Chapter 28: Epilogue

Beneath the shade of the old oak tree.

“Respected Prince Mingyu, I have an impolite request—may I humbly ask for your ear?”

After clinking his wooden cup against Xia Mingyu’s “Rainbow Cup” several times, Kallen could no longer wait and spoke up.

“Speak.”

Seeing the radiant, sunlit smile on the man’s face, Xia Mingyu added the word “please” to his tone, sensing genuine goodwill.

He had considered maintaining a cold, aloof demeanor, but as the saying goes: never strike a smiling face.

This Viscount Hughes was clearly a brute, yet he was so friendly, smiling, and offering gifts—if Xia Mingyu still acted cold, he might provoke the man into killing him.

“Your Highness, your presence in my lands is my supreme honor; I beg you to allow me to fulfill my duty as host.”

Kallen glanced at the village’s crude huts of straw and wood, and the dirt paths, then spoke again:

“Though my village remains peaceful, it is far too dilapidated to suit Your Highness’s noble status!”

“My family’s ancestral castle is spacious enough to serve as Your Highness’s lodging—I humbly beg you to grace it with your presence.”

“I swear by my honor as a knight: you will be the most honored guest this castle has ever known. I will command my servants to serve you with tenfold the reverence they show me.”

Kallen rose from his chair, placed his right hand over his left shoulder, and bowed slightly toward Xia Mingyu, his voice low and soft, radiating openness and sincerity.

Tap. tap.

Xia Mingyu’s fingers tapped unconsciously against the armrest of his chair.

Gazing at the bowing Viscount Hughes, he fell into thought.

Go—or not?

Going clearly carried risk. Medieval castles were not merely residences—they were fortified military strongholds.

If his identity were exposed there, he would be trapped, with no escape, waiting only for death.

Yet Xia Mingyu’s gaze gradually hardened.

To survive in this utterly alien world, what he needed most right now was not power, but knowledge.

He had to understand this world’s past, present, and elusive future.

Just as all people on Blue Star knew the two strongest nations were Eagle and Dragon, you never called a Black man a “blackie,” and you never negotiated business with a curry man.

He needed to learn the deeply ingrained common sense of this world’s people—or rather, its nobility.

For this, even risking his life was worth it!

If he went to the castle, he would swiftly gain this knowledge; if he stayed in Guolan Village, boasting before villagers who had never left their hamlet, he would remain ignorant—and sooner or later, disaster would swallow him whole.

So, wasn’t the choice obvious?

“Viscount Hughes,” Xia Mingyu said slowly.

At this, Kallen lifted his head.

“I look forward to your hospitality,” Xia Mingyu said calmly.

In an instant, the fierce knight—who had survived countless times in the brutal “War of Dragon and Lion,” a slaughterhouse of war—broke into an unprecedented, radiant joy on his sharply chiseled face.

“It is my utmost honor.”

At dusk, Xia Mingyu, with Anliya and Boge, bid farewell to the villagers beneath the old oak tree, their luggage packed.

“Prince, all you have done for Guolan Village I shall forever cherish. May the light of the Sun and the God of Justice forever shine upon you.”

Robert, eyes glistening with tears, his weathered face filled with gratitude, bowed deeply.

The other villagers knelt on one knee.

Looking at the middle-aged man, young in years but white-haired from worry, Xia Mingyu sighed softly.

When he first met this man in his sheepskin robe, he had thought him a sycophant, judging by his finer clothes compared to the villagers.

Now he realized how foolish his earlier judgment had been.

This was a noble man, a worthy elder.

“I merely did what was my duty—and so did you.”

Xia Mingyu gently lifted Robert’s arms, helping him rise, and whispered in his ear:

“May the gods protect you,” Xia Mingyu said, adopting the local custom.

The elder wept uncontrollably.

Next came Robert’s private words to Boge and Anliya.

“Boge, you’re a good lad. Thanks to you rescuing the Prince from the wolves, Guolan Village was saved. Thank you!”

Robert clapped Boge’s shoulder with sincere gratitude.

“Village Head, you don’t need to thank me. The one you truly owe thanks to is yourself.”

The boy shook his head calmly.

“If you hadn’t taken me in back then, despite everyone’s opposition, I would have starved or frozen to death—and then the Prince would have become nothing but a corpse in a wolf’s jaws.”

Robert silently clenched his fist, and Boge’s tone shifted instantly.

“The Lord is protected by the gods. Even without me, he would have surely survived.”

Satisfied, Robert lowered his fist. Gazing at the boy’s youthful face, still bruised, he sighed deeply and warned:

“Boge, remember: no matter when, no matter where, no matter who asks—even your own son, even me—the answer is never that you saved the Prince. It is that the Prince saved you from the wolves.”

“Remember: the Prince is a good man. He may treat you as a friend, but he will never be your friend. He is your Lord. You must engrave this into your soul.”

“Remember: obey every command of the Prince, even if it is utterly wrong. You may make mistakes, but you must never refuse.”

After repeating these words countless times, Robert looked at the boy’s resolute face—and suddenly smiled.

“Travel safely. May you forever walk the path chasing your dreams. May the gods protect you, my… child.”

The boy silently embraced Robert, then turned and walked away.

He disliked farewells, for they carried the risk of loss—and he would see his family again.

Next came Anliya.

“My daughter, remember: though the Prince now favors you, a man’s love is like a beautiful dream—it vanishes the moment you wake. The Prince is good, but he is still a man.”

Robert earnestly warned the girl before him.

“For every woman, a noble, handsome prince like him is a deadly poison. Many maidens will fall in love with him—some as beautiful as you, even more so. Never let your beauty make you arrogant, nor dare you entertain the foolish notion that he must love only you.”

“To the Prince, obey. Obey. Always obey.”

“The Prince may stop loving you, but you must never stop loving the Prince.”

“If you can, bear his child as soon as possible. A mother’s status comes from her child.”

As he spoke, Robert suddenly froze, as if struck by a thought.

Slap!

He struck himself hard across the face, then knelt before Anliya.

“If… if only you weren’t my daughter.”

Robert’s voice was heavy with grief; his face mirrored it, as if he had committed an unforgivable sin.

Yes—how could a father, who gave his daughter no right to a happy life, not be guilty himself?

“Father…”

The girl gently wiped the tears from his eyes, then, as she had when she was young, kissed his weathered, wrinkled cheek.

“Being a serf’s daughter may not be honorable—but being your daughter is the greatest honor of my life.”

She smiled, her face glowing with a radiant, unprecedented brightness, streaked with a single tear.

(Village storyline concludes perfectly!)

This was the final chapter of Part One, and I polished it many times, still unsatisfied, wasting time—I’ll likely revise it again later. Anyway, please give me monthly votes, everyone~~ Please~~ Thanks(ω)

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(End of Chapter)