Chapter 69: Birthday: Coercion and Inducement [VIP]

"Oh? Did he really say that?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

In the study of the official residence, Ulysses, who was both the Prime Minister and a high-ranking magician, held the crystal mirror in both hands and answered meticulously.

On the other side of the mirror, Yaris leaned lazily on the sofa, and outside the floor-to-ceiling window on the right was the moonlit Lilia Lake.

After listening to Ulysses' description, he slowly closed his eyes and thought briefly and seriously.

"Did Edmund show any abnormality in his body or appearance when he said these words?"

"No, but I felt something was wrong. It was like I was being stared at by some powerful, indescribable entity. My body was shaking and shivering unconsciously, and my soul was about to scream."

"That's His presence... He has come to him, manipulating Edmund with His methods."

"Then our country is not——"

Cold sweat broke out on Ulysses' forehead.

Yaris smiled, "He's using this method, which shows that He doesn't want to make an enemy of the entire Western Continent just yet."

"Should I reduce the frequency of my visits to the Little Love Palace in the future?"

"Why lower it? He has already tacitly allowed you to work for me."

Yaris said nonchalantly.

"But……"

"Although he is cursed as a tyrant by the lower classes, Edmund's actions so far have not affected the interests of the aristocracy. I must make him commit a more serious crime, and then my dear Lucien can fight him under the banner of justice."

"So from the beginning you..."

Ulysses looked at Yaris with fear, trembling all over.

"good."

"but--"

Ulysses screamed in pain: "What if...what if..."

"It doesn't matter. The Solar Empire is both my prison and my protective barrier. He must break this barrier to take me, born the plaything of the gods. Edmund, on the other hand... poor Edmund... he was blinded by desire, completely unaware that he was making a dangerous deal with something not of this world, and that every benefit he gained now would cost him an unbearable price in the future."

"No! That's not what I'm talking about! What I'm talking about is... you, you actually want to... want to..."

Ulysses struggled to find the words to properly express how he felt at that moment.

"I see."

Yaris sighed and spoke slowly, "Ulysses, you deeply love your country and its people, and you can't bear to see the Western Continent dragged into hell by me. But—our world has long been manipulated by gods from higher dimensions, repeating a cycle of despair for millennia. I want to end this cycle and usher in a rebirth for the world with fire and blood."

"I understand your lofty dream and am willing to sacrifice my life for it at any time. But this dream is too grand and too vast. If there is even a slight deviation in the process, the world will fall into endless darkness..."

Ulysses tries to change Jarris's mind.

However, Yaris's attention had already shifted to another crystal mirror in the room - that was the crystal mirror used specifically to communicate with Lucien. The originally dark mirror surface was now spinning with rainbow-colored light, symbolizing the opening of a passage.

"—Ulysses, that's all for tonight's conversation."

"King?"

"With your abilities, even if you set up a hundred layers of barriers during a call, it would still be transparent to Him. All our conversations are under His watchful observation and observation."

“T-then…”

"It doesn't matter. He is just playing an exciting game with me to decide the fate of the planet."

Yaris emphasized firmly, "And I—absolutely! Will! Not! Lose!"

【Yeah? 】

An inhuman, cold voice sounded in both of their heads at the same time.

Ulysses couldn't bear the dark power attached to the laughter. Blood flowed from his nose and fell on the crystal mirror, making a boiling hissing sound.

"ah--"

"Go back first. He is not something you can face."

"Feel sorry……"

As soon as the words fell, Ulysses' crystal mirror returned to darkness.

Yaris looked up and gave the darkness a weak and quiet smile: "Even if you have found a way to cross the prohibitions of the gods and touch me, you still can't defeat me?"

【Because of Lucien? 】

"……Um?"

Lucien is truly a special being who astonishes me, possessing limitless potential for the future. It's a shame he awakened too late. Even if you repeatedly created opportunities for him to grow and bought him time, he couldn't transform from a tender little bird into the blazing sun that threatens me before I took you away.

[I will crown you in front of him, and unite with you completely, making you my queen in body and soul, and ruling our dark empire with me.]

"...There's a question I've always wanted to ask you."

What's the problem?

"You used me to instill hatred in him, ordering him to kill me and curse me in public, attempting to shake me, but in the end, you only caused me to regret it?"

[…I don’t regret it, but I want to know what method you used to bring people back to life or even awaken them!]

"You want to know?"

A quiet night sky.

Yaris raised his eyes, awe-inspiring, his lips as soft as petals opened and closed proudly, his whole body...

——At this moment, he is no longer a precious flower that relies on drugs to maintain life, but a powerful existence from other dimensions that transcends humans.

[You, you, really want to peek into the realm of God?]

[So far, all your efforts have been in vain. In vain have you tried to disrupt the balance of the universe itself, in vain have you summoned chaos that does not belong to this dimension, in vain have you attempted to bring true darkness to the world!]

[——You don’t even know what kind of disaster you are doing!]

All living things in the space - whether visible or invisible to the naked eye - all formed into transparent crystals as the divine language vibrated in the air, and disintegrated and shattered along with the crystal mirror of the magic communication.

The pure white light gradually dissipated, and the space returned to its original tranquility.

Yaris closed his eyes tiredly, and stroked his face with his pale, slender fingers, as if to confirm whether he had regained control of his body.

"Stupid beast..."

Muttering, Yaris rang the bell to summon the servants.

"Wang Ren——"

Kelly rushed into the room with several of his subordinates. They weren't surprised to see crystal shards scattered across the floor. They expertly navigated through the debris and carefully lifted up the delicate Wang Ren. "Are you okay?"

"Take me to the next room. Lucien was trying to contact me when the accident happened... He must be very worried now... I can't keep him waiting for long..."

…

…

"elder brother--"

Xiao Yun breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a familiar figure finally appear in the crystal mirror.

But he soon became nervous again.

On the other side of the mirror, Yaris was leaning on the sofa in a loose bathrobe as usual, with his long black hair hanging down. The view of Lake Lilia outside the floor-to-ceiling window on the right side of the room was from a completely different angle than before.

"Did something bad happen in the original room?"

"No."

Yaris gave a weak smile.

"Are you really okay? You look worse than usual."

"Several assassins broke into the Little Love Palace and tried to kidnap me. They have all been dealt with."

Yaris said lightly: "I am not injured. Not even a hair on my body was hurt."

"I don't believe it!"

"Really, really unharmed."

A gentle smile appeared on Yaris's pale and haggard face: "If you don't believe me, I can take a carriage to Gaola and let you examine it carefully."

"No, you will get sick and have a fever from the bumpy ride. And I will come to Maga in a few days."

"oh?"

"Your birthday is in five days." Xiao Yun's voice trembled slightly. "Well... I want to make up for the birthday gifts I owed four years ago when I ran away from home all at once. Unfortunately, time is limited, so I may, may only be able to complete the five gifts I planned..."

"Your love for me is the best birthday present I could ever ask for."

"but……"

"I heard that you were promoting a crop called rice in Gaola, as well as new agricultural tools called curved plows, harrows, and drum carts. You also organized farmers to dig canals along the Kashi River to expand the area irrigated by the river."

"Yes."

Xiao Yun introduced enthusiastically.

"Compared to traditional farming tools in Gaola, the curved plows I promote are smaller and lighter, can easily turn and pivot, are more flexible to operate, and save manpower and livestock. Harrows can simultaneously dig furrows and sow seeds while also covering and pressing the fields, achieving multiple goals at once and improving farming efficiency. The drum carts installed along the newly excavated canals not only use river water as power to irrigate farmland, but the mills built next to the drum carts can also use water power to drive stone mills to grind grain, making life more convenient for farmers."

"Hmm...Lucien, you are indeed a person who can summon miracles..."

There was a light of surprise in Yaris's eyes.

"You are so young, healthy, full of ideas and vitality. Your life has just begun...but I am a patient whose life may end at any time...I have always wondered why we were born into this world as brothers...Is it because I want to know about your existence since I can remember, and you also want to see my face when you open your eyes for the first time?"

"Yes, that's why I came into this world as your younger brother. No matter where you are, I can find you through the bond of blood and stay by your side as your closest relative."

Xiao Yun suddenly showed frustration and murmured, "If we were brothers with the same father and mother, even if you had your own child, the blood connection between you and me would be closer than that between a father and child. Unfortunately... we have the same father but different mothers... The blood connection between us is only half at most..."

"It doesn't matter. I won't have children. But you... after you have children, will you still love me as much as you do now?"

“Why do I have to get married and have children?”

Xiao Yun asked back.

Yali was stunned.

He muttered in confusion, "Hasn't it ever occurred to you to get married and have children?"

"Um……"

Xiao Yun frowned: "Once we have a child, even if it's just out of responsibility, I will have to devote some of my energy and emotions to the child, and I won't be able to continue loving you wholeheartedly, so..."

"So what?"

"So I decided that while you are still alive, I will not consider getting married and having children at all. I hope that every day of your life you can clearly feel that you are my only one."