Chapter 84: The True Identity of the Missing Crown Prince

"Please guide him. He needs us."

Her older self of Lydia stood before her and bowed politely. But why was she seeing her older self inside Rishe’s Spiritual Domain?

Guide him? And who was the person she needed to guide?

Before Lydia could ask anything, her older self straightened and hurried toward a passage beyond the throne room.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

The older Lydia didn’t answer. Her figure disappeared around the corner as if urging her to follow.

Lydia quickened her pace and followed the familiar figure deeper into the palace.

The farther she went, the stranger her surroundings became.

Unlike the chaos before, this inner part of the palace was eerily silent. There were no footsteps from Sentinels and Guides or any mutated monsters.

Only Lydia’s own ragged breathing.

The deeper Lydia went into the palace, the thicker the miasma became. Something was terribly wrong with this place.

"Ugh... this is awful." Lydia covered her mouth with one hand as she followed her older self.

Lydia swallowed her discomfort and rushed down the corridor that was filled with dead bodies.

Finally, she reached a dead end. But... there was someone on the floor.

A woman with long pink hair lay motionless on the stone floor. Blood was pooling all around her. Her face was pale and she remained completely still.

But it was her blue eyes that made Lydia uneasy. It was dull and lifeless. That was the face of someone that died a gruesome death.

Lydia knelt beside her. With trembling fingers, she closed the woman’s eyes gently.

"I’m sorry," she whispered.

Before she could look away, a violent crash boomed at the far end of the corridor.

A gigantic black wolf with three long tails howled and attacked someone. Its six red eyes were glowing ominously against thick miasma that covered its body.

Every strike from the wolf made the young man stagger.

The young man barely managed to avoid its snapping jaws. Even the wolf kept attacking, the young man was reluctant to retaliate.

He used his spear to block the wolf’s attacks despite the heavy wounds the creature had inflicted on him.

Why didn’t he retaliate? Who was that man? And why did he look so familiar?

Before Lydia could get a better look, her older self appeared beside the young man.

He needs us.

After pulling the young man into her embrace, Lydia’s older self slowly began to fade.

Her figure grew more and more transparent, until she vanished completely, leaving the young man alone in the corridor.

What on earth is happening here?

"Father! Stop this, this is me! Please...!"

The young man cried out as he parried another attack.

Father? Wait. So this wasn’t a mutated monster?

So the wolf wasn’t a Rift monster. But how come a Spirit Animal got mutated?

A thick wall of rock suddenly appeared in front of the young man.

"Your Highness! Leave... leave the Arestionne Kingdom to us. You have to leave for your own safety! We can’t lose you here!"

Your Highness? So that young man must be the Prince of this kingdom.

Arestionne? Wait. That family name... Lydia had heard it before.

The Kingdom of Arestionne was located on the Luanna Continent, neighboring the Adelstein Empire, which had been torn apart by countless Dimensional Rifts.

A Sentinel formed several jagged rocks in front of the young man to protect him. Then another one jumped to shield him from the wolf’s attack.

"Your Majesty! Please snap out of it!"

"That snake chancellor is almost here! Please!"

These Sentinels addressed the young man who fought the wolf was being as a prince.

Could he be the person they had been searching for?

Lydia barely had time to process the possibility before the black wolf attacked again.

Its massive claws tore through the Sentinel who had raised the rock wall. Then it charge at the another one.

The barrier crumbled beneath the force of the blow, and blood splattered all across the prince’s clothes and face.

The prince’s expression twisted with grief as he tightened his grip on the spear.

"I’m sorry, Father."

Then he thrust his spear into the wolf with all his strength.

The creature staggered with a strangled wheeze. Black blood spilled from its mouth as its enormous body shuddered.

Its three tails dropped to the floor, and its red eyes flickered. Slowly, the wolf began to change.

Its dark fur receded, and its massive body shrank. The shape of its limbs shifted until the creature no longer resembled a wolf.

An elderly man lay in its place.

He had long purple hair and icy blue eyes.

His face was pale, and his breathing was weak, but the expression in his eyes changed when he looked at the young prince.

"Russell... my son..."

The prince dropped to his knees beside him.

"Father!"

The elderly man raised a trembling hand toward his son’s face and caressed him affectionately.

"Thank you for freeing me. I am really, really sorry." His voice was faint, yet every word carried the weight of his regret. "But please stay alive for us. We love you so much, my son."

Russell’s lips parted, but no words came out when the king’s hand slipped from his face.

He pulled the king into his embrace and hugged him tightly. Dark blood stained his hands and soaked into his clothes, but Russell barely noticed.

He only held his father closer, unwilling to let him go.

After a long moment, he lowered the king’s body to the floor. His hands trembled as he gently closed his father’s eyes.

Russell carefully lifted his father and laid him beside the dead woman with pink hair. He adjusted their positions with utmost respect and gentleness.

Then... that must be the Queen.

For a moment, Russell remained motionless, holding his father as though refusing to accept what had happened.

Lydia tried to look away as Russell prayed for his deceased parents.

After hugging them both, Russell slowly rose to his feet and wiped the blood from his hands as best he could before reaching for his spear.

With a practiced motion, he stored the weapon inside his bracelet.

His face was streaked with tears and dark blood as he faced his parents and bowed deeply.

"May the glory of the Arestionne Kingdom of Luanna be as eternal as Estrise snow!"

His voice echoed through the silent corridor.

"I, Russell Arestionne, vow upon our glory to avenge your deaths and restore our kingdom!"

He remained bowed for several seconds before finally straightening.

There was no one left to answer his vow.

The Sentinels who had tried to protect him were dead. His parents lay motionless behind him, and the palace had become a graveyard.

Yet Russell stood alone, carrying the weight of his kingdom’s future on his shoulders.

The missing Crown Prince was Russell Arestionne. And he was Rishe, her best friend.