Chapter 180: The Odd Dream (Part 2)
Chapter 180: The Odd Dream (Part 2)
"What's with this strange question again?" The spotted prince, feeling perplexed, grew impatient. "I'm my father's only son. Where did this sister come from? If you're wasting my time, do you expect me to answer such... um..."
As he spoke, the spotted prince seemed to recall something, hesitated slightly, and then warily glanced in Lyon's direction.
"Are you using some method to spy on me while I'm asleep and see what dreams I'm having?"
Dream?!
Upon hearing the spotted prince's words, Lyon and Emma's eyebrows rose simultaneously, and they instinctively exchanged a glance.
"Your Highness Joshua, although the Purge Bureau has dream infiltrators, our Virgin Branch Bureau doesn't have anyone with such abilities... But we can't guarantee that there isn't someone like that among the rebels."
After a quick exchange of glances with Lyon, Emma straightened up, her expression turning serious. "Your Highness Joshua, we suspect that someone has invaded your dreams and is attempting to harm and manipulate you through them. For your safety, please inform us of the contents of your dreams!"
"Do I have to tell you about a dream that's just a mess, with no logic at all?"
"Yes, it might be crucial information!"
"Well... alright..."
Intimidated by Emma's serious attitude, the spotted prince hesitated for a moment before reluctantly spilling the beans.
"Just like your question, last night, I had a similar dream. In the dream, I wasn't an only child; I had an older sister, about fourteen or fifteen years older than me. Her name was... Ve... Veronica, I think."
"Veronica?"
"Yes, Veronica!"
After a surprised clap, the spotted prince paused and then looked up at Lyon, who had chimed in, his face filled with doubt. "How do you know the name of the person in my dream? And why does your voice sound a bit... familiar?"
"Of course, we know that name!" Emma replied, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, as she secretly twisted Lyon's leg, signaling him to stay quiet.
"Because among those rebels, there's a woman named Veronica. Your Highness Joshua, we suspect that this woman possesses an anomalous ability to infiltrate dreams and has actively invaded yours!"
"So that's what happened..." The spotted prince suddenly understood, and surprisingly, he relaxed. "That explains it. I was wondering why I had such a strange dream; it turns out it was all controlled."
Strange? Emma blinked, then immediately asked, "Your Highness Joshua, apart from the additional sister, was there anything else in the dream that seemed peculiar?"
"If I have to say something strange... the entire dream was bizarre!" The spotted prince furrowed his brows in recollection, then narrated with disgust, "In that rebel's manipulation, I looked like a clown in the dream.
From a young age, my father constantly compared me to her, urging me to follow in her footsteps. My mother would also take every opportunity to emphasize that she was the biggest threat to my inheritance of the throne, telling me not to trust her kindness and to be wary of her potential harm for the sake of the crown.
Then... um... in the dream, I was quite foolish.
Although my relationship with her was relatively good when we were younger, and she often took me to play in the palace, as I grew a little older, I started doing the opposite of everything she did. If she was frugal, I'd be extravagant; if she was gentle, I'd be tough. I kept causing her trouble, and later..."
As he actively recalled more, the spotted prince's eyes gradually filled with a hint of pain, and he continued as if narrating his own story, his expression pained.
"Later... the kingdom was invaded. First, they blockaded all the major deep-water ports with warships, then blew up a quarter of the main roads, and occupied more than half of what remained. The transportation in half the kingdom was almost completely cut off, and every day, airships dropped explosives from above.
Regarding the military forces under the control of the incompetent military department, they were utterly helpless before the enemy, almost crumbling at the slightest touch. Only the new troops organized by my sister and the Minister of Defense had some resistance capabilities.
However, whether in terms of numbers or weaponry, they were far inferior to the enemy. Although they managed to repel several attacks under the command of Old Hill, stabilizing the situation, but my mother and some people from the Treasury started to constantly hinder them..."
Recalling his dream self's clownish behavior, the Spotted Prince paused, then slammed the table and spoke with a fiery gaze.
"Anyway, they didn't do anything good!
Then the new troops couldn't pay their soldiers, and ammunition and weapons were in short supply. Although they managed to hold on due to my sister's prestige, they couldn't sustain it for long. Most of them were trapped in Merino County.
After that, the capital was captured, and refugees were everywhere. I and my mother, mixed in with the Treasury officials, were separated and couldn't escape. Then... then my sister returned."
At this point, the Spotted Prince paused slightly, and his eyes became complex as he spoke.
"Neither my father, mother, nor my uncle came to find me, but only she led people to break out of the siege in Merino County and retook the capital. She found me in an air raid shelter converted from the sewers in the Old Town.
I... I asked her why she came, and she said she didn't want to come, but I had to stay alive. My father only had two children, and I couldn't just die like that. I had to live in case something happened."
"I didn't understand what she meant at the time, but later, my father died while fleeing, and she was captured and executed after the resistance failed. After her death, the scattered army and those who didn't want the kingdom to be completely annexed started to gather around me, saying I was the last songbird of the royal family.
But in my dream, I was useless and lacked the ability to resist like her. I could only lead the troops in retreat after retreat, eventually surrendering to another kingdom and signing extremely harsh treaties to barely preserve a small area of less than three counties.
Moreover, to avoid complete annihilation, they had to pay a large amount of precious minerals and nearly forty percent of the fiscal revenue as tribute each year, almost on par with a major province in another kingdom. Despite my tireless efforts, the situation only worsened..."
As if empathizing with the dream, the Spotted Prince spoke with a somber expression.
"Just as everything seemed to be heading towards the worst outcome, with the entire kingdom impoverished and on the verge of ceasing to exist, an old man with naturally curved and squinted eyes, always wearing a smile, asked me if I wanted to change everything.
He opened a door for me and told me that by stepping through it, I could make up for my regrets. But as a price, I would lose everything. The dream me, either completely hopeless or feeling there was nothing left to lose, walked through that door..."
"..."
"And then?"
After a moment of waiting without hearing the continuation, Emma, who was deeply engrossed, couldn't help but ask, "What happened to the dream you after entering the door?"
"After that?"
The Spotted Prince blinked and spoke in a daze.
"There's nothing after that. I woke up when the sun rose."
(End of Chapter)
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