The firelight illuminated Naji's face as he was about to leave:

Sallow, dry, with wrinkles of despair and pain.

Seeing the other person's neck bleeding that couldn't stop, Thales gritted his teeth and forced out a peaceful smile, trying his best to make his words sound calmer.

"You were involved in conspiracy and civil strife."

"In the chaotic era, you, you vacillated between the family and the royal power, and finally chose to deny the late king, loyal to another bright star, and chose... the future he represents."

"You have a blood debt that cannot be washed away, including your fellow guardsmen."

Naki, lying in Cannon's arms, began to tremble.

His already dark eyes glanced at Thales, filled with regret and pain.

Thales watched calmly, the sadness in his heart temporarily overshadowing the pain in his body.

"You paid the price for this: tortured by conscience, in guilt, unwillingness and resentment, wearing the brand of sin on your face, not seeing the light of day, struggling for half your life."

The young man sighed:

"It's such a waste of time."

Naki opened his mouth in pain, but could only make a gurgling sound of blood in his throat, and looked at Thales with increasingly desperate eyes.

The guards looked at the prince with different eyes, some were desperate, some were desolate, some were indifferent, or some were empty.

But Thales ignored them.

He just smelled the smell of blood and stared at Naki in the pool of blood, as if he was staring at the other person's remaining soul.

"But I also know," Thales forced out a weak smile:

"I know that when you refused to plead guilty and Dai Lao was imprisoned, it was not because of your own selfishness, but because you wanted to implement your choice and cover up the scandal of the Bright Star royal family."

"That may be a sad but respectable choice."

After the words fell, the expressions of the guards changed slightly. Cannon, who was holding Naki, even raised his head in surprise.

Naji's face covered with dirt struggled for a moment.

He looked back at Thales in disbelief, his fingers clenched together into a fist.

The next second, Thales sighed:

"But none of that matters anymore."

The young man looked at Naki seriously, his bruised and embarrassed face looked peaceful and indifferent in the firelight.

"Because after eighteen years, you escaped from prison in the next step. At the moment when freedom and relief were within reach, you finally chose to give up hypocrisy and luck, face the nightmare, face the pain, face the ugliness, and face yourself again.

."

Sacher, who listened silently, shook for a moment, and little Barney also calmed down.

Listening to Thales' words, Naki's breathing became chaotic as the bleeding intensified.

"Maybe what I say now is insignificant and long overdue..."

The weak Thales trembled and stretched out his left hand, gently touching the ugly sin mark on Naji's face.

The flesh and blood engraved with the letter "s" of the ancient empire.

His touch seemed to have some kind of magic power, making Naki gradually calm down.

Thales gritted his teeth gently.

"But at least, I want you to know."

"Even if the world doesn't know it, even if the kingdom refuses to admit it, even if it can never be clarified, at least I know it in my heart."

Thales took a deep breath and smiled:

"I don't think you're a bad person, Naki."

At that moment, Naji's pupils shrank suddenly!

The way he looked at the prince changed just like his expression.

"You are not a selfish, simply evil traitor."

The young man's voice was so soft that it could only vibrate the dust, but when it spread in the dungeon, it was extremely clear.

Reached into everyone's ears.

"On the contrary, you are an honorable person."

"You made your own choice, then bore the consequences without regrets and implemented your own principles."

Naki's breathing began to speed up, drowning out the sound of bleeding from his neck.

He looked at Thales, opened and closed his lips, and made intermittent grunts.

But his slightly excited words were buried in the surging blood.

Thales smiled.

"I know, Naki, I understand."

The prince gently pressed Naki's forehead, closing the distance between them.

Naki's mumbling continued, but became increasingly weak.

"So, at this moment, in the last breath of your life," Thales realized that his voice was trembling, even more than Naki's trembling when he was dying:

"Ty Naki."

Thales breathed in a daze, and the haggard face of Naki in front of him began to blur.

"In the name of the second prince Thales Canxing, the orthodox descendant of the Canxing family and the sole heir to the Nine-Star Crown."

The young man heard himself trembling:

"I forgive you."

At that moment, the dungeon was eerily quiet.

Everyone stared blankly at the young man who hugged the injured person and spoke softly.

"Forgive you for all the sins and mistakes you have had, may have, or do not have."

The prince's voice fell.

At this moment, it was as if nothing had happened, and the dungeon was as silent as ever.

But a few tenths of a second later, Naji's chest began to rise and fall violently, as if he was trying to get up!

"Woo"

Finally, Naji seemed to have been blocked for a long time by a dam that collapsed at the last moment.

His eyes had lost focus, but he still stretched out his weak left hand with great trembling, scratching in vain in the air.

His lips twisted and twitched, and he let out violent sobs and whimpers to Thales, as if he wanted to say endless words.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Naki's violent reaction caught Cannon off guard, who was holding his wound. He could only try his best to control the other person and prevent his helpless situation from getting worse again.

Thales put down the torch, ignoring the blood all over his body, tightly holding Naki's helpless hand, and leaned over to hug the dying person.

"No matter who you betray, who you are loyal to."

"No matter where your heart is, you should do whatever you want."

"No matter how you are doing now and then."

He pressed his cheek against Naki's forehead, letting the other person's struggle gradually calm down in his own voice:

"May you no longer be trapped by sin, conflicts, torture, and guilt."

"Escape from this."

Thales gasped, holding back the sourness in his nose:

"May your past disappear and your nightmares end."

"Rest in peace."

No one made a sound.

At that moment, the only sound in the dungeon was Naki's slowly recovering and weakening breathing.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

I don't know how long it took, but Naji's struggle finally calmed down.

Thales let out a breath, patted the frozen Cannon, and let go of Naki.

He lowered his head in confusion.

At some point, the person in his arms had closed his eyes.

Don't move any more.
To be continued...