Chapter 365 - 351: Courage and "Determination

Chapter 365: Chapter 351: Courage and "Determination

The towering city walls were still majestic, but against the lead-gray sky, they seemed somewhat pale and fragile.

The streets were deserted, every door and window tightly shut. Only the heavy footsteps of fully armed patrol squads echoed jarringly on the stone-paved roads, adding to the grim atmosphere.

A dead silence, the kind that precedes a storm, enveloped this jewel of the Royal Capital.

This oppression did not stem from the Fear of an army at the gates.

In fact, with Golden Ears City’s strong defenses and still considerable inner-city garrison, they were not without the Power to fight.

The real pressure came from within, from that center of Power.

The Imperial Palace.

CRASH!

The crisp sound of shattering echoed through the empty and oppressive Throne Hall.

An exquisitely crafted silver teacup had been smashed to pieces on the floor, its warm tea splashing everywhere, much like Lucius’s shattered state of mind.

This Prince, nearly seventy years old, no longer showed any trace of the dotage he usually feigned. Even the cunning and shrewdness beneath that facade had vanished.

In its place was a deathly pallor of near despair and an uncontrollable Fear.

The mere thought of the great army camped outside the city, of his father in their midst—a figure like one of the Gods walking among men—and of that father’s iron-fisted, merciless intolerance for betrayal, was enough to make his body tremble uncontrollably.

"Where is Anno?"

He snapped his head up, his voice holding a faint, sharp edge as he barked the question at the soldiers guarding the heavy hall doors.

"Where did Duke Anno go?"

Startled by the sudden, harsh inquiry, the soldier at the door flinched and hurriedly bowed in response.

"Your Highness, Duke Anno... he went to the newly built High Tower in the west of the city. He said he was going to find those Wizards. The Duke said... he said he might have a way to repel His Majesty the King."

"A way? A way..."

Lucius muttered the words, a bitter and utterly miserable smile appearing on his face.

As if drained of all strength, he staggered backward and collapsed onto the cold, hard throne.

His fingers unconsciously traced the exquisite carvings on the armrest, the coldness of the throne seeming to freeze his very fingertips.

He knew, of course, that Anno’s so-called "way" would be anything but honorable.

The core nobles, who had originally been ambivalent or even content to watch from the sidelines, had suddenly become unusually compliant and resolute in recent days. This in itself was highly unusual.

Lucius knew full well that Anno must have used some unknown, likely profane and dangerous, Power to forcibly unite these treacherous individuals.

But he didn’t care.

For Lucius, who had bided his time for a full seventy years, as long as he could kill Morne and sit on the throne he had coveted his entire life, he was willing to pay any price, to make a deal with any entity.

"In this world... who has ever been a Prince for seventy years?"

He murmured to the empty hall, his voice low and hoarse.

Even if Morne spared his life for the sake of their blood ties, the rest of his days, spent just clinging to life, would be more unbearable to him than death.

’Seventy years of waiting, seventy years of feigning... to be just one step away from the pinnacle, only to have it all fall apart? I can’t accept it!’

He had originally thought that by uniting the power of the nobility, a force strong enough to shake the Kingdom, he could at least hold Morne back for a time, perhaps even force him to compromise. But reality had dealt him a resounding slap in the face.

Scarcely a month had passed since the news of Morne’s return, yet that terrifying army had already swept through unopposed and was now at the city gates.

The overwhelming speed of their advance sent a bone-deep chill through him and made his heart palpitate.

"Useless... they’re all a bunch of useless fools!"

His suppressed anger and Fear finally broke through the dam of his reason. Lucius let out a low growl, his voice echoing in the vast hall.

"Day to day, they’re all masters of scheming and fighting for power, but when it counts, they can’t even slow him down! And those soldiers, after all this time supporting them..."

Just as he was lost in his venomous and fearful tirade, an unusually heavy, rhythmic sound, completely different from the footsteps of anyone in the Imperial Palace, approached from the far end of the deep corridor.

THUD... THUD... THUD...

The sound was unhurried, each step seemingly landing on a person’s heart.

It carried an unsettling weight that shattered the dead silence and instantly choked off the curse on Lucius’s lips.

The heavy footsteps stopped inside the empty Throne Hall. The newcomer was Duke Anno.

However, Lucius keenly sensed that the Anno before him was somehow different from before.

His face, once defined by the firm lines and martial air of a soldier, now held an indescribable, almost effeminate, subtle change.

But in his state of utter turmoil, Lucius had no time to dwell on this subtle strangeness.

Like a drowning man grasping at a final piece of driftwood, he stumbled and lunged toward Anno, his voice trembling with Fear.

"Anno! You’re back! Tell me, what’s your plan? What on earth can we do to drive him back?"

Anno looked at the Prince, who had completely lost his composure, and the corner of his mouth curved into an almost imperceptible smile.

He didn’t answer directly. Instead, he calmly walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, his elegant posture clashing with the tense atmosphere.

He even picked up the silver pot on the table, poured himself a cup of the long-cold tea, and took a delicate sip.

"Your Highness, why the panic?"