Chapter 249: Lost gamble

Soon, Edwin appeared in the middle of the Herbal Garden while flying in the air.

He caught Andre Valliadis and his guards' attention. They immediately faced and glared at him. One of them shouted out, "Who are you?! How dare you fly in this Herbal Garden?! Don't you know that flying is forbidden in the Herbal Garden?!"

Edwin responded with an authoritative voice, "Since when did this rule apply on Crown Prince's commanders?"

Andre Valliadis remained at his position and stared at Edwin quietly.

Another one of Andre Valliadis's guards stepped forward and asked Edwin, "Yeah? Which one are you then?"

"Who do you think?" Edwin didn't give out a clear answer. It would be absolutely stupid to give this answer.

They would ask him to remove his mask and prove his identity then. Edwin's face didn't resemble Razor Wind's, and he would be found out in an instant.

He had to fight them and then make them believe he was Razor Wind through his fighting style.

At this moment, Andre Valliadis spoke, "You aren't willing to reveal your true identity, and that must be the reason you are wearing that mask. However, you also want to represent eldest brother David, and that must be the reason you mentioned that you are one of his commanders, right?"

Edwin stared at Andre Valliadis and thought 'Unlike Bernado, this guy has a true poker face. Either he was prepared for such a confrontation, or he has something else planned.'

Edwin knew he couldn't stay silent for long. He responded coldly, "The Crown Prince wishes to take over the Herbal Garden. Give up your rights over it to the Crown Prince."

The entire area remained silent for a couple of seconds. Andre Valliadis's guards began to grind their teeth in anger.

They had all seen just how Andre took care of these herbs. How happy he was just at the simple job of watering them.

"What a load of bullshit! Do you even know how much his Highness Fifth Prince had worked on this Herbal Garden?! There were less than half the species in this Herbal Garden before his Highness took control of it!"

"Yeah! He imported so many precious herbs from the other Kingdoms. He endured such great hardships when the Alchemy Association wanted to take direct control over this Herbal Garden!"

"It's only because the Fifth Prince controls the Herbal Garden that the prices of the herbs remain stable! The common people and the Noble Families can afford them! It directly benefits the entire Sinyalian Kingdom!"

"And in comparison, just look at the prices of the weapons and armors that the Crown Prince manages. They fluctuate because the Crown Prince is more interested in supplying his personal army with the best armor and weapons. If those armors were utilized by our army at the frontlines, we would have a fewer death rate!"

The guards surrounding Andre Valliadis yelled furiously.

To them, Edwin was one of the Crown Prince's Personal Army's Commanders. They noticed his exquisite weapon and armor and were quite jealous of him.

They knew that this exquisite weapon and armor could only be provided by the Crown Prince!

Edwin wanted to smile when he heard the guards' words.

He thought 'Good. Shout more… Cry out more… The more you shout out, the more you will be sure that I am one of the Crown Prince's Commanders.'

Suddenly, a burst of loud laughter resounded in the entire Herbal Garden, "Pffh… Hahahahaha…"

That laughter grabbed Edwin as well as the guards' attention. Edwin knew what this laughter meant.

'…I lost the gamble.' Edwin let out an internal sigh as he knew that he had failed against the fate energy.

"You are not one of my eldest brother's commanders, are you?" Andre Valliadis asked with a smile.

Edwin remained silent as he knew that giving an answer right now was the same as admitting it.

"In fact, you are the guy who attacked Bernado and killed him. I never imagined you would really target me next," Andre Valliadis spoke as his smile widened.

Once again, Edwin remained silent.

"I can sense dense Wind Ardor around your body, but I believe it's because you are trying to impersonate Razor Wind, one of the four pillars of eldest brother's army. In reality, your disguise is very impressive. However, no matter how well done it is, you would have failed to fool me using this excuse," Andre stated while shrugging.

Edwin was curious about the reason. Was it the personality of Razor Wind? No… Edwin chose that man because the man normally hid his face behind a mask.

It shouldn't be that strange to see Razor Wind in a different mask.

Andre explained, "You couldn't have known that I have actually tried to gift this Herbal Garden to my eldest brother many times. But he rejected each time."

There was a worshiping look on Andre's face as he added, "Do you know how David would respond each time? David said that he would never spend time developing the Herbal Garden or other businesses. He would be more relieved if each of his brothers managed their particular business. And on the off chance that David did something corrupt, we would possess enough influence to go against him."

Edwin heard this reasoning and let out a sigh 'So I never had a chance of winning this gamble. I failed to anticipate the Crown Prince's Character. He is much closer to his brothers, especially the Fifth Prince, than others.'

"…You got me," Edwin admitted helplessly. There was no point in continuing this façade.

"However, you still won't figure out my true identity through this," Edwin spoke as he charged up the saber in his hands.

"Twin Wind Slash!"

Edwin launched two diagonal wind slashes towards Andre.

Suddenly, a wooden wall appeared and blocked those Wind Slashes for Andre.

'Wood Element?! Although this aura isn't as pure as Laura's wood element, it's much stronger than Laura's variant. This man isn't an elf or possesses the Royal Bloodline of the elves, so why is his element so strong? The Royal Bloodline of the Sinyalian Kingdom has boosted it to such an extent, or is it the fate energy playing its part here?'

Because of the interference of the fate energy, Edwin couldn't analyze Andre using his Mystic Eyes of Perception.

'I need to use my Hell Flames or the Heavenly Lightning to break past that Wooden Wall,' Edwin frowned as he didn't want to use these two elements right now.

Edwin immediately moved forward as he knew it was time to switch to close-combat.

"Quick Slice!"

Edwin infused a lot of his Ardor in his sword and sliced the Wooden Wall.

Before the wooden wall could regrow, Edwin passed that wall and reached on Andre's side.

The guards on Andre's side had all moved by now.

Out of the seven guards, five were charging at Edwin while two stayed behind to create Earth and Water Barrier Technique.

This was the elemental barrier that contained Earth's rigidity and the water's fluidity. The barrier would slowly absorb the attack's impact through its amazing elasticity while infusing it with their Ardor.

The attack would then be infused with their Ardor, and they would launch it at their enemy.

Edwin already knew what kind of barrier this was after a single look at it. This wasn't the first time he was witnessing this kind of barrier.

He had fought against individuals possessing even stranger techniques.

Currently, Edwin was more focused on the guards charging at him with an attack in their hands.

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