Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 35 Ginny Barkley

“At least thirty cavalrymen broke through the gate. From the open ground of the manor to the dungeon, there were signs of a fierce battle everywhere.”

At the Manor of Wrigley, a knight under the banner of the Three-Colored Iris, Lord Seychelles, wearing blue-green patterned plate armor, frowned as he stroked the manor's iron gate, which was deformed by the impact.

Many knights around him dispersed, searching the now deserted Manor, littered with corpses, in an attempt to find even the slightest clue.

The thinning-haired Lord of Seychelles solemnly said:

"A large-scale battle broke out between the two sides. At least half an hour ago, this place was probably still in chaos. Obviously, the vampires lost the battle. The corpses on the ground are only those of the vampire slaves, and they match the number reported by the fleet when they were transported across the sea."

"Judging from the wounds on the bodies, the attackers used high-purity silver weapons; they came prepared."

"The Corleone family's vampires have all disappeared. If they weren't wiped out and their bodies taken, they were either captured alive, escaped, or all three. In any case, we no longer need to worry about the secret they were hiding—either they fell into enemy hands or they were completely destroyed."

But either scenario was bad—Seychelles felt a sinking feeling in her heart, and with her right hand, gloved in iron, she touched her sparse remaining hair.

Another voice came from behind: "The only good news is that the Duke never intended to use them, so they don't know about our plans and actions."

Lord Cassienne, another knight with a title, stood up from beside a blood slave's corpse on the ground and looked at Seychelles.

"This is my fault. I will apologize to His Excellency the Duke in a moment." The impeccably dressed Knight Cassien's face was terribly grim, but this noble knight did not shirk his responsibility. He spoke solemnly and with suppressed emotion:
“I overlooked that large cavalry force we spotted on the road. Now it seems they were the ones who raided the Mangrove Manor. If we had gone full speed ahead then, we might have been able to intercept them.”

But Seychelles didn't think so. His intuition told him that the cavalry that raided the Manor of the Wrigley was very suspicious, and even if they intercepted the group, it might not end well.

Even though he and Cassandra are both End Knights of the Extreme Realm.

But Seychelles knew this was not the time to discourage his friend; he was already filled with remorse for the mistakes he had made due to his previous carelessness.

“Two problems urgently need to be solved.” Seychelles’ gaze swept over the mottled walls of the manor and he went inside.

"First, who exactly are they?"

"Secondly, why did they come?"

Cassandra followed his friend into the hall. Although he had smelled the strong stench of blood beforehand, he couldn't help but turn away when he saw the bloody scene inside.

Unlike Seychelles, who had been a mercenary in the Eastern Continent and lived a life of constant danger, Cassandra's background was far superior to his colleagues. Back then, when the Duke personally bestowed upon him the title of knight, he was still a top-tier final swordsman who had just completed his studies at the Tower of the End, a promising young man.

After becoming an Extreme Knight, Cassandra had not experienced the bloodshed outside of tournaments for far too long.

“If we send men out immediately and search in all directions, we might be able to find some clues about these cavalrymen.” Cassien looked with disgust at the blood-sucked corpses on the table and frowned as he spoke.

"If they are members of a certain family, then entering the various noble estates in the DC district would be the best cover."

But his colleague, Lord Seychelles, shook his head, thinking of the rabbits roaming the vast plains of the East Continent, who always managed to survive no matter how ingenious the traps laid by the herders of the Kissery tribe.

Their only natural enemies are the falcons that soar through the sky and take in everything.

Following the trail of blood toward the dungeon, Seychelles objected, "We've already been high-profile enough. Sending people to track down the various manors in the DC district? After we've offended the entire upper class of the planet, we'll probably find clues about them."

“Since we can’t identify them, we can only figure out why they’ve come.” Cassandra picked up an inextinguishable lamp, covered his mouth and nose, and cursed the vampires who were insatiably greedy for food. He descended the stone steps into the blood-soaked dungeon, his muffled voice echoing between the dim walls:

"This is a temporary base lent to the Blood Bottle Gang to accommodate and hide the Corleone family's experts, but neither Nekra nor Corleone are to be found."

"The Blood Bottle Gang is backed by us and the Cullen family; this is an open secret in the industry. As for the Corleone family's assistance, we have always maintained secret contact with them. Once they are discovered, it is very likely that the clues will lead back to our plans."

"Every family involved in 'New Star' knows more or less about the plan, so there's nothing to worry about," Lord Seychelles calmly analyzed, walking through the thick, bloody air without feeling anything amiss. "I've already sent someone to inform His Excellency the Duke, and the Blood Bottle Gang's contact will arrive soon. But what secrets is the Corleone family hiding that would attract such a group of people?"

Holding the inextinguishable lamp and trying his best to maintain his appearance, Cassandra stopped in a ruin in the dungeon, looking around with a puzzled expression.

It's clear that this ruin was originally a prison, but now it's completely changed:
It looked as if it had suffered terrible destruction; the iron bars, chains, and walls were all broken into small pieces, scattered across the limited cell.

It's like someone chopped it into tiny pieces.

"The dungeon is also the vampire's blood bank," Seychelles said coldly. "It seems some people don't like this place."

"Whether it's vampires, the Blood Bottle Gang, or even intruders, why would they want to destroy the dungeon like this? Is it to vent their anger?" Cassie asked, puzzled.

“They didn’t destroy the dungeon,” Seychelles said gravely, picking up a small piece of black, mysterious stone with strange patterns and writing engraved on it. “This is a cell—I’m afraid some terrible character who was imprisoned here escaped, and the cavalry that stormed in 'cleaned' this blood-red manor with his help.”

If Thales were here, he would probably applaud the thinning-haired knight: his guess was very close to the truth.

“This level of destruction,” Cassandra exclaimed, his brow furrowed as he looked at the extent of the dungeon’s devastation, “only a master of the highest level could achieve this.”

“No.” Seychelles’s eyes suddenly turned extremely strange as he held up the mysterious black material in his hand.

"Judging from its shape, this stone is probably part of some kind of shackle."

"I suspect that it was this shackle that bound that mysterious person."

The next moment, he flung the black stone in his left hand into the air.

Seychelles' eyes flashed, and the cross-handled sword on his left hip was instantly drawn.

The sharp, clean blade sliced ​​through the mysterious black stone.

In that instant, there was no sound.

A second later, invisible ripples, compressed by the air, spread across the narrow dungeon.

Deep, massive cracks were torn open in the surrounding walls!
Behind him, Cassandra nodded in admiration. This perfect sword strike perfectly combined precision, speed, and skill; even the "Flower of the Fortress" couldn't have achieved such a feat.

The sound of a sword slicing through stone finally rang out.

"Qiang!"

The sound was crisp, and sparks flew everywhere.

"boom!"

The gust of wind generated by the swinging sword reached his ears at that moment.

As the Seychelles sword struck, a cloud of earth and stones crumbled down from the four walls. The force of the wind whipped up dust throughout the cell!
The inextinguishable lamp in Cassandra's hand was instantly extinguished by a strong gust of wind.

The strong wind disappeared. Seychelles remained expressionless, sheathing his sword.

Cassandra covered his mouth and nose. Although he loathed the dust, he relit the everlasting lamp, bent down, and began searching through the dirt and rocks.

When Cassandra presented the mysterious black stone to Seychelles, the two exchanged a glance.

Both of the extreme knights saw astonishment and fear in each other's eyes.

The black stone, which had been slashed by the sword of an expert at the pinnacle of power, now lay perfectly intact in Cassie's hand.

The two remained silent for a long time, until Cassandra spoke with difficulty:
"Looks like I was wrong again. This level of destructive power—"

With a livid face, Cassandra turned to look at the shattered cell, his expression one of utter disbelief.

"Even experts at the pinnacle of skill can't do that!"

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11pm.

In the bedroom on the third floor of the Mindis Hall, Thales, who had escaped a great calamity and whose clothes were once again neat, was sitting awkwardly on the bed. He was the main subject of discussion between the two Extreme Knights of the Wild Grass Manor.

He stared blankly at the court lady in front of him, who was in her forties but still had undiminished charm and a beauty mark on the corner of her mouth, as she reprimanded someone.

"It's a pity," Thales thought, "if only I had been gentler."

"Is this the heir to the kingdom you've been taking care of?"

Are you barbarians?

"His Majesty entrusted you with his bloodline! The future of the stars! Not some gray giant lizard that can be thrown onto an island and survive!"

"You guys can't even take care of a gray monitor lizard like this!"

A dignified court lady was reprimanding His Majesty the King's two most trusted subordinates, Count Gilbert Cassel and Guard Yodl Gato, with an overbearing roar. The latter two obediently lowered their heads and accepted her reprimand.

"His daily diet consists of bread and beef? Do you know he's at the age where he's growing?!"

"Did you even give him a bath?! Don't tell me wiping him down with water counts as washing him!"

"Can't you see that he's covered in wounds and needs careful care? Bandages? What are those?"

"Didn't you teach him how to dress properly? Don't use lack of time as an excuse!"

"What kind of bedding did you find for him? This kind of blanket and pillow is a killer for children!"

"You actually forbid him from being outdoors? Do you know how important sunlight is for growth!"

"Safety? Don't make excuses! Wasn't he kidnapped right under your noses even when he was indoors?"

"Move that vampire girl's room to a place a hundred meters away! What? There isn't such a room? Then go dig one out for me right now!"

“Starting tomorrow, except for protection and teaching purposes, you all need to stay at least ten meters away from him!”

"You two useless men!"

After a long while, when Ginny finished her angry lecture and kicked the two "useless men" out of Thales' room ("Get me everything on the list right now!"—Ginny), she suddenly turned around.

Terrified Thales, who was drinking water from a glass and watching the show on the bed, shrank back half a meter.

Looking at Gini's still stern gaze, the boy recalled his former high school homeroom teacher.

But Ginny just looked at Thales with a hesitant and complicated expression, and finally let out a soft sigh.

She forced a smile and tried her best to speak gently:

"Don't be afraid, Thales."

"You are safe now, and you will always be safe."

"During your month in the Mindis Hall, I will be fully responsible for your daily life."

Thales swallowed a mouthful of water and nodded: "Thank you, uh—"

Ginny gently picked up where he left off:
“I am Ginny Barkley, Lady-in-Waiting, a loyal friend and subject of your father, and… well, how should I put it…” Ginny paused here, as if thinking about something.

But she still raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "I've thought of a word," and decisively said:
"...and his lover."

Thales couldn't hold back and sprayed a mouthful of water all over the bed.

----------------------

Not far from the Hall of Mindis, on a road, Yodl materialized in the void and knelt on one knee before a strong and imposing figure.

“You should go in and take a look,” Yodel said hoarsely.

But the robust figure remained silent.

For a long time.

“Just like twelve years ago,” the robust figure said slowly, “you always do inexplicable things.”

Yodl knew that the other party was not talking about the Wild Grass Manor.

“But you sent Gilbert,” Yodl said, bowing slightly, “and you hesitated as well.”

The robust figure remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he glanced up at the lights in the third-floor room, then decisively turned around and left, surrounded by a group of elite guards in silver armor.

Only the masked guard remained, kneeling in the moonlight, his figure a solitary one.

(End of this chapter)