Chapter 1 The Father and the King

Dawn has come.

In the Mindis hall, the most important and embarrassing father-son meeting in the entire kingdom is being staged.

Thales stared blankly at the robust nobleman in front of him, his father.

He turned to Gilbert and Yoddle in fear, but both lowered their heads silently.

He looked at the guards around the corridor again, but the well-equipped soldiers covered their eyes behind the helmets and remained motionless.

Until the thick voice of King Kessel V came from his ears:

"He looks like a skinny mud monkey."

The current situation of Thales is indeed not very good. His short black hair is cut in bumps (Xinti's handicraft), covered with dust, and his small face is covered with mud marks and hand marks. Although the magician Ashida used mysterious means to stop the bleeding of his large and small wounds, but the scrapes, scratches, and bruises left on the abandoned house and Red Square Street were still sparsely hanging on his body. On the same dusty body, the beggar's rough linen clothes were also tattered, with a big hole in his chest, almost exposing the burns on his chest. Shivering in the wind.

"I believe you are not mistaken." Kessel's voice echoed in the corridor.

Thales raised his head again, looking at Kessel, his king, and his father.

But Kessel had already turned his head and stopped looking at him.

A slight disappointment welled up in Thales' heart, but he immediately suppressed this feeling.

In his cognition, he is already an adult.

Kessel's heavy voice continued to echo:

"You all know how important this matter is. Now, the only ones who know about it are the three of us. Of course, I will call Jini over. He needs qualified care, so the four of us are the ones who know - wait for Morat to come back Then, I'll tell him myself."

"From now on, the Mindis Hall will be completely closed, and it will be said to the outside world that a secret treasure of the royal family has been lost. I am furious."

"According to the previous preparations, the fifty Terminator swordsmen, all of whom are private soldiers of the Canxing family, will guard here for a whole month. They can keep their secrets. And Yodel, just to be cautious, you also guard here, we Ada and the royal guard are responsible for the safety of this month."

Jodl didn't speak, but nodded slightly with his masked head.

"Gilbert." Kessel still didn't look at Thales. He stroked the spar on the scepter and spoke in a deep voice, his tone full of majesty.

"Have you thought about the reason for your visit to Mindis Hall in the early morning?"

"Of course, Your Majesty, the excuse is readily available-the gangsters at the junction of the Lower City and the West Ring District were fighting, and there were countless casualties. I came to His Majesty's palace overnight to report the matter." Gilbert replied respectfully.

"Not enough. I'll go back to Fuxing Palace tomorrow, but you will have to visit here frequently in the next month. There must be a better reason." King Kessel shook his head.

"That is to say, the royal family's secret treasure disappeared too mysteriously. Your Majesty ordered me to investigate this matter thoroughly?"

"It's a bit blunt, but one month is enough." King Kessel nodded after thinking for a while.

Then, the King of Stars finally turned his gaze to Thales who was at a loss.

His sharp eyes stabbed Thales back unconsciously.

It didn't feel like a father looking at his son at all.

But the king didn't seem to care about Thales' appearance at all.

"One month, Gilbert, one month."

"Before his identity is officially recognized, Gilbert, you are his personal teacher, responsible for all his teaching matters."

"Yes, Your Majesty. As you wish, I will do my best." Gilbert replied respectfully.

Thales' heart sank.

Kessel nodded his scepter in relief, and pondered for a while.

"You have to get him ready. He can't appear in front of the entire kingdom and the six major families in this state.

There are also envoys from other countries. "

"From etiquette to temperament, knowledge to appearance, there must be a passable appearance. What we need is a decent heir to the kingdom, not a down-and-out street beggar."

Street beggars?

After hearing this, Thales clenched his fists slightly.

"Using the welcome banquet of the Exeter Mission as a standard, I hope he can make an appearance at that time—it won't be easy, but I believe you can do it well."

Thales trembled slightly in his heart, but he still silently listened to King Kessel's unquestionable orders and planned his future step by step.

But in Thales' future, there seems to be no room for his own wishes.

how so?

He still has a lot of questions, doubts, and thoughts in his mind.

But the King Kessel in front of him didn't seem to care about his thoughts, he just issued his orders sentence by sentence, expressing his wishes.

"No one needs to know what his past is like, but there must be an explanation, Gilbert, to make up a story for his origin."

"As long as his bloodline can be confirmed - I will discuss this with Li Xiya, and the gods are not impossible to trade - we are not afraid of gossip."

"Choose his peers in the noble list, as well as the heir's instructors and attendants—after he is recognized, these are the focus, and there must be advance records. I want to see the list before next week."

"To be on the safe side, Gilbert, you need to reconfirm the terms of royal succession in the "Sacred Star Covenant" and the precedents like him in the Canxing family. If there is any dispute, we have time to remedy it. "

Thales frowned, listening to them continue to plan their own future, their own life.

Just like a puppet on a string.

"As for his engagement, I have an idea, we'll discuss it later, Exeter—"

At this moment, Gilbert interrupted the king with a respectful expression.

"Your Majesty, there is still time," the gray-haired middle-aged nobleman seemed to feel something was wrong, but he still tried his best to express his opinion: "If you need to be alone with this child, we can—"

But Kessel waved his hand abruptly, stopping Gilbert's words.

At that moment, Thales saw the king's deep eyes tremble, and he felt a strange emotion emerging from Kessel's expression.

Thales wanted to say something, but the words came to his lips, but he swallowed them back.

I - what should I say?

What can I say?

Should you be more enthusiastic about your son?

It sounds like a child who didn't get candy.

Kessel seemed to want to turn his head to Thales, but he turned back suddenly in the middle. He held the scepter in both hands, looked at the portraits of the three former kings on the wall, and remained silent for a long time.

It seems that only at this time, he is more like a person.

It took a while for Kessel to turn around. He didn't look at anyone, but the majestic voice of King Star King, Kessel V resounded.

"In short, the tasks on you are very heavy. The Kingdom of Stars has no heir for twelve years. And just last week, Gusd intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the king selection system of the Kingdom of Exeter in his letter-you know that the Six Kingdoms How will the family react."

Thales lowered his head silently.

This is—his father, his king?

Gilbert seemed to want to say something, but he just lowered his head and sighed slightly while the king couldn't see him.

But someone still interrupted the king regardless of the atmosphere.

"Your Majesty."

Thales turned his head in surprise, but it was the silent Yordle who spoke.

The secret guard's expression behind the mask is unknown, but his hoarse voice is extremely firm:

"He is your blood first, your son! Finally, he is your heir."

"And you can't turn a blind eye to it."

Thales raised his head, only to see King Kessel V let out a long breath.

Then he closed his eyes.

"Yes, he is my son." The king closed his eyes, clutching the scepter tightly, and said dully, "That's why I'm here today."

"I handed him over to you. Remember, one month."

King Kessel V didn't say much after all.

Jodl also lowered his head and stopped talking.

An unspeakable disappointment spread in Thales' heart.

The king nodded, looked at Gilbert and Yodel who were kneeling on one knee, and cast a glance at Thales who was in a daze with complex and incomprehensible eyes, before turning and leaving without hesitation.

Gilbert and Jodl stood up slowly.

And the strong figure slowly walked down the stairs.

The footsteps were heavy, but majestic.

The majesty of the king.

This is - it's over?

Thales looked at the departing "father" in disbelief.

No, this is not right.

He is the father of this body, isn't he?

but why--

"Wait a moment!"

Thales finally couldn't bear it anymore, he yelled loudly.

The sturdy figure paused for a moment, then turned around.

Gilbert looked at Thales in surprise, while Yodel's expression was still hidden behind the mask.

Looking at the king who was gradually turning around, Thales trembled a little.

But he still spoke.

"You are my father, aren't you?"

The king held on to the railing of the stairs, and looked at Thales with indescribable eyes.

"But why are you unwilling, unwilling to speak even a word to me?"

Gilbert next to him stretched out his hand towards Thales, as if he wanted to say something, but he chose to remain silent in the end.

"Why don't you even ask me my name!"

"As long as he is the heir? Don't you care what your son's name is?"

King Kessel V tightly grasped the scepter, but did not reply, but slowly frowned.

"You said, no one needs to know about my past."

Thales' chest trembled, and the burn on his chest began to ache again.

"But what about me? I need to know! I need to know my past!"

Kessel's eyes on Thales changed.

It is no longer the gaze of sizing up, examining and inspecting.

It's like realizing for the first time that Thales is a person.

And it's his son.

"I want to know what happened!"

Thales himself didn't know this sentence, he just yelled it out.

"I want to know who my mother is."

"I want to know who I am."

"I still have many, many doubts, many, many questions."

Thales gasped and said that tonight's consumption has made this seven-year-old body a little bit overwhelmed.

The king finally looked straight at him, and the sky-blue pupils in the deep eye sockets radiated light.

At that moment, King Kessel V's eyes were quite complicated and incomprehensible, Thales couldn't read anything more.

"Very good, child, what's your name?"

Just listen to the supreme ruler of the stars, asking in his thick voice.

Thales stared at Kessel.

"Thales," he heard himself say, "my name is Thales."

"Then, Thales, my son," Kessel narrowed his eyes and said, "Gilbert will answer everything for you."

Then, Kessel V, the thirty-ninth supreme king of the Star Kingdom, the Southern Islands, and the Western Desert.

Just like that, he left the Mindis Hall without looking back.

His cloak disappeared from the traverser's field of vision.

At that moment, Thales only felt chills in his heart.

He lowered his head, staring at the precious black floor tiles.

Is this my father?

"Son, Thales." Gilbert behind him couldn't help but patted him on the shoulder silently.

"Don't worry, and don't think too much, His Majesty just has too many things to do, but he——"

Before Gilbert could finish speaking, Jodl suddenly stepped forward, knelt down in front of Thales, and thrust Thales' JC dagger into his hand at some point (Gilbert's expression changed, Touching his waist, frowning), gently stuffing it into Thales's hand, only to see the dark purple mask slightly, and the hoarse voice came slowly:

"You are his son, bound by blood and connected by fate. No one and nothing can change this."

But Thales remained silent.

He clenched his fists.

Looking at Yordle who interrupted him, Gilbert exhaled dissatisfiedly from his nose, squatted down in front of Thales, and said softly:

"Thales, my little mister, you have experienced enough tonight."

"Now you need rest and maybe medical treatment."

"Thales, please come with me. Jodl, I'll come back to you later, we have to talk."

Thales remained silent and did not answer, but when Gilbert took his hand, the traverser followed Gilbert obediently.

Only Yordle, he raised his head and looked at a vase in the corridor in the distance.

He observed with sharp and terrifying eyes that invisible tiny cracks appeared on the vase.

The brows behind Yordle's mask frowned slightly.

He knew, before Thales roared.

The vase is still intact.

Is it a coincidence?