Chapter 005: Murderous Intent

Deep within the palace, Prince Fischer stood silently in his room. After what seemed like an eternity, he suddenly let out a groan and grabbed a priceless vase nearby, throwing it at something. In an instant, tens of thousands of gold coins turned to dust. Yet Prince Fischer showed no sign of calming down and continued to smash everything around him. In no time, every item in his exquisite room was destroyed. The guards and servants present were stunned, unable to understand why the usually composed Prince Fischer had suddenly become so enraged.

“All of you, leave!”
The enraged Prince Fischer suddenly calmed down and spoke calmly to the servants and guards. The servants dared not ask questions and quickly bowed before retreating. After a moment, Prince Fischer took a breath and said, “Master… what’s your opinion?”

A figure slowly appeared in the air. Moments later, Abraham’s voice came through, “I’m not sure what Your Highness is asking.”

Prince Fischer sighed deeply, his face showing signs of fatigue. He walked over to a chair in the room, sat down, and pondered for a while before frowning and saying, “Why do you think Du Fan chose the southern provinces? And why specifically the Siluo Province, located at the empire’s original border and known as a land without chaos?”

After a brief silence, the head of the court mages replied softly, “Your Highness… haven’t you already guessed the reason?”

“Yes!” Prince Fischer smiled faintly. “Du Fan isn’t a fool… He must have realized that I truly wanted his life before. But he doesn’t know that if I weren’t a prince, if I weren’t in this position, we could have been good friends… But now that things have come to this, there’s nothing I can do. I belong to the Austin lineage; I must maintain the purity of the royal bloodline and the continuity of our family… His achievements are too great… and my power is unstable. So in such times, I have no choice but to deal with him… They say emperors have no family ties, but in truth, even imperial families have no human connections.”

Abraham sighed and after a moment, spoke softly, “Actually… Du Fan must have realized this as well, which is why he chose the Siluo Province… He probably has no ambitions. By doing this, he merely wants to prove it to Your Highness!”
“Is that really the case?” Prince Fischer suddenly sneered, his face no longer showing any trace of gentleness. “What’s the truth… Can’t you guess? I don’t even need to say anything about these things…”
At that point, Prince Fischer suddenly stood up and said, “Master Abraham… If you were to take action now, how confident are you?”
Abraham was slightly stunned but quickly replied, “Your Highness, are you planning to…”
Prince Fischer turned to look at Abraham and said slowly, “I’m asking you—if you were to kill Du Fan, how confident are you now?”
“It’s hard to say… truly hard to say,” Abraham sighed suddenly. “If it were the old Du Fan, I’d be over 50% confident in killing him… But today, even though I’ve been spying on him from hiding using detection techniques, I still can’t determine his current level… If I could vaguely guess his strength before, now I can only say his strength is unfathomable. Unless Du Fan has encountered something extraordinary these past few days, it means he’s been hiding his true strength all along… Under such circumstances, if I were to confront him, my chances would be less than 10%… So, Your Highness, please reconsider!”
Prince Fischer frowned slightly and asked, “So what do you mean?”
After a brief silence, Abraham sighed and said, “If I were to confront him, it might be fine if I succeed… But if I fail, there could be big problems in the future… Your Highness should know that Du Fan probably only suspects that you want to deal with him, but he’s not sure yet… But if I take action, he’ll be certain of it. The consequences wouldn’t be worth it!”
“Hmph…” Prince Fischer sneered. “So you mean to let him go on like this? You might have a slight chance of dealing with him now, but what about in the future? If you have not even a slightest chance, and if he causes trouble, I’ll surely regret my decision today.”
Abraham’s voice sounded somewhat cold: “Your Highness, isn’t there any other way? If you insist on making this decision, then I’ll just carry it out…”

Prince Fischer suddenly burst into loud laughter, his voice tinged with arrogance and arrogance. Narrowing his eyes, he said indifferently, “There’s no need… If we go by what you say, Du Fan is either already at the Saintly level or very close to it. Killing such a person is too troublesome. Moreover, the forces behind him are extremely complex. If anyone finds out, it will cause big problems in the future… I’m curious to see how much chance Du Fan has of becoming the special envoy to the Southern Kingdom… Besides, he’s currently my top hero. If I could kill him before, I would have done it. If I really kill him now, who wouldn’t know it was my order? I wouldn’t go through the trouble of causing unrest among the ministers and destabilizing the political situation.”

Watching Prince Fischer’s expression, Abraham’s gaze took on a complex look. After a moment, he murmured as if to himself, “Back then… Ordas must have thought the same, right?”

…

“Your Highness truly intends to kill you now.” As night fell, sitting in the luxurious carriage of the Green family, Duke Green spoke calmly across from Du Fan.

The father and son had stayed in the palace over trivial matters, while the Duchess had already been sent back to Duke Green’s residence.

Du Fan frowned, seemingly puzzled. “Kill me? Father… According to your analysis, since we chose this place, Prince Fischer should be quite satisfied. Why would he still want to kill me?”

Duke Green shook his head, his tone somewhat eerie as he said indifferently, “I originally thought the same… But after leaving the palace, I realized that Prince Fischer cannot be understood through ordinary logic… If it were an ordinary king, if we showed such concessions to prove we had no ambitions, they would surely be very pleased… But Prince Fischer seems to be overjoyed. One hundred thousand imperial guards? Special envoy to the Southern Kingdom? I think he probably saw through your actions as a way to show you have no ambitions, which is why he’s acting this way… His actions are simply telling us one thing: he has already figured out our intentions.”

Du Fan hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, “Then what should we do now…”

Duke Green said calmly, “At this moment, we have no other choices. Since the decision has already been made, there’s no need to think about him anymore… If we take any other action, it would only be inappropriate… So, Du Fan, act as if you know nothing and go about your daily routine as usual… Once we truly take control of the Siluo Province, combined with your status as an envoy from the Southern Kingdom, our family will have people in both the north and south of the empire. I don’t believe Prince Fischer will be able to do much under such circumstances… Though…”
“Though what?”
“Though in the future, when you enter or leave the capital, be extremely cautious…” Duke Green sighed. “If Prince Fischer can’t act openly, he’ll likely resort to secrecy… I know you’re no longer the Du Fan of before, but it’s still wise to be careful…”
Du Fan was momentarily stunned before saying, “I don’t think Prince Fischer would go that far…”
“What, he wouldn’t?” Duke Green sneered. “When he left you in the imperial city back then, did he have any good intentions? Du Fan, you must understand that Prince Fischer is the ruler of a nation. No matter how highly he valued you before, he’s about to take control of the empire soon… For an emperor, there are no friends or enemies—only rule… In the eyes of all emperors, anything that threatens their position, whether person or thing, must be destroyed instantly.”
Du Fan pondered for a moment before bowing and saying, “I understand. But please rest assured, Father… It’s by no means easy to take my life now.”
Duke Green nodded. “Good… If you have this mindset, that’s perfect… Even if Prince Fischer wanted to harm you, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to act soon, so we still have plenty of time to prepare. As long as we’re careful, everything will be fine… Also, don’t let your mother know about what we discussed today, so as not to worry her.”
Du Fan was slightly surprised but quickly nodded.
Seeing Du Fan’s reaction, a hint of satisfaction appeared in Duke Green’s eyes.