"Besides, Zhan, you shouldn't be hiding anything from me anymore, right?"

Thales stared at him steadily:

"If so, now is the time to confess, lest yesterday's accident happen again and damage the trust between us."

After the words fell, Zhan En was silent for a long time.

"I can't make a guarantee, because even collaborators with the same interests will have reservations," the Duke said, "but I can say that if something like yesterday happens again, you will be informed in advance."

Thales looked at his expression and nodded slowly.

The two dukes had their own thoughts and said nothing.

Suddenly, the dining room fell into a suffocating silence.

Until Zhan En coughed: "Now, if we don't have anything else to do..."

"But you know, Jenn."

Thales suddenly spoke.

"If your Emerald Legion really catches my bodyguard at the scene of the murder," the prince looked at the Duke, "then I will be infamous for murder and unable to defend myself, so I will probably have to leave in despair.

Emerald City is withdrawing from this chess game."

Zhan paused: "Maybe."

"Then why not? Why don't you just kick me out of the Emerald City?"

Thales looked directly at Zhan, as if he wanted to see through his heart:

"In this way, no matter what backup plan the secret department has prepared for me, no matter what role they expect me to play in it, it will be discounted or even ineffective. It will be settled once and for all."

Zhan En was silent for a long time.

The atmosphere in the dining room became very strange.

"Because we have an agreement and cooperation," Zhan said slowly after a while, his voice a little hoarse and tired, "We are still on the same chariot, fighting against the most powerful person in the kingdom, right?"

The Duke of Nan'an raised his head and resumed his smile:

"If you leave, won't I lose an ally who can fight against the king together? I think we should be unanimous on this point, Thales."

On the same chariot, against the most powerful person...

Looking at the other party's appearance, Thales unconsciously stretched out his hand and touched the ferocious bone ring in his pocket.

"No."

Thales' answer made Zhan change his face slightly.

"The reason you didn't kick me out of the Emerald City once and for all was not because we had an agreement."

The prince said seriously: "It's because of my father."

"Because you are jealous of him and afraid of him."

Zhan En's smile froze for a moment.

Thales put down the cup and sighed:

"Whether the purpose of coming to the Emerald City this time is to meet my fiancée or not, I was sent here by His Majesty the King."

"No matter how disgusting I am and how much I make you hate, as long as I am still in the Emerald City, you can use me to spy on the plans of the Fuxing Palace, spy on the king's actions, and always be on guard against the secrets of the kingdom being used through me.

The conspiracy: whether it’s my marriage, my character, or the deaths of Moss and Diop.”

He raised his head:

"But if my bright chess piece is forced away, defeated by your methods, and completely leaves the chess game, who knows how the kingdom's secret department will react, who knows how my father will react? Who knows what they will use

Other methods that you don’t know about? Maybe it’s hard to prevent, maybe it’s worse, maybe the price is terrible?”

"And this is why I haven't been driven away by you, or why you dare not drive me away," Thales said lightly, "Look, facing him, you, including me, we even overturned the chessboard.

If you turn around and leave, you don’t have the right to say, ‘I won’t play anymore’.”

Zhan's eyes slowly focused and were fixed on the wine glass.

"Your Highness, it's time to mobilize for rebellion now," the Duke said maliciously, "Isn't it too early?"

Thayer paused for a few seconds.

"You didn't understand me," the prince said softly, "or do you not want to understand?"

Thales clutched his bone ring tightly.

"When we were in the Western Wilderness, I asked Falkenhausz: If you knew in advance that the king had bad intentions and knew the other party's conspiracy in advance, why didn't you stop him in advance?"

The Duke of South Bank did not speak.

"The Duke of Xihuang's answer was smooth and cautious. He said that the conflict was necessary. He said that sometimes doing nothing is the best choice," the prince said in a daze, "but behind that trace of cunning and wisdom, I

I saw the deep fear that only belonged to the Guardian Duke of the Western Wasteland, the Lord of the Ruins, Duke Cyril Falkenholz. That kind of fear may not be exaggerated and obvious, but it was so deep that he even had the courage to glance at it secretly.

Don’t even look at it.”

Zhan's face was expressionless and he didn't answer, but he held the napkin in his hand tightly.

"Yes, the meaning of my stay here, as you said, is to maintain balance," Thales said with some loss of interest, "to maintain the tacit understanding between the two parties, to maintain this invisible struggle, and to stay.

To the extent that you can understand, accept, and deal with it.”

"Because the butcher's knife above your head is intimidating you and me, and everyone: even if you resist, you must be respectful, polite, rational and peaceful, and you don't dare to cross the line or break this terrifying balance."

Zhan still didn't answer.

But it is worth a thousand words.

The dining room was completely quiet until Thales let out a long sigh:

"So, what's the point?"

Zhan raised his eyes: "What?"

Thales' tone was somewhat emotional:

"I mean, all these fights, cooperation, resistance, internal strife, intrigues, back and forth between you and Fuxing Palace, including my father and I, what's the point? After all, they are just discord under the butcher's knife.

, War in the Cage.”

He stared at Zhan, feeling depressed:

"Why, Jenn, why do we have to do this?"

Zhan En was silent for a while, but suddenly smiled, his smile was desolate and tragic:

"Because this is who we are."

Thales came back to his senses and looked at him.

"Sorry, I lost my temper by talking too much." The prince said solemnly.

But unexpectedly, Zhan shook his head.

"We all have moments like this."

The Duke was slightly lost in thought: "And you are right, there is discord under the butcher's knife."

At that moment, Thales felt for the first time: the man in front of him was in the same room as him, sitting at the same dining table.

Thales gathered his thoughts, eliminated unnecessary emotions, and took a deep breath.

"Then again, you know, things are not that bad, and we don't have to go that far."

"Which step?"

Teresa paused: "My father, maybe, maybe he doesn't want to kill everyone."

Zhan narrowed his eyes.

"If I can..." Thales took a deep breath and tried his best to sound confident, "As long as you and Emerald City take a step back..."

But he was interrupted by Zhan En.

"Take a step back?"

The Duke of Nan'an looked at him with a half-smile.

Facing the other party's eyes, Thales tightly clenched the bone ring in his hand, as if it could give him strength.

"I mean……"

"I know what you mean," Zhan En said coldly, "I figured it out. You probably solved the matter in Xihuang a while ago this way: take a step back, haha."

Thales frowned slightly.

"Taking a step back, yes, power belongs to the throne, finances are transferred to the central government, governance is subordinate to the Fuxing Palace, and resources flow into Yongxing City."

Zhan leaned back on his chair in a rare relaxed posture and enumerated:

"The Emerald City has lost its aura of autonomy, the queen of the city has put down her freedom and pride, Kevin Deer has given up the authority to dominate, and is willing to become the slave, servant, tool, weapon, bargaining chip and stepping stone of the Supreme King to help.

Influence to control other backward territories, distant frontiers, unruly subjects, to create more of the same kind, and so on, until every inch of the land is like this, in order to realize his grand ambitions: from now on, the stars will be integrated up and down, like arms and fingers,
To be continued...