At breakfast time, the tables in the halls of Christasburg were rarely almost full, but they seemed quieter than usual.

Ed stared at the breakfast in front of him, his stomach churning. He wanted to curl up in his chair, and no one around him at the moment cared about him doing so...... Even if he didn't show up at breakfast, but hid in his room, buried his head under the pillow and spent the whole day complaining and even crying, they would only give him more sympathy and tolerance, and even Vala would not come to rebuke him for his laziness and rudeness.

But he still managed to sit up straight, his back pressed against the back of his chair, and he felt a chill creep through the hard wood into his marrow, making him suddenly crave some wine.

In front of him, only he didn't move, and the cream soup was already cold.

When he was a child, Vala used to comfort him with this...... But he's no longer a child.

Children don't have to take any responsibility, all mistakes can be washed away with tears, and they can be forgiven easily...... And he is becoming more and more aware of how stupid and weak he is.

He had basically just sat there in a daze last night when everyone speculated about Ante's next move, but he wasn't listening at all.

Kriesburg is a tough place to defend, not to mention a dragon guarding it. Gathering an army was mostly a pretense of threat, and Ante would not fail to consider the cost of a forcible attack.

He is more likely to send emissaries to make some deal with the Singers. River Singer's wealth can solve many problems, depending on whether they want to or not.

But in the end, it was discussed. There was one thing that Ante would have asked for, and they couldn't accept it anyway.

"He should ask you to confess your sins in public again...... Then use your father's money to atone for your sins. Allen said.

"My son didn't do anything wrong!" River, who was supposed to be good at bargaining as a businessman, was unusually tough. "I won't give him a son because of this, and I won't let him touch my son's finger again!"

"Even if it's just a temporary compromise?" Alan suggested, "so that we can resolve the crisis at hand and then find a way to clear the name of the charges he imposed on Ed?"

'He's not going to give us this chance. Scott said.

“...... Sounds like you'd love to fight your old friends. Alan sighed.

The word "friend" seemed to make Scott move his body uncomfortably.

"Not that I want to. He said with some exasperation, "It's what he wants!"

“...... Does he know you're here?" Alan asked.

Scott closed his mouth tightly, his face tense and his expression almost distorted.

"If he had eyes and ears in the temple...... And even here there may be. Then he couldn't have been unaware. Norway whispered.

"It doesn't matter. Scott grimaced, "The important thing is that at this point, he has no way back." He was well aware that the fabricated evidence would one day be revealed. If you don't take advantage of the moment to completely destroy all his enemies, he will be the one who will be trampled under his feet that day. Of course he would send messengers - but not just for money. It's likely that he won't attack head-on either, but he won't let Ed go...... And those who will do whatever it takes to avenge him. ”

Ed shuddered unconsciously - how the hell did he get himself into such a situation and drag so many people into the water?

All night. Guilt and self-reproach gnawed at his soul. But he couldn't escape...... He can't even die.

It was impossible for him to know if the outcome would have been better if he had persevered and never budged...... But he self-righteously took on the mistakes that he had not committed at all, and still involved all the people he cared about, and even put them in a more disadvantageous position.

After all, he has already pleaded guilty to his guilt...... No matter how ridiculous the evidence may be, he himself gave the king the best reason.

This is his real and unshirkable responsibility...... And no one here will even reproach him for this.

He never knew that "love" was so burdensome.

Everyone at the table spoke in a very low voice, as if he was fragile enough to be shattered with a single sound. Tess's eyes were rolling around and her mouth was stuffed with food. Eyes quickly averted each time they fell on him, as if fearing that they would say something wrong as soon as they spoke, and Vala silently took the soup from in front of him. Swapping for another steaming plate, Naria made her best soufflé, holding it down as Xiao Mo slipped over, not allowing him to steal it at all......

Such caution made him feel as uncomfortable as suffocation.

There was a dull ache in my chest that almost burst. Anger, self-blame, hesitation...... Many emotions are piled up layer by layer, but they can't vent their depression. He wanted to roar, roar, cry out loud...... But they can only pretend that nothing happened.

Or at least someone could reprimand him, even if it was a scolding like Filly had done......

There was a sound of footsteps, and almost all of them stopped their movements and looked at the door. The guard who walked into the hall was obviously taken aback by the gaze, and he paused, glanced uneasily at the table, before he walked over to River and whispered something in his ear.

Ed pricked up his ears in trepidation—it wasn't his turn to call the shots here, even if he was some hellish sage. But anything that happens now could be the result of his stupidity......

River frowned in confusion, his gaze quickly swept over Ed, then at Filly and Scott, but finally said nothing, wiped his mouth and got up.

Ed stared blankly in the direction they had disappeared, and subconsciously clenched his hands, the silver spoon slamming on the soup plate with a crisp sound.

Scott looked at Ed, then at Valla, and then at what he said.

“...... Ed. Vala began, "Go and see what's going on." ”

The hostess of Christesburg sat upright, her waist straighter than he was, but as calm and calm as usual.

Ed was stunned for a moment before he jumped up and rushed out, almost knocking over the chair, and before he could reach the door, he rushed back and gave his mother a big hug with all his strength - he didn't know how to express his gratitude.

She didn't treat him as a child who needed to be hidden in her arms and cared for, even if she was worried about him all the time, she was still willing to give him the opportunity to face his mistakes and take his own responsibility...... How lucky is he to have such a mother?.

Ed guessed that he would probably meet with an emissary sent by the king, such as Quirin Ayer. But standing in front of River were two paladins covered in blood...... One of them was still dying on his companion's shoulders, being lifted aside by the castle guards under River's command.

“...... Salz!" he screamed and rushed over, looking up in panic as he treated the seriously injured man he didn't know well, "What's going on?!"

The young paladin, who was still able to stand on his own, stared at him with a blank expression, as if he didn't understand what was happening.

"We were attacked. His expression was dazed, his voice was as thin as a gnat, and his words were incoherent and incoherent, but every word was like a cold dagger, piercing straight into Ed's heart: "We have been attacked...... The lake was foggy...... It's a big fog...... Everyone is dead, and there is blood everywhere...... I can't see anything...... Why is this happening?...... I'm a paladin and I can't run away...... But I don't know what to do...... We can't succeed...... Why is this happening? Why is this happening?......

He threw himself headlong into the ground.

Is, who ran out after Ed, hugged him and looked at Ed in surprise, with the same disbelief in his eyes.

Ed was half-kneeling, his blood frozen in ice - everyone said that Ante wouldn't attack the temple, at least not right now, and he didn't have a good reason......

- Maybe he didn't need a reason at all.

He could almost hear the roar of rage, roaring and sweeping through everything.

His vision burned white, and he could hear his name being called and his arm grabbed...... But he didn't stop blurting out the spell.

The next moment, there was a fog in front of me.

Then his body slammed down, and before he could react, he didn't even have time to be scared before he fell into the lake. The cold, painful feeling felt like falling on a rock and falling to pieces...... But he wasn't dead, he just couldn't move for a while.

He floated in the water. The water of the lake was still clear, and when he looked up, he could see the mist on the surface of the lake, hugging each other and spreading out, and there seemed to be some kind of wonderful melody in it, which made his eyes unconsciously widen and stare blankly.

But in the blink of an eye, the mist and the lake were stirred up at the same time, and a hand quickly dragged him to the surface, patting his cheek worriedly while he was still in a daze: "Ed...... Ed: Are you alright?"

Ed looked at the dark-haired girl in front of him in a daze...... He probably dragged her with him while teleporting.

"What is this place?" Narya looked uneasily at the impenetrable fog around her, wiping the water from her face, "Where did you get us? You did it, right? Oh, I hate teleportation!"

"Lake ......," Ed murmured, "this is Lake Starnestle." ”

As Salz put it...... "foggy on the lake"...... Well, what else he said...... Is it all true?

Ed suddenly grabbed Knaria's hand, flapped on the water, and began to swim blindly forward.

Something is wrong with this place...... He was supposed to teleport to the temple's teleportation array, but he teleported into the air and fell into the water...... But this is undoubtedly Lake Starnestle, and the temple is not far away...... He's got to find it!.

(To be continued......)