Chapter 294: No Regrets


    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    "Are you willing to give up this position?" Anfey asked suddenly.


    Christian did not say anything. It could be hard talking to Anfey sometimes, but Christian understood what he meant. "Both of my brothers are more able than I," Christian said slowly. "I just want to be left alone in Swordbury."


    "Are you serious?"


    "Of course," Christian said. "You are my friend. I wouldn’t lie to my friends. Not now, not ever. I appreciate your friendship." Christian paused and then said, "Why did you ask? Is it important to you?"


    "Very much so. Don’t forget. We are friends," Anfey said. "Your answer can decide the course of my life. If you want to fight for it, both Wester and Grandon are my enemies. If not, then there is no need for me to challenge anyone. We can just sit by and watch them fight."


    Christian sighed but did not say anything.


    "If you do not want to fight for the throne, why don’t you tell His Majesty that you will not do this? Otherwise your actions could be mistaken as a sign of aggression. You could very well be a target."


    "No," Christian said, shaking his head. "Father has done too much for me. I want to take care of this myself."


    Anfey nodded. "Good," he said with a smile. "But, if you ask me, this is too great a matter to hide. Maybe we are just overthinking. Maybe your father’s intention is simple. Maybe he just wants you to know what it’s like to kill."


    "Are you serious? You mean..."


    "We should stop talking and head to the pce now."


    "Wait. I have the map here. We should study their defenses first," Christian said. He had been part of the n to assassinate the Shansa princess and knew the procedure.


    "He gave that to you?" Anfey asked, surprised. "And he showed you their defenses?" Anfey was confused. He did not know what Ynthe wanted, though he knew that he would not put his son in harm’s way. Plus, Christian did not want the throne, anyway. If they kill the fake duke, Ynthe would be responsible for taking care of the aftermath. If Christian did not want the throne, why would Ynthe task Christian with this mission? Since this mission had no apparent direct consequence, Anfey decided that they could not disappoint Ynthe, either. If Christian wanted to fight for the throne, Anfey would never make such a rushed decision.


    —


    The moon was peeking through the clouds when Christian, Anfey, and Suzanna arrived at the small pce of the fake duke. There were three small pces around Sacred City, and each pce had a different view. Ynthe did not want to leave Sacred City, but everyone needed a change of scenery once in awhile, even kings. The three pces were his solution. Three sides of this pce were surrounded by ponds, and the fourth was next to the Sacred River.


    "Now that I’m here, I feel bad for the guy," Christian said, shaking his head. "He lived his entire life as a lie."


    Suzanna nodded in agreement. She was afraid. If anyone told her that the person she was protecting wasn’t who they said they were, and she was not a senior swordsmaster, she would not be able to handle the news.


    "Maybe that is not how he sees it," Anfey said. "If he did not be your double, who knows where he would be now? Maybe he’s an orphan or a ve, or a servant to another. Exchanging a life of hardship for twenty years of luxury sounds like a pretty good deal to me."


    "We are still cutting his life short."


    "Who knows? Who knows what he was before he became you? Perhaps he was an orphan, and there are plenty of ways for orphans to go," Anfey said. "Without this, maybe he already would be dead. Haven’t we seen enough?" In this war-torn world, orphans were not an oddity. Not only in countries like Country of Mercenaries, but also in more advanced ones like Maho Empire. Especially in upied cities like Violet City. Half of the children there were orphans. Even Ynthe, who was hailed as a people’s king, could not fix this problem, let alone the other kings. Rodhart, the double, may not even be a good man. At least he had twenty years of luxury. A lot of children did not.


    Christian fell quiet. He tried to distance himself from the wars and the suffering, but he was still a verypassionate person. Everything he had gone through made him even more so. In the past, he was confined to Sacred City and never realized how bad the poverty and injustice were in the rest of the country.


    "Alright," Anfey said, walking out of the shadow. "Let’s get moving."


    "Wait!" Christian called. "We still need to make a n!"


    "n?" Anfey asked, frowning. "Alright. We will n." Christian was very brilliant, but his way of action was too constrained. Ynthe had already given him the details of the pce’s defense and told him that the pce guards would not intervene to stop him. There was no need for nning. Anfey was certain that even if they did make a mistake, the pce guards would help them.


    "Am I being too careful?" Christian asked, scratching his head. "I just want to make sure this goes smoothly."


    Anfey blinked. He suddenly realized that the only person he was considering was Ynthe and had been ignoring Christian and himself. Christian was right. If he was going to do something, he should make it as perfect as possible. He could not risk failure, or else Ynthe would be disappointed in Christian. This was a testament to his own abilities as well. If he failed, he and Christian would beughingstocks. "Christian," he said, "show me that document."


    Anfey smiled as he flipped through the document. The fake Rodhart was a strange man. He was not practiced with swords, neither did he know how to use magic. However, he already had six children, all of them his biological children. All the children were living in the pce as well. Ynthe only needed to say that he wanted to meet his grandchildren to meet with the fake Rodhart.


    "This fake duke is certainly..."


    "Father hired two teachers for him when he was young, though the two teachers never taught him anything useful. I think that might have been Father’s intention in the first ce."


    "Are we killing the children as well?"


    "Father told me that everyone in there should die."


    Anfey sighed. He looked through the document again and nced at the map. "We don’t need nning. This is way too easy. I don’t think His Majesty is testing your abilities."


    "What is he testing then?" Christian asked.


    "Suzanna can take care of swordsmen. I will take care of the priest and the servants. The rest is up to you."


    "Alright," Christian said with a nod. He was not stupid. He already knew what Anfey meant when he said Ynthe wasn’t testing his ability and had asked about the kids.


    "If there are no more questions, let’s go. We’re going in from the right."


    Christian slowly crept out of the shadow of the woods and used a levitation spell. He flew towards the right side of the pce, afraid that his courage would disappear when he was not moving fast enough.


    "Christian..." Suzanna called quietly. She sensed that there was something different about the young man.


    Anfey shook his head. He could not give Christian any tips. He had never met Ynthe and did not know anything about the man. Ynthe was an intriguing man who made it his mission to conceal his emotions. Which was more important to Ynthe, callousness orpassion? The only person who could dictate Christian’s decision was Christian. Anfey hoped he picked right.


    Even though Ynthe already gave the map to Christian and Anfey said there was no need for nning, there were still chances for things to go wrong. A team of pce guards walked out of the side door of the pce as the trio jumped over the wall. The moon was exceptionally bright, and the three had nowhere to hide.


    The guards’s formation was jumbled but the soldiers soon fell into ce. The leader of the team barked an order, and the pce guards passed where Christian, Suzanna, and Anfey were standing, as if they were invisible.


    "It seems like everyone’s cooperating with us," Anfey said with a smile. "Let’s get to work. Don’t want to let their cooperation go to waste, eh?"