Imperial Crown.

Chapter 589 Wake up
"Wake up!"

A strange, heavy, muffled sound suddenly rang out, then abruptly stopped. It was like a sound effect from a horror movie. It was accompanied by a woman's scream.

"Raven"

"my sweetheart"

"Wake up quickly."

Nord Province, Snowmaple County, Holo Territory. Holo Castle, third floor, Raven's bedroom.

Raven had a very long dream. In the dream, there were castles and fertile fields, chickens, ducks, cows and sheep, windmills, flowing water, and Nancy.

He returned to his former life as a baron. Leisurely, carefree, and comfortable... every day he rode horses, hunted, read books... and made love to Nancy on the picturesque grasslands.

Nancy, as always, wore flowing fiery red pigtails, a princess dress, and pristine white stockings... She was flamboyant, quirky, and had a clear sense of right and wrong.

He and Nancy already had five children, three boys and two girls. But Nancy still felt it wasn't enough and wanted to have more. However, recently, for some reason, Nancy's temper had worsened. She would often lash out at him and even kick him out of the castle. Every night, she would quietly approach Raven with a torch, screaming and shouting frantically to wake him from his deep sleep.

Postpartum depression?

Premature menopause?
This is utterly incomprehensible! Raven felt a pang of sadness. He couldn't understand how two people who had once loved each other so deeply and shared everything could end up like strangers. It was truly unimaginable and incomprehensible.

"Raven!" "Wake up!" "Wake up!"

Nancy continued her unreasonable screaming. She became extremely irritable, ugly, and ferocious, like a vengeful ghost or a witch.

"Master! Master! Master, wake up!"

At the same time, that irritating voice reappeared in Raven's mind. How to describe it? It was as if the voice had suddenly become visible, turning into a wisp of smoke, a beam of light, a rope, and then began to twist and deform, like an old cassette tape getting stuck. Each word drilled into his mind. And to make matters worse, the voice carried a heavy sobbing tone, as if it were mourning him in his death, making him feel so miserable he wanted to die.

"I'm awake!" "I'm fucking awake!!!"

The double torment finally overwhelmed Raven's rage and fury. He sprang to his feet and shoved Nancy away! The force of the shove sent Nancy tumbling several times before she came to a stop. Her face, arms, legs… her pale, slender body was instantly covered in numerous bright red scrapes. Though not bleeding, they were all painful-looking cuts and bruises. Raven's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively wanted to rush out and check on Nancy's injuries, but he restrained himself. His feet were rooted to the ground, unmoving. That damned Nancy! Perhaps she never loved him! She only used him as a plaything because she was the Earl's daughter! Thinking this, Raven's eyes turned cold, fixed on Nancy.

The torch was thrown aside with a crackling sound. Nancy knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. She looked utterly heartbroken, like a shattered, cracked porcelain doll, still wailing, "Raven!" "Wake up!" Her voice was hoarse from crying, and she crawled over like a dog, hugging Raven's legs, her tone softening with a pleading tenderness, "Raven," "This isn't a place for you." "Wake up!" "Wake up!"

"Stop pretending!" Raven kicked Nancy away. This time, however, he deliberately controlled his strength. "I've been awake for a while!" "You act all normal during the day, but at night you go crazy!" "Like a ghost!" "I'm starting to dislike you!"

Pikachu—

As soon as he finished speaking, a deafening clap of thunder suddenly resounded from the sky above! Raven jumped in fright, but managed to remain calm and stand rooted to the spot. However, the next moment, the sky above him cracked open!
It really cracked!
A massive surge of black energy erupted from the crack, then intertwined and merged to form the figure of a girl. She wore a round, pork-pie-shaped hat, and her entire body was jet black, except for golden patterns flowing across her cheeks, resembling molten lava cracks or magical runes. Furthermore, the edges of her body emitted bursts of red light, and her eyes were equally crimson. "Nancy!" "Don't linger on him anymore!" "He'll never wake up if you keep going like this!" the girl shouted as soon as she appeared.

"Who are you?" Raven asked warily. But a sharp pain shot through his head as a flood of unfamiliar memories poured into his mind. He vaguely sensed something was wrong with his surroundings, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was as if everything around him was just a dream. He tried desperately to wake up. But every time he awoke, he found himself back in this castle! Day after day, year after year. At first, Raven managed to maintain some semblance of clarity, knowing he was caught in a dream within a dream. But as time passed, everything around him became increasingly familiar, increasingly real. Raven ceased to harbor any doubts.

He believed he was awake.

"Since that's the case," then let me end it all myself.

Raven didn't receive a reply from the girl in black. Instead, it was Nancy, kneeling beside him, who spoke. As soon as Nancy finished speaking, a sharp dagger suddenly appeared in her hand. Before Raven could react, Nancy plunged it deep into his chest. "Raven!" "You failed to protect our child!" "You killed our child!" Nancy screamed frantically, stabbing him repeatedly with the dagger.

"Sadness," "shock," "disbelief"... a mix of emotions swirled in Raven's heart. Even though he hated Nancy now, she was still as important as family to him. He never imagined that one day Nancy would actually kill him with her own hands! Looking at the genuine madness, hatred, and resentment on Nancy's face, Raven clutched his wound and backed away, yelling, "You...you're talking nonsense!" "When did I kill the children?"

“Then what do you think this is?!” Nancy pointed to an empty space to the side.

Raven turned his head and saw a row of people lying quietly there—his and Nancy's five children. Three boys and two girls, all with twisted and terrified expressions, bleeding from their seven orifices—a truly horrifying sight.

"No! That's not right! There was definitely no one here just now!"

Ignoring the pain and profuse bleeding, Raven frantically rushed forward, but the five children were already lifeless. No matter how he called out or thrashed them, he couldn't revive them. "Ah ...

As he collapsed, everything in front of him finally shattered with a "crack".

Nancy, the black girl, the five children... the picturesque grassland, the castle, the giant windmill... all turned into shards of glass and disappeared beside Raven.

The next moment, Raven felt a nauseating pain, as if he had fallen into water. He frantically waved his hands, opened his eyes, and tried to swim upwards to save himself. But when he looked around, he was dumbfounded; there wasn't a drop of water around him. It was as if he had fallen into a deep abyss, surrounded by a cold, gray mist.

"Raven!" "Wake up!" A huge commotion came from above. Raven looked up and saw the Astral Plane. At that moment, a large crack appeared in the Astral Plane, and the black-clad girl was calling out to Raven in pain.

"Master!" "Master, wake up!" "Something terrible has happened!" A voice with a strong sob came from in front of him, calling out to him repeatedly.

"Raven," "My love," "Wake up!" came Nancy's gentle urging from below.

At this moment, Raven was like a piece of solidified amber. He was inside the amber, while outside, three people were constantly pounding on the massive amber, trying to wake him from different directions. "Wake up!"

At this moment, Raven was fully aware of his surroundings. His eyes widened, and he shouted in a deep voice.

The next moment, Raven sat up in bed. He was completely soaked.

Bang!
A huge, muffled sound rang out.

Raven looked over, then quickly got out of bed. "Nancy!" he called out, and went to the girl's side.

But when she turned around, it was Lingling's face. "Master!" "You're finally awake..." "Waaah..." Lingling ignored the pain in her head and cried until her voice was hoarse.

Raven sighed in disappointment, "What are you doing here?" Lingling's figure was so similar to Nancy's. The only difference was her pink hair. Wearing white stockings, from behind, they looked almost identical.

"I...I came to deliver a midnight snack to Master," Lingling said truthfully, clutching her head. Blood was already trickling down there. Raven had gotten up too abruptly, pushing her off the bed.

"What happened?" Raven asked, looking at his pajamas that were already soaked through.

Lingling looked terrified, seemingly still reeling from the horror of what had just happened. "I...I came in and saw you, Master, floating in the air. You were spinning around in circles, and you were emitting bursts of red light!" "You were struggling frantically, kicking your limbs, but you couldn't make a sound." "I kept calling out to you, trying to pull you down from there." "And then...you just fell down from there on your own."

Raven glanced around and, sure enough, found the blankets and sheets on the bed in a complete mess. The blankets had fallen off the bed; no wonder he hadn't been covered when he woke up.

"Quickly!" "Assemble quickly!" "Screech!" "Everyone, stand still and await orders!" "Yes, sir!"...

Suddenly, shouts from soldiers and the neighing of warhorses came from downstairs.

Raven frowned. "What time is it?" He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was around 2 a.m. "Is anyone downstairs?" Raven asked, puzzled. Who would be looking for him so late?
Lingling replied evasively, "Yes." "Yes, it's Mr. Hu Xia." "He said not to wake you yet."

"Phew," Raven let out a long breath and stood up. "Go bandage your forehead wound first." With that, Raven walked downstairs in his pajamas. For someone to come looking for him so late, it must be something important. Despite his throbbing headache and aches all over his body, Raven decided to see Hu Xia first.

Downstairs, Raven dragged his weary steps and slowly walked to the sofa to sit down.

The entire castle hall was dimly lit, with only a small, nearly burnt-out candle struggling to burn out its last bit of value. Hu Xia sat quietly on a sofa on the other side, a cigarette in his left hand and a wine glass in his right. Smoke swirled around him, and seven or eight empty wine bottles lay nearby, indicating that he had been there for quite some time. The atmosphere was oppressive and stifling, suffocating and unbearable.

Raven waved, and the three people standing outside the door immediately strode in.

It was Eric, Hyena, and Link, who were already dressed in armor. After the three entered, they closed the door again. They respectfully greeted each other in a low voice, "Your Excellency, Marquis."

Raven understood that something must have happened within the territory that he was unaware of, just like what had happened to Pain and Kiki Gak before, who had secretly left. But tonight's incident must be something big, and a bad one at that. Otherwise, it wouldn't have forced these core members into this state. Raven poured himself a glass of wine, took a sip, and said, "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Hu Xia twisted out the cigarette butt with his fingers, oblivious to the sizzling sound of the burning flesh on his fingertips. He then put down his wine glass, his eyes red and swollen, and said, "I..." "I was just about to wake you up and inform you."

“But…” “You need to have a drink first, right?” Raven sighed and slowly leaned back on the sofa. The pain, trauma, and mental torment from that long, incredibly vivid dream had left him utterly exhausted. “Now you can speak.”

Hu Xia swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he said, "My lord, Heyaz..." "He and Thor rode dragons under cover of night." "They headed towards the North Sea Province." "The spies I sent out reported back." "Zorsaen..." "He's dead."

A deathly silence fell over the castle hall. A cold wind howled and raged outside, and the dilapidated castle emitted a series of jarring clanging and creaking sounds, much like a weary old man reminiscing about its past glory.

After listening, Raven remained silent for a long time.

But Hu Xia, sitting beside him, could clearly see that Raven was desperately trying to suppress his trembling body. This silence lasted for nearly 20 minutes before Hu Xia heard Raven sigh deeply. At that moment, Marquis Raven seemed to age ten years in an instant. He gently turned his head away, seemingly unwilling to let anyone see the tears glistening in his eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, "This matter ends here. Write to Ferdinand, Tyrone, and the Holy See, inviting them to come here." With that, Marquis Raven slowly rose, intending to leave.

"My Lord Marquis!" Hu Xia stood up and shouted excitedly, "Shouldn't we go to rescue them? Shouldn't we seek revenge!"

Hearing Hu Xia's roar, Raven could no longer suppress his grief. He turned around, walked up to Hu Xia, and slapped him hard across the face. The slap was so forceful that Raven himself stumbled and almost fell to the ground. "Revenge?!" "What revenge can you offer?!"

“Zorsahn was originally my biggest backup plan!” “He was my bargaining chip in negotiating with Habs!” “Originally, if I had just given the dragon to Habs, there would still have been room for maneuver!” “Do you know that!” “Visdon has been carrying the infamy, infiltrating the capital alone for nearly 8 years!” “He has already kidnapped Ferdinand’s family!” “If we just wait a little longer,” “we will have overwhelming bargaining power!”

"Now everything is gone!" "And you're yelling at me about revenge!" "He didn't listen to a single word of my teachings to Thor!" "That's his fate!" "He was destined to be the martyr of his own destiny!"

"And you!!!!!!!!!!" "Hu Xia!" "You really only found out about this now?" "Huh??" "How many of these rich kids were your classmates?!" "Didn't they ask you to take care of their families?!" "You already knew! But you kept it from me!" "Zolsaen is dead now!" "And you only just came to tell me this!"

"Write!" "You're always writing nonsense!" Raven roared, suddenly pulling out a thick black book and smashing it at the fallen Hu Xia. "You love to write, don't you?!" "You've revealed all my secrets, my methods, to others in vivid detail! You've made a lot of money from making up all this nonsense all day, haven't you?!" "Huh??!!!"

Eric and the others looked down and saw the words "How an Emperor is Forged" in large gold lettering on the black cover. It turned out this book was written by Hu Xia. Eric and the others were shocked. They had been completely unaware of this. No wonder it contained so many secrets unknown to outsiders. But what shocked them even more was another statement from Raven—Viston was actually an undercover agent! Not a traitor! And he had even kidnapped Ferdinand's family in the capital!

……

(End of this chapter)