t see him as an equal at all.
Still, in a way, Harbor’s words had helped him solve one major problem.
The last issue the crown prince faced was the hardest one yet—how was he going to explain all of this to his father, the emperor?
Before attacking Withered Tree Fortress, he had personally written a letter to his father.
In that letter, he had promised victory—claiming he could take the fortress quickly and destroy the entire Serpent Empire soon after.
He had even used that chance to quietly blame the prime minister for the empire’s slow progress.
If he had actually won the battle, he could have used that victory to demand his father dismiss the prime minister altogether.
That way, he could completely get rid of his long-time rival.
But now, things were different. He hadn’t truly won.
Withered Tree Fortress had indeed been reduced to ruins, yet the Serpent Empire still stood—and it still held a decent amount of power.
He also wasn’t confident that he could claim a total victory in the coming battle after fourteen days.
Even worse, the losses in the Battle of Withered Tree Fortress had been enormous.
He was certain his father would be furious.
After thinking for a long time without finding any solution, he finally had no choice but to turn to the governor stationed in the Atacama Desert for help.
He knew the man was one of the prime minister’s subordinates, but inside Gold Fortress, only that governor had the skill and influence to help him come up with an excuse good enough to calm the emperor down.
“Your Highness, is there something important you wanted to see me about?”
The governor asked in mild confusion when he arrived at the crown prince’s room.
He didn’t think he and the crown prince had much to talk about.
His job was limited to managing logistics, and in the Battle of Withered Tree Fortress, the empire’s defeat hadn’t been caused by any supply issue.
The logistics system had worked perfectly.
The crown prince said nothing.
He simply handed a letter to the governor.
“Take a look.”
The governor picked it up and quickly scanned through it.
It was the same letter the crown prince had once written to the emperor of the Stellar Empire.
When he read the part where the crown prince harshly attacked the prime minister, the governor instinctively frowned—but he quickly smoothed his expression.
“Why are you showing me this letter, Your Highness?” he asked.
“I need your help,” the crown prince said plainly. “The Battle of Withered Tree Fortress wasn’t exactly a loss, but it was far from a win. My father will definitely question me. Tell me—how should I explain it to him?”
The governor froze for a moment.
He hadn’t expected the crown prince to ask him for advice.
But after a brief pause, it made sense—there were almost no civil officials left in Gold Fortress.
And among them, he was the only one capable enough to help the crown prince come up with a convincing excuse for His Majesty.