Chapter 8 Chapter 6 The Frog Prince

Jarod cast a reproachful glance at the cardinal. "I still have work to do." He said coldly, turned around and started to leave. "Now that Xavier has the sword now, our battle plan must step up before he knows it." "Your Highness," Radisovik said. "I suggest you listen to this slowly." Although the cardinal spoke calmly, his tone was firm and unquestionable.At this age, Radisovik watched his prince grow up from a child, taught him his homework, took care of his future studies, and guided his life path.Mosiah had a flash of inspiration, and he could see that the priest—rather than the doting father—played an important role in the shaping of Garald's personality, like a druid carefully nurturing the growth of a young tree; With love and example, Radisovik raised this wayward child, who was undoubtedly spoiled, into a strong and disciplined prince.Now, it was the teacher's voice—the Shaper—speaking, and the student respected him reluctantly, and obediently obeyed.

"Very well, Simkin," said Jarod coldly. "Continue to make up your story. It's a pity that no children are present." He added in a low voice. If Cardinal Radisovik heard it, he would definitely put on a straight face. "Forgive me, Your Highness," Radisovik said, his voice much softer. "But first I want to ask why Simkin or Mosiah never told us before. You must have known." He turned to Mosiah who was looking down at the boots uncomfortably. "Because it's hard for us to accept the official statement coming out of Merillon." "What official statement?" Simkin asked, blowing the orange silk scarf into the air in one breath.

Jarod's face sank, he walked over, grabbed the silk scarf from the air, and stuffed it into the belt around his waist. "Sit down and behave yourself." The tone of his order was harsh, and it was obvious even to Simkin that he had gone too far.Simkin replaced the sofa with an uncomfortable recliner and let it fly into a corner of the room, changed into a kid's sailor suit, pressed his forehead against the wall unhappily, and began sucking his thumb. Prince Jarod took a step towards him, but Radisovik stopped him quickly. The cardinal said: "I am sure there is no official statement at all, and if it were not for the fact that these unusual events were so strange, they would not have kept them secret. Vanya and Xavier had been interrogated in secret and conversions were arranged immediately afterwards. It's obvious - they wanted the world to never know it happened. Their plan may have worked, but the Queen's death cannot be denied, and Bishop Vanya's recent fatal stroke or the deposed The same goes for the disappearance of the king, too many people have witnessed it."

"Therefore, the official statement that Joram was sentenced to transformation for murder came from the palace of Merilon, and that Saryon, the Catalyst Saint, was subjected to some misguided frenzy and chose self-sacrifice, and Joram took the opportunity to escape. Seeing himself Surrounded by Dukexis, with no means of escape, Joram threw himself into the afterlife rather than face the punishment he deserved." "I think I've heard the talk." Simkin's voice seemed muffled, for he turned his head to the corner and held his thumb in his mouth. "Isn't that how it happened?"

Simkin shook his head. "How did you know?" "I was there," he replied, snapping his thumb away. "On the third palm tree from the left." Prince Jarod sighed impatiently, but was stopped by Radisovik's raised hand. "go on." "I'm not sure I want to continue," Xin Jin said with a straight face. "After all, Garrod won't believe me...well, if you insist." Hearing dissatisfaction from his side, he hurriedly added.Rocking his chair along the floor, he twisted to face his audience. "As you know, our Joram is a prince in a frog coat." Seeing the confused expression on the cardinal's face, he explained: "He is the queen's precious son, and the report that the child is dead is greatly exaggerated .”

"Of course it is!" Garald muttered in surprise. "I'll just say, he reminds me of someone, the hair, the eyes—his mother's." Encouraged, Simkin went on: "After he was stolen from the queen's bed by refugees, the little tadpole was stolen to a small farm in the Midwest, where it grew into a healthy young frog, and he was taken by some ignorant Your companions have been led astray." Simkin cast a reproachful glance at Mosiah. "And kill and smelt metal on the dark road." "Our frog prince, sword in hand, and ignorant of his noble princely blood, sets out on a journey to Merilon. There he is saved by the love of a good woman and by the love of a vile catalyst saint What was betrayed, finally fell into the hands of Bishop Vanya Fat Short. The respectable fat man gave him a loud kiss on the head, and our young man covered with cancer became a dangerous prince, and was subsequently killed. Sentenced to live the life of a statue."

"That part doesn't make sense," Jarod interrupted, turning to Radisovik. So does the rest sound reasonable?Mosiah stared at Xin Jin and asked silently. "I'm not done yet!" Simkin said aloud, but Jarod would not listen. "If Joram was Merilon's real prince, wouldn't it be safer if Xavier ordered him to be executed? Why should he be transformed?" "Ha, you know," Simkin explained. "If you'll be patient, I'll get to that soon. It's all about prophecy—" Hearing this, the two helmeted Dukes quietly turned to look at each other, their invisible eyes met, and a silent conversation went on between them.

"If only I could remember...." Simkin frowned, lost in thought, apparently trying to find a way out by banging his head against the wall. "Mind was a mess, ha, I remembered, the prophecy said this: a royal child will be born, then die, come back to life, then die again, and so on, until everyone gets tired of the whole thing , then they will swiftly strangle him and throw him into the well." Jarod turned and walked towards the door. "Repeal the lockdown," he ordered. "I beg your pardon, Prince," said a Duke, stepping forward. "I may be of some help to this matter." The prince turned his head and looked at the wizard in surprise. These two silent, alert law enforcement guards rarely spoke in Simharon, and when they spoke, they only spoke to answer questions. , Garrod has never seen anyone who would take the initiative to provide information in his life.

"Do you wizards know anything about this?" asked the Prince. "I asked you about this before, but you said you didn't know." "At that time, you knew everything we knew about Joram, and everything was said in the official statement." The Duke replied calmly, unaffected by the prince's anger. "As you know, Your Highness, the rules of our Warlock Guild require us to swear strict allegiance to those we serve. Members of the Warlock Guild are loyal to Bishop Vanya and Emperor Xavier during execution. They will never betray their king , just as we would not betray our king and your secrets."

"Of course," Jarod said, blushing, knowing he should apologize now. "please forgive." "But we do know something about the prophecy that the young man said just now." "The story of the child? Lived and died, died and lived—" "No, Your Highness, I'm afraid this prophecy is not a child's story. In the dark days after Bishop Simharun triggered the 'Steel War', there was indeed a prophecy that said: Among the descendants of the royal family, there will be a child who has no magic power at all. He who can survive. When he faces death again and survives to return, he will hold the end of the world in his hands—”

"I said the same thing." Simkin scoffed at this. "May Emin bless us!" Radisovik prayed, and made a blessing gesture. "I hope so!" Jarod remarked passionately. "How do you know that?" He turned to Simkin. "Huh? I was there at the time." Sim Jin said lazily. "where?" "There, with the Catalyst Saints, hundreds of years ago, we gathered around the holy well and waited for Emin, who gradually - very shabby, no doubt, Emin The patron saint regards himself above all else and doesn't pay attention to dressing, but this is not a reason..." "Pfft!" Jarod interrupted angrily, turning to the wizard. "Who else knows? I've never heard it mentioned." "No, Your Highness, it was—or was—" The hooded head turned slightly in the direction of Simkin's station. "It's the most closely guarded secret in Simharlan. The reason is obvious, and His Highness can easily understand it." "Yes." Garald shuddered, and his face paled when he thought of the consequences. "No royal child is safe!" "That's right, Your Highness. So the Prophecy is guarded by Dukexis, and they have only revealed the secret to one other than their Order of Sorcerers, the Bishop who now rules Simharon. If Joram is really the Queen's son , and if he dies—" The wizard paused, and Jarod thought it over for a moment, then nodded to them both. "—then you can see why he couldn't be put to death. Transformation would be the ideal solution, which would keep him alive but render him harmless. Obviously, it didn't work. He knew he was going to be arrested. So he chose to throw himself into the afterlife—which fits right in with the beginning of the prophecy." "Arrested? But he hasn't! If you'll listen!" interposed Simkin. "I've been telling you all along, and I haven't finished—" "But he's dead, isn't he?" Jarod interrupted him in a low, trembling voice. "No one can come back from the realm of the afterlife!" That Du Kexisi did not answer, his duty is to inform the information rather than to pay attention to the accuracy of the information. "Your Highness—" Simkin tried again. "Do you believe it, Radisovik?" Jarod asked suddenly, not noticing Simkin sighing, leaning listlessly on the back of his chair with his hands crossed. "I'm not sure, Your Highness." When the bishop spoke, he was clearly trembling. "This matter awaits further study." "That's right," said Jarod, who paced up and down in silence, then shook his head resolutely. "I don't believe that a man—has the power to destroy the world? Heh!" "Your Highness—" "Even if I believe this false story," continued the prince, ignoring Simkin's interjection. "I can't let it get in the way of our battle plan. And the fact that such a thing is going to happen is just further evidence that Vanya and Xavier should be overthrown! I must assume that Xavier has got the sword Now, all my plans must be carried out on the basis of this assumption, not some ghost returning from the afterlife. I am going back to the combat command room." The prince has already spoken, and this time it is obviously irrefutable .Radisovik bowed silently, and the prince waved to that Duke, who canceled the secret spell that sealed the room, and quietly floated away after the prince walked out of the door.Radisovik stood there, looked at his back, shook his head, then sighed, gave Mosiah a wry smile, and left the room as well. "As usual, you've always made things up," said Mosiah, turning to Simkin. "Lucky for you, the sorcerer stepped in. I think Jarod was ready to throw you down the well—" Simkin didn't answer, he was still sitting in the chair, his hands casually clasped behind his back, the ridiculous sailor suit disappeared, and he changed into a traditional gray silk suit. "My dear Mosiah, you know that," he said, with a casual look in his eyes. "I remember something extremely important, but no one will listen to me." "What is it?" Mosiah asked uneasily, thinking of the storm in the Far Lands. "I've been tempted to tell Jarod, but he was too eager for war to believe any truth that was set before him. Xavier knew, so he was afraid, and that's why he kept wanting to get the sword; Knows that this is why he will have a stroke; and the abdicated emperor--Joram's real father--knows that this is why he will disappear; He doesn't have the need to go to the realm of the afterlife." "Then why? What do you want to say?" Mosiah raised his head worriedly, and a fear that made him shiver once again occupied his heart. "It was Joram who got the dark sword... Joram will win..."