This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes. Special thanks to Igatau for informing us of this missing chapter.

Cappuccino crept to the outskirts of the palace slowly, with his back glued to the wall. He took a deep breath, mustered all his courage and peeked his head over, then immediately withdrew it. He then gestured panickedly with his hands at Little Fireball, who was walking over leisurely.

Little Fireball glared at its master strangely, and asked jokingly, “What?”

Cappuccino used the quietest voice he could, “Go help me scout ahead for any obstacles.”

“What kind of obstacles?” Little Fireball raised its eyebrows.

“You know, the one, the very cute…” Despite saying the word “cute”, Cappuccino’s face was filled with fear.

“Very cute?”

“With those watery blue eyes…”

“Blue eyes?” Little Fireball raised its eyebrows again. Though as soon as its Prince uttered the word “cute”, it knew very well what he was talking about, but it didn’t want to fulfill its master’s wishes.

Cappuccino finally added the last hint with a painful voice, “The one who kept calling out ‘brother’ with a pleading voice…”

With this much description, Little Fireball realized it couldn’t play dead anymore. At that instant, he suddenly noticed a few thin cream white strands of hair. It was silent for a bit, then finally, with whatever little sense of duty and responsibility it felt towards its master, it opened its mouth, “Are you talking about the girl above us, who is looking down from her window, named Lanski?”

Cappuccino suddenly looked up, and he was shocked to see her sister on the window frame, using the most terrifying bio-weapon he had known — the cute blue eyes. She looked at him with grievance, while Jasmine was standing next to her with a snappy att.i.tude. She held a small Baolilong in her hands, who was sleeping soundly in her arms.

“Sister, good morning.” Having reached this point, Cappuccino had no choice but bite the bullet and force a smile to greet his sister, while acting as though he had never asked his Dragon to go scout ahead for some terrifying obstacles with blue eyes.

Though she knew Cappuccino was referring to herself, Lanski didn’t seemed to be bothered by her brother’s usual strange behavior. She asked with a pouted mouth, “Third brother, where is Liola?”

“Strange, I am Third brother, yet you don’t call Liola Fourth brother…”

Cappuccino murmured, but then he was shot by the cute blue rays. Cappuccino had to answer her while trembling, “He went to the the training grounds to pick a Direct Knight, then I don’t know where he went. He probably went to see father, to report on a successful mission.”

Hearing Liola went to see father, Lanski frowned. She looked at Jasmine on her side, and realized she had the same worried look. Nevertheless, there was little they could do; the Dragon Emperor wasn’t someone these two could go up against.

“Third brother, did you chat with Liola? Did you find out anything about why he’s acting like this?” Lanski looked down at Cappuccino again, and asked anxiously.

“Technically… yes.” Cappuccino forced a reply, even though he said 9.5 out of 10 sentences spoken between them. He didn’t know whether his brother heard his words or not, considering Liola’s answers were mostly “yes” and “no”.

Hearing this, Lanski’s spirit seemed lifted. She asked hurriedly, “Then, do you know what happened with Liola?”

Cappuccino crouched, and answered with a stutter, “Well, yes and no, but truthfully you and I both know, he’s under someone else’s control, right?”

Of course Lanski knew, but she kept trying to comfort herself by telling herself that perhaps her father had only been temporarily unhappy… But in the past few days, she had felt helpless towards Liola’s changes, and plus Baolilong would constantly cry, hoping papa would come and hold its crying face. Lanski felt very sad, and she could no longer lie to herself.

Her face sank. She could no longer suppress the boiling anger in her heart. She stood up and yelled emotionally, “Who controlled him? Why don’t you just say it straight? Everyone knew, Eldest brother know, you know, and I know; it’s father! Father controlled Liola, controlling his very own son!”

“Princess Lanski, don’t say that!” Cappuccino suddenly changed his expression, and he yelled solemnly. Lanski didn’t expect her Third brother with such a casual personality would yell at her so seriously. She suddenly froze, and instead, it was Jasmine who spoke, “Are you really that afraid of him? So much that you wouldn’t even speak of the truth everyone knows?”

Cappuccino glared at Jasmine, and answered with a gloomy tone, “You don’t understand!”

“I really don’t!” Jasmine’s body was trembling from anger, and she held Baolilong closer in her arms.

“I don’t understand what kind of family you have. Children afraid of the father, and the father harming his own child. Plus, you guys can witness your own brother being harmed, but wouldn’t dare to stand out to help.”

Cappuccino’s face suddenly went warped. He spoke word by word, “Do-not-talk-like-that!”

“I am going to talk exactly like that! You…”

“Miss Jasmine,”

Jasmine was interrupted by the quiet Little Fireball, whom spoke calmly, “You think there’s no one else here just because you can’t see anyone, but it doesn’t necessarily mean there really is no one there.”

Jasmine paused, and a scary thought went through her head. She sat down slowly, and she pulled Lanski down as well. After taking a few long breaths, she finally said, “Sorry, we’ve had something wrong to eat, and that put us in a bad mood, so we said a bunch of nonsense.”

“Reeeally?” Cappuccino dragged the syllable like a sc.u.mbag, “I think it’s because ‘that’ is here. I heard the days where girls loose blood, they always get moody.”

Though she knew Cappuccino was probably trying to change the topic, but Jasmine was in no mood for jokes. She snapped back, “Scram!”

Faced with opposition even with his good intentions, Cappuccino touched his nose and left quickly with Little Fireball.

* * *

Jasmine looked worriedly at Lanski, wondering how she would react to what they just found out. She believed that Lanski heard the other meaning in Little Fireball’s words. Perhaps… the Dragon Emperor had always knew what his children were doing. If he finds out they wanted to go against him, would they have the same ending as Liola? Thinking about this, Jasmine felt a spinal shiver. She really couldn’t believe, a father would turn his own children into such a cold machine.

Lanski forced her lips together tightly. Having seen Cappuccino’s serious face, she finally realized perhaps she herself had been too naive. She began to think about things she had never doubted before, and many thoughts raced through her mind.

She didn’t realize until now; she had been doubting many things, but because of the fear for the truth, she unconsciously buried these doubts deep in her heart while lying to herself. Now, however, these doubts were uncovered. Lanski began to shiver uncontrollably. She wrapped her arms around herself, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t drive the cold sensations away from her heart.

Jasmine couldn’t help but shake her sister’s* shoulder. Lanski still bit on her lips, and her face was filled with hesitation and struggles. Finally, she wanted to look for some comfort; she turned and asked Jasmine with a bitter smile, “Jas… how did you think my Second brother died?”

[T/N: Sorority Sister.]

“Killed by Miluo!” Jasmine answered almost without thinking.

“But…”

Lanski didn’t expect Jasmine would answer without any hesitation. She thought the latter didn’t know the truth. When she wanted to speak her thoughts, Jasmine suddenly hugged her, with a voice that was, though trembling, filled with certainty, “Miluo killed him, Miluo killed him, it must be…”

Lanski felt Jasmine’s tremble, and realized that perhaps her sister had already knew the truth about her father, but didn’t knew how to say it, or perhaps could never say it. With tears, she hugged back, no longer denying what she said, “Yes, Miluo killed him…”

“But, Jasmine, I’m scared… Scared Liola would also get killed by Miluo.”

Jasmine’s body suddenly went rigid. When she pulled her head up again, her face was as pale as Lanski’s. The two looked at each other. Within each other’s worried faces, an even stronger emotion was there — a flame of determination to protect someone. They no longer needed any more words. The two, who had lived together since childhood, already knew what the other was thinking.

After a long while, Lanski acted like nothing had happened. She murmured, “Ah, well, I must be thinking too much; Liola couldn’t possibly get killed by Miluo in the palace. Let’s not think about that. Is Baolilong about wake up? Let’s go find some lunch.”

“Mhm, otherwise baby would yell hungry again when it wakes up.” Looking at the cute sleeping face of Baolilong in her arms, Jasmine finally smiled slightly.

* * *

As Cappuccino had guessed, Liola was indeed going to see his father. After receiving orders from the Dragon Emperor, he went back to get Yizhou to go back with him.

In the hallway, the Dragon Emperor sat on the throne, with only Idojin under his cloak next to him. The Dragon Emperor’s purple eyes stared at the Knight his successor had chosen. Truthfully, he didn’t really care if Liola had a Direct Knight or not. Like what Cappuccino said, all the Knights must obey the Dragon Emperor, so it made little difference whether he had chosen a Direct Knight.

He just wanted to see what kind of person Liola would choose, and therefore, determine if Liola’s emotions had been completely wiped or not.

Other than “Greetings, Your Majesty”, Yizhou hadn’t said anything else, but the Dragon Emperor could tell, from his cold eyes, that this Knight wasn’t some pa.s.sionate, kind man. The Dragon Emperor seemed satisfied.

“With his age and corresponding strength, he is indeed a Knight with potential. Nevertheless, his present strength wasn’t enough. Child, why don’t you pick some more powerful Gold Knights. Isn’t it better to have strong companions?” The Dragon Emperor was actually very satisfied with Liola’s choice, but he wanted to hear it in his own words.

“I don’t need them.” Liola answered.

“What don’t you need?” The Dragon Emperor smiled slightly.

“I don’t need companions.” Liola answered straightforwardly.

“Ah… right, you don’t need companions.” The Dragon Emperor’s smile grew, but his tone changed. He said, “But lately, father wants to send you to do a few things, and having a few Direct Knights would make it easier to accomplish your task.”

Liola didn’t answer. He was waiting for the Dragon Emperor’s command, not advise.

“Father helped you choose a Knight, tell me if you’re satisfied.”

Of course, the Dragon Emperor knew his successor would never say he’s not satisfied. Sure enough, Liola didn’t say anything, nor did his expression change. Instead, it was Yizhou who looked slightly unhappy.

At this time, sounds of footsteps could be heard from the door to the hallway. Liola didn’t turn his head, but instead instinctively judged the person’s strength from the footsteps. Judging from footsteps on the marbled floor, they were firm, but it wasn’t the usual deep sound from a Knight. Instead it was crisp, which indicated the person was probably not a man. The crisp sound didn’t suggest she valued dexterity, or otherwise the sounds would be far quieter. The firm steps further suggested the person would be a power-focused Knight.

A woman who focused on power, Liola concluded. Though this conclusion was a bit strange; ordinarily speaking, a woman’s physical strength was less than that of a man, so most of them focused on dexterity; Lanski was the best example of this, but Liola didn’t think his conclusion was wrong.

The footsteps stopped right behind Liola. A tender and soft voice could then be heard, “Greetings, Your Highness the Fourth Prince.”

Liola turned around and nodded. Like what the Dragon Emperor predicted, he didn’t seem to object. It was Yizhou who seemed to pause at the sight of this person: this Knight was a woman, one whose appearance could be described as voluptuous. Her seductive green eyes were electrifying, and her wavy hair reached her chest.

As soon as she saw Yizhou was looking at her, she flirtatiously tilted her head, and pouted her fiery red lips. She played with a strand of her blonde hair in front of her chest, trying to attract Yizhou’s attention to it. Her white busty chest looked like they were about to burst out of her low-cut vest. Even the cold Yizhou turned his head awkwardly, trying to look away.

“Hehe.” Seeing Yizhou turn his head, the glamorous female Knight began to giggle, with a sense of tease in her green eyes.

Yizhou tilted his head slightly to look at Liola. He was curious: how would the Fourth Prince, who was even colder than himself, react. He saw Liola’s eyes glance past the female Knight’s entire body.

What made Yizhou’s eyes almost pop out was, Liola actually went up and touched the female Knight’s arms, waist, and thighs. These actions even shocked the female Knight. According to her research and what she had seen, she thought this Prince was someone who kept his distance from all the girls.

Then Liola reached back, and grabbed the female Knight’s weapons from her back: they were duo axes, 1.5 persons in length, and 3 times wider than Liola. He elegantly turned it in his hands. The axes looked extremely heavy, and an onlooker would probably worry whether Liola’s thin arms would break. However, he easily swung it around, nodded, then gave the axes back to the female Knight.

The female Knight used both of her hands to receive the axes with a surprise. She knew, these giant axes couldn’t even be held up by non-power-focused Knights. She didn’t expect such a thin Prince could easily swing them around with one hand, as if the axes were thin swords. The female Knight blinked, and immediately understood the successor wasn’t someone she could mess with.

“What do you think?” The Dragon Emperor looked at the successor’s actions curiously.

Liola nodded, “Strong arms and thighs, and flexible waist. Her overall strength is acceptable.”

So he was touching the female Knight to feel her muscle, Yizhou suddenly realized. Truth was, this explanation was far more believable than the ice cube Fourth Prince flirting with female Knights.

“Acceptable?” The female Knight seemed angered, and her originally tender voice began to raise, “Sorry, Prince, Your Highness, though I wouldn’t dare to say I’m comparable to the Paladin or Dark Knight, but among the Knights, I dare to say the amount of Knights stronger than me can be counted with the fingers on two hands. My kind of strength is only just acceptable?” She said mockingly.

Liola didn’t answer her question. To him, there were only a few people he had to respond to, and it definitely didn’t include this female Knight, who was about to become his subordinate.

Flower actually regretted it the moment the words left her mouth. No matter what, the person in front of her was the successor, the future Dragon Emperor, and her immediate boss. She couldn’t afford to anger such a person, so she had to quickly make it up. Flower showed a flirtatious smile, “But the Prince’s lesson is correct. Flower should train more. How could the successor’s Direct Knight be weaker than the Paladin and the Dark Knight?”

Flower said with a stutter, but her eyes did not forget to pay attention to Liola’s reaction. However, his expression hadn’t changed a single bit ever since she walked in. He really couldn’t tell if he was mad or not. Could this person be an ice cube? Flower thought angrily.

“Enough, Flower.” The Dragon Emperor waved his hand to stop Flower, and said to Liola,

“Since you think Flower is not bad, then take her as a Direct Knight. Two Knights don’t seem enough…” The Dragon Emperor pondered.

At this time, Idojin walked a step forward in his cloak, and whispered a few things to the Dragon Emperor. The Dragon Emperor tilted his head to listen, then smiled, “Is there really such a coincidence?”

“Sir Yizhou.” The Dragon Emperor suddenly said quietly.

Yizhou shook a bit, then took a step forward and replied, “Yes, Sir.”

“Do you have a Sorcerer twin brother?”

“Yes,” Yizhou’s gaze looked towards Idojin, and said, “My brother is master Idojin’s apprentice.”

The Dragon Emperor smiled with satisfaction, “Then it’s decided, Yiyu will also become the successor’s direct subordinate.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Yizhou nodded. This was a good news to him. He had been used to fighting with Yiyu, and one could say that their combined power was more than double of his on his own. This was indeed useful to Yizhou, who was a Direct Knight to the successor but only with a Silver rank.

“Then all of you may leave. Child, stay for now, Father has a mission for you.”

The two Knights saluted to the Dragon Emperor and the successor, then left quietly.

* * *

As soon as they stepped out of the hallway, Flower began to complain, “What the h.e.l.l? Is that really a Prince? He’s a big ice cube. Third Prince is far more interesting.”

Yizhou remained silent, but the same concern was raised in his mind. When he saw Liola before, he was cold, yet not freezingly so like now. Plus, he used to hang around several Aklan Academy students, but now he was always alone.

“He has no reaction to salutes either, looks like our days will be terrible. I have heard originally that the successor looks great, and I was so happy.” Flower pouted, showing her dissatisfaction.

Yizhou was thinking of a way to tell his brother the news. As for his coworker’s complaints, they went in one ear and out the other. He didn’t even bother to glance at her. His foot turned, and he was about to leave when…

Bang! A giant noise later, Yizhou widened his eyes. He looked down at the right foot he put forward. About a centimetre away from his toes, a giant axe clashed with the ground, creating a crater of about ten meters long and five meters wide, and its depth could not be determined.

Yizhou’s eyes slowly raised from the crater. An arm full of muscle with veins popping was holding the handle of the axe. Flower slowly raised her head; her originally seductive face had now two veins showing on her forehead. Under her eyebrows, the two originally water eyes now looked like they were two pots of boiling water!

Yizhou’s eyes suddenly grew to twice its size. His body froze as he looked at his coworker, who suddenly turned hostile.

Flower raised her index finger and waved it; with her ferocious and dangerous eyes, she said, “Never, ever ignore me.”

Being suppressed by Flower’s imposing att.i.tude, Yizhou couldn’t move, and he had to nod. He had to admit defeat in front of someone with greater power; he had no intention to be the guinea pig to test out exactly how strong Flower’s vein-popping arm was.

Flower used her strong arms to returned the axes to her back. Her hands rubbed on her face, and when she raised her head, it revealed that seductive face again. She twirled her hair with her finger, and complained somewhat unhappily, “Such a bother! My hair is all messed up! Ah, but maybe a messy hair looks even more s.e.xy. Zhouzhou, don’t you think so?”

“Yes…” Yizhou’s mouth twitched a little, and he held his fist a bit tighter. He had never heard anyone calling him like that, but when his eyes were fixed on the crater on the ground, he suddenly relaxed his fist.

“Aiya, did my makeup got smeared?”

“No…”

“Ah, ah, such a bother, my b.o.o.bs are too big, and the zippers are bursting open. Zhouzhou, help me pull it up~”

“…”

Yizhou looked as Flower showed her back unreservedly. He suddenly thought, perhaps the ones who would have terrible days from now on would be him and his brother.

* * *

The Dragon Emperor looked at the successor, who was standing below him quietly. Liola’s recent performance had made him quite satisfied. During his Knight certification, the strength he demonstrated had actually surpa.s.sed the Dragon Emperor’s expectation. That cold, terrifying presence was very befitting of an Emperor. Though he was somewhat unamicable, so it was disadvantageous for winning over the Knights’ loyalty. It didn’t matter, though, when he succeeds with the Dragon Emperor’s heart, Liola would change eventually.

Then, there was only one thing left: completely severe Liola’s bonds with his companions!

The Dragon Emperor already had a plan for this. He smiled lightly and said, “Child, are you familiar with the battle situation in the Aklan Continent?”

Liola slowly shook his head. The Dragon Emperor didn’t ask him to pay attention to the northern continent’s war. Naturally, Liola paid no attention to it, and therefore knew nothing of it.

“Miluo had already led the Lesser Dragons to attack Aklan. Their war path had been successful, and they’ve almost made it to where Qiusi is.” The Dragon Emperor pondered, while observing the successor from the corner of his eyes. Liola didn’t seem to act like he cared after hearing this. The Dragon Emperor continued satisfactorily, “Though we’ve heard rumors about Qiusi not being able to defend and planning on retreating, but I do not believe Qiusi only had such measly amount of forces.”

“Even after cornering him like this, he still isn’t willing to show his true hand. This person is surely more complex than I thought…” The Dragon Emperor smiled, but his smile was frosty, “He is a worthy opponent, who stopped me for hundreds of years.”

The Dragon Emperor said lightly, “I feel he’s too dangerous.”

Liola’s face had been emotionless, but now his eyes flashed with a cold light. Having long been an a.s.sa.s.sin, his instincts told him the Dragon Emperor had already given him a mission. Liola answered directly, “Understood.”

“Slow down, my understanding child.” The Dragon Emperor’s purple eyes became deep and dark, and he revealed a smile, then said word for word, “This time, I will go myself, to get rid of this dangerous factor.”

Then, the Dragon Emperor tilted his body slightly towards Idojin, and said, “Idojin, is everything ready?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Idojin bowed slightly, then took out a staff adorned with a giant jewel at the end. He began chanting some mysterious incantation. A magic circle began to tinkle in the air, and the light grew brighter and brighter. Its size also went from about the size of a fist to eventually about the height of a person. The light also turned more gentle, no longer blinding.

“Go in, child, and help father get rid of anyone who may pose a threat.” The Dragon Emperor stood still, and his thin, long finger pointed directly at the magic circle. He smiled as he gave the kill order to his child.

Liola’s expression was cold as always. He elegantly pulled out Broken Silver and, with a familiar twist, unsheathed the weapon quietly. The Broken Silver shined with a silver light; like its master, the thin blade seemed to be filled with a sense of cold.

With his years of training to step silently, Liola stepped into the magic circle, to carry out the mission ordered by his father. The goal of this mission was, to thrust Broken Silver into the chest of his companion’s father.