Quietly returning to the bedroom, more than half of the night had passed, and Ante only felt exhausted, but still not sleepy.

For several days on end, he could only sleep in a daze for a short while, and the slightest sound would wake him up immediately, and by now he was even a little dazed, so that when he saw the dim moonlight passing through the window, he stood by the bed and looked down at the sleeping figure of Moira, and he stayed for a while before he reacted.

“...... Don't touch her!" he growled, instinctively drawing his sword from his waist and rushing over.

The long sword, which was once as familiar as a part of his body, felt extremely strange in his hand at the moment, which made him involuntarily recall when he had last drawn his sword, and then remembered with some horror that it was a few years ago...... In the same place, against the same person.

The person next to the bed raised his head, calmly pulled down his cloak, and smiled at him: "Your Majesty...... Is that how you welcome an old friend?"

Even in the dark, her green eyes seemed to sparkle like a cat's eye.

"I don't have a friend like you!" Ante blurted out, "How did you get in?!"

He had strengthened his guard after that night a few years ago...... Why was this woman still able to sneak in without even noticing?!

"And what kind of friends do you have, Your Majesty?" the woman walked over slowly, unwielding his long sword in her hand, and chuckled sarcastically, "I want to kill you...... Or was it killed by you?"

Ante's face turned pale, and his sword-raising hand froze stiffly in mid-air. Her eyes drifted to Moira on the bed.

"Don't worry about your lovely queen...... She's going to have a good dream. ”

The woman Shi Shiran walked to the window, lifted her long skirt and sat down, with a smile in her eyes. "Don't you want to talk, Your Majesty? ”

Ante was sure she couldn't cast spells here, but she was defenseless and unafraid. Like a few years ago...... He could only suppress his anger and put away his sword.

"Lydia Bell...... Did you do this?" he asked, keeping his distance and gritting his teeth, "disrupt the May Festival...... Just to get Borena Dejuri into Lockburg?!"

Lydia spread her hands innocently: "The gods are above...... Oh no, maybe I should say. Hell is down, so what's in it for me? I wonder who created that fog of death and planted everything on the necromancer. Dead and alive...... Do you know how many people I've lost lately?"

Ante fell silent. He had doubted Lydia...... But it was for the same reason that the attention was focused more elsewhere - such a blatant attack would only lead to the vigilance of all the temples and the full force of the counterattack, and indeed she did not do her any good.

"I thought you always knew who your real enemy was. Lydia spoke in a tone of grievance that was somewhat akin to Agnes, "How long are you going to tolerate those guys controlling this country in the name of God—this country that belongs to you?"

“...... Even kings need the guidance of the gods. Ante replied stiffly. "What's more, it's much better than letting the dead control everything anyway. ”

"The gods are dead. Lydia's voice was suddenly cold. "I told you a few years ago!"

"But their servants are still powerful, and you know better than anyone else!" Ante retorted angrily, "even you can't fight it, can you?"

"They are only praying to the graves of the gods, and their strength is only a breath of power!" Lydia scoffed, "and you should know better than anyone else - you murdered Nyor's most loyal knight, and what punishment you have received? A crown that is too heavy? ”

“...... You killed him!!" Ante involuntarily raised his voice in the sudden panic and fear. "You deceived me......"

He couldn't say any more, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably. The scenes buried deep in the memory rush into my mind, and they are still as vivid as they were ten years ago.

"You are well aware that not a single word of what I say is a lie, and you have proven it yourself. Lydia sneered, "I never deny what I've done, but I'm not interested in taking responsibility for the choices you've made. ”

Ante gritted his teeth and couldn't say a word for a long time. He knew very well that Lydia was right, but if he hadn't deceived himself like this for ten years, he wouldn't have been able to face the gods...... It's the little conscience that still exists in my heart.

“...... What the hell are you here for?"

It was a long time before he could speak again, supported by the anger that sparked him, "Just to make fun of me?!"

"Of course not, my friend. Lydia's voice softened again, "I just wanted to tell you that it's time to get rid of all your fears...... Become a real king. Your enemies are not indestructible. ”

“...... They had just had a new Sage. Ante sneered, "Young and strong, loved...... And it seems to have something to do with you. ”

"A false Sage. Lydia slouched back in her chair, "Just like the previous one." Felicity was smart enough to be fooled into, but her successors hadn't even figured out what they were up against—just think of it, when people found out that they had been deceived by lies all along...... No matter what charges they put on you, how many people will believe it?"

Ante stared at her for a long time. He knew it would be a way out, and a trap, just like the one she had pointed him out ten years earlier.

And this time...... And how should he choose?.

Holding a torch in one hand and dragging the corpse of a grown man in the other, it was not easy for Taber Winter, who was also a knight but had not worn armor for almost ten years.

Of course, he couldn't burn Lowell's body directly in the cellar, the smoke would drift everywhere along the secret passages, causing too much unnecessary curiosity. There was a wasteland outside the east gate of Lockburg that was used to dispose of garbage, and no one would notice what to burn there, and he sent out the guards tonight...... Everything should go more smoothly than the panicked, fearful one of a decade ago.

But the secret passage to the east gate was so tortuous that he couldn't do it to anyone else, let alone find someone to help him—he even had to be careful to get rid of a few guys who knew too much and didn't know when to pretend to know nothing. If anyone was momentarily curious to see the face of the corpse in the bag that needed to be disposed of so secretly......

Lowell was a well-respected paladin, and Tarber wasn't sure that his fear of the king would outweigh his fear of the gods, and if he did leave this matter to someone else, he might have to deal with a few more guys.

Tarber didn't like to do that. But after doing it once, the second time, the third time...... It always seems inevitable, and it's getting easier.

He couldn't help but curse under his breath as he almost slipped on the steps. If Anteken helps...... No, of course, a king would not drag a corpse in a secret passage in the middle of the night, even if he had already done the same thing once, although he did not make it to the end......

Thankfully, he didn't make it to the end.

Tarber knew a long time ago that Ante wasn't as strong, brave, and strong-willed as he wanted to show...... A guy who was scared to the point of insanity couldn't put on a crown.

- Maybe, as long as someone can control all this behind the scenes, the history of the Bofford dynasty is not without a king who was stupid enough to smash a walnut with a scepter......

Tarber sighed to himself. If he had seen this ten years ago, maybe everything would have been different...... But ten years ago he was no more than an unknown knight in Ante Bofford's army, with no background or merit.

All he had was a little bit of luck...... A little bit sometimes waking up in the middle of the night, he would rather have luck that he didn't have.

After several stops along the way, Tarber finally dragged Lowell outside the east gate while the night was still dark.

The incinerated and landfilled garbage still smells rancid, so only the lowliest servants live near the East Gate. Tarber covered his face, looked around at the blackened incinerators, and looked down at the looming human figure in the bag—Lowell Turner, the noble-born, mage-former paladin, who really shouldn't have been in such a place, naked and naked in a burlap bag, reduced to ashes.

Suddenly there was a surge of fear and uneasiness in his heart, and Tarber involuntarily began to murmur prayers, not knowing if he really wished that the gods were listening.

But he had no way out - his fate had been tied to Ante Bofford ten years earlier, and he had always been careful to make Ante feel that he was a companion who could bear it all, rather than an accomplice who was better able to kill him......

It wasn't easy at all.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but he coughed again and again from the choking stench around him. The voice was so harsh in the silence that Tarble himself was startled.

He hurriedly pulled up his sleeves and dragged Rowell to the nearest incinerator, just wanting to finish the dirty task as quickly as possible. I had just taken two or three steps, and my eyes suddenly lit up.

He looked up in surprise, and in his sight, the torch that he had casually planted on his side, the flame suddenly burned unusually violently, and it seemed to be dragged by something, elongated strangely against the breeze.

The sack dragged in his hand cracked with a screech, and most of Rowell's pale body fell out of it. Tabor let go of his hand and hurriedly retreated until he reached the incinerator, his back against the blackened wall, his heart twitching in great fear, unable to even breathe.

(To be continued......)