Successors of all mankind

“My son, Lorraine, has secretly contacted Bourbon II’s messenger.”

“Your Majesty, I was unaware of this beforehand. He... he resents the reforms implemented by Her Highness the Princess that halved the family's profits, and he also resents me for consistently refusing to advocate for the family's interests before the Emperor.”

“He thought I was too old and timid. So he took it upon himself to make contact with them.”

After saying these things, the count no longer tried to suppress his fear and instincts.

He was the Prime Minister, yet his own son had colluded with the exiled Crown Prince.

It's perfectly normal for him to be afraid of this, isn't it?

Before the Sun King, a descendant of the gods, no subtle emotional fluctuation could escape his eyes.

Therefore, he needed a perfect excuse to release his fears and to explain why he left the country while claiming he was still there.

Then, the only option is to sacrifice your own son!

The Sun King did not answer, but simply looked at him quietly.

The count knew this meant he was being allowed to continue:

"Your Majesty, my departure this time was also his doing. He tricked me into leaving the country so that he could use the royal family and you to get rid of me, and then he would come out and say that I colluded with Bourbon II!"

"Using my own sense of righteousness to eliminate my own family and the generations of loyalty of the Lorraine family, I will let them go easily so that I can continue my plan!"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. It wasn't until I left France that I finally came to my senses!"

That terrifying pressure has not disappeared, which means that the Sun King still does not believe.

"Then why didn't your son report you?"

"Because I reacted too quickly, he wasn't prepared at all! He could only try to gloss over the whole thing!"

"Heh, that seems to make sense, but, Earl, since you've already realized it, why did you only come over when I called you?"

"If you were really that loyal, why didn't you tell me sooner? Even if your son tampered with your communications, you still have legs, right? After all, you're standing perfectly fine right now!"

“Since you returned to China, you seem to have had countless opportunities to walk right up to me, haven’t you?”

Yes, that's the biggest problem.

Why did he realize it, but not come to see the Sun King to explain?

Instead, he waited until he was summoned by the Sun King, realized something was wrong, and then said these things.

Count Lorraine knew that his survival depended entirely on this moment!

He trembled violently and lay prone.

"Your Majesty, because... because..."

Why?

The Sun King leaned forward with interest, but his eyes were devoid of warmth.

He's already sentenced this idiot to death!

But the count roared out a sentence:

"Because that's my son! Your Majesty! That's the son I raised with my own hands!"

The count lay prostrate on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

The Sun King fell silent at this moment.

He is also a father.

Chapter 81 The Book of the Dead (3k)

The count lay prostrate on the carpet, trembling all over, his forehead pressed against the carpet.

His tears and fear were indeed real; when a person is under extreme fear and the instinct for survival, their tear ducts simply cannot be controlled.

He cried so horribly and pathetically.

This was the most embarrassing moment of his 34-year premiership, but also the most brilliant.

The Sun King sat back on his throne.

He remained silent, his gaze fixed on the trembling body lying on the carpet.

That silence was more suffocating than any interrogation, because the count had no way of knowing whether the knife was being sheathed or raised.

Then the Sun King spoke.

“How would I know,” the divine descendant’s voice was unhurried, “that it’s truly him who wants to use you as a sacrifice, and not that you would even throw away your own son?”

When this question came crashing down on him, the count felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over the back of his head.

He knew this was the final hurdle.

Turn it over, and you'll live; he wanted to use the zinc core to make a living.

If we can't get past this, there will only be one thing to deal with at the Imperial Council meeting tomorrow evening: who will become the new Imperial Prime Minister!

But he also heard something.

The Sun King used the phrase "How do I know?"

This not only means that the king is still willing to listen to his explanation, but it also shows that he hopes to be able to give him a convincing explanation!

After all, he was willing to 'kill' his own son to repay the thirty-four years of loyalty he had shown him.

He had followed the Sun King for decades, and he knew very well that this king, this god, had actually begun to yearn for the warmth that belonged to mortals.

The fact that the princess has grown into an adult, but Crown Prince Bourbon II is still alive, is the greatest proof of this!

This god has become weak!

What he once ridiculed most has become what he desires most now.

As for why, the count thought, perhaps it was because he realized he was slowly following in the footsteps of the King of Glory.

He was about to become a corpse trapped on the throne, just like his allies and friends.

They were ultimately just the descendants of gods who were closest to humanity.

Eternity does not reside in them.

“Your Majesty, my son has only been with me for thirty-three years, but I served as your Prime Minister for thirty-four years. Before that, I was your knight for eleven years and your attendant for six years... I love my son, but…”

The count, trembling, looked at the Sun King, having staked his entire life on this moment:

"But I cannot betray my king, my friend."

Then, the count lowered his head deeply and said:

“Your Majesty, please forgive me for letting you down, but please understand that I am also a father... Your Majesty, the Lorraine family will absolutely obey all your decisions!”

Finally, the count, abandoning all emotion, lay prone on the carpet, awaiting his final fate.

The Sun King gazed at the old man before him.

He had lived for thousands of years, and just as the count had predicted, he could clearly feel that his life was drawing to a close.

Therefore, everything that could once be filled with power and strength began to feel empty.

He did begin to yearn for the warmth that belonged to ordinary people.

The old man in front of him had been his companion for decades.

He was nearing the end of his life, and so was he.

“Count…” the Sun King finally spoke, leaning wearily against his throne and closing his eyes, “I hope you will not betray my trust in you.”

"His Majesty?"

The count looked up in disbelief.

The Sun King, without even looking at him, said:

"Go ahead, I'm tired."

When the count slowly got up from the ground, his knees were almost unresponsive.

The feeling of exhaustion from surviving a disaster surged up from his extremities like a tide, making it much slower for him to stand up than usual.

At the same time, he looked at the Sun King in disbelief.

Did I really succeed?

"Your Majesty, you, you, you..."

At this moment, even the old fox that was the count didn't know how to speak.

“Go, forget all this, and then, take care of your son.”

Control my son? You...you're even planning to let him go?

The count wavered, he really wavered.

He thought he was just acting, but when a god who had accompanied him for almost his entire life truly responded to his companionship.

This standard politician was inevitably shaken.

He even wanted to vomit everything out at this moment.

But in the very end, he kept it all bottled up.

Because everything he just did has betrayed the decades of companionship they've shared!

If you speak now, you will likely not receive forgiveness, but rather unimaginable rage!

The moment he realized this, the count seemed to have aged countless years.

He bowed deeply to the Sun King and said:

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I am guilty, I am truly guilty, Your Majesty..."

After saying this, the old man walked away, looking somewhat lost and dejected.

He won.

He really won.

He persuaded a being who had lived for thousands of years, a being that could almost be called a walking miracle, a being that could crush his bones as easily as snapping a withered branch, to let him go.

Because he correctly predicted that the Sun King was becoming weak, aging, and transforming from the Sun King who could once make the entire continent tremble with a mere gesture into...

He became a corpse trapped on a throne, and a ridiculous, lonely old man.

However, he was not happy at all.

Because he found himself becoming such a ridiculous old thing.

But he drifted further and further away from the throne.

That weakness and anxiety about gains and losses will lead you away.

At first, he was ashamed of his behavior, and then he became angry because of his shame.

But one cannot blame oneself, especially someone who can throw away their own son at any time; they are even less likely to blame themselves!

So he started blaming the Sun King.

'It wasn't me who betrayed you, it was you who betrayed us, Your Majesty!'

'You allow your daughter to rob us of our power and territory, even though our family has followed you for so many years!'

So you're wrong, not us!

As the count walked back to his family.

Looking at his eldest son, who was completely unaware that he had escaped death, the count asked without any reaction:

"Are you ready?"

The count's eldest son bowed his head and said:

“Father, everything is ready. Our men can sneak away with the remains of the late king at any time! But, is it really possible, Father? The tomb keepers say that the late king is almost just a skeleton, and he doesn’t even have… he doesn’t have a head!”

The catastrophe of that year was known as the Foggy Moon Coup.

The Sun King launched a coup against his own brother. Within a day, he not only wiped out all the nobles who supported his brother, but also personally beheaded his brother.

They then burned his body to vent their anger!