The Lord Of Blood Hill Chapter 598: I Do Not Hate You!

Obilian's response is already very sound, but when his hand touches the sword hilt, he freezes on the spot.

Because the intruder has already appeared in front of him, and his hand has touched the hilt one step ahead of him.

Shocked as he is, he cannot help glancing at the intruder.

Then he freezes. "Lord Octopus, why have you co here?"

The visitor is none other than the head of King Semson's secret guard and the leader of Lumir's intelligence organization, Coral Reef: Octopus.

For once, Octopus's tone changes. He praises him, saying, "Your Highness reacted well. Among all the princes, you may be the best at adapting in a crisis."

Obilian smiles. "It is because Lord Octopus taught well."

Octopus shakes his head. "At that ti, I taught all the princes how to respond to an assassination. Only Your Highness studied it with the most care. That is the result of your own effort and diligence."

Obilian does not reply. Instead, he walks toward the door. "Lord Octopus, please wait a mont. I will have the people below stand down."

After all, the disturbance just now was loud. The nearby guards have already noticed it and are hurrying over.

Obilian goes outside alone and closes the door behind him. He says to the arriving guards, "It is nothing. I was simply in a bad mood and broke a few things."

"All of you stand down. I will calm down alone for a while longer. Tell the guards outside to disperse and go back to rest."

After dismissing his subordinates, Obilian returns to the room.

Octopus is very satisfied with how Obilian handles it. Without Octopus saying anything, Obilian already understood that his identity could not be exposed.

He also gave a reasonable explanation for the sound of things being broken.

These small details alone are enough to show how carefully Obilian thinks.

Octopus wastes no words. "Your Highness, His Majesty summons you to the palace."

"Go quietly. Do not alarm anyone. Be quick. We leave tonight."

Obilian is silent for a mont. "Good. I will make preparations first and find a suitable excuse."

Two hours later, Obilian and Octopus secretly leave the city, then ride all the way toward Holy Lake City.

They change horses but not riders. After one day and one night without rest, the two arrive at Holy Lake City.

Through a secret passage, they enter the interior of the palace.

Deep in the night, Semson secretly receives Obilian.

Looking at his second son, covered in dust and rather disheveled, yet with eyes still sharp, Semson remains silent for a while.

After a while, the old king speaks. "Obilian, do you know? You are the least like ."

"Do you know who you resemble? You are much like my elder brother. Back then, he was just like you are now."

"Wise, calm, steady, restrained... but his eyes were always sharp, filled with fighting spirit, never willing to submit."

"Honestly, if I had not been lucky back then, I never could have competed with him."

"Even to this day, I still often dream of him."

"I dream of him forcing into desperate straits again and again. I dream of the pressure he placed on all of us brothers."

"Honestly, every ti I wake from those dreams, it takes a long while to recover."

Here, Semson gives a bitter smile. "My son, you have always thought I hate you."

"In fact, you are wrong. I am afraid of you."

"I fear that one day you will grow to my elder brother's level. I fear that one day you will take from my hands the throne that should have belonged to my elder brother."

Obilian frowns. "Father, I would not do that."

Semson smiles. "My son, now you need to do it. For Lumir. For the Jorkson family, you now need to do it."

Before Obilian can argue, Semson waves his hand. "Let us speak of sothing else first. What do you think Lumir should choose now?"

"Facing Ogiro's advantage, should we turn to the Western Federation? Or should we submit to Ika Kingdom?"

Obilian's eyes widen. "Of course we cannot! We cannot do either!"

Semson's expression does not change. "Oh? We are already surrounded on three sides... no, on four sides."

"If we do not choose either path, how do we block Ogiro's next attack? Tell what you think."

Obilian anxiously steps forward. "Once we lean toward the Western Federation, that ans we will no longer be one of the continent's countries."

"To contain the Western Federation's outward expansion, every surrounding force will press down on us. We will be forced to bear all the pressure for the Western Federation."

"And if we attach ourselves to Ika Kingdom, then because of the many years of cooperation between both sides, their infiltration into us is already severe."

"Many dostic families have political marriages with Ika Kingdom, and many trade associations have major interests tied to Ika Kingdom."

"It will not take long for Ika Kingdom to win people over, suppress others, and directly split us apart."

"More importantly, no matter which path we choose, we are destroying the Jorkson family's legal rule over Lumir!"

Semson frowns and says coldly, "I asked you for a solution, not consequences."

Obilian falls silent, then stubbornly lifts his chin. "I have not thought of any good solution, but we cannot possibly choose either of these paths."

Obilian is already waiting to be scolded, but then he suddenly hears Semson laugh.

"Hahaha... Octopus, you lost!"

"I said this boy would answer this way. You owe a gold coin."

"Tell , doesn't this boy resemble my elder brother? Back then, he was also this unyielding."

"He always believed that we compromised too much, and that Lumir needed to change its ways."

Octopus shrugs from the side. "He does resemble him. But I have no money right now. I will owe it for now."

Semson sighs. "Sotis I also wonder. If my elder brother had beco king, would Lumir be better now?"

Octopus says, "I do not know that. But I do know that all of us would definitely be dead."

Semson ignores his close friend's jab and looks at the rather dazed Obilian. "If you were to fight Ogiro, what would you plan to do?"

Obilian gives a bitter smile. "Father, I currently have only two legions. If I make temporary levies, I can gather at most four legions."

"But apart from the two legions in my hands, the legions raised afterward can only fight defensively. They will likely be insufficient for field offensives."

"I also have no way to stop Ogiro's advance. They still have twelve legions on the front line now, and more reinforcents may co from behind."

"The gap in numbers is too wide. Even defensive operations would be very difficult."

"Especially after the Holy Lake Knights Order suffered heavy losses, we have no way to restrain the charge of the enemy knight orders."

Semson props up his chin and asks, "Then how many legions would you need to stabilize the defensive line?"

Obilian thinks for a mont. "Give nine more legions, and I guarantee the front line will not worsen."

Semson rises and paces. "I will hand the royal guard legions to you."

"There are still four legions on the front line. Gather the remnants together, and one more legion can still be pulled together."

"Also, I will also place the Water Fairy Knights under your command."

"Counting your four legions, that makes ten. What can you do with that?"

Obilian quickly calculates the military deploynt in his mind. "I can barely maintain the defensive line and keep a standoff for a period of ti."

"But we must levy more troops from the west. The private armies of the nobles and the private armies of the Trade Alliance must all be called up."