93: Chapter 93 He would say to me—"Senior, long time no see." (Bonus Chapter)

Lake Kingdom, Capital.

Compared to other cities within the kingdom, the capital is much larger in scale.

The city gates, naturally, are also much wider.

A bird-like cry rang out from the clear sky, and before the sound reached the gate, a griffon landed a step ahead.

A Guard hurried over to salute: "Lord Oliver, greetings."

Oliver, with his short golden hair, jumped to the ground and handed the reins to the Guard: "Has the capital been peaceful recently?"

"I haven't heard of any major disturbances."

Nodding to show he understood, he passed through the gate arch, walked slowly through the street crowd, and made his way to the royal palace located in the center of the capital.

Entering the palace, he turned right and arrived in front of a magnificent palace hall.

He stepped directly onto the stone stairs and pushed open the great doors; the Guards on duty on either side made no move to stop him.

"Oliver, when did you get back?"

In a simply furnished study, Andre sat behind the desk at the far end of the room, flipping through a book on Knight Techniques.

"His Highness Andre, I just returned."

"Hm?" He looked up, smiling, "Usually when you return from a trip, you go home to get a good sleep before coming to the palace. Why today..."

"There are some matters I need to report to Your Highness urgently."

"Speak."

After recounting what happened in Bala City, Oliver stood before the desk without saying another word.

On his end, after listening, Andre also remained silent, closed the book, and leaned back against the chair, pondering something.

After a long while, he suddenly asked: "When I was nine, you reported to me that the Guards responsible for guarding the city gates were privately increasing the entry tax by ten percent and pocketing it themselves."

"Most of it was turned over to the captain of the garrison, and they kept the rest for themselves," Oliver replied.

"That's not important," Andre shook his head with a smile, "Later, I hanged everyone involved in the case and replaced them with a batch of loyal and honest Guards and officials."

"Half a year later, I put on civilian clothes and visited the city gates undercover, only to find that the entry tax had been increased privately again. This time, it was an increase of twenty percent."

Leaning forward, his upper body leaving the back of the chair, Andre stared at him and asked: "Oliver, tell me, if I hang them again, and another half year passes, will the entry tax increase to thirty percent?"

"Your Highness, do you feel that..."

"To deal with that kind of enemy, unless I kill all humans—which I don't want to do, nor do I have the ability to do—I have given up."

"Zhang Mu, his name is Zhang Mu, right?" Andre changed the subject, "When I met him that time, he was radiating confidence."

"Although he didn't say it explicitly, I could tell that he believed his magical talent was extraordinary, and that he could strive to become a powerful mage, and then, face the world alone."

"Mr. Potter is very strong, so strong that I couldn't even summon the thought of resisting, but in the end, he still has to grovel under the majesty of the Church."

"Therefore, I feel that Zhang Mu is just fantasizing; he cannot do it."

Oliver bowed slightly: "Facts have proven that Your Highness's intuition is very accurate."

Hearing this, Andre didn't show the smugness of "as I expected," but instead looked disappointed:

"Actually, I was hoping he could do it... That way, he would have a better chance than me to do something. I just didn't expect him to fail so quickly, so quickly that it makes me a bit disappointed."

He stood up, walked behind the wooden chair, and gazed at an oil painting of the starry sky hanging on the wall: "Oliver, am I strong?"

"His Highness Andre is the most outstanding Crown Prince in the history of the Lake Kingdom."

"But in the end, I am still trapped within this painting."

"The future... there is no future." Andre waved his hand, "Go to Avril's place. Tell her not to be too sad."

"As you command, Your Highness."

Oliver backed out of the room, turned around, and hurried toward Avril's palace.

In a room with furnishings roughly similar to Andre's study, Avril was napping, slumped over the desk.

Judging by the faint curve at the corner of her mouth, it must have been a good dream.

After a while, she seemed to have finished sleeping; her long, ice-blue eyelashes fluttered a few times, and her eyelids slowly opened.

"Your Highness, what happy thing did you dream of?"

Beside the desk, Mora, dressed in a maid's uniform with her hands folded over her abdomen, saw the faint smile on Avril's face and asked curiously.

Without rushing to answer, Avril turned her head to look at her.

Compared to her childlike personality from before, Mora now seemed to have shed all vanity; her temperament was steady and composed, possessing the air of an elite.

"I dreamed that I lost to my eldest brother. In front of the royal heritage Mage Tower, my eldest brother swung a fatal sword at me as I lay on the ground."

"That doesn't sound like a good dream, Your Highness."

"I haven't finished yet." Avril propped her chin on her palm, eyes narrowing, "Just as the blade was about to sever my neck, my Junior descended from the sky like a hero, defeated all the enemies, and then picked me up and said..."

She suddenly stopped. Mora blinked and asked: "Said what?"

"I woke up right when I dreamed of that." Avril chuckled, "But I think my Junior would definitely say to me, 'Senior, long time no see.'"

Looking at the loving smile on her face, Mora sighed with emotion: "Mr. Zhang Mu has truly changed Your Highness a lot."

"Of course, my Junior is the light in my life." She said this last part with an upward inflection, revealing a hint of pride.

"Speaking of which," she stared at Mora with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Didn't you forbid him from approaching me?"

"Your Highness." Mora's eye twitched, and she became expressionless, "You cannot treat me like a child forever."

After saying this, she turned and walked into a small door on the right, returning with a cup of black tea to hand to Avril.

Taking it and sipping lightly: "Mora, I want to write a letter to my Junior, but I'm worried that if he reads the letter, he won't be able to help himself and will come to the capital to find me."

Hearing this, Mora took a deep breath to calm the speechlessness in her heart. Are women in love always this troublesome? Mora never wants to fall in love in her life!

She certainly didn't dare to say these words in her heart out loud. She used a normal tone: "Didn't you already have Lord Oliver take a letter to Mr. Zhang Mu?"

"Yes." Avril nodded, "But I was thinking, if I only write one letter, will my Junior misunderstand and think I don't care about him?"

Mora's knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists.

"Your Highness." A Guard outside the door interrupted their idle chat, "Lord Oliver requests an audience."

"Go see."

Receiving the order, Mora trotted, pushed open the door, and left the room.

About half a minute later, she returned to the room, walking very slowly to the desk.

"Hm?" Avril held the porcelain cup and was blowing on the tea to cool it, but caught a glimpse of Mora's somewhat stiff expression, "What did Oliver say to you?"

"Lord Oliver..."

"Your Highness." Mora suddenly knelt on one knee, "Mr. Zhang Mu died in Bala City, perishing together with the local mages in battle."

"Clatter—"

The delicate porcelain cup fell to the floor, white ceramic shards scattering, and the tea flowed away along the straight seams of the wooden floorboards.

Avril stood up, her fair hand pressing on the desk trembling slightly: "If you are joking with me about such a thing, I will severely punish—"

"Your Highness!" Mora kept her head deeply bowed, her voice raised, "Mr. Zhang Mu has died in Bala City!"