Chapter 89 - The Sun Rises

In front of Gregory’s cemetery, Richard was holding the shattered head of the Mysterious Wizard and placed it on the Tombstone.Pandora stood there, her gaze somewhat blank as she stared into the distance, lost in thought for a long time.

The winter Sun slowly rose from the east, resembling a yolk of a goose egg, its reddish light reflecting on the hilltop, on Pandora’s face, and in Richard’s eyes.

Richard’s eyes squinted reflexively, he glanced at the Sun, turned his head toward Pandora, and said, “Let’s go.”

Pandora’s blank gaze finally shifted, turning to look at Richard as if asking something, but she made no sound.

Richard met Pandora’s gaze, seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just shook his head and let out a light sigh, “Let’s go.”

Pandora watched Richard stand up, thought for a moment, nodded her head, and earnestly replied, “Okay.”

Turning around, the two figures, one tall and one short, walked down the hillside under the winter sunlight, with their fading voices continuously transmitting.

“Richard…”

“Yes?”

“Will you always take me with you? Don’t be like Gregory.”

“As long as you behave.”

“Oh…” After a long silence, came the determined objection, “No! I didn’t even listen to Gregory, and I sure won’t listen to you!”

“Then suit yourself, but now it’s getting late, and we need to hurry on our way, so we must walk faster, understand?”

“Oh.”

Their voices gradually grew distant.

At the foot of the hill by the pond.

Numerous animals were queued up to drink water, and shortly it was the wild boar’s turn.

The wild boar, with its slightly crooked snout, approached the pond, lowered its head, and gulped down the water, feeling the refreshingly cold sensation rapidly filling its body, causing it to involuntarily shiver.

After drinking, it turned its head to the side, watching the two distant figures walking further away, with no intention of looking back at it, the wild boar couldn’t help but “huff and puff” in frustration.

It was a heroic wild boar, after all!

Without it, how could those two people be where they are now?

And yet those two just walked away without even looking back, without so much as a goodbye! Too… too outrageous!

Utterly heartless, absolutely cold-blooded! It had queued up so tediously, for whom? Was it that no one would come to stroke its mane ever again, no matter how long it waited in line in the future?

This infuriated the animal!

At this moment, the wild boar’s heart was filled with rage, extreme rage.

The wild boar decided it wanted revenge; it would no longer act as a heroic wild boar, instead, it would become an evil wild boar!

Yes, an evil wild boar!

Evil starts now, starts with the little things. It was going to uproot all the other animals that were still in line, making up for all the times it had failed to do so before!

Turning its head, the boar grunted as it looked at the other animals still queuing.

The boar’s gaze landed on a monkey first, then shook its head. Forget it, this monkey had been sick for a long time. Whether it could survive the winter was questionable—was it, a heroic—no, villainous boar supposed to bully the other? That would be beneath it!

Turning its head, the boar looked at a deer and shook its head again. Forget it, this deer had never troubled it, always walking a wide berth around it. There was even a time when it gave up its early drinking turn to the boar; it couldn’t repay kindness with malice. Although it aspired to be a villainous boar, it was one with principles.

Then it turned to look at a black bear, grunted decisively, and made up its mind: It was the one!

This clumsy bear had been an eyesore to it since the morning. Not only did it drink more water than itself, but it had also chickened out from joining the previous attack on that Black Robe guy. It must teach it a lesson!

“Grunt, grunt!”

With a forceful kick of its feet, the boar charged at the black bear in the queue.

And then…

“Bang! Squeal, squeal!”

The boar shrieked in pain, its mind filled with cries of agony, as it dully realized that the injury on its snout hadn’t yet healed.

This…

As the sun gradually rose higher, the boar, looking at the bright light, felt like its nose was about to fall off, its eyes inevitably moistening. Why was its pig life so hard?

Grunt, grunt…

Meanwhile, somewhere in the world, within a palace.

In the palace’s main bedroom.

Bright light streamed through the windows, landing on the soft, large bed in the room. In that bed, nestled in the soft, velvet bedding, a young noble—or rather a prince—slept soundly.

The sunlight hitting his eyelids made him frown subconsciously, and after a moment, he opened his eyes, looking around in a daze. Then something occurred to him, and with a start, he sat up abruptly, his gaze darting around. The muscles on his face began twitching unnaturally, his lips quivering as if he regretted something terribly.

In the corner of the bedroom, two maids observed the prince’s reaction with curiosity. They quietly approached, ready to assist him in getting up, dressing, and having breakfast.

Gro, being a prince, noticed the maids’ intentions and frowned deeply. He took a deep sigh, scratched his head vigorously, then irritably waved the maids away, sending them out. Having done this, he collapsed back into the bed as if drained of all strength, his face etched with defeat.

“Again… I’ve failed again… fell asleep again!” Gro muttered, “How many days has it been, how many dozens of times have I tried? Except for five times that were successful, the rest all failed, I fell asleep! Meditation, meditation, I know it’s about forgetting the body while keeping the consciousness alert, but… why can’t I maintain it?

Sigh, do I… really lack the talent to become a wizard? Even with the use of potions, the success rate of meditation is less than one in ten. At this rate, I fear… I’ll run out of potion before I ever master meditation.”

With these words, Gro hurriedly climbed out of bed and rummaged through a gilded wooden chest beside his bed to find a potion bottle. He gently shook it, realizing there was indeed not much left.

Sighing again, he carefully put the potion bottle away and, with his hair in disarray, pushed open the bedroom door and walked out. Moments later, a guard approached him head-on, informing him that His Majesty the King had arrived.

“Big brother?” Gro couldn’t help but pause, his tone filled with puzzlement and then indifference, “What… does he want!”

“Prince, His Majesty the King didn’t say…” the guard cautiously replied.

Already in a bad mood, Gro felt a shadow pass over him at this news. He waved the guard aside and continued forward, entering the reception room.

Moments later, after sending off the new king who had come to visit in a personal capacity, Gro’s mood worsened. It wasn’t because the new king bore any malice—in fact, this brother, nearly twenty years his senior, showed concern for him without any sign of harshness. He kindly told him that there was no need to worry about the domain issues, and the title would be conferred, but due to various problems in the kingdom, he would need to wait a while longer, hoping he would not be anxious or overthink.

As for these matters, Gro had already been informed in advance. But now, when everything seemed to proceed according to plan, Gro couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of despondency, not understanding why.

Stunned in the hallway for a long time, Gro turned and walked to one side, making several turns until he entered the study.