Chapter 3190: The Past of Ruigeante

Just as Xia Duo thought Ruigeante would end the conversation directly and go to the banquet hall, the other party spoke again:

"Consultant Xia Duo, what you said might be fine to say in private, but if you were to say it in a public setting outside, I fear it would invite the hostility of every Upper Family!"

"Thank you for the reminder, Elder. I only said those things because I was facing an elder like you who cares about the lower classes; otherwise, who would ask for trouble in the outside world?"

"It is good that you can think this way. However—" Ruigeante changed the subject, revealing a self-deprecating expression, "I actually do not care about the lower classes as much as you say."

"In fact, before today, the reason I wanted to improve the status of Druids was more because I wanted to spite my father, and also to atone for my own cowardice in the past. Would you like to hear my story?"

"I would be delighted!" Xia Duo said without hesitation.

Tonight's private banquet was intended to facilitate a talk between him and Ruigeante; now that it was just taking a little more time, Wuerban and Laruian would surely understand, and they might even have prepared corresponding contingency plans long ago.

The courtyard under the moonlight revealed a quiet, profound atmosphere, but Ruigeante seemed not to like such an ambiance; after Xia Duo responded that he was willing to listen, he turned on the Magic Lamps on the verandas surrounding the courtyard.

In an instant, the surrounding night color retreated completely, and soft light spilled into the courtyard, casting the shadows of the storyteller and the listener onto the wall at the same time, and only then did Ruigeante begin to speak slowly:

"This must start from when I was young. At that time, I was not satisfied with being an heir trapped in a courtyard, but was single-mindedly thinking of going outside the city to adventure."

"Later, I don't know if it was my father intentionally relaxing his guard, or some other reason, but I really slipped out, and then ran all the way to the swamp west of Evereska. Originally, I even thought about running all the way to Shaerwen."

"As a result, I encountered that monster in the swamp that still makes me feel incomparably terrified to this day. The other party only glanced at me from afar, and it caused me to be infected with a type of toxic spore that an Amulet could hardly resist."

Speaking of this, even though hundreds of years had passed, Ruigeante still subconsciously shuddered, "That kind of toxic spore is not directly fatal, but it paralyzes the consciousness of living beings."

"At that time, I had not yet learned the Teleportation Spell, and the Sending spell was not enough to penetrate the Evereska Mythallar. The Teleportation Scepter and Communication Magic Tool my father had prepared for me had been intentionally left at home by me."

"At that time, I had no way to seek help, but just as I was about to completely lose consciousness, a Druid who was out searching for plants appeared."

"Although Druids rarely master profound Spell knowledge, Holy Power itself comes from the main god and possesses all kinds of miraculous effects. At that time, that Druid did not completely heal me, but greatly delayed the spread of the toxic spores."

"Afterward, he sent me back to Evereska, but what awaited him was not a reward, but my father's secret execution!"

"Ah?!" Xia Duo couldn't help but exclaim.

And Ruigeante was not at all surprised by this reaction. He continued: "Incredible, right? But actually, if I had changed my identity, that Druid who saved me would not have died."

"But I happened to be the heir of the Starwind Family. My father could not accept the fact that I, a noble Mage, had been saved by a lowly Druid, and believed that such a thing happening was a disgrace to the family."

"To erase this disgrace, he certainly wouldn't kill me, but he could kill that Druid. As long as that Druid no longer existed, then the matter of me being saved by him would naturally not exist either."

"That is what he thought, and that is what he did. Before I had fully recovered and before I had thanked that Druid, he secretly killed the other party."

"Later, this matter became the biggest rift between my father and me. But my father was always strong-willed at home, and the family Elders also had complaints about this matter, but limited by my father's authority, they dared not have any objections."

"As for me, that goes without saying. Even when I succeeded my father as Patriarch and even successfully entered the Evereska Council of Elders, my father's shadow always loomed over my head."

"Anything I did could not escape my father's indications. This state lasted until he could no longer resist the call of Arvandor."

"After my father left, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. After passing through a short period of adjustment, I decided to do something to make up for the regrets of those years."

"So that's how it is!"

Xia Duo thought of the intelligence Dumu had given him earlier regarding Ruigeante, which mentioned that the closer Ruigeante's policies in the agricultural field were to the current point in time, the more moderate they became, forming a sharp contrast with his previous strong-handedness.

In the last dozen years or so, Ruigeante had even proposed improving the status of Druids more than once.

Previously, Xia Duo only thought the former was a manifestation of Ruigeante's political maturity, but this did not match the behavior of repeatedly proposing to improve the status of Druids, which went against the mainstream.

So he was also very curious about what kind of Elf the real Ruigeante was.

Now he knew; if Ruigeante was not lying, this was truly an incomparably painful inner journey!

"Actually, the reason I accepted the conditions proposed by Kalishi and did not want to go to Arvandor to see my father was also a key factor. If it weren't for Kalishi, I might have chosen to reconstruct the Evereska Mythallar."

No one wants to die if they can live, but even if he were to die, Ruigeante did not want to go to Arvandor. It just so happened that the Evereska Mythallar Permission was partially controlled by the Alliance, which was a huge threat to Evereska.

Reconstructing the Mythallar might not be able to completely take back that part of the Permission, but it could perfect the corresponding Permission settings as much as possible, so that the Alliance's Permission would be limited to the Alliance and not be abused.

With his sacrifice, the path for his successor might also be smoother.

Since Kalishi was mentioned again, Ruigeante seemed to have suddenly thought of something. His expression became serious again. He looked straight at Xia Duo and solemnly warned:

"You must be careful of Kalishi. You probably cannot imagine what kind of exaggerated things the other party did when persuading me!"

"What was it? Did he extend your Longevity first? Or did he show you something else incredible?" Xia Duo asked.

Thinking about it, the influence of the New Artifact Project was so far-reaching that it was impossible for Ruigeante not to know the risks involved. Even if he were willing to take the risk, how could Kalishi guarantee that the promise would definitely be fulfilled?

It seemed that when Kalishi met with Ruigeante, he must have shown some kind of evidence that forced Ruigeante to be convinced, which was why Ruigeante changed his mind.