Chapter 23: A Prince from the Eastern Continent?

Black Wolf Keep, Great Hall.

Crack!

A delicate ceramic teacup slipped from the viscount’s hand and shattered into countless fragments the instant it hit the hard floor.

Scalding black tea spilled over the viscount’s body, yet the nobleman paid it no mind, his mind still reeling from the knight’s report.

“Say it again—how many subjects does the kingdom’s heir have?”

Karon shoved away the two maids frantically wiping his body, leaping abruptly to his feet from the main seat, his rugged face filled with shock, utterly devoid of his earlier calm composure.

“My Lord, the prince’s identity blessing reads one point four billion subjects.”

Sir Solin said respectfully, unshocked by his lord’s teacup-smashing outburst; in fact, he thought his lord had remained remarkably composed—he himself would have fallen off his chair in sheer astonishment.

“Are you certain you didn’t misread it?” Karon questioned.

It could be fourteen million, or one hundred and forty million—but it certainly couldn’t be one point four billion!

Because the three major human nations on the continent today—the Soxia Kingdom, which reveres the Sun and Wind; the Milan Kingdom, which worships Thunder and Earth; and the Rhine Kingdom, which venerates the Sun and Moon.

Even if you added together all the free citizens, serfs, and slaves of these three kingdoms and their vassal states, the total would still fall far short of that terrifying number: one point four billion.

Karon found it hard to imagine what the territory, grain output, and national strength of a nation with one point four billion people must be like.

“My Lord, during my audience with the prince, I counted his blessing multiple times—it’s definitely a ten-digit number,” Sir Solin said with a wry smile.

Karon’s expression grew increasingly grave, as if a dark cloud had settled over his face.

Even when he had once been surrounded by several enemy transcendent knights during the war against the rebellious Mason Duchy, his expression had never been this heavy.

He knew well that although his knight lacked formal education and had read few books, he could still count accurately.

That meant the prince’s identity blessing was genuine.

But if what he saw was real, could it still be an illusion or some form of magic?

Although Karon had never heard of any magic capable of altering a blessing, that didn’t mean such a possibility didn’t exist.

“Hmm.”

Karon sat back down in the main seat, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest in a slow, heavy rhythm, as if calculating something.

Sir Solin, seeing this, did not disturb his lord’s thoughts, remaining respectfully on one knee upon the wolf-skin rug.

He quietly switched legs—his previous one had gone numb.

Time slipped away, second by second.

Tap-tap-tap.

At that moment, a light footstep broke the silence of the keep’s great hall.

“Darling~”

Accompanied by a playful feminine voice, a tall figure stepped inside.

She was a beautiful woman who appeared barely in her early twenties, wearing a loose silk nightgown, its neckline slightly open to reveal the elegant collarbone of flawless skin, with a faint glimpse of pale pink.

She had soft purple hair, cascading like a waterfall over her shoulders, shimmering faintly in the candlelight.

Her figure was alluring—slender waist, slightly rounded hips, long and proportionate legs—her sensuality impossible to conceal even beneath the loose gown.

Undoubtedly, she was an exquisitely seductive beauty.

Sir Solin glanced at her once and immediately lowered his head, terrified of any impure thought entering his mind.

For this beauty was his lord’s second wife, Lady Danielle Marsa.

“What urgent news could possibly keep you away from me so long?”

The lady sat directly on Karon’s lap without hesitation, wrapping her snow-white arms around his shoulders and whispering warm breath into his ear.

Sss!

Karon felt his entire body go numb, wondering if his old waist would even survive this.

“My Lord, the report has been delivered—may I take my leave?”

Sir Solin said respectfully, fearing his continued presence might disturb his lord’s wife’s mood.

“Go, go.” Karon’s lip twitched as he waved his hand dismissively.

He actually wanted to keep Solin around, but the sudden tightening of the arms around his neck made it impossible to say so.

“Alright, alright—there’s something urgent now, and besides, you’ve just given birth—you should rest properly!”

Feeling the mischievous hand beneath him, Karon quickly pushed Danielle off his lap.

“Danielle, Sir Solin reported that a noble prince has arrived in our territory—his identity blessing is”

Before the woman could scold him, Karon rushed to spill out the entire report.

This viscount, famed for his formidable strength, seemed to regard his wife as some kind of ravenous monster.

“One point four billion!”

The lady covered her mouth with her hand, her violet-tinged eyes wide with astonishment—she even forgot to rebuke her husband for repeatedly refusing her advances.

“Yes, frankly, I’ve begun to suspect Solin was deceived by some magic or blessing ability—after all, no nation on the continent has that many people...”

Before Karon could finish, a slender, ivory finger gently pressed against his lips.

“Darling, you seem to have forgotten—just because there isn’t such a nation here doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist on another continent~” the lady smiled sweetly.

“You mean...” Karon’s expression turned thoughtful, prompted by her words.

“Could the prince be a prince from the Eastern Continent?”

“Perhaps,” Danielle murmured, lightly biting her index finger as she pondered deeply. “After all, there certainly isn’t a nation that large on our Western Continent.”

“But during the ancient War of the Gods, the continent shattered into two halves—one became our Western Continent, the other drifted away as the Eastern Continent.”

“Added to that, the Silent Mist and the Boundless Wall of Sighs suddenly appeared across the seas—since then, no one from the Eastern Continent has set foot here for hundreds of years.”

Karon sighed.

Over these centuries, countless sailors had set sail, dreaming of reaching the Eastern Continent to gain fame, status, and the transcendent power granted by a new vocation.

Even he, as a child, had once dreamed of such a feat.

But all that returned from those voyages were horrific tragedies—so now, almost no one still held out hope.

“The world’s first Grand Mage, Bayes, once said: everything is possible,” Danielle said slowly.

“If eternal gods exist, what in this world is truly impossible?”

“Karon, prepare gifts and go pay your respects to that prince,” Danielle gently took her husband’s hand and whispered.

“If it’s an illusion, he couldn’t possibly deceive you—you’re the one who”

As if in response to her words, the viscount’s body suddenly erupted in streams of emerald-green magical energy, causing the surrounding air to tremble.

“The Starlight-rank knight, the Howling Wolf!” the lady gazed at her husband with adoring eyes.

It was well known that the lord of Black Wolf Keep was a mighty knight who shone brightly in the “Dragon-Lion War”—and that was the primary reason she, as the only daughter of the noble Marsa family, had agreed to marry him.

The secondary reason, of course, was that darling was incredibly handsome~

(End of Chapter)