Four Split Personalities

"So your meaning is..."

"Never mind, you go help the guards."

Duke Fossai unilaterally ended the conversation and only after Charles had left for quite some time did he quietly murmur, "It shouldn’t...be possible."

...

Three hours earlier

Game Time PM15:11

"Not good!"

The ground roared and dust stirred. Lister, the housekeeper standing beside William Boh, was the first to react. He forcefully pushed the young master aside, and then a crossbow bolt from nowhere pierced his arm. The already injured old man fell heavily to the ground, and with a hoarse voice, he yelled to the confused William, "It’s an ambush, young master, run!"

The dull roar sounded close by, drowning out the housekeeper Lister’s shout, but William immediately realized the other’s intention. However, he didn’t follow what the old man wanted but quickly drew the sword from his waist, bent down to chop off the arrowhead, and helped the pinned housekeeper up, shouting, "Let’s go together!"

"Don’t worry about me, young master, teleport quickly!"

The nearly seventy-year-old housekeeper, with his hair and beard all bristly, roared angrily to the sky, "It’s a royal ambush aimed at completely eliminating us—everyone, retreat immediately according to plan three, and protect the young master as he returns to Thorn Castle!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a cluster of figures burst out from the dust and scattered towards Thorn Castle to the southeast without looking back. Surprisingly, among these people, each group had a William Boh. They either acted alone or were escorted, all bearing the same face as the lord of Konda, and they scattered in all directions, fleeing desperately.

Clearly, this was a plan prepared in advance by the Konda side. In case something happened, at a single command, one fifth of the guards would transform into William Boh and evacuate the site at top speed, which was very useful in creating confusion.

This was not unexpected. After all, for the straightforward and upright royal family, planning an ambush was totally unnecessary, so they hadn’t made many specific preparations. However, for the people of Konda, it was a different matter. They didn’t know if the prince was actually harmed by the royal family, but if it was true, the other side had every reason to make a lethal move during negotiations, intending to eradicate them!

Despite it being an equal meeting between dukes, even if Duke Jude Fossai died, it wouldn’t cause much harm to Telon, but if Duke William Boh of Konda died, Konda would practically cease to exist.

But William and his companions had no choice. Given his status, William Boh, the emperor of Shaven, couldn’t personally come for ’negotiations’. Sending Duke Fossai, a powerful royal confidante, was already highly considerate.

It was precisely for this reason that William had to be on guard. Even if he didn’t want to believe it, the leaders of the Konda headed by housekeeper Lister couldn’t afford any negligence—Fossai could die for all they cared, but William, the last scion of Konda, absolutely could not be harmed!

Thus, they had devised a series of protective measures, which turned out to be necessary...

The moment they reached the agreed location, the other party made their move.

The image wasn’t clear yet, but the dagger was already visible...

[You really are in a hurry, my dear uncle!]

The young lord of Konda nearly clenched his teeth to breaking as he supported Lister’s frail body and desperately ran eastward amid the cries of battle around them. Because he had several precious artifacts, William wasn’t worried about the other party being able to detain him. He himself possessed the strength of a Great Sword Master, and, coupled with those rare and priceless artifacts, even a Sword Saint or Sage would have trouble taking him down instantly—unless the late Fara Osiris came back to life, even Marshal Galahad would not be able to capture William quickly.

To put it bluntly, it was a case of financial power, simply put—financial capability.

In fact, William had two space-transferring artifacts on him, one being earrings that could teleport the wearer randomly within two kilometers, and the other an extremely expensive Teleportation Scroll, which could immediately send him back to the safety of Thorn Castle.

However, William did not use either of them because both the earrings and the scroll would only allow him to leave alone, and could not take the injured housekeeper Lister with him.

As a man of integrity, William wouldn’t do such a thing—to leave the old man who had served his father and him loyally for so many years and escape alone was something he couldn’t possibly do no matter what.

So he decided to escape conventionally like those ’decoys’, taking the old housekeeper and not teleporting unless absolutely necessary.

"Forget about me, young master."

The pale-faced old housekeeper muttered, struggling to break free from William’s grasp while urging, "Teleport now, hurry and teleport away!"

"Don’t speak, Grandpa Lister."

Withim moved through the snow with nimble steps that mimicked the fluttering of a butterfly, elegantly dodging another and another area magic attack whizzing from unknown origins. He smiled and said, "We’ll be all right. You’ve already walked through death’s door for my father; I can’t let you lose your life here because of me."

The sounds of killing and explosions were incessant. The pursuers behind them didn’t seem to give up, but perhaps due to their limited strength, or unfamiliarity with the terrain, or more likely due to the guards’ desperate blocking, the enemies hadn’t caught up immediately. Withim quickened his pace and gradually left those ’unknown’ enemies behind.

...

Thirty minutes later

Game time PM 15:46

Having finally escaped the ’ambush circle,’ Withim let out a long sigh of relief. With the sword in his hands, he cleared a small, warm, and dry area in the snow, gently laid down Housekeeper Lister, then unceremoniously sat down himself, casually tossing a ruby onto the ground, igniting a not very bright, but exceptionally warm Elemental Fire.

"Let’s all take a rest."

He waved to the few guards left behind him, laughing without any pretense, "We should be safe now."

Fearless in crisis and composed in action, Withim Boh was undoubtedly a person with great leadership qualities. Although he was perhaps too young for a lord, since his father was essentially a ’worthless prince,’ Withim had been involved in the administration of their dominion from a very young age, gaining the affection and support of nearly all his subordinates and subjects.

"Alright, young lord."

The four weary guards quickly walked over to Withim, quieting down and warming themselves by the fire, keeping their body temperature up in the coldest month of the year, crucial even for professionals.

Here, it should be noted that the reason there were only four guards was not because the other people of Konda domain were all dead, but because everyone had dispersed to aid a feint plan, and the actual number of casualties was not high.

Two minutes later

"Young lord, you’ve done enough by getting us here; please leave quickly. We can make our own way back."

A slightly refreshed Housekeeper Lister struggled to sit up, coughed twice with a pale face, and earnestly said to Withim, "You mustn’t come to harm, no matter what."

Withim shook his head, whispering, "Just wait a bit longer, until we can be sure we’re in peace..."

"Young lord..."

The old housekeeper quietly interrupted Withim, waving him over and whispered, "Don’t you find it... strange?"

"Hmm?"

Withim leaned in closer, asking in an equally low voice, "What aspect are you referring to?"

"Don’t you think we escaped too easily? If all this was premeditated."

Housekeeper Lister warily looked around, his voice barely audible, "And also..."

"And what?"

Withim leaned in even closer.

Whoosh!

The next second, a pitch-black dagger swiftly slid across his neck, spraying a burst of crimson blood.

"There’s nothing, young master... please continue with peace of mind."

Chapter 502: The End