A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Garlan once again returned to the government office in the central city of Twillur, but this time he was not imprisoned in a dark dungeon.

Under the leadership of the Lord Canile, he came to the huge and majestic castle behind the Consulate.

In the spacious living room, sunlight comes in from the large floor-to-ceiling windows, filling the entire room and making it look bright.Garlan was sitting on the soft sofa, and Heymos was sitting next to him, drinking tea with one hand and bowing his head.

And a certain bard stood by the floor-to-ceiling window holding his lost and recovered bow, carefully wiping it in the sunlight.However, while wiping, he sneaked glances at the sofa from the corner of his eye from time to time.

I don't know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that the atmosphere between these two people was a bit wrong.

Who is that black-haired guy?

Why Gal... No, Prince Gallan looks a little cowardly in front of this person?

Schulos peeked out of the corner of his eye, and saw the black-haired young man took a sip of tea slowly, and then brought the cup of tea to Garlan.

Garlan didn't react, as soon as something approached his mouth, he subconsciously opened his mouth and took a sip, licked his lips, and took another sip.

After feeding Garlan a few sips of tea, the corners of Heymos' mouth slightly curved.

"Hey...uh, why are you here?"

"Come to you."

"But I left a note and said not to come looking for me."

"That's just your own idea."

"But didn't you just say that you wouldn't arrest me?"

"Ah."

"...If you don't arrest me anyway, why do you still come to me?"

"Follow you." Heymos said, and glanced at someone by the window, which made someone who was peeking startled and turned his head away. Then, coughing dryly, he walked out of the room through the French window, Standing on the big balcony outside, leaning on the railing, pretending to watch the scenery.

Withdrawing his sharp gaze, he said, "You cannot be abducted by others."

Gallan: "..."

Heymos took another sip of tea, the same teacup that gave Garlan a few sips.

He said: "Do you think I said 'I'll accompany you' to coax you to talk casually?"

"Heymos, you said that you want the throne..."

"But not such a throne."

Heymos interrupted Garlan's words.

"I don't need what others give me, especially if that person is you."

The boy lowered his eyes, and his slender eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks.

"Your self-esteem doesn't require me to give you the throne, so, do you want me to fight you with all my strength and rob you with all means? For it, are we going to become enemies?"

"I never thought about it that way."

"But that's the truth. Heymos, someone has to back down, either you or me. If no one backs down, then you can only fight. It's impossible for you not to understand this."

"Foreign enemies are still eyeing us. I don't think Aaron Landis can afford the consequences of our internal fighting."

Garlan pursed his lips tightly and clasped his hands together.

The clenched fingers tightened tightly, and the scenes of the previous lives flashed through his mind again at this moment, making his chest feel tight.

"But now you refuse to retreat, and you still don't let me retreat, so what do you want to do? I don't understand, you must force me to be hostile to you? For the throne, kill you or be killed by you?! Just Like a few days ago-"

"Garlan!"

Both shoulders were grasped forcefully, and the shout suddenly awakened Garlan.

He swallowed the words he almost blurted out.

He paused, and continued: "Just like last time... When you were young, you were almost burned to death... At that time, it might have been me, wasn't it?"

"Listen, Garlan, I never thought about it that way."

Heymos said in a low voice, "I can't be hostile to you, you understand, you know why. I want the throne, but I can't trade you for it. I can't accept this alone."

"But……"

"There is no need for that, you don't need to leave, because there will be no fight, and you and I will not be hostile."

Holding Garlan's shoulders tightly, Heymos stared at him deeply.

"I do want the throne, but I will use my strength to be recognized by everyone, whether it is King Kamos or others, I will use my strength and achievements to make them think that I am more suitable to sit on it than you Throne—that's my decision."

His golden red eyes reflected the young man's face, and he said: "I said, Garlan, no matter what happens, I will not hurt you, you know, you should understand."

"........."

Heymos' fingers brushed Garlan's forehead lightly.

"I'm angry, not because of anything else, but because you said that you left to avoid a fight between us. You don't trust me, and you should know my feelings."

His fingertips were slowly rubbing the golden forehead hair, his voice was low and sounded without waves, but there seemed to be some kind of bottomless emotion brewing in it.

He whispered: "You should understand better than anyone else, my obsession with you..."

"Wait, wait, wait!"

The young man who had pursed his lips just now was already blushing.

He frantically tried to stop Heymos from continuing.

"Now is not the time to talk about such things. There are still people nearby, and the Lord Canile is coming soon! What should you do if you hear this?!"

"Do you think I care about such things?"

The corner of Heymos' mouth raised an arc, but for some reason, this arc looked a little cold, which made people feel creepy.

Ever since the day Garlan disappeared before his eyes, his sanity has been disappearing bit by bit.

He could even feel the feeling of the dark shadow enveloping him little by little...

Fuck what feelings are always false, the throne is real!

If Garlan really disappeared before his eyes from then on... He didn't even know what he would do if he completely lost his mind.

When he met Heymos' eyes, Garlan's heart skipped a beat.

Although he still didn't understand it very well, he keenly felt the danger seeping out of Heymos' eyes.

The golden-red hue sank deeply, as if shrouded in some shadow.

Almost subconsciously, he reached out and touched Heymos' face.

Heymos was taken aback for a moment, but Garlan clearly felt that the dangerous aura seeping out of his eyes disappeared, so he touched Heymos' face again.

Heymos stopped talking, pursed his thin lips slightly, and looked at him.

For some reason, that look reminded Garlan of the look of an abandoned animal.

"I see, Heymos."

He sighed.

"It was my fault, I shouldn't have done such a thing."

He said, "I'll go back."

"Ok?"

"We have a special status, so we should stop running around and go back."

Heymos looked into Garlan's eyes with sharp eyes, as if he wanted to steal Garlan's true thoughts from them.

Garlan didn't look away, allowing the other party to watch.

He smiled at Heymos.

He said, "Let's go back together."

"……it is good."

Just when Garlan was about to get up, the hand he was about to withdraw from Heymos' cheek was suddenly grabbed.

Heymos held his wrist, stared at him, and whispered, "Speaking of..."

"what?"

"You said you left because you didn't want to be hostile to me, because I'm already very important to you, and you like me a little bit, don't you?"

"No! No! Don't talk nonsense! I don't like men!"

Garlan was furious at what Heymos said, and withdrew his hand abruptly.

But Heymos didn't seem to have heard Garlan's negative words at all. The corners of his lips raised, and he pampered the boy's head pamperingly and pamperingly, watching Garlan's eyes reveal a little With a smile, there seemed to be a faint light in his eyes.

"Did you hear me? I've said it many times. I won't accept you!"

"Okay, okay, I heard it."

"........."

It doesn't look like you heard it at all.

…………

So what kind of atmosphere is that...

Always feel very wrong ah!

Who the hell is that dark haired guy?

Why do the two look so close?

Ahhh, it really makes people care about and curious to death!It's simply heart-wrenching!

On the balcony outside the room, the bard who was lying on the railing pretending to watch the scenery continued to peek at the scene in the room out of the corner of his eye, the fire of gossip burning in his heart.

…………

........................

When Garlan said that he was going back to the royal city, the face of the Lord Canile improved a little.

He glanced at Heymos who was with Garlan. Although he didn't hear what Heymos said at that time, judging from his actions and demeanor, he felt that the relationship between the two was still very close.

That's good, at least this way nothing bad will happen to the throne.

To be honest, he still prefers Heymos, who gives people a strong sense of sharpness, from the bottom of his heart.

only……

He set his eyes on the blond prince, and the deep wrinkles on his forehead were wrinkled again.

"Prince Garlan, I owe you my life."

The Lord Canile said, with a serious look on his face.

"From now on, on the premise of not violating the order of King Kamos, I will be at your service."

"City Lord Canile, you don't have to pay too much attention to this matter..."

"No." The old city lord said seriously, "I rarely owe others anything in my life, but as long as I owe something, I must pay it back. This is my principle. No matter what you ask me to do, as long as King Kamos agrees , I will never refuse."

"I understand. Then, Lord Canile, I have one thing to ask you now."

"You say."

Is it about supporting him as the crown prince?

The old city lord thought to himself.

"If Twiller City's finances are still sufficient, can the tax for the second half of this year be exempted? After all, the earthquake has caused a large area of ​​disasters for the people. If the tax is still imposed, many families may go bankrupt. Even had to be sold into slavery."

In fact, it would be better to provide disaster relief or something, but in this era, this is almost impossible, so Garlan can only settle for the next best thing, at least exempting the victims of the disaster from a little tax.

"........."

Unexpectedly, Garlan was talking about this matter at all, and the old city lord didn't realize it all at once.

"Can't you?"

"No, it's not impossible...Alright, Your Highness Garlan, I will report this matter to King Kamos, and once I get the king's permission, I will follow your orders."

After finishing speaking, Lord Canile turned his head and glanced at the staff behind him. The middle-aged staff nodded slightly, and then took a step forward.

"Your Highness, what are you going to do with that team leader who was rude to you?"

he asked respectfully.

"Ok?"

"I have sent someone to imprison him secretly, and I can bring him here now."

"no need."

Garlan didn't care about that kind of person at all.

This is a villain who bullies and fawns on, so why take him too seriously.

"But speaking of it, it seems that his hand was interrupted last night."

"..."

Garlan glanced at someone beside him out of the corner of his eye.

Heymos looked away, not meeting him.

"His offense to you is unforgivable. That kind of rebellious behavior is really... Lord Canile means to execute him directly." The staff continued, "Also, the chief guard of the city gate, and those soldiers who disrespected you at that time , They have all been arrested, waiting for your disposal."

"Let's forget about the city gate guard and those soldiers. Let them go. They are just obeying orders. They don't know my identity, so it's not an offense."

"I thank you for your kindness on their behalf, Your Highness. So, that one, do you want to execute him directly? Or give him a harsher punishment..."

Garlan thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Confiscate all his family property other than his normal income, return the tax he collected without authorization, and then send him to the village, let him live there, and declare his crimes to everyone, let him live in the village where he once was. labor in those villages where he has committed crimes, and he is not allowed to leave until he pays off all debts."

The staff was startled for a moment, then nodded, and retreated.

Afterwards, Garlan and the others rejected the old city lord's proposal to send a thousand cavalry to escort them back to the royal city.

After all, he ran out secretly, so it's not good to go back with such a big fanfare.

Lord Canile sent them outside the city.

He looked at Garlan and said, "Your Highness, in half a month, I will go to the Royal City and wish you the best of luck."

Half a month later, it will be the time for the crown prince canonization ceremony announced by King Kamos.

…………

Trotting on the flat road on horseback, a bard who had endured for a long time finally couldn't hold back.

"I said, Gal... Uh, Your Highness, what is your relationship with that person?"

"you guess?"

"...Don't dare to guess randomly."

What if, like last time, he accidentally talks cheap again?

"Then don't guess, you'll know when you get back to the royal city. But, do you really want to go back to the royal city with me? Don't you dislike places where nobles gather?"

"Tsk, I saved the prince of Aaron Landis, so I should give Aaron a large amount of gold coins as a reward, right?"

Schloss snorted.

"However, having said that, just now I thought you would let the team leader go. After all, you said that those who don't know are innocent. After all, you are the kind and tolerant prince in the rumors~"

He shrugged.

"For a person like him, let him work for the civilians he once looked down upon, and pay for his crimes until he dies. For him, this punishment is more painful than death..."

"Kindness only needs to be given to those who also have kindness in their hearts."

Garland said, an understatement.

"Some people don't have it themselves, so naturally they don't need to give it to him."

………………

On the way back to the palace, the three of them didn't walk very quickly, mainly because Garlan didn't want to return to the palace so quickly.

Anyway, the Lord Kanilee has already reported his whereabouts and going back to King Kamos at a high speed, so Brother Wang probably won't be so anxious.

One day, the three of them who stayed in a certain small town for one night left the small city, and when they reached a fork in the road, Heymos, who had been quiet all morning, suddenly spoke.

"Garlan, this place is not far from the royal city, you go back first, I have some business to go to other places."

After he finished speaking, he set his eyes on Shuluosi.

"Escort him back well."

The sharp eyes made Schulos nodded subconsciously.

Heymos raised his head slightly, he turned the horse's head, and galloped away towards another road.

"What is he going to do in such a hurry?"

Schulos looked at the back of Heymos who was about to disappear, and couldn't help asking.

"I don't know, I haven't heard him say it."

Garlan shook his head.

But in retrospect, Heymos has been a little preoccupied since he met a few people in that small city last night.

He asked back, "Where does this direction go?"

"This direction? There are many places to go, such as Lake Yas, Philutemi City, Koda City, Mount Yalma, Tiadali City, Menester City, Mushir City, etc. All in this direction."

The living map Shulos mentioned a large list of cities or the names of famous mountain lakes in one breath. Anyway, Garlan had never been to any of them, and he didn't know any of them.

Forget it, I'd better go back to Wangcheng first.

Thinking about it, Garlan set foot on the road leading to the royal city.

After riding for a long time, I saw that it was evening and there happened to be a small town in front of me.

Shuluosi said: "I will rest here today, and I will be able to arrive at Wangcheng at about noon tomorrow."

Garlan nodded. He was about to return to the royal city, and he still felt a little regretful.

It's a pity that he has never been to the places and cities that Schulos mentioned.

those cities......

…………

Wait, I always feel...a name seems familiar...

That is……

Just as he was about to reach the gate of that small town, Garlan suddenly reined in his horse.

"Sullos!"

"what?"

"Did you mention the city of Meneste at noon? The road he took was heading for the city of Meneste?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

His heart skipped a beat, Garlan turned the horse's head abruptly without saying a word, and galloped back in the direction he came from just now.

…………

...Her majesty Heymos...

He is as cruel and vicious as a viper in the night.

Everyone knew that he had killed his uncle and his cousin with his own hands.

He is the son of the devil.

He is violent and cruel.

Everyone knows that he killed his relatives with his own hands.

He shall be cursed by the gods—