Chapter 656: Heart of Eternity (I) (1/2)
Chapter 656: Heart of Eternity (I)
The sadness in Elux’s eyes gradually turned into coldness, “You are feeling that the mere betrayal of Fulo shouldn’t be enough for me to betray my holy convictions? You misunderstand. This alone would still be insufficient to cause these changes in me. But Long Haochen, as a Scion of Light, you should understand that the Scion of Light is the one chosen by the Goddess of Light, and the resolve he has as such. However, the one to betray me was not princess Fulo alone, but this whole world.
“Through the Escape Scroll, I broke away from their ambush, and only felt a great chilliness fill me at that time. The beautiful parts of my heart disappeared with Fulo’s betrayal, but even so, I couldn’t bring myself to hate her at that time. I loved her deeply, and wanted to think of her good parts no matter what. That black clad man’s final appearance caused me to guess that maybe Fulo was coerced into doing that, and was completely unwilling. Although I was clearly aware that, as the princess, it was almost impossible that there could be anyone who could coerce her, I still wanted to keep this way of thinking. At that time, I was just really too foolish.
“Fulo’s stab was aimed right at my left chest, but she didn’t know that unlike an ordinary person, my heart was located on the right side. Although her poisonous dagger caused heavy wounds in me, these wounds were not mortal. I resisted the pain with great difficulty, finding a hollow tree to treat my wound. Relying on medicine I had gotten in my adventures, I forced out the poison from my body before gradually eliminating all this poison by the means of my pure light essence.
“This process was painful and long, but I knew very clearly that even if I wanted Fulo to clarify all this, I had to first wait for my body to recover entirely for that. I heard a lot of brouhaha outside the hollow tree in the process, as if large armies were transferred around. But at that time, I did not expect the reasons for these armies to be deployed.
“It took two entire months for my injuries to get better, and my cultivation to recover. I stealthily exited the hollow tree to return back to the empire. But before arriving at the city gates, a thunderous scene came to my sight.
“A very clear announcement from the royal family was displayed right nearby the city gate, in which was written: ‘The duke of the empire, Elux, who attacked the princess Fulo to steal a powerful martial technique, snatching it and causing her to sustain heavy injuries, is wanted for the crime of treason. Their whole family is to be deprived of their territory, and get death penalties. Every commoner reporting traces of the criminal will get rewarded with ten thousand gold coins.’
“I absolutely didn’t expect them to use such despicable means, actually making such bogus accusations. Furthermore, this announcement from the royal family was not the only thing. There was also an announcement from the Glorious Church with the same contents, designating me as a heretic corrupted by darkness.
“At that time, I took a whole half-hour to gradually come back to my senses. I loved Fulo deeply, but I wasn’t a total idiot. If I hadn’t realized this huge plot aimed against me at that time, I wouldn’t be fit to be the inheritor of the identity of Scion of Light. I immediately went into concealment to disguise myself, thinking at that time that I had to find a proof that they were deceiving His Majesty and the church; to prove my innocence. The key element to this proof lay in Fulo, which is why I went to look for her to make it clear.
“Perhaps it was because several years had passed, or perhaps because I was thought to have died from the poison, the empire did not put emergency measures in place. So after I disguised myself, returning to the empire’s capital was very easy. Looking at these formerly familiar places, my heart was in great pain. At night, I stealthily infiltrated into the royal palace, still extremely familiar with that place. Although I was a mage, having a cultivation reaching the eighth step, I had numerous means for infiltrating my destination. Coming into Fulo’s quarters, I saw another man there. The son of the Supreme Pontiff, Pelo.
“They were discussing, and that was in Fulo’s bedroom. At that time, I already had guesses about the relationship between them, but was still unwilling to believe it. But when I clearly heard the contents of their discussion, I finally realized how stupid I was, and the extent of that plot.
“Back then, Fulo questioned Pelo on why they hadn’t found me, and he replied that he had already mobilized the Glorious Church’s force, matching with the Empire’s forces to find traces of me, dead or alive. That martial technique in my hands had to be seized ‘at any cost’. I gradually constructed it all from the clues I heard in the midst of their conversation. It turned out that as early as when I was out for a few years, Pelo had already made a trip to the Imperial Academy, having two purposes in mind. One was to discuss the matter of pulling me into the Glorious Church with the Emperor, and the second, to chase after Fulo.