On the Seven Towers

At dawn, the palace was brightly lit. Many people came and went in the corridor, reporting various news. Princess Laura, wearing a casual dress and with her hair untidy, hurried to the king's room.

Accompanying her were the minister in charge of court ceremonies, Marquis Francisco, and her martial arts teacher, the great swordsman Salmeron. Because the guardian knight Tavares was seriously injured and the staff member Liu Pengfei was imprisoned, she suddenly felt empty around her. For a moment, she even thought that it would be a good thing if the brother who upset her was still by her side at this time. At least they can face this moment together.

Master Salmeron seemed to sense the princess's emotions and said, "Your Highness, you must keep your heart calm at this moment. Just like the first time you hold a sword in your hand, some things seem to be a challenge, but in fact, as long as you face it, the next step will be natural."

"Yes, teacher." The princess replied, "I only have you to rely on now."

"No, Your Highness, although I am willing to protect you all the time, I hope you can rely on no one. The road to becoming a king is lonely. If you can't stand this loneliness, you can't take on this responsibility." This serious middle-aged man gave his own warning, but it didn't make the princess feel any better.

"I know." The princess nodded.

They hurried to the door of the king's room. The guard pushed the door open, and a strange smell of potion hit them. The king was lying on a big bed, with three people standing beside him. They were Emily, the high-level wizard of the Healer's Tower, Finch, the priest of the Temple of Nature, and Isaac, the royal physician and alchemist.

The three saw Princess Laura coming in and greeted her together.

The royal doctor Isaac said, "Your Highness, I'm afraid the time is coming. His Majesty's life has come to an end. He will return to the embrace of the God of Nature in one or two hours."

"Is this moment finally coming?" Princess Laura's eyes turned red, and tears appeared in her eyes. Although she had imagined this scene more than once and hoped that she would be as strong as a real queen, she still couldn't control her tears from flowing down her cheeks.

"Yes. Your Highness, we have all tried our best, but His Majesty's body has no life energy left. It's like a candle that is about to burn out. No matter what we do, we can't prolong the existence of that flame. In fact, even if it's delayed until now, it's already the effect of the potion." Emily from the Healer's Tower explained.

"Now you have a choice. That is whether to use the dying potion." Isaac pointed to the crystal bottle that was being warmed by the magic flame on the side of the table. Some bright red potions were rolling inside.

"What is the effect of this potion?"

"Pain brings clarity. If His Majesty takes this potion, he may be able to get a moment of clarity, but the price is that he will have to endure the pain of being cut by a knife throughout the process." Isaac explained.

"If he is not allowed to drink the potion, he will leave like this, right?" The princess confirmed again.

"Your Highness, it is not necessarily a bad thing to leave in peace and unconsciousness." Priest Finch said.

The princess wiped her tears with a handkerchief, took a deep breath, and then said: "Let him drink it. As a king, dying in silence is disrespectful to him. As a father, he should bless and warn his daughter at the last moment. As the heir of the throne, he should see who the crown is passed to in the end."

Priest Finch sighed softly.

Isaac said: "As you wish, Your Highness."

He took the crystal bottle from the magic circle, came to the king, stuffed a funnel in the king's mouth, and then poured the dying potion into it.

After the potion was poured out, he took away the funnel and waited with everyone for the potion to take effect.

About a minute later, the king's whole body began to turn red and hot. He suddenly twitched, black blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, and then he suddenly let out a low roar.

The king's eyes widened, his breathing became very rapid, and he cried out in pain one after another.

"Can't you reduce his pain? For example, make him feel no pain." Princess Laura asked.

"Your Highness, pain is an important part of the potion. If there is no pain, I'm afraid His Majesty will fall into eternal sleep immediately." Isaac said regretfully.

After a while, the king began to slowly adapt to the pain and was able to concentrate. His eyes began to move and then looked at the people standing by the bed.

"I... I'm..." The king spoke, and his pronunciation was still clear.

"Everyone, please go out. I think this last time should be left to me and my father." Princess Laura said.

Everyone left the room as instructed, closed the door, and left the princess alone in the room.

"It seems we have no time to waste. Am I going to die?" The king raised his head with great effort and looked at Princess Laura and said.

"Yes, father. Unfortunately, you don't have much time left."

"You are the only one here. Where is your brother Javier? Is he still alive?"

"He is alive. He was taken away by Metatron. But I didn't intend to kill him. I just wanted him to stay by my side quietly."

"Is that so? Did he and his mother take refuge in the Tower of Shining Wings?"

"Father, a lot of things have happened since you fell into a coma. The Tower of Shining Wings was destroyed, and Saint Sasso died. The queen was assassinated, and his brother's whereabouts are unknown."

The king's face showed a look of astonishment. It was obvious that the princess's words had exceeded the thinking limit of this dying old man. "Ahem, it seems that you are much more capable than I thought. I don't know what you did specifically, and I don't have time to know. I just want to give you a piece of advice. The balance of the kingdom is very fragile, and there is an empire outside that is ready to pounce on it at any time. You don't have so much money to play with fire."

"You mean the empire Will they take the opportunity to attack us? "

"Ah, it hurts, I must kill the person who gave me this potion. Listen, the young emperor's ambition will only be greater than yours. Not only him, but also those damn nobles in the country. Arias, or someone else. In short, my daughter, your road may be more difficult than mine. But it has nothing to do with me. I'm tired and I'm going to accompany my wife, the poor woman you killed. "

"Father, is this the last thing you want to say to me? Not even a specific suggestion?" Princess Laura pursed her lips into a line.

"No, no, the king is a person who deals with messes all day long, you should learn this. You have already had a very classic start, my queen, hahaha..." The kingdom laughed here, as if choked, suddenly stared and fell silent, and then everything returned to silence.

Thanks to book friends Sheshu, Majaree, Infinite Shining alex, and Dai Renfei for their rewards.