Chapter 139: Turbulence Arises (25)

On the thirteenth day, the murderer did not strike again.

No one died within Frost Crystal City.

On the fourteenth day, the murderer still did not act.

The murderer seemed to have stopped his frenzied actions.

But no one would be naive enough to think he had truly lowered his banners and silenced his drums.

After the day Marquis Tim's entire household was wiped out, the atmosphere had completely changed.

It was like opening Pandora's box.

That murderer had vanished, yet a force was continuously sprouting, spreading… swelling within Frost Crystal Wang Cheng!

The fifteenth day.

Murder cases appeared again!

And this time, there were three of them!

Moreover, among these three gruesome cases, two were completely different from the murderer's previous style.

Unlike the methods used when the murderer first struck, the victims' states of death were all different, bizarre and varied.

And the remaining one, while the style appeared similar, could also be discerned as different from the clues—someone was attempting to imitate!

Everyone understood that things were starting to go wrong.

A copycat had appeared; someone was muddying the waters under the murderer's name to eliminate their own rivals!

For a moment, everyone felt unsafe.

And in response, the Frost Crystal royal family, after remaining silent for a day, declared—this is all normal, everyone should be more careful, and should not go out casually in the near future.

They've gone mad.

Completely mad.

Not only were the nobles of the entire Frost Crystal Wang Cheng going mad, they now felt that the Frost Crystal royal family had completely lost their minds.

What are they trying to do!!?

Trying to use this to wipe us all out?

Under such circumstances, the remaining nobles finally woke up completely, no longer hoping for any miracle.

After finally recognizing that the Frost Crystal royal family had never treated them as people, they finally faced reality.

They chose to save themselves.

They began frequently meeting with their own allies, attempting to unite at this most dangerous moment for a little more security.

Because of marital ties, the connections between nobles ran deeper than many people thought, and at this moment, an astonishing force burst forth.

They spontaneously began organizing night patrols, not only guarding against that possibly existing murderer, but also watching their former enemies.

Some nobles actively gathered together to pool all their strength, and some even swore oaths by the Binghe outside the city to never invade each other.

Sure enough, in the five days after they began uniting, no murder cases occurred.

And as their own strength continuously grew, other thoughts gradually arose in their hearts.

They subtly turned their gaze toward the Frost Crystal Wang Gong, watching that palace that had remained silent, lying dormant like an old lion.

If—then, is that kind of thing also somewhat possible?

Among them, such a saying began to circulate secretly—

"The dragon-slaying hero of old has long since died; the bloodline flowing within the Frost Crystal royal family has grown thin, and those feeble descendants are no longer fit to defend this kingdom."

"The kingdom needs a new hero to guard this realm!"

This was a provocation to the Frost Crystal royal family's sovereignty, a desecration of the kingdom's orthodoxy!

Logically, when such a situation arose, no royal family would sit idly by.

No matter how incompetent a monarch, he would rouse himself at this moment and nip everything in the bud.

But the Frost Crystal royal family, on the contrary, behaved in exactly the opposite manner.

They remained silent about this, neither hindering nor encouraging the nobles' covert actions.

And this eerie, bone-chilling calm instead dispelled the thoughts in many people's hearts—burying those thoughts deep within.

No rush, wait a little longer.

They were waiting for others to make the first move.

And amid this restless, even somewhat frenzied turmoil, one noble's mansion appeared exceptionally calm, even somewhat detached from worldly affairs.

Duke Albert's mansion was utterly quiet, even somewhat deathly still.

Silver Wing Grand Duke Adrian had shut himself indoors since the day the white dove returned, meeting no one, keeping himself locked in his study all day.

And since the head of the household showed such an attitude, although the servants of the ducal mansion were also uneasy because of today's circumstances, they could only remain silent.

What they thought was very simple.

Some said that murderer might be His Highness Herbert; although it sounded very unlikely, if it was His Highness, there was no need to fear at all!

His Highness is usually so good to us, he definitely wouldn't lay a hand on us!

However, not everyone possessed such composure and confidence.

……

"Father, are you truly not planning to advise His Majesty the King!? If you continue to let them be like this, the kingdom will surely fall into chaos!"

Inside the study of the Silver Wing Ducal Mansion.

A young man with a strange black-and-white hair color slammed the table forcefully, glaring angrily at his father, whose expression was stern all day long.

"Can't you understand yet? Letting this chaos continue brings no benefit to the kingdom, and is even full of danger for all the city's residents!"

Cordy Albert.

He was the bloodline descendant left by the Silver Wing Grand Duke and his first wife; although he was only in his early thirties, he had already made quite a name for himself throughout the kingdom.

However, due to certain special circumstances, he did not fully inherit the Albert family's features, retaining only this head of black-and-white mottled hair.

And so, even though his talent and abilities were quite outstanding, he was not recognized by the other members of the Albert family as the future heir to the title.

And he had never shown any desire for the title himself; on the contrary, he took great care of his younger brother — everyone considered him to be the perfect aide to the future new Duke.

At this moment, this usually gentle and refined young man appeared extraordinarily angry.

"Father, why do you remain silent? What does your silence at this moment mean — surely you understand that!!?"

The Albert family were staunch royalists, and over all these years they had been the most steadfast supporters of the royal house among all the nobility.

As descendants of the founding Duke, they had played a part in the establishment of this kingdom; they enjoyed the benefits of this, while also bearing a share of the responsibility.

If the kingdom encountered danger, they needed to act as the sharpest blade to cut through the peril, protecting the safety of the nation and the royal house.

And now, the kingdom had reached a point where turmoil — even collapse — was imminent, yet his own father behaved so coldly, even somewhat dismissive.

"……"

And while Koldi was venting his anger, the Silver Wing Duke had been calmly gazing at his eldest son, without opening his mouth to reply.

This was not the first time the two had had such a conversation.

Such clashes had occurred several times over the past half month or more, and every time they ended on an unhappy note.

And just as Koldi felt that this conversation would once again yield no progress, the Silver Wing Duke, who had been silent for a long while, suddenly spoke.

"Koldi…"

He said:

"Were you involved in that incident back then?"

(End of chapter)