Chapter 801: Do Not Let Him Walk Alone

Jansen's breath comes unevenly. With Pabos's help, he drinks a vial of medicine.

After resting a while, Jansen continues, "Your father's origins have always drawn the attention of every major power on the continent."

"That makes it dangerous for you to venture out alone."

"Because of who your father is, none of those powers dares lay a hand on you."

"But don't forget the Veil. That vicious organization recognizes no limits."

Pabos shakes his head. "Grandfather, don't worry about my safety. If anything happens to me, a great many people will die with me."

"My father won't bargain with them. Anyone involved in this scheme will die."

"Even the Veil would have to tread carefully around a Glory-rank professional driven mad by grief and hatred."

Jansen smiles. "You haven't said the whole of it, little one."

"If you die here, your father will feel no obligation to spare the Phoenix family."

"The Phoenix family will face a purge, and he will show no mercy."

Pabos hesitates. "Not only the family. The Ika Kingdom, the Church, the Empire, and even the Descartes family will all have to pay!"

"You foolish child! Your life isn't worth staking on that."

Pabos smiles. "Grandfather, you told me that, as my father's eldest son, I must be prepared to make sacrifices."

Jansen shakes his head. "Not this sacrifice. Henwell has been holding back two sides of himself."

"The first is the ruthlessness of a ruler."

"The second is a powerful professional's contempt for everyone beneath him."

"You and your family are what anchor Henwell to his humanity."

"If he loses you, the man who emerges will be someone none of us wants to face."

"A cold, powerful ruler would be a nightmare for everyone, including Peace Haven itself."

"Henwell isn't indecisive. Every step he takes has a purpose, and he always chooses what will benefit him most."

"There is a reason he refuses to abandon his humanity, even if no one else can see it."

"So for your mother, your brothers and sisters, and your father, you must stay alive."

Pabos falls silent for a long time, then nods gently. "I understand."

Jansen asks, "Then why do you think the Descartes family is provoking Henwell?"

Pabos frowns. "I honestly can't make sense of it. What gives them the nerve?"

"The Church? The Ika Kingdom? Or the Noble Alliance, which exists in name only now?"

"Or are the neutral nobles dissatisfied with the warning they received and joining forces with Descartes?"

Jansen gives him an approving look. "You've forgotten the Veil."

Pabos stares at him. "They would dare collude with the Veil? Now?"

"The Calamity War has begun. Working with the Veil would be a betrayal of all humanity!"

Jansen gazes into the distance. "What if all the parties you named are backing Descartes?"

"What if those same parties secretly authorized an alliance with the Veil?"

Pabos frowns. "How could that be? The Church crossed a line when it worked with the Veil last time."

"Would they really work with the Veil again, now that the Calamity War has begun?"

Duke Jansen chuckles. "Why wouldn't it? The Calamity War is frightening, but a thousand years have passed and the continent still belongs to humanity."

"More importantly, it still belongs to the people at the top."

"Peace Haven is different. They've never seen anything like it."

"Don't underestimate the leaders of the nations. They may be greedy and treacherous, but they aren't stupid."

"Peace Haven's refusal to grant noble fiefs has already crossed their line."

"Henwell is breaking the rules by which the continent's powerful families live."

"To preserve their class, they will join with anyone, any power, for one purpose: destroy Peace Haven and destroy Henwell."

"The Church and the Veil already have dealings. To keep your father in check, those people would even ally with calamity creatures!"

"But... how can they..."

Jansen speaks gravely. "That is what people are like. Talk of the greater good, of the world's safety, of humanity's survival means nothing beside their own interests."

"They'll sacrifice every one of those things."

"If they can no longer be nobles who decide the continent's fate, then whether anyone on the continent survives will mean nothing to them!"

Pabos murmurs, "After me, the deluge."

Jansen nods. "Exactly."

Watching Pabos absorb the lesson, Jansen continues, "The poison in my body came from the Veil. Kaku was the one who administered it. The Church knows how to cure me, but the price is too high."

Pabos starts to speak, but Jansen raises a hand. "Listen carefully to what I say next."

"You must tell your father every word."

"First, he must not accept any terms from the Church or the Veil."

"Agreeing to the Church's terms would leave him at its mercy."

"Agreeing to the Veil's would brand Peace Haven an accomplice of the calamity creatures."

"To spare your father that choice, I must die before he emerges from seclusion."

"Second, he cannot break with all the other powers right now."

"Otherwise the Calamity War will become a shackle around Peace Haven, not an opportunity."

"Last, and most important, Henwell will kill many people after I die. You must stop him."

"He must not kill too many nobles within the Phoenix family in particular."

"I'm not saying this to shield my own kin."

"Peace Haven is already becoming an enemy of the continent's nobility. Henwell must not purge the Phoenix family's noble faction."

"If he does, every noble on the continent will view him and Peace Haven with profound suspicion."

"Peace Haven will become the mortal enemy of every powerful noble family, including those in Vorry!"

Duke Jansen sighs. "I should have made up my mind sooner. I dragged Henwell into this and drove Kaku into a corner."

"If possible, Henwell should spare Kaku. Exile would be enough."

"I never imagined the Phoenix family's rise would awaken ambitions Kaku had no right to pursue."

Tears well in Pabos's eyes. "Grandfather, I'll tell my father everything."

"As for Uncle Kaku, I'll arrange for him to live on an island overseas."

Duke Jansen pats Pabos on the shoulder. "Good boy. Grow up quickly, and take some of the burden from your father."

"He has been walking this road alone. He is terribly lonely and tired."

"Especially when he tries to live as a man rather than a ruler, he seems to have no place in the world."

"Don't let him wear himself down. If he does, he may give up that human side of himself."

Pabos spends the night at the castle. The next morning, a large escort of Phoenix family cavalry sees him safely back to Peace Haven.

As Pabos said, many people had considered making a move.

Kidnapping him, ambushing him, holding him hostage...

All were tempting, but in the end no one dares act.

Even the Veil's agents in hiding refuse the orders they receive to seize him.