Chapter 141: Brother and Brother (45 Extra 5)

In a hidden chamber at the bottom of the royal palace, Koldi beheld the thing in this world that frightened him most.

The one who should never have been born, should never have appeared.

The one who should have died early in a dungeon, but whom the Silver Wing Duke forcibly spared and sent off to a monastery.

The evil spirit who should have perished silently in that monastery.

"... What!?"

Under Koldi's terrified gaze, Terence transformed into the familiar face that had been unsettling his heart for the past half month or more.

"Hi, my dear brother~"

Herbert looked at his flustered expression and could not help but laugh and shake his head: "It really has been far too long since we last met."

Compared to when he had seen Felia, whose allegiance was unclear, the emotion that welled up in his heart upon seeing Koldi's face was quite a familiar one—and... excitement.

Heh.

"You!?"

After struggling several times, Koldi realized he could not escape. He forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart and loudly rebuked: "What have you done to His Highness the Crown Prince!?"

His voice was extremely loud, attempting to carry through this long tunnel so the guards stationed outside could hear.

However, he was destined to be disappointed.

Herbert watched with a smile as he scrambled about in his sorry state, then said in a drawn-out voice: "Hehehehe, go ahead and shout. Even if you scream yourself hoarse, no one will come to save you."

Upon hearing that eerie laughter, Koldi fell silent. He suddenly felt he truly could not make sense of the youth before him, and doubt welled up unbidden in his heart.

Is he... really Herbert?

Although he had heard those survivors describe the scene at the time, he simply could not connect the figure in his memory with that bloodthirsty, brutal Holy Knight.

That gentle, weak child who liked to follow behind him.

Could he really be the youth before him now—appearing so terrifying, so cold, making his very soul tremble?

Is this really the same person?

Seeing that his elder brother had finally calmed down, Herbert nodded in satisfaction and said: "You were asking just now what I did to Terence?"

He shook his head and denied it: "Wrong! It wasn't me who did anything to him. Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me—the main thing is he brought it upon himself."

Herbert was also somewhat感慨, never expecting this Prince Terence to be in such a hurry.

Not only did he dare to poison his own father's food, he even tried to poison a legendary-tier warrior to death.

He really had the nerve.

One had to admit, it was truly creative!

And he actually nearly succeeded.

Perhaps because he had never imagined his own son would be so impatient, or perhaps because his body was no longer what it once was, the king actually took the bait and fell into a coma.

If it had not been for the intense crisis when Valentina appeared that day, jolting him awake from his coma and firing a spear into the sky, he might never have woken up at all.

A legendary warrior, dying so silently and so ignominiously in his bed.

Herbert looked at Koldi's changing expression, smiled, and helpfully explained:

"His Majesty the King awoke shortly after that day. As for what happened afterward, I imagine you can guess."

It would be one thing to have no reaction when the poison took hold, but once awake, how could he possibly be unaware?

Terence was already dead.

Although in his rage the king still wished to spare his life, that eldest prince still met his end—he died at the hands of his own younger sister.

Felia pierced his heart with an ice blade and personally cut off his head with a small knife.

The one who attempted to usurp the throne ultimately had his own head severed by another.

"It's really you!!?"

Upon learning that Terence had long been dead, Koldi suddenly understood everything. He clenched his teeth and said angrily: "Then during this period, it was you stirring up the nobles?"

He finally figured out why the Frost Crystal royal house had seemed so silent, why it so callously disregarded the nobles' deaths.

Not only did it watch them tear each other apart, it even seemed to subtly fan the flames!

Everything was clear now.

But compared to the fear of knowing he himself was about to die, what he felt more at this moment was anger.

Yes.

Anger.

"Have you gone mad? Don't you know what they might do?"

"Aren't you a Holy Knight now? You! Why are you spreading chaos throughout the kingdom!!?"

Although he had been eager to inherit the ducal position, sparing no means to that end, even maliciously plotting against his own brothers.

And had also wished to help Terence usurp the throne, assisting him in the act of patricide.

Koldi's feelings for the kingdom were genuine; he truly did not wish to see the kingdom fall into turmoil.

People are complicated.

Even a hero's heart can harbor shadows, and a thorough scoundrel may still keep a trace of innocence within.

But in response to his质问, Herbert appeared quite calm.

"Chaos? No, you're wrong."

He shook his head and said lightly:

"I am not spreading chaos, but establishing a new order."

"Break before rebuilding—I wonder if you can understand. Simply put, when something has become so twisted that there's no point in patching it up, then let it shatter."

"Let it grow anew, and once again grant it a proper order."

Just as he had told the Archbishop when he made his promise—he would dig out all the rotting roots and let the great tree grow anew.

Koldi, seeing his expression, realized something and said in panic, "You madman!!? Do you really think you can take charge of all this?"

"Do you really think ruling a kingdom is that easy!?"

He's gone mad.

"Of course I can't."

Herbert answered matter-of-factly, then gave a strange smile, casually spread his hands, and asked back, "But why would I need to do it?"

"All I need to do is help them break it. The repair afterward isn't my business—naturally, there will be others to handle those things."

Anyone who kills often knows one truth.

Killing is easy; disposing of the body is hard.

Cleanup is always the most exhausting part. I wouldn't want to do something so thankless!

"Who!?"

Koldi grew even angrier after hearing this and said through gritted teeth, "Felicia? Is it her!? Are you planning to pin all your hopes on her?"

"Wrong. The candidate isn't her."

Herbert shook his head and said with a light laugh, "By the way, instead of worrying about the kingdom's future, I think you'd better worry about yourself first."

He drew his sword from his waist and gently traced it across Koldi's neck, opening a thin wound.

At that moment, the fear of death made Koldi suddenly come to his senses.

Once the anger receded, all that was left in his heart was fear.

He was going to die.

!!!

He stared wide-eyed in terror, scrambling clumsily to dodge the blade, but there was simply no escape.

In the end, he could only beg for mercy:

"No! You can't kill me. If you kill me… Father—Father would be heartbroken!"

The young man before him merely shook his head slightly at those words.

"No, my brother, you are mistaken."

Herbert stared at Koldi and said softly:

"Father has long since been heartbroken."

"A long, long time ago…"

(End of Chapter)