Thales was walking alone in the corridor of the Fuxing Palace, and the everlasting lamps passed by him, making his face appear bright and dark.

Along the way, the guards and servants all had complicated expressions when they saw him and stayed away.

But Thales doesn’t care.

 He simply takes a step, presses a tile under his feet, drags it behind him, steps again, and repeats.

 The front is dark, cold and narrow.

 Where is he going?

 Where to go?

where?

 “Your Highness?”

 A familiar voice came, and Thales paused.

 He turned around, looked back from the darkness and cold, showed a gentle smile, and nodded gently.

“Gilbert, I thought you left first.”

The Foreign Minister came to Thales with his cane and bowed to the prince respectfully and meticulously.

 It was like the first time they met.

 “You know, I won’t leave.”

Gilbert looked at him with a mixture of relief and confusion in his words:

 “Before you and your Majesty...”

 Thales did not speak, but smiled slightly.

 The eyes of Gilbert and Thales met in the air. One side had complicated emotions and the other had subtle feelings.

 They faced each other in silence for three full seconds.

The person accompanying Gilbert, the Archdeacon of the Church of the Sunset, Guy Stylianides, smiled upon seeing this and stepped back a few steps to leave space for them.

Gilbert showed an apologetic smile to his friend, then turned back and hesitated:

 “So, Your Majesty, he...”

 Thales nodded without any ripples in his voice: "He let me go."

"that's all?"

Gilbert showed a moment of surprise: "With all due respect, Your Majesty, he didn't, no, the royal guard didn't..."

"No."

 Thales tried his best to make the sarcasm in his words less obvious:

 “I guess your Majesty is tolerant and kind, and loves his children as much as the people.”

 The two were quiet for a while, both lost in thought.

"Really?" Gilbert didn't pay attention to the small flaws in his words. The Foreign Minister exhaled and murmured in a daze:

 “That’s good, that’s good…”

 Taylors remained silent.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that Xingchen Cunning Fox was much older.

However, the scene when Gilbert calmly drove the car with a lantern and brought the dirty and embarrassed beggar into Mindis Hall seemed like only yesterday.

 “That’s right, that’s a coincidence.”

 Gilbert came back to his senses and smiled again:

“While you were having a serious talk with His Majesty, I felt bored, so I went out of the palace for a walk. I happened to wander near the Mindis Hall, so I took a casual look and asked casually..."

Mindis Hall.

Thales’ mind moved and he spoke in surprise:

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　…」

 The smile on Gilbert's face grew bigger and bigger, just like his wrinkles:

"The Gaitan Flag Officer in charge of the investigation assured me: After a thorough investigation, the unhappiness at the banquet was just an accident. The guard servants around you are all fine and should be released immediately. The Mindis Hall was also immediately unsealed. Of course, some necessary measures were strengthened.

'Security work', I hope you don't mind."

 Thales looked at him in surprise.

“You can’t get there from here to Mindis Hall just by walking.”

 “Oh,” Xingchen’s cunning fox expression did not change:

 “Then it seems that I am not old yet and my feet are fast enough.”

Tales did not speak.

Gilbert suddenly remembered something and his eyes lit up:

"By the way, I just met Mariko Vanguard in the corridor. He and your subordinates are the ones who followed you into the palace, including Waiya. I also asked him and them

, Well, we got along well, and we had a lot of fun talking."

Having a great time chatting.

 Tales was silent for a long time, with complicated emotions.

"thank you."

Gilbert shook his head, smiling as usual, and looked back:

“Thank you Guy, I didn’t want to say this, but thank you for people still believing in the sacredness and majesty of the sunset, and giving the Archdeacon extra face.”

At that moment, Thales felt tight in his chest:

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 board

 The Foreign Secretary turned around and sighed:

“And I hope this puts your mind at ease a little bit.”

Thales took a deep breath and felt his voice trembling:

"me……"

But Gilbert, who was always good at observing people's emotions, seemed not to notice the prince's embarrassment and hesitation. He just clapped his hands and said apologetically:

"Oh, my fault, Your Highness, you must be tired. I just happened to call a carriage, why don't we go back together..."

 “Gilbert!”

 Thales had to raise his voice and tried his best to interrupt the other party:

 “Aren’t you curious?”

 The prince's breathing was rapid, and he stared at his teacher.

 “About why I broke into the palace against the law.”

 “Why...disobey the king.”

 Gilbert paused, the smile on his face slowly faded, and he lowered his head silently, as if to avoid Thales's gaze.

 Thales took a deep breath:

 “And, what did I just say to His Majesty inside.”

 “This is not a joke.”

 In the Balad room, Thales listened quietly to King Kessel's words.

"Whether you succeed or fail, if you make a careless move or make the slightest mistake, you may be overturned by the war horse and abandoned by the chariot."

“Not only will he not be able to win the crown forever, but he will also make enemies everywhere, and everyone will hate him. Even his family and life are in danger.”

 Everyone looks at him with hatred, and he is in danger...

The king’s warning was eloquent:

 “At that time, the price of the shining star will not be able to save you.”

“The stars are too big to contain you.”

 “Even as a king,” King Kessel paused for a moment. He looked at the Star Staff leaning against the seat with a complicated expression:

 “I can’t protect you either.”

The honor of a king cannot protect you.

Thales’ eyes condensed, and Asheida’s words rang in his mind:

[What I look forward to, Thales, is not your ultimate success...but...that you are caught between your own essence and the eyes of others...eventually torn apart by contradictions, destroyed by conflicts, and swallowed by regrets...

】

 “Then just in case, I mean just in case...”

 After a few seconds, the young man raised his eyes and smiled a little stiffly:

“You said, will Longxiao City accept political asylum?”

Facing the joke, King Kessel did not respond, only his eyes were deep, not knowing what he was thinking.

"All right."

 Finally, the young man sighed and put away the relaxation and joking on his face.

“It seems that you really have no sense of humor.”

The king stared at him closely and said nothing.
To be continued...