by Feng Yue
Now, he was nothing like the frail and eerily beautiful boy from a few months ago. After growing ten centimeters taller, he had also gained at least thirty pounds. It seemed…he had aged a lot. He was a twenty-something man now…uh, a fat man.
It was not a problem that he could no longer wear his old clothes. The best tailors visited every day to measure him and make customized clothes.
After loosening his belt, he realized that he could keep eating so he happily rang the bell beside him. The servant quickly sprinted away. Ten minutes later, another hot and steaming feast was brought over. He could eat another meal. How great!
“Bai Xi, want some midnight snacks?” He glanced at the girl sitting behind the counter.
Bai Xi raised her head and glanced at him. “No need. Teacher, please enjoy your food. I hope you die of obesity soon.”
“Youths shouldn’t be picky eaters!” Hermes’s smile seemed more honest after he became fat. “You’re still growing. What if you lack nutrients and grow up like a stick? You won’t even get married.”
A dagger suddenly landed on the table, cutting him off. His expression grew helpless. Hitting his forehead, he nodded and said, “Since we have time, why don’t I give you a history lesson?” Without waiting for Bai Xi’s reply, he went with his own ideas and said, “Bai Xi, did you know that King Arthur actually passed down his lineage?”
276 The Secrets I Cannot Tell You
“King Arthur actually passed down his lineage…”
“No sh*t.” Bai Xi glared at him. “Otherwise, wouldn’t the current royal family be adopted?”
“I’m not talking about the regular lineage. It’s something more dangerous—even more dangerous and strange than the Eastern Deva’s blood.” Hermes glanced back at her. “You don’t think only Eastern musicians have bloodline inheritance right? Western musicians don’t strive for intangible experience, inspiration, and talent. They like more direct things, more direct power…including our King Arthur.”
Bai Xi froze. She asked, “Don’t the legends say he’s a demigod?”
“A demigod? Oh, that’s not entirely wrong.” Hermes nodded. “Back in the day, he received the status of a god as a mortal. He forcefully instilled power above his level into his body and turned himself into a…non-human and non-demon ‘demigod.’ The people of Anglo say he has the red dragon’s blood because his blood is boiling, scalding, crazy, and inhuman.
“It’s the almighty Holy Grail that the Maiden of the Lake blessed upon him. He wanted power so his blood gave him power. He wanted more so his blood gave him more. At the same it, it cursed him, causing him to be restricted to his madness for life.
“Near the end of his life, he became greedy and insatiable. He wanted more and more power, but that only brought more and more curses. The bigger the curse was, the more power he needed to contain it. This was a vicious cycle caused by greed. The result was that he began going crazy.” Hermes savored the taste in his mouth and squinted as he recalled the past.
“Within ten short years, the glorious days were gone forever. The blood from Avalon had flowed into a river. The heads chopped off had been piled into a tower. The dead added their anger into the aether that wrapped around the crazy king’s ‘scepter.’ Avalon had transformed into a city of demons.
“Ten years ago, the city was perfect as heaven. Ten years later, it had fallen to Hell…this was how Avalon’s Shadow came to be. The greed from a thousand years ago resulted in endless disasters.”
Bai Xi said, “But King Arthur is already dead.”
“Hopefully, but he still has many descendants, doesn’t he?” Hermes glanced at the night outside the window. The Elizabeth Tower below the palace extended into the sky like a hand reaching up. “This is the cursed blood.” He lowered his eyes. “The power and curse are all in the blood and passed down the generations. This is the original sin they’re born with and destined to live with for eternity. There is no cure.”
-
Late at night, an unmarked carriage appeared at the highest point of Avalon, outside the palace. The driver was a knight covered entirely in armor. With his guidance, the carriage silently passed through the checkpoint without anyone noticing. A weathered elevator was behind the checkpoint. The brass had turned smooth from years of friction. It had a gentle brassy shine.
The carriage stopped on it and the elevator was activated, pulling the carriage up. This was the only way to the top level of Avalon. When the carriage stopped on the square before the palace, the knight walked down. He opened the door and an old priest walked out.
“Father Mephistopheles, please follow me.” The knight pulled down the helmet, revealing a panicking girl. “We don’t have much time.”
Mephistopheles nodded and followed her. “How is the Princess? Are you sure it’s Hyakume’s curse?”
“…Yes.” Christine lowered her head. “It is my fault. I didn’t even notice Her Highness was cursed.”
“You can’t approach when the dragon blood is out of control. This is not your fault.” Mephistopheles sighed. “If the disease of the dragon blood acts at the same time as Hyakume’s curse… Her Highness is most likely much tormented. Unfortunately, St. George’s spear was lost years ago. Otherwise, this would not happen.”
Eyes filled with pain, Christine lead the way quietly. Soon, a white-faced servant hurried over. “Ga—Galahad, Her Highness, Her Highness…” She froze halfway through and murmured something in Christine’s ear.
Christine’s expression changed drastically. “Why didn’t you stop her?!”
“Her Highness…she said she’s going to lose control and was scared she’d do something she wouldn’t be able to take back.”
“B*stard!” Christine glared at her. “How can Her Highness go into that place again in her state? This is different from before! If you can’t stop her, shouldn’t you notify me? When did she leave?”
“Her Highness knocked me unconscious as soon as you left.” The servant lowered her head as her shoulder trembled.
“Excuse me.” Christine bid farewell to the old man without bowing. “I will go find the Princess right now.” With that, she put on her helmet, gripped the sword at her waist, and rushed into the palace.
Behind her, Mephistopheles suddenly called, “Sir Galahad.” He looked up with muddled eyes. “Please do not be anxious. I can still feel Her Highness’s sound of heart. She…she has returned already.”
“She returned?” Thinking of something, Christine gripped her sword. Her expression grew grave.
Sensing her thoughts, Mephistopheles shook his head. “It’s not as you think. Her Highness did not lose control. According to my perception, her curse has been lifted.”
“Lifted?” Christine froze.
Mephistopheles fell silent. Sensing something, he nodded after a pause. “Yes, I can sense that Her Highness is still very weak but Hyakume’s curse has undoubtedly been lifted. Even the frantic dragon blood has been calmed. It seems that Her Highness is loved by God. I am not needed anymore.” He smiled, signaling for Christine to relax. She quickly processed everything.
Without bidding farewell, she charged into the princess’s chamber. Her footsteps broke the stillness of night. Without caring for manners, she pushed open the bedchamber door. “Your Highness!”
The room was not the mess she had expected. Everything was orderly and undamaged. Hearing the door open, the girl standing before the window looked back. She was still wearing the dress that had turned black from dust. Her face was covered with dirt and looked nothing like a princess. The ragged leather jacket on her shoulders was ripped and burnt, making her look especially like a trash collector girl.
But this time, she had not lost her sanity. Seeing the intruder, she smiled. “Christine.”
Christine gaped at Mary’s smile, unable to react for a long time. She did not know what happened but the princess did not look like she was cursed. In fact, she had not smiled so calmly ever since her bloodline had awoken.
&n
bsp; “Your Highness, are you alright?” Christine squeezed her sword handle. It felt like she was dreaming.
“I am well.” The leather jacket was too strange and big for Mary but she wore it as if it was a luxurious wing. Her expression was calm and serene. “I think I had a good dream,” she said. “I feel much more relaxed.”
Christine studied her for a long time before finally relaxing. “Has the curse been lifted?”
Mary nodded. She showed Christine the wound on her hand. When she cut herself, warm blood dripped out. It was neither hot nor wild. There was nothing abnormal.
“Look, even the dragon blood is sleeping again. This time, I can remain clear headed for a few months.”
Sensing the bitterness in Mary’s words, Christine looked down. Unable to reply, she just took out the bandages and medicine and skillfully bandaged the wound. The slender arm was covered with faint scars. These were wounds left behind when she tried to end her life during her periods of pain. Unfortunately, she was not allowed to die. How much longer must this vicious cycle go on for?
Christine lowered her eyes, unable to look. She prayed quietly, “God bless you.”
“No, God must hate me, right?”
Christine looked up at Mary’s quiet murmur and saw the girl staring at the moonlight.
“Doesn’t he?” Mary asked softly. “I inherited the dragon blood at birth and am controlled by the power. I go crazy, turning into a psychotic killer. I wake up every night in the blood of innocent people, night after night, dying myself black from my sins. Christine, I was born a sinner.
“Sometimes I hate James. I hate my own brother, hate how he’s so average, hate that he’d never be able to inherit this evil that should be his. When I go crazy, I feel that the entire world has been polluted by the dirty people. But when I wake, I realize that I am the dirtiest one…
“Christine, you’re my only friend but I feel guilt when I see you. I don’t deserve you to sacrifice your time for me. You should be eighteen now, right? But you’ve never even had a playmate because of me.”
“Your Highness, I’ll be by your side no matter what kind of person you turn into. If your fate is to inherit the crown, then my mission is to be your sword and shield.” Christine’s expression was solemn. “There are no men in my generation of the Lancelot family. I am my father’s only child. My life has been decided the moment I was born, just like Your Highness. I was once unhappy but now I feel that it’s a good thing I met you. Becoming your guard wasn’t an order by my family but my own wishes. I perform my duties voluntarily and willingly. So please do not blame yourself.”
Mary was taken aback. After a long while, she grasped Christine’s hand. “Then, you’ve worked hard.”
Christine nodded.
-
The night was deep. After talking about Avalon’s pop music and current news, the sleepy Mary leaned against Christine and fell asleep.
Christine glanced at the girl curled up on the sofa. Mary’s face was no longer in fear. She picked Mary up and placed her on the bed. Even in sleep, Mary seemed unwilling to take off the ragged leather jacket. She gripped it tightly. After a few attempts, Christine gave up.
She did not know where Her Highness found such a strange jacket but…Christine was concerned because it was clearly a man’s jacket! Had someone sneakily approached the princess without her realizing? Maybe it was related to the curse but if this was true, then what was the man’s reason?
Christine thought carefully but something bitter appeared in her heart. Her Highness must be looking so relaxed because of that man too! Christine had accompanied her for all these years but was nothing before some random man. That man must have an ulterior motive!
She gripped her sword. Coldness flashed past her eyes. If she found that evil man, she would definitely show him how powerful Galahad was!
“Christine,” came a murmur behind her.
“Huh?” She flinched and turned to see Mary, half asleep. She hugged the jacket as she stared at Christine, making her panic subconsciously as if her thoughts were laid out. “Y-your Highness, do you need something?”
“Teach me to dance later.” Mary looked at her with pleading eyes. “I want to learn the waltz.”
“Uh…You’ve never been interested in those things, right?” Christine was suddenly nervous for some reason.
“Christine, I just want to learn it so teach me please.”
Christine froze. Hesitating for a long time, she lowered her head in embarrassment. “Uh…I’ve trained to inherit Sir Galahad’s power since birth. A knight doesn’t need to learn something as weak as ballroom dances. I’ve never learned it before.”
“Oh?” Faint disappointment appeared in Mary’s eyes. “Seems that even Christine has things she can’t do.”
After a pause, Christine made her decision. She gritted her teeth and said, “I will start learning tomorrow!”
Mary snickered at her distress and moved on from the topic. Burying her face in her pillow, she suddenly said, “Christine, I just…dreamed of the prince.”
“Prince?!” Christine yelped. Her vision went black. It felt like the sky had fallen. She was right! Her Highness had really met some evil man! However, she quickly fixed her reaction and squeezed out a smile. “Uh, really? That…prince…is he handsome?”
She really wanted to chop up that stupid prince and feed him to the dogs.
“I can’t remember. I just remember him holding my hand. Oh, I can’t tell you the rest.” Mary slyly batted her lashes. “That dream is my secret and the prince is my secret too…” Smiling, she closed her eyes and entered her dream world. There was moonlight there.
277 On the Giant’s Shoulder 1
Under the same moonlight, dim lantern light shone in the silence. An old man clad in white gazed at the rows of thick books on the large bookshelves gravely. He looked to be around forty-years-old. He had lost almost all his hair. The remaining strands of graying hair were scattered messily. His white research coat was covered in dirt and dust. It probably had not been washed in a long time and had a strange sour smell. It was the smell of pickles and distiller’s grains that had gone bad. He looked like a beggar but when he was deep in thought as he focused on the books, his eyes looked bottomless.
“Charles,” he suddenly said. “I always felt that I was successful only because I stand on a giant’s shoulder. What do you think?”
“Hmph!” The gold-haired youth snorted. “Think that way if you want.”
“No, I was asking…” The old man jumped energetically and stomped strongly. His features were animated as if he wanted to tap dance happily. “Would you like to become that giant?”
Under him, Charles carried the weird old man in humiliation. “…Can I insult you?”
“Sure, it’s not like you can win against me.” The old guy named Newton stepped on his shoulders and whistled. He took an ancient book from the top of the sixth bookshelf. Overjoyed, he laughed. “I finally found it! Charles, you’ve accomplished something great as a ‘mount.’ I’ll reward you on behalf of the Institute!”
“What the f*ck!” Charles’s features twisted. The sound of him grinding his teeth sounded like a knife rubbing against the pallet. He could barely keep himself from chopping this man into pieces.
There is always someone more talented than you or more annoying than you. Charles had roamed freely in Avalon for so many years as an annoying *sshole. He never thought there would be such a big trap waiting for him.
It was one thing to accidentally sign the work contract for the Royal Research Institute. Then he came to work excitedly and was kicked into the trap by this freaky old man.
On paper, he had become successful. He was now the personal secretary and lab assistant of the world’s first mechanical engineering master and dean of the Royal Research Institute. But when he came to work, all his coworkers looked at him with sympathy.
“Don’t think about catching up to me,” Newton had said. “You mundanes are unable to u
nderstand geniuses, so just perform your duties and shine somewhere people can’t see. I don’t need you to toil in experiments or studies. After all, it’s the same whether you have a brain or not. Oh, as for your specific duties, just perform some tricks to entertain me and reduce my stress.”
So basically, Charles’ job was to be tormented by this old man. For example, to satisfy Newton’s wish to take a bath while looking down at Avalon’s beautiful scenery, Charles searched the entire city for workers and material to add a pool to the top level of the Institute.
Yes, it was a private pool. It also came with a set of fine wine and the best sommelier. When it was finally built, Charles had organized an opening ceremony. The world class sommelier had traveled leagues to attend. When he was reporting in a noble and gentle voice, that *sshole Newton…blew up the swimming pool before him!
“Okay, you’re not needed anymore. You can go now.”
Seeing everyone’s dumbfounded expressions, Newton had burst into laughter. He had wasted one-third of the entire Institute’s monthly budget like that! That was why people said a madman was not the scariest. The scariest was that after someone went mad, idiots would still give him money to play with. To all this, Charles could only say that those idiots had problems too!
Thankfully, after spending all of the Institute’s money for that month, the budget review department of Anglo’s First Division sent a very polite letter telling Newton that he had played around for six months and should get to work, otherwise they would be unable to reimburse his bills at all of Anglo’s brothels and personal clubs.
The letter was very polite because this *ss once had been the financial advisor of Anglo’s national bank for one month. He had played around for one month but solved problems the former advisor could not solve for decades.
Actually, he had finished the solution on his first day of work and spent the remaining twenty-nine days at the brothel and casino. If his secretary had not discovered this, he could have kept going for half a year!