Earl Mills stood up, wanting to walk to the window for some air. Just as he turned, his arm accidentally brushed against an exquisite bone china teacup on the edge of the desk.
The cup tipped over, about to fall to the floor.
However, at that very moment, a steady hand reached out from the side, caught the cup, and smoothly handed it back to Earl Mills.
"Thank you."
Earl Mills thanked him instinctively.
Before the words left his lips, his entire body stiffened abruptly. A chilling coldness shot from his spine to the top of his head, making his hair stand on end.
His study was an absolute Forbidden Land; without his summons, no servant would ever dare to step inside.
So the question was:
Whose hand was this?!
Earl Mills sucked in a cold breath, suppressing the exclamation that almost burst from his throat, and forced himself to calm down as quickly as possible.
He slowly turned around.
And then.
A young, incomparably handsome face, one he was intimately familiar with, came into his view.
"Mr. Mills, have you been well?"
The Flower Knight Charles Hines had a radiant smile on his lips, identical to those in the past, but there was no warmth in those azure blue pupils.
"Charles?! So you're alright?!"
After a brief silence, Earl Mills squeezed a look of pleasant surprise onto his face.
"By the gods! This is truly wonderful! I had always thought... thought you had met with misfortune in that Evil Dragon's territory."
The Earl spoke excitedly while reaching out quite naturally.
He wanted to warmly pull Charles's hand as he usually did, to express his closeness and care.
This was his habitual trick for winning hearts.
Through simple physical contact and the condescending posture of a superior, he could always easily move those naive young people and win their favor.
However, this time.
Charles Hines took a step back, expressionless, avoiding the hand extended by Earl Mills.
That hand hung suspended in mid-air.
The Flower Knight looked at the Earl's seemingly heartfelt expression of surprise, then recalled the voice from the crystal ball communication—that incomparably cold, disgusted, and irritable tone, like discarding trash—'A piece of trash with no utility value, the Albert Family will not pay even a single copper coin for him!'
The stark contrast made all the Earl's genuine-seeming emotions appear incredibly hypocritical, artificial, and even nauseating in Charles's eyes.
"Mr. Mills."
Charles's voice was calm, without ripples.
"Before returning, I always had a doubt in my heart that I wanted to ask you about in person."
"Oh? What question is troubling you so much, my child?"
The Earl's tone remained gentle.
Charles said: "Rhode Albert, Sienna, Sanchez... the three of them, as well as many of your private army leaders and elite warriors, all share one common trait."
"They are all without parents, with backgrounds as clean as a blank sheet of paper."
"The Albert Family is able to recruit so many warriors who come from tragic backgrounds yet possess extraordinary talents, willing to die for the Family unconditionally."
"Is all of this just because of good luck?"
The Flower Knight stared at Earl Mills, observing his reaction.
"The Family has established many charitable orphanages. It is true that Rhode and the others were once helpless children who were adopted by the Family, given education and warmth."
Earl Mills maintained a surface-level calm.
He retorted: "They are grateful for the Family's upbringing, and therefore strive to excel and voluntarily pledge their loyalty to the Family. Is there any problem with that?"
"Is that so?"
The Flower Knight said slowly, his voice dropping low.
"I returned to the South a step earlier than Rhode and the others."
"In order to prevent myself from being deceived by lies again, from being instigated and hoodwinked, I have not been idle during the past time."
Charles took a small step forward, and an invisible pressure permeated the air.
"I spent a considerable amount of time and energy, like a real detective rather than the naive knight you expected, conducting detailed, in-depth, and even dangerous investigations throughout the Albert Family's territory."
Earl Mills's brow furrowed slightly.
"During the investigation, I discovered a rather interesting phenomenon."
"The Albert Family generously bestows various favors upon the commoners in the territory, such as reducing taxes, repairing roads, and distributing cheap medicine."
"But after every act of kindness, if there are young children in the beneficiary's Family, the Family's benevolence goes a step further."
"They will freely and enthusiastically conduct various talent potential tests for those children."
The Knight's gaze swept across the Earl's jawline, which had begun to tighten slightly, and continued: "What's even more interesting is that the law and order in your Family's territory is indeed exemplary on the surface; the patrols are diligent, and the crime rate is extremely low."
"However, the frequency of various accidents is unusually high, and they particularly favor families that have just undergone testing, where the children were deemed to have decent or excellent talent."
"Fires, collapses, monster attacks, or even simple accidental drownings... these accidents always manage to create new orphans."
"So much so that the number of orphans in the Albert territory far exceeds the scope of a normal Earl's territory, only it's a pity that no one pays attention to it ordinarily."
As he spoke, the Knight pressed forward another step.
The distance between him and the Earl was now less than three feet.
"Mr. Mills."
Charles asked calmly: "Could you explain to me, why exactly is this?"
Earl Mills's expression finally darkened.
"I don't know what nonsense you are spouting."
"Charles, I was originally very happy to see you return safely, but these baseless, malicious speculations of yours make me feel very displeased!"
His voice was low, carrying a tone of reprimand.
"The Albert Family does good deeds gratuitously, adopts orphans, and spreads benevolence, yet you use such dirty thoughts to tarnish this kindness! Is the knightly code you believe in meant to be used to speculate about your benefactors like this?"
While speaking, his fingers brushed extremely covertly over a gemstone ring on his finger.
That was a magical item that triggered an emergency distress signal.
However, all was dead silent around him; nothing happened.
The guards bursting through the door, the flashing alarm lights, the activated defensive magic arrays he had anticipated... nothing happened.
"Don't waste your effort, Mr. Mills."
"Whether it is your voice, the magical signal from your ring, or any detection attempting to penetrate this place, it has all been isolated."
Charles tilted his head slightly and said: "Like you, they are trapped in this cage of space, unable to reach the other shore you are hoping for."
Fear appeared on Earl Mills's face for the first time.
"Charles!"
The Earl braced himself, maintaining the dignity of a noble, and roared fiercely: "What... what exactly are you trying to do? Have you forgotten the kindness I once bestowed upon you?!"
"Who was it that opened their purse generously when you were penniless and had nowhere to turn? Who was it that sent you that priceless antidote when you were poisoned and on the verge of death?! Is your knightly virtue meant to be used to repay your benefactor with betrayal and blades?!"
Clang—!
His impassioned words were abruptly interrupted by a crisp and cold sound of metal friction.
The Flower Knight had drawn his cross-sword.
"I have already repaid the kindness you speak of with my life and freedom. We are now even."
Charles slowly raised the longsword in his hand, the tip pointing steadily at Earl Mills's heart.
"Standing before you right now is simply a knight determined to eradicate evil and hypocrisy."
Earl Mills retreated step by step, cold sweat seeping from his temples.
"Don't do anything stupid! Charles! You must have been bewitched by that Evil Dragon! Lost your mind!"
"We can talk about this properly! I guarantee that every doubt and suspicion in your heart will be given a perfect and reasonable explanation! Believe me!"
The Flower Knight was already deaf to his words.
He was unwilling to waste any more breath on this hypocritical Earl, so he stepped forward, and the cross-sword in his hand turned into a cold flash of light, thrusting straight out.
The blade easily tore through the layers of defensive shields that had instantly activated on the Earl, precisely piercing the heart beneath the luxurious velvet formal wear.
Earl Mills's eyes widened abruptly, his face filled with incredulous astonishment and extreme fear of death.
He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but could only feel his entire vitality draining away rapidly like a receding tide. In the end, he couldn't utter a single word, only a wheezing sound of leaking air.
The Flower Knight slowly withdrew his blood-stained cross-sword, looked at the Earl's limp body, and spoke his final words.
"By the way, the King of Molten Iron asked me to send his regards to you."
The King of Molten Iron?!
It was that damned Evil Dragon manipulating everything behind the scenes! It was he who bewitched Charles!
Boundless anger and regret instantly flooded Mills's consciousness. In the end, with eyes wide open, filled with resentment and unwillingness, he collapsed heavily onto the cold, luxurious floor.
Dying with eyes wide open.
The Flower Knight Charles Hines stood quietly in place.
With a light flick of his wrist, he shook off the last few blood droplets from the blade, then calmly returned the longsword to its scabbard.
Ripples like water appeared in the space around him; his figure became blurry and transparent, like a shadow merging into the air, and finally disappeared.
But he did not immediately leave the Albert Family manor.
The Border Walker strolled through the cracks in space, like a ghost, moving silently through the heavily guarded corridors and courtyards of the manor.
He came to the Alchemist Sienna's bedroom and to the bedside of the Protection Mage Sanchez.
Finally, he stopped in the room of the Rune Knight Rhode Albert.
In each room, he left a stack of neatly organized papers containing the truth.
They were placed silently by the bedside, within reach of the sleeping occupants.
After doing all this, Charles's figure vanished completely into the space, as if he had never appeared.
"Who?!"
Rhode Albert opened his eyes abruptly.
This General Evil Wolf, who had been through countless battles and wandered on the edge of life and death countless times, had perception that was keen to the point of instinct.
Although he had not clearly perceived that imperceptible spatial fluctuation, he was still awakened and instantly sprang up from the bed.
The room was empty, with no obvious traces of any intruder.
However, his gaze was immediately drawn to the stack of papers that had suddenly appeared on the nightstand.
Rhode frowned tightly, vigilantly picked up the stack of papers, and began to read carefully.
The night was quiet, with only the faint sound of turning pages.
Those screening lists regarding talent testing.
Those investigation reports regarding the accidents.
Those secret clues pointing to orders from the Family's high-level leadership.
Every name, every date. They were like sharp swords, tearing through the blurry childhood fragments deep in Rhode's memory.
The accident that claimed his parents, the adoption by the Family orphanage, the gratitude and loyalty instilled into him... As he read deeper, his pupils contracted sharply, and the expression on his face began to change violently.
From initial confusion, to shock, and then to uncontrollable anger.
Finally, his complexion turned completely pale and twisted, looking as ferocious as a thoroughly enraged wolf.
Just as this emotion was about to erupt completely.
Rhode Albert, this General Evil Wolf of the Albert Family, abruptly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, all the intense external reactions from just a moment ago were finally suppressed bit by bit.
The ferocious, pale look on his face slowly faded, his muscles relaxed, his twisted expression returned to calm, and he became expressionless.
However.
Some things that had once supported his life and for which he had bled in battle had completely collapsed like sandcastles, vanishing into smoke, while other entirely different, dark, and intense things were silently sprouting, growing wildly on the ruins of his loyalty.
It is foreseeable.
With the death of the Family head, and with the originally loyal pillars and backbones turning their backs, it would not be long before the Albert Family would exist in name only.
It is hard for anyone to believe:
All of this started with a Red-Iron Dragon thousands of miles away.