Chapter 189: Ambitious Ones, Scum, and the United
The area where the twelfth prince resides.
"Lord Mord..." Momoze looked at Mord, her face tinged with unease. It was clear she had also sensed the powerful aura from earlier.
For someone who had only recently awakened her Nen Ability, this impact was indeed overwhelming.
Mord's lips curled slightly as he chuckled softly, "The ambitious one in Room 1001, the scum in Room 1004, the united ones in Room 1009... Momoze, your siblings are truly troublesome."
Momoze stood by, unsure how to respond.
Even in this life-or-death battle for the throne, her inherently kind nature made her unwilling to speak ill of her siblings.
"Lord Mord can stop all this, right?"
"There will always be fools digging their own graves in this world." Mord reached out and patted Momoze's head, then suddenly seemed to notice something amusing, his lips curling upward again. "But there's no shortage of kind-hearted fools either."
The eleventh prince, Fugetsu, lay on her bed staring at a photo of herself and her sister Kacho, her eyes already swollen from crying.
As with every previous night, if nothing unexpected happened, she would once again drift into sleep while weeping.
But today was different.
Fugetsu was startled to see a mysterious door suddenly appear on the wall beside her bed.
"When did this door get here?" Fugetsu climbed out of bed and knelt before the door, carefully examining the mysterious portal. She felt like she had seen it somewhere before.
"I remember! It looks just like the magic escape door entrance from the toy Kacho and I played with at the amusement park when we were children!"
Memories of carefree, happy times at the amusement park during her childhood suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Without any hesitation, Fugetsu used a pillow to create the illusion that she was asleep, then secretly opened the door.
Inside was a long tunnel.
Fugetsu crawled along the tunnel, moving forward, ever forward.
Meanwhile.
The tenth prince Kacho, lying in her bed, was doing almost the same thing—flipping through an album recording their happy times together, tears unconsciously streaming down her cheeks.
Just then, a circular hole suddenly opened in Kacho's large bed, like a manhole cover, and a small head emerged from within.
The sudden appearance made Kacho's tears vanish instantly from shock.
Kacho looked into those familiar eyes.
Their gazes met.
She froze for a moment, but quickly raised a finger to her lips in a silencing gesture.
Fugetsu, like a little mole, looked at her sister whom she had been missing day and night.
Seeing Fugetsu about to emerge from the passageway, Kacho immediately grew tense and urgently gestured for her to go back.
Outside the bedroom.
"The tenth prince's heartbeat is accelerating rapidly!" Melody was the first to detect Kacho's abnormality.
Another old hunter from the Hunter Association, Keeney, also noticed the situation. He turned to Melody and said, "You sensed it too?"
"Yes!" Melody nodded emphatically.
The two immediately rushed from the hall to Kacho's bedroom at top speed.
The two guards stationed in the bedroom showed puzzled expressions upon seeing Melody and the other person rushing over urgently.
Without offering much explanation, Melody peered through the bed curtain at Kacho's silhouette inside, finding nothing unusual. After a moment of silence, she spoke, "...Tenth Prince, are you alright?"
"What's the matter?" Kacho's voice came from behind the curtain.
"Tenth Prince, I hope you can trust and rely on us more. Protecting you is our duty!" Melody said earnestly.
"Right, just a job. Do the bare minimum, get paid, and that's it. Wander around outside, then put on a show of concern like you are now—that should be enough, right?" Kacho's words carried an icy detachment, each one sharp as a blade, as always.
But Melody knew well that Kacho was wearing a false mask.
What a strong child. That heartbeat... she truly believes this is her mission.
Melody lifted her gaze to Kacho and declared, "I take great pride in my work. Though my life isn't like yours, Prince, with someone I'd risk my life to protect, I am fully prepared to give my life for the task of safeguarding someone!"
"Please stop talking as if you understand everything. Have you ever been told by your own father to make your siblings kill each other? I'm not risking my life by choice!"
Melody fell silent, for Kacho spoke a cruel truth.
"You're right," Melody replied.
From behind the curtain, Kacho hesitated slightly before asking, "By the way, why did you assume I was protecting someone else?"
Melody judged that honesty would be best with Kacho and said, "Tenth Prince, may I explain Nen Ability to you in detail?"
...
Watching this scene, Mord's lips curled into a faint smile.
Perhaps only someone like Melody could break through Kacho's sturdy emotional defenses. But what they don't realize is that without sufficient strength, good intentions may not lead to a good outcome.
Among the Kakin princes, Kacho's death was one of the few that Mord found regrettable.
Shifting his perception elsewhere, Mord turned his attention to the man he deemed most suited to become King Kakin—the Ninth Prince.
"Prince, where are you going?" the Ninth Prince's guards asked in unison as he suddenly strode outward.
"I'm going to appeal to Father once more!" the Ninth Prince declared firmly.
"But aside from the weekly banquet, meetings with the King are forbidden," the guards tried to dissuade him.
Yet the Ninth Prince showed no intention of stopping.
"If that leads to my disqualification, then so be it!"
The guards continued to plead from behind, "The King has already stated it's impossible to halt the succession war once it's begun. If you keep defying his will, you might even face arrest!"
Thud!
The Ninth Prince, walking ahead, suddenly halted.
The guards behind paused in surprise, then saw his face streaked with tears.
They say men seldom shed tears, let alone a prince.
"Should we just hide in our rooms and do nothing, watching as more victims continue to appear?" the Ninth Prince said with tears in his eyes. "What difference is there between that and standing by without offering help?"
After saying this, the Ninth Prince turned and resolutely walked outside.
"No matter what, I don't want to see similar tragedies repeat themselves!"