I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

Royal capital, royal palace.

Dusk poured down from the high windows, bathing the knights' armor on both sides of the corridor in a dark golden light.

Earl William's second son, Carter von Wilhelm, stood before the palace gates, his dark gray cloak still stained with the dust of his journey north from the south.

His strained relationship with his father was common knowledge within the family, but when his brother and father said in the study that "this letter concerns the survival of the William family," he still accepted the roll of parchment.

After all, his family had treated him well.

Carter assumed that with his father's handwritten letter and the family crest, he wouldn't encounter any obstacles on his journey, and that was indeed the case:

The guards let him through after seeing the coat of arms, leading him through a long corridor to the oak door carved with the kingdom's coat of arms.

But he was stopped at the door.

"Mr. Carter, please wait."

He looked up and saw the tall, slender Prince Victor, dressed in a well-tailored dark blue casual suit, walking slowly down the side corridor.

When the prince stood before the oak door, the servants on either side of the door consciously stepped back half a step.

"Long time no see. Why did you come in person? What happened in the Southern Border?"

Carter stopped in his tracks.

He remembered the eldest prince's appearance and had seen him on several public occasions, but they had never become close friends.

How did His Highness the Crown Prince happen to be here?

Putting aside his doubts, Carter bowed and said, "Your Highness, my father has important matters to report to His Majesty the King and has ordered me to personally deliver a confidential letter. Please inform Your Highness of this."

The eldest prince, Victor, gave a perfectly timed smile.

"My father has important business to attend to today and is in a private chamber discussing the price of grain in the North with several ministers. My uncle, King George, went to the West last month to inspect the border defenses. I will temporarily handle some affairs at the palace. If there is anything urgent, feel free to leave it to me."

Seeing Carter's brow furrow slightly, he chuckled and spoke again:

"What? You don't believe me? Then you can just give the letter to the Minister of the Interior first."

Carter knew, of course, that according to the normal procedure, he should have handed the letter directly to his attendant to be presented to the Home Secretary, who would then present it to the Emperor.

But he's not here to deliver official documents this time; we absolutely cannot allow any accidents to happen.

Heaven knows what connection this Minister of the Interior had with the Augustus family.

After thinking for a long time, Carter still handed the envelope forward, "Please pass this letter on to Your Highness."

The eldest prince smiled and took the envelope, gently pressing his fingertip against the wax seal to confirm it was intact before nodding, his tone both gentle and businesslike.

"Don't worry, I will personally hand it over to my father. You must be tired from your long journey. There are guest rooms on the west side of the palace where you can rest for the night before going back."

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness, but I must hurry back to the Southern Border. I have many matters to attend to at home and cannot stay any longer."

The eldest prince did not try to stop him. He smiled slightly, stepped aside to make way, and watched the figure disappear between the pillars before looking down at the envelope in his hand.

Turn around and walk along the main corridor towards the main hall.

The hall was empty.

The evening light streamed in through the high window, spreading a narrow golden band across the floor tiles, at the end of which stood the ancient and solemn throne on the steps.

The eldest prince stopped at the steps, looked up at the throne as if his father were sitting on it, and spoke in a low voice as if in a dream or talking to himself.

"What should we do?"

There was no sound at all inside the main hall.

After a moment he nodded, then asked:

Where is Uncle George?

A moment later, he placed the envelope on the edge of the throne, and without lingering, turned and walked out of the main hall.

The palace doors slowly closed behind him, making a low, dull sound.

Only the setting sun, empty chairs, and a letter resting quietly on the armrest remained in the hall.

Not long after—perhaps a few breaths, perhaps longer—the surface of the envelope began to change.

The wax seal melted silently, seeping into the paper. The edges of the letter curled slightly, as if it had been heated. Then, the entire letter was slowly unfolded by an invisible force, and the words on the paper gradually emerged.

On the throne, a deep red eye opened in the void.

Its pupils are long and narrow, with no iris or white structure at the edges, only pure dark red, hanging about a person's height above the throne.

It drooped down, as if reading the letter.

Moments later, the edges of the letter began to char and curl, as if the entire letter was being held by an unseen hand and slowly burned from the edges to the center.

The ashes fell silently, landing on the armrest of the throne, and then vanished.

The deep red eye slowly closed and vanished into thin air.

The main hall was restored to its original state.

It was as if nothing had happened.

......

At the same time, in the southern waters, in the territory of the isolated reef.

By the time Ji Tian and his group found a hotel on the island, it was already completely dark.

Most of the hotels on the island were already full of pirates who had arrived earlier. They searched for three or four hotels along the street before finally finding a small inn with available rooms in a side alley near the center of the island.

As soon as Lilith entered the room, she pounced on the bed, rolled around a couple of times hugging her pillow, and let out a comfortable sigh: "Finally, a bed!"

"This is my and Elena's room; your room is next door."

Ji Tian grabbed Lilith and dragged her out, closed the door, and then they began to discuss serious matters.

"I still don't think the stall owner's situation is a coincidence."

Elena sat down opposite him. "You mean he was brought here by someone?"

"Hmm. Shipwreck, amnesia, settling down, being subjected to anti-divination techniques—it's all too coincidental."

Ji Tian couldn't explain why he had this premonition. Perhaps it was because after transforming into a mortal, he became particularly sensitive to things that were too orderly.

In a sense, it can be considered a communion between humanity and nature.

Just as Ji Tian finished speaking, a low horn sound came from afar outside the window, seemingly from the lord's manor.

I heard people say while eating on the island that this horn sound is the signal for the daily curfew on the island.

After the bugle call ceased, the night returned to quiet.

Meanwhile, inside the lord's manor.

Alone on the reef sat in his office on the second floor of the lord's mansion, with several hand-drawn nautical charts and a piece of parchment covered in writing spread out in front of him.

The magical crystal lamps, mimicking candlelight, danced beside him, casting a calm yet imposing shadow of his silhouette.

With half werewolf blood, he was tall and had a resolute and cold face. At first glance, he looked more like a nobleman than a pirate king.

Footsteps were heard outside the door, and then the door was pushed open and someone entered.

The newcomer was dressed in a dark gray hooded robe, and his face was covered by a silver-white mask that only covered the upper half of his face. A faint smile could be seen on the corner of his mouth.

He walked in and sat down in the chair opposite the desk, crossing his legs as if he were the master of the house.

"My dear brother, when are you planning to make your move?"

"Watch your words, I wouldn't dare be the younger brother of such important people as you."

"Tsk, so many years have passed, and you still can't let go? Should I kowtow to you twice to apologize for me and my brother?"

"Can."

Then, Gu Jiao stood up, walked to his side, and waited for him to perform the full kowtow.

The masked man's lips twitched. "Haha, you're actually joking! Alright, alright, Pirate King Lone Reef, when do you plan to make your move?"

"Tomorrow at noon, after everyone is seated, I will first give that speech about 'maritime order,' and my men will proceed as planned."

The masked man chuckled softly. "And then?"

Lonely Reef hated this kind of person the most. He grabbed the man by the collar, his gaze meeting the masked man's through the mask. Seeing that the man still had a playful smile on his face, he said coldly:

"The rest is up to you. You'd better not mess with me."

The masked man, whose collar was being grabbed, remained unperturbed and said with a smile:

"That's natural."