Tana looked out through the window.
As though she had seized a lifeline, she immediately left Airigo’s side and stumbled toward the front courtyard.
“Watch out!”
The Dragon Slayer in Zhe Zilin’s hand tore through the air like a streak of white light, shooting straight toward Tana.
The strike was sudden and sharp.
Tana only cared about running outward and completely abandoned her back.
It was not that she trusted Airigo; she had simply lost track of one thing while focusing on another.
Of course, Airigo would not sit and wait for death either.
He swiftly drew his sword in an attempt to flick the Dragon Slayer away.
The blades clashed. What astonished him was that even with all his strength, the Dragon Slayer did not budge in the slightest.
Instead, his own hand went numb from the impact, and his longsword nearly slipped from his grip.
There was no time to think.
From the corner of his eye he saw that Zhe Zilin’s Dragon Slayer was about to pierce Tana.
Airigo decisively threw his body against the blade, only then altering its trajectory.
Tana glanced back in panic, yet her feet never stopped as she continued charging toward the front courtyard.
Having lost the perfect opportunity, Zhe Zilin no longer pursued.
His gaze shifted onto Airigo.
“As expected of a knight.”
He returned the Dragon Slayer to its sheath and extended a hand.
Airigo was startled. His hand remained tightly clenched around the longsword.
He had already prepared himself for a desperate fight on the ground.
Faced with Zhe Zilin’s hand so close before him, he fell into confusion.
Out of habit, he looked into Zhe Zilin’s eyes and found no killing intent within them. Still maintaining his suspicion, he grasped the hand and rose from the ground.
“You’re not going to kill me?”
Zhe Zilin walked outward on his own, his tone flat.
“If your eyes were capable of reading people, you should have noticed long ago that something was wrong with Leon. Yet you still chose to protect him. By rights I ought to kill you. But if I kill you, the Northern Territory will truly fall into chaos.”
Airigo stood frozen in place.
He had long known that the current Leon’s identity was questionable, yet he had never exposed it.
It was only because of one mistaken judgment in the past that he no longer dared to make decisions lightly based on his ability to read people.
Most of the time, he merely carried out orders in a wooden manner.
Tana ran into the front courtyard, bent over at the waist, and gasped for breath in great heaves.
Paying no attention to whatever looks the personal guards gave her, she went straight to Osha’s horse.
She pointed a finger at the approaching Zhe Zilin and spoke rapidly.
“Princess, your fiancé Leibang Ed is most likely hiding something from you. He has been staying with the witch in the castle inside the forest the entire time.”
Osha held the reins in her hand and looked down at Tana from above.
Her expression did not change in the slightest.
Zhe Zilin approached unhurriedly and exchanged a glance with Osha. There was no anger in the other party’s eyes.
Seeing this, confusion rose in Tana’s heart.
Princess Osha had searched a thousand miles for her own fiancé.
Upon learning that her fiancé was with another woman, she remained unreasonably calm.
This made no sense.
She continued, “Princess, you can interrogate the half-orcs. They can prove it.”
Osha still said nothing. She only raised her hand, glanced at the Contract Ring, then looked toward the equally silent Zhe Zilin.
She showed no intention of interrogating the half-orcs. Or rather, she simply did not care about Tana’s words.
“Leon, stop wasting my time.”
Osha issued an expulsion order and waved her hand, signaling the personal guards to dismount and rest.
Tana refused to give up and walked alone toward the half-orcs.
“I will prove that what I said is not a lie.”
With a sharp whoosh, the sword at Griet’s waist left its sheath. It was not Griet who had drawn it, but Osha.
The longsword pierced straight through Tana’s chest.
In a single instant, Tana turned around in disbelief.
Blood overflowed from her mouth as her eyes widened and she collapsed to the ground.
“Wh… why…”
She whimpered a few more sounds before her breath completely ceased.
Even in death she could not understand why Osha’s sword had come so suddenly, why Osha had not questioned Zhe Zilin, and why she had not believed her.
Tana had attempted to stir up conflict and use Osha against Ailia, preferably throwing North City into complete chaos so that Zhe Zilin would die in the middle of their dispute.
In the end she failed to get her wish.
Zhe Zilin stopped walking.
He was not surprised.
The moment Tana fled outward in search of Osha, he had already guessed the ending.
What Osha cared about was betrayal.
That morning Zhe Zilin had placed the Contract Ring on her finger, representing loyalty.
At this moment, for Tana to try to sow suspicion between the two of them was no different from touching Osha’s reverse scale.
She would not allow anyone to slander Zhe Zilin.
This was a form of forced dominance on her part.
If Tana had said that Ailia had abducted Zhe Zilin and caused him to lose his memories, Osha would absolutely have charged up to the third floor in fury to demand an explanation.
Unfortunately, the secrets she knew were incomplete.
Zhe Zilin had given her a chance once in the kitchen, and another chance by allowing her to escape.
What he could not understand was why she had stubbornly chosen to believe the Ice Demon.
Zhe Zilin suddenly laughed at himself.
Everyone around him seemed to possess rather extreme personalities.
He walked up to Tana, crouched down, and used his hand to close her eyes that had refused to shut even in death.
Airigo walked out from inside the castle and happened to witness this scene. His expression turned solemn.
“The King of the North’s funeral has not yet ended, and you have already killed the future King of the North. The Northern Territory will not tolerate you!”
Osha flipped down from her horse and stood beside Zhe Zilin.
As though discussing something of no importance, her voice remained indifferent. “I was the one who killed her.”
Airigo frowned and stared.
“Princess, you killed the eldest legitimate son of the Gareth family. Have you considered how you will explain this to the Gareth family, or to the king?”
Osha turned slightly to the side.
A drop of blood appeared at her fingertip and touched Tana’s face.
Last night she had personally witnessed Zhe Zilin carrying Leon’s corpse away, so the person before her could not possibly be the real one.
She activated her magic and dissolved the other party’s disguise.
The face that had originally belonged to Leon gradually transformed into steam and dissipated, revealing Tana’s final true appearance.
“What I killed was not Gareth Leon.”
Airigo stepped forward and looked at Tana’s corpse. In the end he closed his eyes.
“Lord Leon… has most likely also met with misfortune.”
“The King of the North has not even been buried, and his eldest son has not even left behind a corpse. What has become of the Northern Territory…”
Airigo had followed the King of the North in campaigns across the territory since childhood and remained loyal to the Gareth family.
Now the other legitimate bloodlines of the Gareth family were still too young to bear heavy responsibilities.
The Gareth family might decline because of this.
Regarding this, although Osha was a princess of the kingdom, she did not care in the slightest. The only person who could occupy her concern was Zhe Zilin.
“Ed, the half-orcs have been captured. What do you intend to do?”
Griet ordered the personal guards to bring the half-orcs forward and bind them with even sturdier ropes.
When One-Eye discovered that the person standing before him was Zhe Zilin, he burst into curses.
“Scar, you misjudged the person! This bastard is just as treacherous and cunning. He deliberately let us go, and now he’s afraid we’ll leak the secret so he’s capturing us to silence us!”
Scar sat quietly on the ground and looked at Zhe Zilin.
Their roles seemed to have reversed. The eyes of the usually restless Scar now held a glimmer of hope.
Zhe Zilin drew the Dragon Slayer and walked toward Scar.
“Don’t kill him! We didn’t say anything, we didn’t say a word!”
The remaining half-orcs grew anxious and twisted their bodies as they tried to move closer to Scar.
Scar, however, closed his eyes and accepted whatever was about to happen.
Zhe Zilin raised the Dragon Slayer and cut through Scar’s bindings, then untied the ropes of the remaining half-orcs as well.
“From now on, do you want to follow me?”
One-Eye’s cursing voice vanished. He stared at his companion in disbelief.
He noticed that Scar remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.
“For your sake, even the most cowardly Scar dared to risk his life against the Ice Demon.”
Zhe Zilin smiled and nodded, then said to Griet, “Please treat his injuries and provide them with food.”
Griet looked toward Osha. After the princess nodded, he immediately made arrangements.
Zhe Zilin knew that Osha was waiting—waiting for him to speak about Ailia.
He also knew there was no escaping it.
Sooner or later he would have to face it. Yet right now Osha was very calm.
Perhaps everything could be resolved according to his wishes.
“Ailia is on the third floor. Let’s go together.”
Zhe Zilin and Osha walked toward the third floor.
Whether what followed would be final destruction or unexpected peace, no one knew.
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