“Lord Wade!”
Wade’s subordinate entered the room to report.
“Following your orders, we’ve already locked those two people in the dungeon. What should we do with them next?”
“Give me a moment to think.”
Wade began to ponder.
From Alef’s earlier words, it was clear that the other party knew the whereabouts of the empire’s Ninth Princess, Stella.
Currently, the newly ascended Soren was offering a massive bounty for Stella. If he handed these two over, it would be equivalent to providing critical intelligence — essentially a show of loyalty.
However, he couldn’t be certain whether Soren would actually treat him favorably just because of this information.
After all, doing so would mean completely cutting off the path Alef had mentioned and placing all his hopes on Soren instead.
He was now extremely hesitant, feeling caught between two difficult choices.
“Lord Wade?” Seeing that Wade hadn’t spoken for a long time, his subordinate tentatively asked.
“Sigh… Forget it. For now, don’t do anything excessive to those two. Just leave them in the dungeon for the time being.”
“Understood, Lord Wade!”
Wade’s subordinate immediately bowed and left.
“Papa!”
A cute little girl saw Wade and happily ran over to him.
She was holding a crayon drawing in her hands.
“Oh my, Xiaoya. Are you done with class?”
The gloom on Wade’s face instantly disappeared. The moment he saw his adorable daughter, a warm smile bloomed on his face.
He bent down and lifted his daughter into his arms.
“Mm! Class just ended, so I came to find Papa right away!” Xiaoya held up the drawing. “Papa, look! This is what the teacher taught me to draw. Is it pretty? This is Papa, this is Mama, and this is me!”
Looking at the innocent, childlike crayon drawing, Wade nodded with great affection. “It’s beautiful. Everything my good daughter draws is beautiful!”
“Hehe. Papa, when the weekend comes, can we go on a picnic with Mama? It can be a reward for me studying hard!”
“No problem, Xiaoya. As long as you study well, Papa will go play with you.”
“That’s great! I love Papa the most!”
Xiaoya was so happy that she immediately gave Wade a kiss on the cheek.
“Ya! Papa’s face has so much stubble. It’s prickly!”
“Hahaha.” Wade laughed heartily. “Then I’ll be more careful next time and make sure to shave cleanly.”
Night.
Wade lay in bed, closed his eyes, and recalled everything that had happened today before gradually falling asleep.
“Papa! Papa! Save me!”
Xiaoya, her face covered in tears, ran toward Wade.
“Xiaoya!”
Wade ran forward, wanting to pull his daughter into his arms.
However, a bright flash of a blade descended and struck Xiaoya. After a young, tender scream, the little girl collapsed into a pool of blood and soon stopped breathing.
“No… No!!”
Wade let out a heart-wrenching cry.
His head was pinned down by others. His body was restrained and forced to the ground.
“Oh my, Lord Wade. How does it feel to watch your daughter die right in front of you? Not very pleasant, is it?”
Third Prince Kaiso shook his head regretfully as he walked up to Wade. He looked down at the pitiful man who had lost his daughter with eyes full of contempt.
Flames raged around them. Paintings hanging on the walls fell one after another into the fire. They were all portraits of Wade’s family members being rapidly burned.
“Why? Why?!” Wade roared at Kaiso. “I already handed over the information about Stella! To show my loyalty, I even reported Alef for suspected rebellion! So why won’t you let me go?!”
“Why? You’re actually asking why?” Kaiso smiled faintly. He crouched down and grabbed Wade’s face. “The answer is simple. You’re not one of us. We don’t feel at ease leaving Sora City in your hands.”
“I have no disloyal intentions at all!”
“Whether you have disloyal intentions or not doesn’t matter,” Kaiso paused. “Whether you’re alive or dead — that’s what matters most.”
Wade’s eyes widened. He couldn’t speak for a long moment.
“You were actually foolish enough to think that lowering your head would make us spare you. In reality, the more you lie on the ground like a dog with no threat at all, the more we want to get rid of you. Hahahaha!!”
Kaiso released Wade’s face and laughed loudly as he walked through the burning corridor toward the outside.
At the same time, he raised his hand and swung it downward.
The imperial soldiers carried out his order. They raised their weapons and brought them down on Wade’s head once more.
Wade let out a terrified scream and suddenly sat up in bed, as if he had narrowly escaped death. He clutched his wildly pounding heart.
“Ah!!!”
He wasn’t dead yet.
He lifted his head and felt the morning sunlight shining on him. Only then did he realize it was already morning.
“So… it was just a dream?”
Wade wiped the sweat from his forehead.
However, even though he knew it had been a dream, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of relief in his heart.
What had happened in the dream felt far too real — almost as if he had personally experienced it.
It was so real that he had begun to wonder if it was a vision of the future.
“Perhaps… that wasn’t just a nightmare. It was… a revelation.”
Wade muttered softly. As he recalled the details of his daughter’s death, a strong sense of fear rose in his chest.
Even though the sunlight was warm, his body couldn’t stop trembling. His hands had begun to shake.
If he truly chose Soren’s side, it would definitely bring consequences he couldn’t bear.
“No… This can’t continue. It really can’t!”
Click.
The lock was opened and fell onto the damp floor.
After spending a night in the dungeon, Via got up from the pile of straw and saw that the now-open cell door had Alef and a distraught Wade standing outside.
“I’m truly sorry, Mr. Alef and Miss Wei… for keeping you locked in a place like this for an entire night. Please allow me to apologize for my actions.”
Wade bowed to Via and Alef.
“It seems you’ve thought through some things, Lord Wade.”
Via smiled.
A bitter smile appeared on Wade’s face. “Yes. After thinking about it all night, I’ve made up my mind.” He sighed.
“This isn’t a good place to talk. This way, please.”
“Mm.”
Via followed Wade out of the dungeon.
On the way, Alef walked beside Via and spoke in a low voice.
“Demon King, it really happened just like you said. Wade actually got scared.”
Hearing this, Via simply smiled and didn’t say anything more.