Silent Crown

In the hospital sickroom, the atmosphere grew tense. The sound of the friction of metal lingered, as if it was a fantasy.

“Do you know what people like you are called by the Religious Court of Inquiry when they are executed on the scaffold?” Ye Qingxuan gazed at Lancelot, his stare gradually growing colder. He said in a cold voice as if produced by gears and springs rubbing each other, “Defeatist!”

Lancelot didn’t show any change in expression, as if it didn’t concern him at all. He shook his head indifferently and said, “You should learn to prepared for the worst before you place your bet.”

“Lancelot, this is not the same!” After only three days of transient harmony and friendliness, Ye Qingxuan sabotaged the atmosphere between them and addressed his uncle by his name. “The queen is now missing, Maxwell is nowhere to be found, and the Privy Council of Anglo is not working. As the minister of the second division and the de-facto leader of Anglo, you are talking about surrendering even before the war has begun? Where is that family honor of yours? Where are the noble characteristics and pure morality of yours? Where is that integrity of yours?”

“There is nothing that is perfect in this world, nor is there any saint. Ye Qingxuan, you always expect too much for this world.” Lancelot heaved a sigh. “You come back or not, the Religious Court of Inquisitors will fight in this war or not, Anglo will fight to the last man and Lancelot will fight for this country to the end, but you need to understand, the war is impossible to win.”

Lancelot determined that they would lose the war and was so sure of his judgement. There was no confusion or doubt in his eyes, as if he had seen the outcome of the war himself. “Our defeat was destined when Leviathan broke the second seal. As to why we are not able to win, it is because we have no chance to defeat Leviathan at all. It has been so from the very beginning.”

Ye Qingxuan was shocked. After a long silence, he asked in a hoarse voice, “We have 13 musician divisions including the royal musician division, all the power armor, the round table cavaliers, including the seven round table armors, the second, third, and the fourth naval fleets of Anglo. There are 460,000 soldiers in total. And you think we don’t even stand a chance to fight Leviathan?”

“We may have a chance if Anglo was still an intact country.” Lancelot answered, “but is Anglo now an integral country? Ye Qingxuan, you must know, the king just died, the new king has not yet been crowned. And we have only a month to prepare for the war! In such a short time, it is not enough to ensure the loyalty of the ministers? Not to mention unite the whole country to fight the war? If the queen was alive, she could control the situation and force everyone to act in favor of the good of the whole country and suppress their own dark, selfish plans. But Mary, she is not capable of that.”

“Ask master Haydn to work with me, then.” Ye Qingxuan raised his voice and said, “As long as I can get close to the hall of the throne, I can retrieve the Stone Sword and the spear of St. George. I can…”

Looking into his eyes full of unwavering courage, Lancelot lowered his head and heaved a sigh. He didn’t let Ye Qingxuan finish but took out a familiar bottle from his pocket instead; a bottle full of fresh blood. The sticky blood was not red but was clear and transparent like amber. It was as if it were boiling in the bottle. It was only a small bottle, but in it there seemed to be monstrous waves roaring. Even the light was deflected and dispersed in the bottle. It disappeared into the deep darkness in the bottle, as if devoured by some invisible monster. The darkness was like smoke, floating and swirling in the bottle.

Ye Qingxuan’s voice was cut off immediately, and he stopped moving. In just one moment, it was as if he were frozen. Staring at Lancelot, his face turned ghastly pale. Yet on the skin under his neck, spots of blood-red grew quickly and covered almost every inch of his skin almost immediately.

That was blood; boiling blood…

Lancelot looked at him pitifully. “You still haven’t realized where your most vulnerable spot lies.”

Ye Qingxuan could see Lancelot’s lips moving, but he could not hear anything he said. He heard someone singing. The singing lingered around him. Sometimes it was as if the voice was by his ears, and other times it was as if the voice was within his own body. He felt like there were numerous amounts of mouths hidden in his blood, incited by the blood in the bottle to sing loudly.

“The king and his accomplice kidnapped the queen and jailed her in the dream…

“We have the power, yet where should we go? Oh, men, hoist the sail! Pull, thieves and beggars, we’ll live forever…”

This, however, was an illusion.

There should have been no sound at all, except that his blood was like a live animal in pain, twisting and cramping. The blood seemed to want to kill Ye Qingxuan as it tore up the veins in his body and oozed out of his body, as if it were gasping for fresh air greedily. Then, numerous tiny filaments grew out of his blood like mold, sticking to his body in large blocks.

This was hilarious. This was really hilarious, Ye Qingxuan.

Unspeakable desire to kill and anger brewed up in him. When did this evil creature get into my body? Why haven’t I noticed it before?

The Blood of Deva circulated violently in his body. The silver moonlight surged in his blood, wrestling with the wild evil creatures to kill them. Yet, after being killed, those things came back to life again and again, sucking Ye Qingxuan’s blood and consuming his life. It seemed to have integrated with Ye Qingxuan.

“Lancelot!!!” with blood-red eyes, Ye Qingxuan howled angrily. He used up all his remaining strength to throw himself at Lancelot, who, sitting on the wheelchair, didn’t defend himself at all but raised his hand to put the orange-colored amber blood between him and Ye Qingxuan.

In the blood, an eye opened, looking at Ye Qingxuan. It was gazing at Ye Qingxuan’s blood. Then, the evil thing in his blood began to grow much faster. Almost in one split second, it spread to his all his veins, his nervous system, internal organs, trachea, mucous membranes, ear drums… It deprived him of all his strength. He fell to the ground, losing control of his own body, right in front of the wheelchair.

Everything fell into silence.

Finally, Lancelot said, “I know that your thumb of card is the Stone Sword. As long as you have the Stone Sword, with the national defense metric supporting you, you might have a chance to defeat the catastrophe. However, there was a fatal flaw in this plan from the very beginning of its making.”

Lowering his eyes, he continued, “See? The closer you are to the core of Avalon, the harder it is for you to control your negative emotions. Do you think you are spared from the curse of dragon blood? This was the capture from last night’s battle—the blood of Leviathan. In it carries the will power of Leviathan. Therefore, it is deadly poisonous for anyone of royal blood. This is the tragedy for all the royal family members: without dragon blood, he or she will not be accepted by the Stone Sword. Yet, once a royal family member has dragon blood flowing in the veins, he or she will have be subject to the control of Leviathan. You will be driven mad the moment you approach Leviathan. How could you fight it?”

Ye Qingxuan didn’t know what to say, as there was nothing could be said.

The door was pushed open and a nurse wearing protective clothing covering his entire body came in with all the caution he could exercise. The nurse carried Ye Qingxuan to his bed, made sure he was comfortably positioned, and gently covered him with the quilt.

“Stop playing the hero, Ye Qingxuan.” Stretching out to tuck in the corner of the quilt, Lancelot said gently in a low voice, “You don’t belong to this country, nor does this country belong to you. Get yourself a good night’s sleep. When you wake up, everything will be over.”

In great pain, Ye Qingxuan tried with all his might to open his eyes. Over Lancelot’s shoulder, he saw a blurred figure standing behind Lancelot. The figure was smiling mockingly towards Ye Qingxuan.

“Lancelot, you…”

…

In the dimly lighted room, Mary woke up and opened her eyes. Hearing the noise outside, she knew she was not in the dream where the magic mirror was. However, she was afraid of the bustling world.

“What was that, Christine?”

Christine was not there to answer her question. She had gone out.

Mary was left alone in the room. The room was grand and magnificently decorated, yet it made Mary feel frightened and lonely.

“That was the cheering of the people, Your Highness,” a strange yet polite voice came from outside the door. Mary couldn’t think of any courtesy officer with such a deep and low voice. She felt dizzy and muddled.

“Cheering?”

“Yes, cheering.” The voice answered, “For you.”

“Why are they cheering for me?”

“Because you will take the throne to inherit the glory of your ancestors.” The voice answered, “You will be the ruler of Anglo, leading them to a bright future. As her majesty passed away, you are the only one who can lead the country. This was the cheering of your people. Everyone, whether in the central area or the lower area of the city, is so happy as they see the new hope of their country.”

Mary was transfixed.

The door opened. Maid servants walked in, carrying gorgeous clothes and ornaments. They opened the windows to let in fresh air. They also brought Mary delicious breakfast. Served on bronze plates, the dishes smelled so delicious and tasty. The 12 best cooks in Avalon had waited until now to serve their new queen. To show their loyalty to their new queen, they had cooked the dishes once every hour to make sure they were served hot and fresh.

Outside the window, lamps were lit, lighting up the palace. The gentle melody of violin could be heard from afar, indicating that a grand banquet was underway. That was the celebration feast for the crowning of the new queen. Laughter full of hope could be heard in the wind. The dying city seemed to be alive again. It was singing for its revival. All this was thanks to Mary.

Yet Mary felt so frightened.

“Where is Christine?” she asked. “Where is the captain of my guards?”

“She was injured. She wanted to stay with you, but the doctor stopped her,” the voice answered respectfully. “Please don’t worry, Your Highness. You will see her in the coronation ceremony tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” asked Mary.

“Yes. Tomorrow,” the voice answered.