Dear Broom Knight.

Chapter 990 The Trial of the Sun Labyrinth
Antirochus was a clever boy.

His relentless pace suddenly stopped when he realized the stage he was in.

He wanted to turn back into the darkness that felt more familiar and intimate to him, but a song drifting from somewhere kept encouraging him: Go~ Go~ Go find your true love.

Go, go, look into your heart, look into your eyes.
Do you want to be forever in darkness, or do you look forward to the darkest moment before dawn?

Antirochus found that he simply couldn't deny it.

Just like when he was at Harvey Castle, what he looked forward to most was the moment when those counts would quickly prepare to wipe out the Harvey family in one fell swoop... How much he looked forward to it~ He was afraid that this day would be delayed until he came of age.

He was mentally prepared for the worst, which was also Euphemia's coming-of-age ceremony.

Although she was a girl and could get married... at that time, what kind of good person would be willing to marry a female member of the Harvey family?

Even with Euphemia's father as a backup, Antirochus still didn't want to place his hopes on a man who had been gone for a long time.

What if he couldn't make it in time? What if the secret agent he asked was transferred away?
Over the years, what he has feared most is these endless "what ifs".

After all, what you least want is often what actually happens.

The only saving grace is that, because the Northern Kingdom has been in turmoil for the past few years, their scattered forces have experienced a period of rapid development... Don't think that just because the Northern Kingdom is far from the scattered areas, it won't have any impact.

Even though that country was a bit conservative because of the king's alliance, it was still quite aggressive.

In particular, they can also hire the White Dragon to do their work.

As long as there is no burning, killing, or looting, the gods will not hold the white dragon too accountable for things like accidentally spitting out a mouthful of dragon fire while passing by, or landing in someone's castle without finding the right direction.

If the gods don't care, then no one will dare to care.

After all, while the church may uphold the will of the gods and fight for 'justice,' they will habitually play dumb until the time comes... How could they possibly help the royal family and nobles with this task?

Unless it's a nationwide attack, the other nobles will just laugh at the unfortunate fool... a stupid idiot who knew the King of the North was not to be trifled with but still insisted on provoking him.

So, even though the Northern royal family is far away, its influence is really strong.

Those caravans that were affiliated with the royal family could roam freely in this region.

Fortunately, the King of the North was a man with high moral standards, so even if his subordinates had some minor flaws, they wouldn't go too far.

Arrogance and domineering behavior are inevitable, even for a coachman in a caravan... After all, the North is too powerful, and even a coachman is a legitimate professional.

This is practically a game-changer in the Duchy of Harvey.

They do have top-tier combat power here, but their lower-level combat power is... well, they're only capable of cultivating some strength.

Scenes of first-level apprentices fighting each other can be seen everywhere.

The most terrifying thing is that those northern caravans would also take on escort jobs along the way.

Those with some family wealth, once they've determined they have a talented child, will immediately ask the Northern caravans to help take him away... Who wouldn't want to leave if they have no noble title or family constraints?
But family wealth is a double-edged sword.

Without any guarantees, no matter where you go, you'll eventually be squeezed out by the locals.

Where can you find a place without any bad people?
Most people, when faced with a conflict between their own people and wealthy outsiders, will generally side with their own people.

But as long as there is a promising professional, those prejudices about whether someone is a foreigner or not will immediately disappear.

Even those who are not afraid will not easily make enemies.

But staying in the chaos would be a bigger problem.

In places without rules, the rich will be extorted, and the capable will be exploited to the bone. Only the ambitious will choose to stay.

People who love their children and cherish their families will definitely run away.

Taking advantage of the chaos in the north, which reduced the frequency of caravan visits, these families managed to gather enough manpower... enough to start a formal war.

After all, the Harvey family has a castle to rely on, and if they don't have more than five times the number of men, they simply can't fight.

For Antiochus, that was the darkest hour he had been waiting for.

Despite the numerous crises and the possibility that it might cost him his life, it was indeed his only chance to escape the Harvey family with his sister.

Blood ties may not bind him, but his surname can.

Regardless of what Duke Harvey thought, he did indeed give Antirochus and Euphemia the surname.

That is where it comes from, that is its position, that is something that no one can humiliate—it is upright and honorable.

Even if their bloodlines are not pure.

So, during his escape, Antirochus deliberately took a detour, working with someone who had also chosen to flee... the eight-year-old son of Duke Harvey's eldest son, who was being raised by his uncle... to draw some attention away from them, and using his talent, he made those people lose their way in the mountains.

After all, once they left the main force and confirmed that Antirochus had only taken Euphemia with him, those people would immediately turn back to find the little one.

Everyone knows that most of Duke Harvey's assets are in that child's hands.

Antirochus and Euphemia were just a smokescreen; unfortunately, nobody believed they could take away any money.

Finally, there was a rather strong 'shadow' following behind them, probably misled by Antirochus's actions... Logically, Antirochus shouldn't have offered any help.

Therefore, they feared that everything in the past was just an act, and that Antirochus and Euphemia would eventually reunite with the child.

Even if the chances are slim, the schemers certainly won't let any possibility slip by. This is the only thing Antirochus and Euphemia would do for the Harvey family.

Indeed, they never had a comfortable life in that castle.

But the gold coins they possessed, far exceeding those of ordinary people and even allowing them to live comfortably in a place like Emilia where money is easily spent, the alchemical artifacts that helped them greatly, and even the strength they had, though not special, all came from the Harvey family.

This is the power of the surname bestowed by the Duke of Harvey.

Although Antirochus's bottom line wasn't that high, and his heart wasn't that kind, he wouldn't be so indifferent as to not do even this much.

But more often than not, he certainly wouldn't want to.

He could actually guess that one of the main reasons the Duke of Harvey was willing to give them both surnames was to restrain the power of their fathers.

Just like the members of the Church of the Dark, they would always restrain themselves a little for Euphemia's sake.

While the lineage of Antirochus remains unknown for the time being, Duke Harvey would certainly seek out that person if necessary… Of course, he probably won’t be able to do that.

His and Euphemia's mother disappeared without a trace the moment the great war began.

Duke Harvey's little schemes, such as trying to extract the specific names of his lovers from her, came to an end.

Antirochus, understanding all this, was naturally only willing to return a small amount to him.

As for his mother, who only brought him trouble and humiliation, Antirochus felt no need for him and Euphemia to repay her.

They owe her nothing; after all, she only brought them into this world to obtain a useful tool.

The humiliations they suffered in the past years have long since erased the effort they put into making the tools.

The siblings never even had breast milk... nor did they have a wet nurse.

He was raised entirely on milk from the Duke of Harvey's family.

Of course, it's nothing. Although I occasionally vomit and have diarrhea because the milk isn't very clean, at least I still get to eat something.

But this has always been a major weapon used by the rest of the Harvey family to attack the siblings… 'Aren't you going to take your cow away? How unfilial!' 'I heard your cow is already at the slaughterhouse!'

Although everyone knows that the milk fed to them could not have come from the same cow, it doesn't matter to the little kids.

Antirochus shook his head; his past was now considered closed.

His future consists only of his path and his sister.

After standing quietly for a while, he finally took another step forward.

Without looking back, without hesitation.

"This is the child I like!" The red words jumped out of the crystal ball.

The sky slowly turned gray, then tinged with orange.

The grass slowly peeked out from at Antirochus's feet, and among the clusters of tender green, a slender flower stem trembled precariously.

Just as red suddenly spread across the sky, the golden little flowers also opened their flower heads.

"Short, like a sunflower?" Antirochus muttered to himself.

Then he saw various sunflowers of different heights and sizes by the roadside.

The tallest of them can even reach three meters in height.

"Is this still a sunflower?" Antirochus sighed, looking up.

Then the tall sunflower suddenly bent down and spat out a bunch of seeds the size of his little finger.

Antirochus was a little confused, but he still immediately picked up the sunflower seeds.

"Aaaaaaah!" Then he realized he had made a terrible mistake.

The sunflowers by the roadside all started shooting at him.

Antirochus, who had been running and picking up things along the way, finally managed to escape the sunflower avenue and saw all sorts of sun-loving plants.

The maple tree he admired was among them, and it wasn't even the tallest one.

Antirochus suddenly had an epiphany... this was his greatest gain from this labyrinth.

The sun god never lets people take meaningless shortcuts... He only likes the right path.

Talent is important, but hard work and spirituality are even more important.

In particular, it is important to be clear about your own heart.

Even with plant companions, you still need to find the one that best suits you.

This is his most important test.

He calmed himself down and began to communicate with each of these magical plants one by one.

(End of this chapter)