Raphael was spreading out a map, carefully studying the route on it. Ｅ『』Ω．

There was still a dull pain in his right arm, and as the Black Prophet had said, he had used that strength too often.

That insatiable blood-eating monster.

Raphael frowned slightly.

But he then put the matter behind him – he had too much to worry about.

Like these messes in the Northland.

Another example is the little boy behind him.

Raphael sighed, rolled up the map from Longxiao City to Qiyuan City, and then looked at the second prince standing beside him.

But the moment he turned around, he was keenly aware that there was something wrong with Tails' expression.

I saw Tails frowning and staring at Raphael with complicated eyes.

"You should go and rest, we won't be calm this way," Raphael was a little uncomfortable by him, and couldn't help but speak: "You'd better have enough spirit ......"

But Tails just stared at him steadily, his gaze slowly turning to Raphael's hands.

When the young man of the secret department began to get impatient, the second prince spoke softly:

"The man who took away your hands is the Duke of the North, Val Arend. ”

"yes. ”

Raphael's breath faltered slightly.

His face twitched slightly, and then turned into a relaxed smile: "It's not ...... to speculate wildly."

Tails interrupted him.

"I recognize the letters on your hands. ”

Tails said silently:

"That's the engraved ancient imperial letters, a. ”

"The Aaron family, representing the eagle on a white background. ”

Raphael's words were gagged, and his face stiffened.

After a few seconds, the man in the secret department exhaled softly, silent.

It took a long time for Raphael to look away.

"It seems that the cunning fox has taught you well," he said lightly, as if he didn't care, "although it's only a little more than a month." ”

Tails, who received the default answer, took a deep breath and remembered what the little slippery head had just told him.

"I've heard Val Arend say that he teamed up with Rumba and took the throne as the first step. ”

Tails stared sharply into Raphael's eyes.

"It's more important to forge a war-free North. ”

The second prince said softly: "For example, his daughter will marry the son of Rumba, the first step of reconciliation between the two kings of the two countries who have been feuding for thousands of years will begin, the stars and the dragon will slowly become one, and the north will enjoy eternal peace." ”

Raphael did not move.

He just listened quietly to the prince's words.

Tails looked at his expression and suddenly showed a complicated smile.

"I guess he must have been distressed when his current daughter had a lowly lover," Tails sighed, his eyes not taking away from Raphael's face, and said softly, "and a boneless man." ”

Raphael, who had always had a sparse expression, finally frowned visibly when he heard this.

"So Duke Arend abolished your sword-wielding hands as punishment and a warning," Tails looked at Raphael's hands and shook his head slowly, "He took away your most important thing and ruined the pride and dependence of a swordsman, right?" ”

Raphael bowed his head.

At that moment, his hands seemed to burn faintly.

It was the moment when the hot soldering iron penetrated deep into the flesh and bones, and from the depths of the bone marrow, an unforgettable burning pain.

It seems like it was just yesterday.

And that's not all......

And after that, the days of struggling in the endless dark abyss, in the boundless bloody hell.

Raphael's gaze froze in midair.

Take away the most important thing?

From a promising tower of the end to a waste?

Or do you want to crawl back out of the worst of tortures?

No.

Raphael's slumped gaze refocused.

"You should use your ingenuity where it should be used. The young man of the secret department returned to his normal face and said lightly.

But Tails still didn't give up: "Why did he spare your life?"

"There's no reason for him to spare you...... Isn't it good to have a Raphael who has disappeared forever?"

Raphael closed his eyes.

"I saved his daughter's life a long time ago, and he is grateful to me," replied the man in the secret department, in a slow voice, "but Val is a stubborn and strong man, and it is already his greatest mercy not to take my life." ”

Tails exhaled.

That makes sense. He muttered.

Raphael's eyes moved: "What?"

I saw the second prince slowly leaning against the wall, looking lost and lonely.

"Your Majesty has known for a long time, hasn't he? ”

Tails sighed and spoke, his voice so low that it didn't seem like it came out of his mouth.

Raphael frowned: "Know what?"

Tails let out a slow sigh and slowly said what he had just figured out.

"Duke Arend. ”

"His intrigue and his rebellion, his usurpation, and even the plans of the 'Nova nobles'. ”

Tails said in a daze, "Your Majesty Kessel—I mean father, he's known for a long time, hasn't he?" ”

Raphael frowned and looked at Tails solemnly.

The boy ......

"Don't speculate about your king, even if you are a prince. ”

The young man of the secret branch warned, "This is advice from the secret department. ”

Tails snorted, seemingly unconcerned.

The prince took a step forward, his expression complicated, and his eyes gradually became clear as he watched Raphael.

So he does know. ”

"He knew from the beginning that Aaron was disobedient and usurped," Tails sighed, "and the reason why Your Majesty did not act or even let himself go, he was just waiting, waiting for the other party to truly rebel." ”

Raphael's brow furrowed more and more: "Wait?"

The man in the secret department snorted disdainfully, as if he had heard the most ridiculous thing.

"You think too much......"

"If His Majesty knew about this from the beginning, then why did he let the situation deteriorate, and let the Duke of the North really embark on the path of rebellion, putting the North in danger?" Raphael shook his head: "I said, don't speculate......"

Tails clenched his fists.

He raised his voice suddenly, as if he wanted to shout out the resentment and grievances of the past few days:

"Because he needs this opportunity!

Raphael's words stopped at his lips, and he looked at the prince with a heaving chest, slightly surprised.

"Miranda told me that His Majesty has sent officials to stabilize the situation in the north. Tails gasped, unable to stop the trembling in his chest.

"It's reassuring, isn't it? ”

"But that's the point," Tails looked up, his teeth clenched, and Kessel's resolute face appeared in front of him, "Tell me, Raphael." ”

The prince stared at Raphael, staring at his red eyes.

Tails couldn't help but think of the one-eyed dragon Cousin of the Nantopian family, and of what he had said before he left.

[You underestimate your father, the king of the iron fist, and the fear he gives to the stars. 】

"If there is no assassination of Prince Moral, no war pressure from Exeter, no Aarend's desperate and then imprisoned, no North that has become a group of dragons at a loss," the prince opened and closed his lips and said fiercely, "Then Your Majesty can he still ......"

Telston paused.

Raphael's eyes flickered slightly.

Tails gritted his teeth, but still forced himself, and finished the rest of the words:

"Then he can still defend himself in the name of the enemy and in the name of war without hindrance......"

"Send his immediate officials and nobles to Hancastle......"

"It is only natural to increase the standing army of the fortress, and then take over the affairs of the important territory such as taxes, magistrates, and land......"

"Until the Bright Star Royal Family completely replaces the imprisoned Duke of the North......"

"Will the northern realm, which has been ruled by the Arrond family for generations, completely come into the bag of royal power?"

Tails, who had said these words vigorously, only felt a pain in his head, and he couldn't help but shake his body.

He held on to the wall with one hand, and pressed his forehead hard with the other, rubbing it incessantly.

Val Arend, Kessel Bright Star......

The convulsion of the Exeter Mission, everything in the Hall of the Stars, his own appearance and his supposed subtle breakthrough......

Now it seems that all ......

All......

Tails felt a growing pain in his forehead.

There, a fragment of memory poured out uncontrollably and submerged into a vast sea of memories.

It is composed of only a few words, but it is a chilling fragment.

Zheng Bo......

Zheng Boke Duan Yu Yan.

"As His Majesty's greatest and most important eyes, eyes and conspirators, the Kingdom Secret Branch ......"

"Tell me, is that so?" Tails opened his eyes, trying to restrain his voice, but despite this, he kept half the room looking back.

Raphael didn't speak for a long, long time.

But the prince seemed to be patient, and he stared at the man from the secret department without moving, and his eyes swelled with incomparably complicated feelings.

Finally, Raphael let out a long sigh, his expression full of the same complex and subtle infinite emotions, and spat out a few weak and helpless words: "No comment." ”

It's not an answer.

But the prince had gotten the news he wanted to know.

At that moment, Tails slowly relaxed like a deflated ball.

He leaned unconsciously against the wall, his expression stiff.

"Why," Raphael looked at Tails with an indifferent face, and there was a hint of solemnity in his words: "Why do you think so." ”

Tails snorted subconsciously.

"Though you have said many times, do not listen to the Safflet Witch," said the Prince, in a tired voice, as if another man was speaking, "but you must know that lies that shake people's hearts are based on certain facts. ”

Raphael changed color slightly.

"What Kasan said to Miranda," Tails closed his eyes and exhaled fiercely, "'If you don't want this land to be taken away by vile means', 'The Northlands belong only to the Northlanders'—now I understand. ”

"The Red Witch is not untargeted. ”

He smiled bitterly again and again, and his laughter was desolate: "The people who want to take the north from Aarend are not only Exeter, not only Rumba. ”

"I hadn't thought much of it until I had just heard a long time ago about the history of 'the Virtuous King' Mindis III," Tails said, "and instantly solved many of my doubts. ”

Raphael frowned slightly.

Hyun-kun?

"Your Majesty, he ......" the corners of Tails' mouth twitched slightly, he tried to recall the appearance of the iron-fisted king, but what appeared in his mind was always his cold and solemn voice, short and powerful movements.

"He's not afraid that the Exeters are really ...... Really going south?"

"Aren't you afraid they'll take the North?"

Tails clenched his fists, clenched the scars in his palms, the scars he had cut himself.

Raphael sighed slightly.

"With all due respect, Your Highness. Raphael said softly.

"If it weren't for your unexpected actions, including giving that doctor the opportunity to contact the dark room, and inexplicably appearing outside Valhalla," the young man in the secret department shook his head slowly, "The current Exeter should be a mess according to our expectations." ”

Tails laughed nonchalantly.

His chest trembled slightly, and his laughter continued unceasingly, and the meaning was unknown.

"Has he always been so risky?" said the prince weakly, "or has it been since the year of blood?"

Raphael did not speak.

But he didn't understand what the hell was so funny about it.

Tails chuckled one last time, his gaze down to the ground with an uncertain expression.

"About the Belonging of the North...... Does Miranda know?" He retracted his smile and said softly, "Does she know you're among them?"

This time, Raphael froze in place.

Miranda.

The girl.

"No ...... Inform. Raphael still said the same thing, but this time, his words had a considerable pause and trembling.

Raphael's red eyes trembled slightly, and he breathed more.

Miranda.

Like that kind of girl with a delicate mind and sharp senses......

How could she......

Raphael closed his eyes.

How could it not be known?

"If that's what you're for......" The man tried to end the conversation amid a heavy gasp.

But he was interrupted by Tails again.

"Help me. ”

Gently two words.

Fleeting.

Forceful.

But there is no decadence and gloom.

Raphael was slightly stunned.

Well?

"What?" the man from the secret department opened his eyes slightly, and looked at the prince suspiciously.

In front of him, Tails slowly raised his head.

"I said," said the prince, whose voice had completely shed its previous hesitation and weakness, and became resolute, resolute, and unquestionable:

The prince cast a rare look from his gray eyes, and looked directly at Raphael.

"I need your support, Raphael Lindbergh, to help me convince them ......"

"Help me!"

Raphael was truly stunned.

"What are you going to do?" asked the man in the secret department subconsciously, forgetting even the honorific title.

Tails chuckled, his hands long since he left the wall, and the whole person stood firmly on the ground, staring directly at Raphael.

His face was full of open-mindedness and relief.

Raphael was suddenly surprised to see that Tails was different at this time.

His eyes were full of sparkle like never before.

It was as if a flame was burning.

Never extinguished.

"Whether it's you or me, whether it's the secret department or the kingdom," Tails said slowly, his face was like ice, and his tone was like iron, full of rare determination: "Whether it's an accident or a failure, whether it's my mistake or your negligence, ......"

"But after we've worked so long, we've given so much, we've been through so much......"

"You're willing to lose all your chips into Rumba's hands. ”

"Pushing the kingdom into the abyss of war?"

"Are you willing to accept this sad state of affairs and acquiesce to this bad ending?"

"It's come to this, you ......" Raphael frowned, looking at such a prince, only to feel at a loss in his heart: "What else do you want to do?"

"What else can be done?"

Tails gave him a mysterious smile.

At that moment, Raphael seemed to know the prince of stars for the first time who had returned from an accident and brought countless accidents.

It wasn't the helpless little boy in the Mindis Hall who was pushed by the waves.

Nor is it the Jedi prince in the Hall of the Stars.

It's not a marionette struggling in Game of Thrones.

It's Prince Tails.

The one-of-a-kind Tyles Bright Star.

"What do you want to do?"

The Star Prince spoke lightly, as if he was facing a small question: "Of course it's ......"

Tails' eyes suddenly appeared in front of Chaman Rumba, and his resolute and stoic face.

The prince's eyes lit up and blurted out:

"Go and save the country. ”

This chapter is a reward for promising a good Rudo1f_Zero. (, I actually added more, added more, added more, and added more, there is wood!)

When I wrote the last paragraph, I didn't know why I kept playing.

First of all, I remembered that "in my Bgm, no one can beat me". ng laughed many times.

Then I remembered the following small theater:

[The Prince of Stars spoke lightly, as if he was facing a small question: "Of course it's ......"

"Of course I chose to forgive her!"

(End of chapter)