CH 112

Prince Wales was a tall, powerful, and muscular man. He was twenty-five years of age and had studied alchemy and was already an accomplished senior alchemist.

A tall and imposing man was being called capricious by someone a dozen years younger than him. He was furious, and with a dive, he rushed up to Yaphisor.

He was about to grab Yaphisor by the collar when a figure faster than he stood in front of the boy, shielding him so tightly that Wales could not find any openings.

“Heh,” Prince Wales sneered, “if this Blood hadn’t been shielding you, I would have punched you.”

Yaphisor frowned and stepped out from behind Curtisno, his smile even more sinister than the demon Wales had conjured, “You are wrong. If he hadn’t stopped you, you would have been beaten to a pulp by now. ”

As he spoke, he rushed up with a single stride, not even using a light spell, and came up with a direct physical hit.

Wales jumped backwards with Joey in his arms, and when he landed, he felt a pain in the corner of his mouth, and when he reached out to touch it, he felt a trace of blood.

This kid had actually punched him to the point of drawing blood!

Wales was physically strong and one of the best in fighting.

How could he tolerate the fact that he had suffered a defeat in front of the smaller man?

After putting Prince Joey on a table, Wales raised his arms and walked in small steps, already in a state of readiness for battle.

Yaphisor didn’t give a damn and took two steps forward, striking hard again.

Wales was startled by the lightning-fast movement and jumped backwards, shouting under his breath, “What kind of fighting technique is that?”

Yaphisor didn’t answer him, walking on slowly, his hands seemingly soft but full of force.

When Wales saw that Yaphisor had left an opening, he struck quickly. But Yaphisor’s seemingly soft hand took Wales’ arm and pushed his force back, “It’s called leverage, Prince of Wales.”

Wales took two steps back at the clank of his own force, and there was even a pain in his wrist.

“This is a martial art from the East,” Yaphisor continued, as he put his hands behind his back. “You can’t beat me in the physical arts, and you can’t beat me in the light arts or alchemy.”

Wales wiped the corner of his mouth and said, “Big talk.”

Yaphisor chuckled, “Prince Wales, you should be thankful that we are in Blood territory now. Once I use my light magic, I will attract the attention of the Bloods. That’s why you can talk big all you want. The future monarch of our Great Seiche Kingdom is a coward like you who is afraid to admit defeat. ”

Wales gritted his teeth, “You!”

“Me what? At this time of year, I should be roaming the towns and villages, expelling or purifying those Bloods who pose a threat to the people back to the Blood realm. But now our church is out in full force to find you. You are a nobleman, a royal son. Your life is a matter of the people of this country, and the lives of the people are as cheap as grass. ”

Wales was at a loss for words, and although he was embarrassed, he never retorted to Yaphisor again.

“Prince Wales, why have you come to the realm of the Bloods alone?” Yaphisor cleared his throat and asked.

Faced with Yaphisor’s questioning, Wales suddenly had the illusion that he was the subject and that the man before him was the emperor above all others.

“I don’t want to inherit the throne,” Wales thought about it but spoke the truth. “As much power as an emperor has, so is his responsibility. I just want to be an alchemist. If I become an emperor, I need to take up the responsibilities of an emperor properly. I have to marry a queen and let her give birth to an heir. ”

At this point, Wales and Joey looked at each other.

“So you just threw your responsibilities aside for the sake of the utopia you had in mind?” Yaphisor tsked twice, “I don’t think you have to inherit this throne, but you always have to take care of the aftermath, right? Love is a beautiful thing, but I’m afraid it’s not right for you to let it become a burden to you. Is it? ”

“What can I do then?” Wales walked around annoyed, “If I become king, I’ll never be with Joey again.”

Yaphisor propped his chin up on one hand and said, “My thoughts are contrary. You’re thinking too pessimistically; you might even be able to ease the strife between the Bloods and the humans if you became king. ”

Humans are highly intelligent beings, and so are the Bloods. Why can’t humans and Bloods be together if they love each other? There is no rule in this world that says humans and Bloods cannot be together; these are the constraints we impose on ourselves. At the same time, although the reformation process would be long and difficult, it is better than the unpleasant stares you receive when you are together, right? ”

Yaphisor’s words brought a glimmer of clarity to the two confused men, and their eyes lit up, but they were fleeting again.

“How can Joey be king when he has never been approved of by his father?” The Prince of Wales shook his head and said, “The future you paint is utopia.”

“If he doesn’t approve, go for it. What is clutched in your hands is what is truly yours. Everything is subject to change. The Bloods all thought Orvis would be the next Blood King, but now? The Blood King has fallen into eternal sleep and Orvis has defected. What does this tell us? It means that the position of Blood King is vacant, as well as its heir. ”

Wales was still hesitant, “Joey has always been unappreciated and he is a conservative. Among the Bloods, the number of conservatives is the weakest, and even without Orvis, the next successor will be chosen from the Hawks. ”

Yaphisor sighed, “Prince, you are the grand prince of a kingdom. You claim that Joey is unappreciated, and if you are unappreciated, does that mean you cannot win? What has Prince Joey done since he was born? He has only talked about his fantasy of peace between the two races. But what has Orvis done? Orvis took matters into his own hands and made great contributions to the Blood King, so why would the Blood King not value Orvis? As a prince, you do nothing. As a conservative, you can’t benefit the conservatives, so what did you expect in return? ”

Joey listened to Yaphisor’s words as if he were enlightened, his whole body standing on the spot, his mind tumbling like the beating of a drum.

He bit his lip, reflecting on what Yaphisor had said, and suddenly felt that although he had lived for a thousand years, he was not as farsighted as a teenager.

“What you need to think about now is not love, but what you want for yourselves. If you really want to create the utopia in your heart, then you have to do something about it. You spend all day at home behind closed doors waiting for it to be created, but the lilies will be cold. ”

Curtisno stood at the door stroking the demon’s chin, which had a look of enjoyment on its face, arching affectionately against Curtisno’s arm and closing its eyes with a gurgling sound coming from its mouth.

He listened to Yaphisor’s speech with a smile and a look of appreciation in his eyes.

The little man kept surprising him. He thought he was just a living dictionary, but it turned out that even his light spells were already at the level of a pope, no, maybe even above.

He thought he was delicate and could only do light spells, but the oriental boxing he used was able to shake the Prince of Wales, who was twice his size and a head taller than him, into submission.

He thought he was just a child, but I didn’t expect his words to be so well-spoken and his tongue to be so brilliant.

Little guy, I’m growing fond of you each passing day. What other secrets are hidden in you?

Beneath Curtisno’s admiring eyes lay a look of affection. It was so strong and intense that his heart was pounding.

Curtisno covered his chest and closed his eyes with a smile on his face, enjoying the heartbeat he hadn’t felt since he was born.

What kind of feeling was this? He felt his heart was almost jumping out of his throat, yet this feeling he had never felt before was so delightful.

Opening his eyes, his gaze kept following Yaphisor, not wanting to leave it for a moment.

Yaphisor then looked at Prince Joey and said, “Prince Joey, everything I have said is just a theory. It is still up to you to put it into practice. But you don’t have to worry, we’ll help you. That guy is a conservative too. ”

Caught off guard, Curtisno saw Yaphisor extend his thumb and point towards him.

Quickly adjusting his facial expression, Curtisno became the righteous Blood again, “Yes, Your Highness Joey, I’m a Conservative and we’ll help you.”

With that, he looked to Yaphisor, “How can we help, baby?”

“Ahem,” Yaphisor almost choked, “Prince Joey, let’s do it this way ……”

Two days later, Prince Joey invited the three princes into the palace for a round table meeting.

The Round Table was the highest-level meeting, and all their conversations were recorded on the table without deception and could not be changed.

The historically incompetent Prince Joey expressed his condolences to his father and his condemnation of Orvis, while he raised the issue of finding the next Blood King.

The Princes of the three factions quarrelled, and it was at this point that the prince of the Conservative faction compromised by proposing they put forward representatives.

Representatives were chosen from each faction, and a competition would be held to choose the last suitable crown prince.

Then, under repeated pressure from the Neutrals and the Hawks, the Conservative Prince again gave in, saying that they, the Conservatives, were willing to have only one representative, while the Conservatives and the Hawks could have two.

The factions also fought with each other, as suppressing others is a way to strengthen oneself. The Conservatives were defeated before they even started, and the Princes of the jangling factions said nothing more.

The Conservatives chose their representative, Prince Kourisjo.

The neutral and the Hawk faction each chose two representatives, the leaders of their factions who were best able to fight for their interests, and the Round Table had recorded all four men’s conversations in it, unchangeable and without deception.

At last, the competition quota was decided. The candidates had to find a way to end Orvis’ life.

For one thing, it was obvious to all how much the Blood King had nurtured Orvis, but Orvis had colluded with a priest to have the Blood King killed and was a real traitor to the Bloods.

Secondly, Orvis was a powerful Blood, and it would be a good idea to use him as the cornerstone for judging future Blood Kings.

But if Orvis is killed by someone other than the five candidates, then this decision is null and void and the rules will be reset.

When the meeting broke up, Prince Joey went to the palace of the prince leading the conservative faction and gave him his gratitude.

Just two days before the round table, Prince Joey approached the Conservative Prince. His proposal was to be selected as a representative of the Conservatives.

The Conservative Prince thought about it overnight and was eventually impressed by Joey and accepted his request.

After saying his thanks, Joey returned to his palace.

At that moment, Curtisno and Yaphisor were also in his palace, and Joey’s face was glowing with joy as he said excitedly, “It’s done, Yaphisor. That was a great idea. How did you know that the Hawks and Conservative princes would say yes?”

Yaphisor gave Prince Joey a look and said, “This is a means of convincing the people. You were originally the only child of the Blood King, the prince of all the Bloods but even if you had to be the Blood King, it would have been difficult for them to accept. However, now that you’ve taken a step back and become a candidate, adding four people from the two major factions that had seemed to have no chance, they had to naturally agree. If you had come up and insisted on becoming the Blood King, you would have received a backlash from them instead, and then, not only would you not be able to become the Blood King, but you might also have been in danger. Now that you’re taking a step back, they’ll think they’ve taken advantage of you instead. ”

Another divine statement that makes considerable sense.

Curtisno, with a look of admiration in his eyes where Yaphisor couldn’t see it, thrust his hand uncontrollably into Yaphisor’s hair, rubbing it carefully.

Yaphisor did not reject Curtisno’s actions, saying, “Now that it’s come to this, Prince Wales, let’s pack up and get back to the human world, shall we? Prince Joey, you can come with us, Orvis is with the priest, Cusi. Since there is no longer a place for him in the Bloods, he will head for the human world as well. ”

Joey nodded, “Okay, I’ll pack up and come with you.”

The purpose of Yaphisor’s visit to the Blood realm was to take Prince Wales back, and now that they were out of there, they headed straight for the Imperial City.

Of the four of them, Curtisno and Joey were both Bloods, with Curtisno being a second-generation Blood while Joey was a fourth-generation Blood. But because of Curtisno’s spiritual influence, Joey thought he was only a Sixth Generation.

As for Yaphisor, Joey originally thought he was a seventh-generation Blood, but it was only after he took out the bottle containing Curtisno’s blood that Joey realized that Yaphisor was a human.

It was only because Yaphisor hid his ears in his hair and had a strong smell on him that no one suspected him.

Joey had often travelled to the human world before, but otherwise, he would not have met Wales. When they entered the human world, Prince Joey immediately took a pill and his pointy ears immediately became round, no different from those of humans. His eyes also changed from scarlet to a beautiful light brown.

Although Joey looked weak, he was a fourth-generation Blood and still had the strength he needed, which didn’t worry Wales.

The trigger for Wales’ leaving home was that the King wanted an exotic princess to be his fiancée. The two had a disagreement and argument over it, and Prince Wales decisively left.

The traces of blood left behind were used by Wales to confuse the public.

Prince Wales, who had previously only been concerned with his love life, had been snapped out of it by a few words from Yaphisor two days before and had deliberately paid attention to the people he was passing on his way back.

Previously, he had dealt with politics as if it were a task.

But now, looking at the people around him, he realized for the first time what he was carrying; not the interests of a country, not his father’s expectations, but the expectations of the people in a country.

After two days of fast travel, the four finally arrived at the royal city.

The medicine Joey had taken hid his vampire breath while assimilating himself into a human form.

But as a side effect, he did not possess the same power as a Blood. Once he has exercised his powers, the effect of the medicine disappears instantly.

It was through this medicine that Orvis was able to infiltrate the human world and learn alchemy.

The return of Prince Wales was immediately known to everyone, including the Blood King, who had rejoined the Alchemists’ League, and Cusi, who had returned to the Church.

Cusi hid the true nature of “Orvis” and met him secretly from time to time.

As Cusi did not want Orvis to harm humans, he asked him to suck his blood if he was hungry.

But that was not enough for the Blood King.

While he complied with Cusi’s request, the Blood King secretly went out at night and picked out young girls and boys to feed on. After sucking their blood, he summons demons and throws the bodies to them for sustenance.

Demons are fed by their contractors, and the characters they display are closely related to their contractors.

As the Blood King kept feeding the demons with humans, the demons slowly became more evil and horrible.

The Blood King had been in the royal city for four days and had only drained two people, so the number was small. People did not take the disappearances seriously, and they had no suspicions that vampires were mixed in with humans.

The aged king looked up at Prince Wales, who had been away for only ten days, from the great hall with a surprising sense of the vicissitudes of reunion.

He took two steps down the dais to Prince Wales and looked him up and down carefully for a long time before suppressing his excitement and patting him on the shoulder, “It is good you are back.”

Prince Wales had never seen such an expression on his father’s face, even when he had been away for a year. He had been determined to go away with Joey this time, otherwise, he would not have made it look like he had been taken by the Bloods.

When he thought about the mistake he almost made, Prince Wales felt a pang of regret. If he had left like that, he would have been ashamed of himself.

He glanced at Yaphisor with gratitude. If Yaphisor had not appeared in time to wake him up, he would have made a terrible mistake. Humans would have declared war on the Bloods, and that was not what Joey would have wanted.

Following Wales’ gaze, the king also looked at Yaphisor.

Now Yaphisor had changed into a junior priest’s uniform, and the delicate face did not show a hint of timidity at meeting the king.

“Thank you all for bringing my son back. I have much to say to my son and much to say to you all. If you do not mind, I would ask you all to stay tonight and accept the hospitality of a grateful man. ”

The three men bowed at the same time and said in unison, “Many thanks, Your Majesty!”

That night, as he had said, the king entertained them with great hospitality.

The table was full of delicious food, and the glasses of wine were never empty.

The king was delighted and drank a lot of wine, gleefully exclaiming how wonderful Wales was as he drank.

Prince Wales blushed at the unstinting words of praise he received from his father.

The atmosphere was excellent, and Yaphisor was persuaded to drink. So he had no choice but to drink one glass after another.

Next to Yaphisor, Curtisno smiled softly, his eyes sweeping over the king’s without a trace.

The king’s eyes twinkled, and a voice in his head kept saying that he should urge the little priest to drink more.

Yaphisor did not get drunk immediately, but he was not a strong drinker either, and after three rounds of drinking, he burped and began to drift off.

The dazed Yaphisor kept leaning into Curtisno, who then looked at His Majesty again.

His Majesty’s brain shook, and he suddenly laughed, “Priest Yaphisor seems to be drunk, so why don’t we stop here for tonight? Tomorrow night, I will invite all the ministers to a grand dinner at my castle to honour my son. ”

Curtisno smiled gently and said, “Then thank you, Your Majesty.”

With that, he picked up the already drunken Yaphisor and set off in the direction of the guest house.

The king saw the direction they were going and burped, “Did I just tell them the direction of the guest house? Oops, never mind, I probably did. Guards, escort Prince Wales and Mr Joey back to their rooms, I’m happy today and will be drinking for a while longer. ”

Wales looked at his happy father and gave the guard a wink, “Father is drunk. Take him back to the palace first, I’ll just take Mr Joey back.”

The guards had a difficult look on their faces as if they were afraid that Prince Wales would disappear a second time.

Prince Wales knew what they were thinking, so after a moment’s thought, he added, “Split into two teams, one to take my father back to his chambers, and one to escort Mr. Joey and me back to my chambers.”

Looking at the mischievous gaze Wales sent over, Joey smiled, nodded with a slight blush, and said, “Yes, please lead the way, Your Highness Wales.”

With this division of the troops, the gregarious dinner was over.

Shortly after ushering Joey into the bedchamber, Prince Wales pushed open the door and said to the guards still standing outside, “Mr Joey is feeling a little tired, so he will be staying with me tonight. Go and do what you need to do. ”

The guards’ primary objective was to protect Prince Wales, and since he had been safely returned to his chambers, they had little to worry about, so with a salute, they left the entrance to the Prince’s inner chambers.

But the men did not leave the chambers, fearing that he would once again be taken away silently. The guards instead patrolled around the outer chambers all night long.

Prince Wales and Joey were so guilty at the sight of these patrolling guards that they looked at each other and lost the mood for business. They took a hot bath together and then fell asleep in each other’s arms.

While they were out of the mood for business, on one hand, the same could not be said for the other.

Curtisno kicked open the door to the room and then slammed it shut with the hook of his foot.

Holding Yaphisor in a princess hug, there was undisguised affection in Curtisno’s eyes.

Placing him on the bed, Curtisno looked down at Yaphisor’s form.

Yaphisor was now drunk, mumbling under his breath and occasionally turning over in bed.

Curtisno leaned down and put his ear to Yaphisor’s mouth to hear what he was saying.

All he could hear was him swearing at a name, s419m? What was it, a person’s name? It was a bit strange to be a person’s name.

After a moment, Yaphisor’s words changed to a soft, coquettish voice, “Honey, hold me.”

Suddenly, hearing this kind of tone from the little one’s mouth caught Curtisno off guard. He glanced down at Yaphisor but was relieved to find that Yaphisor was indeed drunk.

He hadn’t taken two breaths of relief when Yaphisor suddenly reached out with his arm and hooked Curtisno’s face to his own. His mouth searched Curtisno’s face, and when he finally found two lips, Yaphisor skillfully pushed his tongue into Curtisno’s mouth.

The night was long and luscious.

Yaphisor opened his eyes, and his face turned green as he took in the sight before him.

He was lying on a velvet bed, and on a chair not far away, Curtisno was sitting naked, with only a towel tied around his waist. He was now crossing his legs, sipping from a glass of scarlet liquid, and looking at him with unblinking eyes.

He looked at him as if he were a dish to be served.

Yaphisor sat up, and the blanket that had been placed over him slipped off, and he realized that he too was naked.

“……”

Yaphisor’s face turned even greener as he glanced at the pleasantly smiling Curtisno and hesitantly asked, “Did I throw up?”

Curtisno shook his head, “No, you were very good, unconscious but sleeping well.”

“So there was wine spilt on me?”

Curtisno shook his head again, “Neither.”

“Then why am I naked?!”