Chapter 436: The Indeterminable Appointment
Prince Roland occupied a north-facing room on the castle’s third floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows took up half of one wall, and through them the snow-covered landscape filled the room with a pale, diffuse brightness despite the absence of any lit fireplace. How the room stayed warm, Otto could not determine.
The prince was seated at a mahogany table with Otto’s own notebook open in his hands. The diplomatic documents and family seal had been set to one side. The hotel room had been searched, then—thoroughly.
Roland Wimbledon looked like his brother in the bones of his face and in the color of his hair, but nothing else was the same. Where Timothy held himself with deliberate authority, this man sat with an easy looseness that might have been laziness, or might have been something else entirely. Otto had not yet decided.
Roland closed the notebook and smiled. “Sit down.”
Otto bowed—the full noble courtesy. Whatever else the prince was, he held sovereignty over this territory, and Otto represented the dignity of the Kingdom of Dawn.
“I’ve read some of your notes,” Roland said pleasantly. “They’re very detailed in places. It’s not surprising my people mistook you for a spy—and they didn’t know who you were, so they brought you to me on their own initiative. I apologize for the rough treatment.”
“The people reported me?”
“They do that.” He waved a hand. “You needn’t worry about innocent travelers being swept up. Our judicial process has ways to protect them. We would never convict a good man—or let a dangerous one go free.” The smile again. “I heard what happened during the arrest. If you hadn’t resisted, you wouldn’t have been hurt. The method was blunt, but these officers have been assaulted twice this winter while making arrests. They err on the side of caution.”
Otto straightened. “Does this happen often?”
“Once or twice a month. Timothy gets restless during the long winter.”
He was open about his contempt for the new king—no diplomatic softening, no careful phrasing. The hostility was structural, irreversible. Otto noted it and moved forward.
“When I was in King’s City, I heard a rumor—Your Highness, do you truly intend to overthrow Timothy’s authority?”
“Did the rumor say his throne is hanging by a thread?” Roland set his cup down. “Timothy shouldn’t be king. He murdered his father. He framed Gerald. He drove Garcia from the kingdom. The entire Southern Territory was destroyed by his maneuvering, and people throughout those lands were left destitute. The only way to restore what Graycastle was is to remove him.”
Otto absorbed that for a moment. He speaks more directly than Timothy does. The momentum runs the other direction from what I expected.
He cleared his throat. “As a friendly neighbor, the Kingdom of Dawn hopes to see Graycastle restored to peace. I carry the alliance proposal of His Majesty Deegan Moya.”
“Oh?” The prince’s eyebrows lifted. “Where is it?”
“To protect against interception, I didn’t carry the document. But His Majesty has authorized me to sign.” Otto summarized the terms: mutual defense, coordination against the church, a guaranteed border arrangement in the event of Graycastle’s reunification.
Roland looked at him for a moment. “That’s the whole proposal?”
“I believe I’ve made it quite clear—”
“The proposal won’t work.” He poured more tea, unhurried. “You’re underestimating the church. Its determination to take the Four Kingdoms is total, not opportunistic. And you haven’t accounted for the God’s Punishment Army—or the witches.”
“God’s Punishment Army and… witches?”
“Let me tell you what we know,” Roland said, “and I hope you’ll bring it back to your king so he can reconsider the framework of the agreement. If we’re going to beat the church, we need more than a deterrent. We need a unified attack.”
The meeting ran until evening. Outside the great windows, the wilderness darkened and the treeline dissolved into black. The room held its warmth by means Otto still couldn’t explain. At some point the torches in the hall were replaced by something else—a steady, unwavering orange light, stranger than candlelight, untouched by drafts.
Otto barely noticed. His clothes were soaked through with cold sweat. His hands had made fists without his realizing. The prince’s words kept moving through his mind in loops:
Extraordinary warriors fashioned from witches. Combat witches bred in secret. Pure witches trained from childhood by the church itself. And the church’s purpose—the true purpose, not the false one presented to the public—is to survive what’s coming. A Battle of Doomsday. The elimination of the Four Kingdoms is preparation for it.
Incredible. And yet detail after detail matched what he had observed, what he had gathered before arriving here. The Pill of Madness weakening civilian resistance. The carriages of female orphans heading to the Holy City. The church’s attitude toward defeated nobles—total erasure, not subjugation. If the goal was a unified theocratic state purged of hereditary power, every strange policy suddenly made sense.
“I can’t make a decision,” Otto said. The stammer surprised him. “These matters are too important. I have to bring this to His Majesty first.”
“Of course.” Roland’s tone was patient, as if he’d expected exactly this. “This is a matter of survival for both our kingdoms. You can’t be too careful. But don’t lose track of the time.”
Otto rose to leave. At the door, he stopped.
“Your Highness—I heard you’ve brought a group of witches to Border Town.” He turned. “I wonder if the name Andrea is familiar to you.”
“She was a noblewoman of the Kingdom of Dawn before circumstances changed.” The prince tilted his head slightly. “Do you know her?”
“Yes.” His heart was loud in his chest. “Could you—could you arrange for me to see her?”
“I can try. But whether she’ll agree to see you is entirely her decision.” He paused. “Are you asking because Andrea is…”
“She’s not my servant. I can’t direct her.” A slight smile. “The witches here are citizens. Not subjects I command.”
Chapter 436: The Indeterminable Appointment
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Finally, Otto met the legendary Prince Roland of the Kingdom of Graycastle.
After confirming he was a nobleman of the Kingdom of Dawn, Carter brought him into the castle. Then, as the attendants served him with toiletries, new clothes, and some hot food, Carter frisked him.
This might be the most offensive reception that Otto had ever seen.
Prince Roland was in a north-facing room on the castle’s third floor. The French windows, which occupied half of the wall, first came into sight as the door was opened. The snow-covered landscape brightened up the room, which was particularly warm, despite there being no lit fireplace.
The prince was sitting at a mahogany table, reading a black-covered book in his hand, which Otto realized was his own notebook. In addition, the diplomatic documents and the family seal were set on the side. It seemed that the hotel that he was staying in had been searched thoroughly.
Although Prince Roland had the same gray hair as Timothy, and there was some resemblance in their features, they gave people an entirely different impression. Both his sitting position and expression seemed to be very casual which conformed to the rumors that Prince Roland liked to persist in his old ways.
Noticing Otto, he closed the book, smiled and said, “Are you the envoy from the Kingdom of Dawn? Have a seat.”
Otto bowed in accordance with noble etiquette. No matter how awful the prince behaved, he had to do this—after all, although Prince Roland might
not care if he was treated as a joke, he represented the royal dignity of the Kingdom of Dawn.
“I have read some of your notes,” the prince laughed and said. “Some were recorded in great detail, so it’s not surprising for them to mistake you for a spy. Also, my people didn’t know where you were from, and they enthusiastically reported you to me because of my orders. I’d like to apologize to you here.”
“The people… reported me?” Otto frowned and thought. However, no explanation could excuse rudely offending a noble, not to mention that the offender was just a man without any title of nobility. If it wasn’t for his mission, he would definitely ask the prince to bring the man who assaulted him to justice. Otto restrained his innermost negative emotion and said, “No, you don’t have to. Your Highness, you just do this for the peace of the people. It’s just… that it may hurt innocent strangers, and I’m afraid most people couldn’t provide documents to prove their identities like me.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. The collection of evidence by the judicial department is irrelevant to the identification documents, and we have all kinds of measures to protect the innocent people.” Prince Roland waved his hand and continued, “What’s the saying? We would never wrong a good man or let a single bad one go.” At this, he smiled and said, “I heard about your arrest—if you did as they commanded, then you wouldn’t have been harmed. The process was a little brutal but it’s also done with reluctance. You know, some of the most vicious people may take out a weapon and fight back at any time. Since the winter, two police officers have been injured while making arrests. ”
“Police officers… It might refer to those patrols. What’s a judicial department? The administration to supervise patrols?” Otto wondered and asked, “Does this kind of thing happen often?”
“Once or twice a month,” said the prince, “and it’s probably because Timothy is so bored in this endless winter.”
The prince openly showed his hostility toward the new king. Otto realized that the contradictions between the two sides couldn’t be reconciled. Then he
hesitated for a while and said, “When I went to the King’s City, I heard a rumor… Your Highness, are you really going to overthrow Timothy’s authority?”
“Did the rumor say that the new king’s throne is hung by a thread?” The prince said bluntly, “Timothy shouldn’t be the new king—in order to usurp the throne, he murdered his father, blamed it on his elder brother, and expelled Garcia out of the Kingdom of Graycastle. The entire Southern Territory was destroyed in the war, and the people became destitute and homeless—these are all the crimes he had committed. The only way to restore the past prosperity of the Kingdom of Graycastle is to overthrow him.”
Otto held his breath for a second and thought, “Roland Wimbledon is more active than Timothy; at least Timothy’s fighting resolve isn’t so strong… It seems to be a reversal of both status and momentum.”
He cleared his throat and said, “So, as a friendly neighbor, the Kingdom of Dawn hopes that the Kingdom of Graycastle could soon regain peace. I came here at this time to bring the alliance agreement of Deegan Moya, the King of Dawn.”
“Oh?” said the prince with interest, “Where is it?”
“In order to avoid the message being leaked, I didn’t carry the document with me. However, His Majesty has granted me the right to sign the agreement.” Otto repeated the alliance agreement again. “If the two countries can help each other, we can effectively hold the church in play and avoid going down the same road as the Kingdoms of Everwinter and Wolfheart.”
“That’s it?”
The response of the prince perplexed Otto. “What does ‘that’s it’ mean? I’ve made myself quite clear,” he thought. As he was about to repeat his words, the prince shook his head and said, “The project might not work. The determination of the church to annex the Four Kingdoms is much stronger than you think, let alone the combative God’s Punishment Army and witches—
your troops stationed along the border might be surrounded and destroyed by the enemy before they’ve even departed.”
“God’s Punishment Army and… witches?” asked Otto in surprise.
“It seems that you know nothing about the ambition of the church,” said Prince Roland. He took a sip of tea and continued, “I’ll tell you all the information we know, and I hope you can bring these messages back to the Kingdom of Dawn so that your king can re-examine the alliance agreement. If we want to defeat the church, we need not only a deterrent, but one big attack. ”
The meeting didn’t come to an end until the evening when the Prince put his cup down, and the wilderness and forest behind him were all in the dark. A strange light lit up in the room, which was brighter and purer than a candle, but Otto had no mind to notice this. He felt his clothes soaked with cold sweat on his back, his hands inadvertently held into a fist, his palms were creamy, and the words of the prince were echoing in his mind.
“The extraordinary warriors created by utilizing wild witches, secret combat witches, and pure witches… And the purpose of the church to eliminate the Four Kingdoms at all costs is to usher in the coming Battle of Doomsday! The news was just too incredible!”
However, many details coincided with the information that he had collected, such as the Pill of Madness, which the church used to weaken the resistance of the kingdom; the carriages transporting female orphans to the Holy City; and their attitude towards the defeated nobles—if it was to completely erase the influence of the nobility to achieve a completely united kingdom of the church, all these things would make sense.
“I… I can’t make a decision,” Otto stammered. “These matters are too important. I have to report to His… His Majesty first.”
“Of course, this is a matter of life and death for the two countries,” the prince calmly said, “and you can’t be too careful. But don’t forget, our time is running out.”
…
Ready to leave, Otto went to the door, hesitantly turned around and said, “Your Highness, I heard that a group of witches was recruited to Border Town… I wonder if you’ve heard of the name Andrea.”
“Ah, she used to be a noblewoman of the Kingdom of Dawn, but unfortunately she became homeless and came into the Kingdom of Graycastle afterward.” The prince lifted his eyebrows and asked, “Why? Do you know her?”
“Yes!” answered Otto with his heart beating strongly. “Could you… allow me to see her?”
The prince nodded and said, “I can help to arrange it, but whether or not she’ll meet you will be up to her.”
“Isn’t Andrea your…”
He shook his head with a smile and said, “The witches are just the citizens who live here, not my servants—I can ‘t manipulate their minds.”