"Destroy it!" The Shepherd's body decayed bit by bit, like rotten wood breaking apart. With the slightest movement, countless wood chips fell away.
"That thing needs to be destroyed!" the Shepherd said again, more and more wood chips falling from his body.
Yet Charles III merely held the card and examined it, probing to see whether it still contained greater power.
"The Queen of Hearts inside should already be completely dead." Charles III rubbed the card back and forth between his fingers, mobilizing royal authority to repeatedly inspect the information within it.
"Father?" The eldest princess revealed herself at that moment, her hand already reaching for the card.
But Charles III had long anticipated this from his daughter. With a flick of his hand, he tucked the card back into his clothes.
"What are you trying to do? You are a princess!" Charles III frowned, his dissatisfaction with the eldest princess written all over his face.
"Even if you want to become queen, that will have to wait until after I die!" The monster of power swiftly spat venom and radiated malice toward anyone reaching for its authority.
"Father, trust the Shepherd." Seeing this, the eldest princess tried earnestly to persuade him.
In many matters, Charles III had been wise. He had even been able to compromise with the Queen of Hearts before, choosing to relinquish his throne.
And his affection for the eldest princess had not been false.
But power was a force capable of instantly causing Alienation.
No matter how wise and mighty a person was, once they failed to restrain their desire for power, they might grow dragon scales and become an evil dragon.
"You believe a Shepherd boy you have known for less than a few months, but not the king who raised you since childhood?"