The Empire was suspected of having discovered extraterritorial human civilizations. Although the main planet had implemented strict speech control and arrested many people, the news inevitably spread within the next few days.
Not everyone is a historian. For most people in the empire, ancient Earth is just a vague concept in childhood textbooks. It is difficult for them to truly understand what homologous human civilization is. They only think of it as highly intelligent alien creatures in horror stories, or gods and demons.
Originally, scholars could come forward to popularize the science, but due to the attitude of the royal family, no scholar dared to show up and talk about this matter at this time, and for a time, the rumors among the people became more and more outrageous.
“What on earth do you want to do?!”
Alfred stopped Xiu in the dining room of Dawn Palace and prevented him from hiding in his bedroom.
Xiu twitched, unable to pull his arm back, and could only stand where he was, waving the servant away, and said, “What does your Highness mean by this?”
“You have been fanning the flames. What exactly do you want to do?” Alfred stepped closer and pressed. “You realized that you were about to be exposed, so you tried to divert attention? But this kind of thing will not hinder the emperor forever. You can’t provide any substantial evidence. No matter how fierce the rumors are, they are just rumors. The emperor can always suppress them. When he has time, you will be in big trouble.”
“Who and who are ‘you’?” Xiu asked, “I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m going back to bed.”
Ever since the rumor about the “advanced civilization” broke out, Xiu’s attitude suddenly became extremely uncooperative. Compared with his previous attitude of actively informing Alfred of the existence of another civilization, it can be said that he was going back on his word.
Perhaps it was because he suddenly learned about his life experience, which was a big blow to him, and even his style of behavior changed. Xiu has always been a steady and self-controlled person, but whether it was his performance in front of the emperor in the Holy Golden Palace that day or his daily routine in recent days, everything became abnormal.
Yesterday, Xiu actually missed the meal time because he slept in the bedroom during the day. If Alfred had not entered his bedroom during the meal and knew that he was indeed sleeping, he would have thought that he was secretly discussing plans with the high priest under the pretext of sleeping. After all, for the self-disciplined crown prince, this had never happened before.
“It’s only noon now, why are you sleeping?” Alfred said, “Don’t say you didn’t sleep well last night. We slept together last night, and you went to bed earlier than me–”
Before Alfred could finish his words, Xiu couldn’t help but raise his hand to cover his mouth and nose, closed his eyes slightly, and soon put his hand down again.
He yawned a little out of courtesy.
——Even his yawning is so elegant.
Alfred thought it was cute for a moment, but only for a moment, and he quickly frowned and said, “…Are you really sleepy?”
Xiu has been too sleepy these past two days.
Or was it that he was so devastated that he was using sleep to escape reality?
This made him a little unsure whether he should tell Xiu the results of the appraisal.
While Alfred was stunned, Xiu finally pulled his arm out of his grasp, turned around and left the restaurant, with Alfred following closely behind him.
“The old emperor refuses to accept the fact that his dream has been shattered, and he can’t recover for the time being. But we can’t keep wasting time like this. The Legion is in urgent need of intelligence – the Empire is in urgent need of intelligence. The more you know, the more you can gain the upper hand. Brother, if you are…”
He wanted to say, if you really want to help me. But then he realized that Xiu had not yet answered whether he was helping Alfred, and would not pay attention to such words.
It was as if Xiu listened to this analysis of the empire’s interests and kept walking forward without stopping.
Do you want a stronger dose of medicine?
Which is more important: taking care of Xiu’s emotions or obtaining information related to the safety of the empire?
When Alfred was young, he hated the emperor because he had heard about his cruelty to the late queen.
But now, he heard himself speaking to Xiu.
“You and Austin are related.”
Xiu stopped and turned around suddenly.
“Austin Stone?”
“Yes,” said Alfred.
“…He and I are brothers?”
Alfred did not answer, but asked: “How much do you know about that civilization?”
Xiu blinked slowly and looked at Alfred intently. After a long while, he said, “Not much, but I do know one very important piece of information about them. Is Austin Stone my biological brother?”
Hearing the words “brother”, Alfred clenched his fists.
“No! The test results show that you are related by blood, but not by blood. You are more distantly related.” He said this conclusion almost quickly, shattering the idea of ”blood brother”.
Xiu exhaled slowly and lightly, then nodded. His face turned pale, but he was not surprised, as if he had expected it.
Alfred then asked, “So, what is that important information?”
“They already knew.”
“What?”
“We exist,” Xiu said clearly, “They already know about it. So… time is running out.”
“Time is running out.”
Alfred said in the basement of a humble bar.
“Yes, time is running out. So the situation is indeed more urgent than we expected.” Austin frowned. “According to the prince, as early as when the rebels first came into contact with those people, they sent intelligence back to their civilization, trying to use it to exchange for benefits with the authorities there… A few years have passed, and it seems that there is no movement for the time being, but this does not mean anything. We have no idea in which direction that civilization is or how far away it is from us. The worst result is that they are actually on the way, but the distance is too far and they have not arrived yet.”
Alfred just looked at Austin and said nothing.
“No, it’s not scary even on the road. What’s important is what’s coming.” Austin refuted his own words. “If they are sending envoys, then it’s fine. If they are invaders… Damn it! We don’t know anything about their technology, what kind of weapons and equipment they have, their population, how much territory they have, what their social system is like, what their weaknesses are, and what their attitude towards us is…”
He talked for a long time and found that Alfred was just looking at him coldly, without responding and without any expression.
“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”
Austin asked, feeling a little dangerous for no reason.
Alfred stared at him and said, “Why do you think you can be his brother?”
Austin was puzzled and said, “Whose brother? I am the eldest son in the family.”
“Nothing.” Alfred said coldly, returning to the previous topic, “The emperor refuses to acknowledge the existence of other civilizations. It is impossible to capture the high priest and torture him for interrogation in a short time. It seems that we have to find a way ourselves.”
Austin nodded and said, “Fortunately, the more chaotic the situation is, the less His Majesty dares to touch my father. We can use more extreme means than usual, and His Majesty will turn a blind eye. However, even if we capture the high priest, we are not optimistic. I have interrogated his son, and he is more stubborn than anyone else. He has obviously been trained in interrogation. If my father interrogated his father, the result would probably be similar.”
“Indeed, there is a high probability that nothing will be found out during the trial.” Alfred said, “But this is your father’s long-cherished wish, isn’t it? Hasn’t he always wanted to interrogate the high priest himself? Speaking of which… the high priest is your father’s brother-in-law, your uncle.”
Austin paused. If the person in front of him had not been Alfred, he would have thought that this was a provocation to him and the Stone family.
When the daughter of the Stone family married the young high priest, the marriage between the two duke families caused a sensation. Who could have thought that the final result of this marriage would be the death of one party and the two families would become enemies?
Austin knew that Alfred had no interest in this old case from twenty-eight years ago, so why did he suddenly bring it up today?
Could it be that… he has already started paying the fees in advance?
As if to verify Austin’s words, Alfred added: “I promised your father that if I ascended to the throne, the Stone family would be the largest family under the royal family. As long as I am in power, the Stone family will prosper, and justice will be done to Ms. Stone back then.”
This was the first time Austin had heard the first half of the promise, but he remained calm and did not make any comments, waiting for Alfred to continue.
But Alfred stopped here.
“Your Highness?” Austin asked uneasily.
Alfred looked at him appraisingly.
The Stone family has always been very loyal… he thought. But can this loyalty stand the test?
Without knowing for sure whether Xiu was a friend or foe, would he dare to tell the truth to the Stone family? A crown prince who was related to the Stone family by blood… could he afford the consequences of the Stone family turning against him?
“So, ask your father to come up with a plan as soon as possible.” Alfred finally said, “We don’t have much time.”
Walking out of the bar, Alfred looked towards the Holy Golden Palace, towards the throne above everyone else.
Everyone knows that the emperor is suspicious… and I am truly his son.
He thought to himself with a self-mockery that he had never hated that position as much as he did now, and he had never longed for that position as much as he did now.
