Outside the secret realm.
In the castle of the casually named Magic Guild, Prince Geller was sitting on a seat in the villa’s hall, savouring a cup of delicious honey tea.
It was called honey tea, but besides adding honey, it also contained some thick boiled milk and some chunks of fruit, blending together to create a unique flavour. He, as an elderly person, originally had no interest in such sweet and cloying drinks, yet recently he could not help but grow fond of the taste of this beverage.
The reason it was recent was that these past few days he had come to the castle almost every day. While Ye Chui and the others were fighting in the secret realm, their family business was something he had to protect well, to prevent it from being seized by some scheming individuals… Of course, Prince Geller would absolutely never admit that he was actually coming here as a guest whenever he had time because he had grown fond of the honey tea beverage that Ye Chui had invented.
Ye Chui seemed to say it was called something like milk tea?
“Those little ones do not know how they are doing.” While savouring the taste of the milk tea, Prince Geller thought worriedly to himself. When the Crown War began, he had coincidentally encountered some matters that needed handling, so he could not send them into the secret realm right away. The secret realm had been built by the empire’s first emperor, and even the church could not interfere inside, but who knew if they might tamper with things through other means.
Given Ye Chui and the others’ previous conduct, they were probably being ganged up on by the other princes in the secret realm. Prince Geller felt somewhat worried in his heart. Most importantly, the Crown Battlefield had not been opened for several hundred years, and the records left about events inside were actually very few. Who knew if there might be some terrifying dangers lurking within, and this was also the part that had always made Prince Geller feel something was off.
The Star Empire had been established for a thousand years, with emperors succeeding one another. In the early period, among the emperors selected through the Crown War, although some had steady temperaments and disliked ostentation, some were the type who loved grand achievements and extravagance. They would surely publicise how they had won victory in the Crown Battlefield, perhaps even commissioning plays to dramatise it.
Yet in reality, there was not a single word of such information. Apart from a few details like the princes’ bloodlines awakening guardian spirits in the Crown Battlefield and engaging in battles with each other, nothing else had been preserved. He always felt that some secret was hidden within this.
Hundreds of years ago, that emperor who decided to abolish the Crown Battlefield must have known these secrets, which was why he let the Crown Battlefield turn to dust, right? But those detestable fellows in the church, why did they have to reopen the Crown Battlefield…
Thinking of this, Prince Geller’s hand trembled involuntarily. With a clatter, the crystal cup fell from the edge of the table and shattered on the floor. The remaining fruit chunks in the milk tea splattered everywhere. Prince Geller hurriedly stood up from his seat. He was about to call for a servant to clean up the remnants of the teacup, but a shadow flickered before his eyes, and a woman’s figure appeared right in front of him. In her hand she held a broom and other cleaning tools, and she began to clear the shattered cup on the floor.
“Undead?” Prince Geller immediately recognised the woman’s figure. It was said that Ye Chui’s castle was severely haunted, with undead appearing every few days, so he was not particularly surprised. He was merely slightly curious that this undead would actually help with cleaning.
But when Prince Geller carefully examined the old woman’s appearance, his body jolted heavily.
“Dangini!?” Prince Geller exclaimed aloud.
The woman undead, that is, the undead head housekeeper, seemed to pause her movements slightly. She looked up at Prince Geller, her eternally unchanging face showing a hint of confusion, but then she continued to lower her head and clean the debris on the floor, muttering to herself, “The floor must be kept clean, the floor must be kept clean…”
“Dangini! You are Dangini!” Prince Geller instinctively reached out to touch the undead head housekeeper, but the undead head housekeeper quickly floated back a few steps, her eyes warily fixed on Prince Geller: “Old lecher, old lecher, old lecher…”
“…” Prince Geller’s expression stiffened for a moment, followed by a wry smile. “Even after becoming an undead, you are still the same as always.”
He watched as the undead head housekeeper finished cleaning the debris on the floor and vanished without a trace. He sat back down in his seat and summoned the villa’s head servant, earnestly inquiring about the undead head housekeeper’s affairs.
When he heard that the undead head housekeeper insisted on hanging those portraits of Master Kandingstan in the villa, a trace of sorrow unconsciously appeared on Prince Geller’s face.
Just as Ye Chui had guessed, the reason he had brought cartloads of Master Kandingstan’s portraits here was not to dispose of rubbish, but to let Jacob familiarise himself with these paintings. According to his limited information, if the prince had a deeper emotional bond with a certain guardian spirit, it was highly likely that he could summon that guardian spirit in the secret realm. Even the sculpture of Master Kandingstan from the Anduin family had been something he requested Hoyn to send to the castle.
In the imperial capital, only a very few people knew that secret: the so-called Master Kandingstan in person was actually the Blue Knight Konstantine!
Konstantine was a genius swordsman who used a long spear as his weapon. His realm was that of a great swordsman. He had established the majestic Blue Knights, and he himself was known as the Blue Knight.
But the Blue Knight himself did not particularly like fighting. He preferred art and peace, so he quietly published his paintings and sculptures under the name Kandingstan. Because his sword aura was twisted and unpredictable, he liked to find order in chaos, to sublimate power in distortion, so he pioneered the renowned twisted school of art.
Later, that famous scandal occurred: he had secretly met with the Blue Knight’s wife… But in truth, he had only taken his wife to see a play on her birthday.
Usually, the Blue Knight was clad head to toe in blue armour, and no one had ever seen his true face. So when Master Kandingstan and the Blue Knight’s wife appeared in a theatre box and were caught by a servant in the midst of some intimate actions, it immediately caused a massive uproar.
Master Kandingstan’s reputation plummeted. At the time, the Blue Knights established by the Blue Knight were under Prince Geller’s control. The Blue Knight requested Prince Geller to reveal his true identity, but the identity of the Blue Knight carried too much weight. One could even say he represented the power image of the Star Empire at that time. Linking him to an art master who advocated peace did not seem appropriate, so Prince Geller could only refuse him, telling him to wait until the current situation stabilised before thinking of a way to help him resolve the issue.
Later, due to the invasion from the North Ridge Empire, when the fourth brother had just ascended the throne a few years prior, several border empires allied with those barbarians in successive incursions, sparking many internal and external conflicts. Under Prince Geller’s orders, the Blue Knight led his knight order to meet the enemy, only to fall into the opponent’s trap, resulting in the total annihilation of the entire force…
After the Blue Knight’s death, the art master Kandingstan naturally vanished without a trace as well. Thus, some said the Blue Knight had secretly killed Kandingstan. As for the Blue Knight’s wife Dangini, she was condemned by all, seen as the reason for the Blue Knight’s defeat. With a heart full of grief, Prince Geller took Dangini into his own residence and protected her.
For the next ten years, Dangini lived in the prince’s residence as Prince Geller’s personal maidservant.
But ten years later, that is, twenty years ago, Dangini still passed away due to illness.
Prince Geller buried her in the castle’s original cemetery here.
When the Skeleton Walker Magic Guild bought the cemetery and built it into the guild’s residence, Prince Geller relocated the cemetery elsewhere, but he did not know that Dangini’s undead spirit had always lingered on this land. He did not know whether she had originally been wandering here or if Ye Chui’s Necromantic Prelude had fully awakened her, allowing Prince Geller to see this lonely woman once again.
The reason for constantly re-hanging those paintings of Kandingstan was not hard to understand.
After the sadness in his heart gradually subsided, a smile reappeared on Prince Geller’s face.
“Could this be fate? Konstantine, the Blue Knight, the person he cherished most in his life was his wife Dangini… The undead head housekeeper is Dangini, and Jacob spends day and night with the undead head housekeeper in the castle, so Jacob’s chances of obtaining the Blue Knight guardian spirit have increased even further!”
“The Blue Knight… but he is one of the top powerhouses in the history of the Star Empire!”
……
Within the secret realm.
Ye Chui was escorting that sand tribesman elder to Debbie and the others’ side. Now, the Blue Knight Konstantine was standing straight beside Jacob. The attire on his body had also changed; originally it was a strange long robe, but now it was a suit of blue armour, making him look majestic and imposing. The long spear in his hand was also quite peculiar: one end had a sharp spearhead, while the other end was structured like a brush.
Perhaps when he first appeared, the brush he held in his hand was this very thing; it was just that Ye Chui and the others had not noticed it at the time.
Debbie quickly explained the recent events to Ye Chui again. Without a doubt, this Blue Knight was a formidable swordsman.
Guni, also being a swordsman, seemed to think of something and said to Ye Chui, “I feel that he is only one step away from ancestor’s power… This person is really impressive when he gets serious!”
“Ancestor?” Ye Chui thought of that fat Gordor. Gordor’s realm was half-step sword saint, and one step away from a half-step sword saint would mean the realm of a great swordsman, right?
One must know that Gilga, before becoming a heroic spirit, was also merely a great swordsman. Due to the special rules restricting the Castro Continent, swordsmen and magic mentors could not comprehend rules. For swordsmen, the highest realm was that of a great swordsman!
Thinking of this, Ye Chui could not help but walk to Jacob’s side. He glanced at the Blue Knight, who continued to scrutinise Ye Chui through his nostrils… Ye Chui patted Jacob’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Congratulations, your new cheat has arrived in your account…”
