Chapter 18: The Visit
Alice felt her heart tremble, a surge of hot emotion filling her chest—gratitude, and boundless apology.
"Brother Linley, thank you. Thank you." Alice couldn't help but say, tears already welling up in her eyes. These were tears of emotion.
Linley smiled faintly. "Go back. I'll go to the palace this afternoon to see His Majesty."
Linley could feel that, facing Alice now, his heart was calm. He looked at her like he would any female friend with whom he had some acquaintance. Nothing more.
"Mm, thank you." Alice glanced at Linley once before turning and leaving, her heart a tangle of complexity.
Originally, Alice had been afraid that, because of the hurt she had caused Linley in the past, he would hate Kalan and refuse to save him. But Linley's reaction had completely surprised her. He showed no agitation, only calm.
Watching Alice's retreating figure, Linley sat down, picked up a piece of fruit, and began eating casually. Bebe popped out from the side at that moment.
"Boss, you're still helping that Alice? If it were me, I'd have kicked her out the door. Not slapping her to death would already be generous," Bebe said discontentedly.
Linley glanced at Bebe. "Bebe, humans aren't magical beasts."
Doehring Cowart then flew out from the Coiling Dragon Ring, looking at Linley with approval. "Linley, you handled that very well. I was a bit worried you might act childishly, drive her away, and kick her while she was down."
"Childishly?" Linley was taken aback.
In Doehring Cowart's view, that kind of behavior was indeed childish.
"Right? Women—you can find them anytime, can't you?" Doehring Cowart chuckled.
Linley was speechless. He strongly disagreed with Grandpa Doehring's view. Doehring Cowart's perspective was more in line with Linley's good brothers, Yale and Reynolds.
"Alright, enough talk. I need to go back to training." Linley stood up and headed toward the Spring Water Garden.
For Linley, Alice's plea was just a minor episode in his life. It didn't affect his mood at all. What mattered most to Linley now was... avenging his parents.
---
"The Emperor is in his study, attending to state affairs. Please follow me, Lord Linley," the palace attendant said respectfully.
Linley nodded.
With Bebe perched on his shoulder, Linley followed the attendant toward the study. After walking for a while, they finally arrived.
"Your Majesty, Lord Linley is here!" the attendant announced loudly from outside the door.
Clayde, who had been reviewing documents, looked up. His tiger-like eyes fell on Linley, brightening with excitement. He laughed heartily. "Linley, come in quickly. No need for formalities between us."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Linley smiled faintly as he stepped into the study. To Linley, Clayde indeed seemed a very forthright person, especially toward him—treating him with exceptional courtesy, never using his royal status to pressure Linley.
"If it weren't for my parents' matter, perhaps I could have become your friend. But unfortunately, one day, I must kill him. All I lack now is the opportunity." Linley's resolve to kill Clayde had never wavered.
At the first opportunity, he could definitely run him through with a single sword strike.
Clayde clinked his glass with Linley's, took a sip, and asked, "Linley, you rarely come to the palace on your own. What brings the Court's Number One Magician to see me today?"
Linley smiled.
The Court's Number One Magician had many duties, but Linley had never shouldered any of them. Most tasks were handled by other court magicians, and Clayde had never forced the issue. In the Finlay Kingdom, Linley was just a figurehead—a way of signaling that he, Linley, was on Clayde's side.
"Today, I do have a matter to discuss." Linley looked at Clayde with a smile. "The Debs family is suspected of smuggling. Your Majesty had Patriarch Bernard and his son Kalan arrested, correct?"
"That's right." Clayde raised an eyebrow, looking at Linley. "What, are you here to plead for their family too?"
These past days, many nobles had come to speak for the Debs family. The reason so many nobles were helping was, of course, the Debs family's money at work.
"If you truly want to save their family, I can grant you that favor," Clayde said magnanimously.
What Clayde really wanted was to dismantle the power base his brother Paden had built. The Debs family was just a convenient target. He could easily let them off and earn Linley's goodwill in the process. Even if he spared them, he could still bleed them dry.
"No." Linley shook his head. "I'm not here to plead for them."
"What?" Clayde looked at Linley, puzzled.
Linley said casually, "Your Majesty Clayde, whether the Debs family is guilty of smuggling—that should be handled according to the law."
"Oh?" Clayde looked at Linley, confused. "Then why are you here today, Linley?"
Linley smiled. "I was thinking: if the Debs family is suspected of smuggling, Your Majesty only needs to arrest the patriarch, Bernard. There's no need to arrest his son. After all, what use is arresting an heir? If you take the first heir, they still have a second. As long as the family line isn't cut off, someone else can take over."
"Linley, what are you getting at?" Clayde looked at him.
Linley met Clayde's gaze. "Your Majesty, please release Kalan."
"Oh, release Kalan? I've heard that Kalan and you..." Clayde had investigated Linley thoroughly and naturally knew about the relationship between Linley, Kalan, and Alice.
Linley gave a helpless smile. "Your Majesty, that was a long time ago."
Clayde warned him, "Linley, let me remind you: according to my people's reports, Kalan is extremely narrow-minded. He holds grudges."
"I know." Linley nodded slightly.
From his few encounters with Kalan, Linley had sensed Kalan's hostility toward him. Moreover, Linley knew that during the seven-day exhibition of his "Awakening" sculpture, someone had tried to damage it.
Damaging a sculpture—that was harming others without benefiting oneself.
Aside from Kalan, Linley couldn't think of anyone else who would send someone to destroy the "Awakening" sculpture.
"And you still want to help him?" Clayde pressed.
"Your Majesty Clayde, do you think I need to care about a petty, short-sighted little man like him?" Linley smiled at Clayde. Clayde was taken aback, then laughed.
"Right. That Kalan was once an acquaintance of yours, but instead of trying to build a friendship, he harbors hostility toward you. His father, on the other hand, has repeatedly tried to win you over. Compared to his father, Kalan is indeed far more short-sighted." Clayde laughed heartily.
Clayde patted Linley on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll instruct Melitta to handle this strictly according to the law. We must investigate the facts thoroughly. I won't wrong the Debs family. But if they are truly guilty of smuggling, I won't let them escape punishment."
"Exactly—handle it according to the law," Linley said with a nod.
---
On the carriage ride back, Bebe was lying on Linley's lap.
"Wow, Boss, you're so cunning. That Debs family is definitely smuggling. When their family falls apart, even if Kalan gets out now, won't he still end up miserable?" Bebe said excitedly.
Bebe had long wanted to destroy Kalan.
Linley shook his head with a smile. "It's hard to say whether the Debs family will really be finished. For example, they could hand over most of their fortune to Clayde, and he might let them off. But no matter what, once they're in Clayde's hands, they'll at least be skinned alive."
Linley was well aware of the darkness within noble circles. Saying "handle it according to the law" was just a facade.
"Compared to Clayde, the Debs family is far outmatched," Linley thought to himself.
A petty figure like Kalan had never been on Linley's radar. Kalan and Linley were simply not on the same level. Linley's target was Clayde.
"Milord, we've arrived," the coachman said respectfully.
Linley opened the door and stepped down. Bebe leaped onto his shoulder. Just as Linley was about to enter his residence, a guard at the gate said respectfully, "Milord, a guest arrived earlier. He is waiting for you in the drawing room."
"A guest, in the drawing room?" Linley was puzzled.
Nobles often sought an audience with Linley, but without his permission, they had to wait outside the main gate. Only high-ranking figures—like Duke Bernard, His Majesty Clayde, or Lord Gilmore—would be allowed directly into the drawing room without waiting outside.
"Who is he?" Linley pressed.
"I don't know, but he carries the token of a Red Cardinal," the guard said respectfully. This guard was originally from the Radiant Church and was familiar with the Red Cardinal's token.
Each Red Cardinal had only one such token. Of course, some extremely powerful ascetics might also possess one. The token represented status—the bearer's standing was no lower than that of a Red Cardinal.
"A token?" Linley was startled.
Without hesitation, Linley immediately strode toward the drawing room. As he crossed the corridor and saw the figure inside, he was stunned.
In the drawing room sat a middle-aged man in a loose robe, with long black hair flowing freely. He looked to be in his thirties or forties, exuding a lazy air.
When Linley looked at him, the middle-aged man seemed to sense it. He immediately looked back, his eyes lighting up with surprise. "Master Linley, you're here?"
"Master Linley?" Linley was puzzled but quickly entered the drawing room.
"You... oh, I remember. You're the one who bid ten million gold coins." Linley recalled that during the auction of the "Awakening" sculpture, this middle-aged man had made that bid.
The middle-aged man nodded happily. "I didn't expect Master Linley to remember me. That truly delights me. Ah, let me introduce myself first. My name is... Hise."
"Hise?" Linley had never heard the name.
"Hise?!" Doehring Cowart's voice suddenly rang out in Linley's mind. "I didn't expect that little freak Hise to still be hanging around in the material plane of the Yulan Continent."
Linley was taken aback.
Grandpa Doehring knew this Hise? What era was Grandpa Doehring from? If he knew him, then how old was this Hise?
"Linley, this Hise is a real freak. His training speed is terrifying, and he kills without blinking. When I was alive, Hise had already reached the Saint realm. Though he was just a beginner back then, over five thousand years have passed. With his training speed, his strength must be far more terrifying now."
Linley's heart clenched violently.
This middle-aged man, who looked to be in his thirties or forties, had already been a Saint-level expert when Doehring Cowart was alive. Doehring Cowart had lived only a little over a thousand years before dying, but this Hise—by rough calculation—was at least six thousand years old.
A six-thousand-year-old freak!
"Master Linley, what's wrong?" Hise asked with concern. "Your expression doesn't look good."
"Nothing. Mr. Hise, please, have a seat." Linley struggled to keep calm, but knowing the man's identity, he couldn't help but feel shaken.
A six-thousand-year-old relic, a powerhouse who had lived from the age of the Pruem Empire to the present. He had already reached the Saint realm back then. What about now?
"Master Linley, I have tremendous admiration for your sculpting skills. If it weren't for that little girl Delia asking me to step back, I would have bought your sculpture that day." This Hise shrugged and said, then his eyes lit up as he looked at Linley. "Master Linley, when are you and that Delia getting married?"
"Married?"
Even as shocked as he was by Hise's identity, Linley couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at Hise upon hearing that.