A conversation in the hearth

"Do you trust me?"

Rationally speaking, Peruere did not believe he could overthrow Crucabena.

First, Crucabena had an extremely tight grip on the House of the Hearth. Most people throughout the House of the Hearth had been disciplined into complete obedience, and those who truly had the courage to stand up and resist were few and far between.

Second, Crucabena was strong-terrifyingly strong. Although everyone had seen Xingsu's ability to learn, there was an enormous gap in strength between those with a Vision and those without one to begin with. What was more, Crucabena was a Harbinger. Not every Harbinger necessarily specialized in combat, but compared to ordinary people, they were certainly among the strongest fighters.

Besides, the swordsmanship of the children of the House of the Hearth all bore traces of Crucabena's influence to some extent. As the saying went, students of the same master could not break each other's moves, much less defeat Crucabena, who was that very master.

"No."

Well, after all that buildup, she still doesn't believe me?

Indeed, Peruere had always been a rational person. Whether it was assassinating Crucabena or overthrowing her, both were pipe dreams in their eyes.

"Ah... what a heartless young lady, rejecting me just like that-hey, don't, don't, don't pinch me! That hurts."

Faced with Xingsu's antics, Peruere cut him off mercilessly.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Not telling you... ow! I was wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Put your hand down!"

I really should suggest to Mother that none of the children in the House of the Hearth be allowed to grow their nails out.

"..."

"..."

Both fell silent again.

"So you haven't thought it through at all, have you?" Peruere looked at Xingsu as though he were small fry.

"I wanted to use Clervie as my opening, but unfortunately, my plan got interrupted. Uh, please stop looking at me like that..."

"So your plan is to win over her daughter and use that to negotiate with her?"

"Although 'win over' isn't quite the right term, since we can't go after Crucabena directly, we can only start with the people around her... hiss, why are you pinching me again?"

"First, given Crucabena's personality, even if Clervie stabbed herself to death with a knife right in front of her, she'd probably just say, 'So you were weak enough to kill yourself? You truly don't deserve to be my daughter.' As though she were some weed that had nothing to do with her;

second, Crucabena's desire to select a 'king' from among the children has already become pathological. She doesn't care about exhausting all her resources, nor does she care about the children's lives. She doesn't care about anything, all for the sake of choosing a 'king,' a 'king' who satisfies her, a 'king' with exceptional abilities who obeys her unconditionally;

third, Crucabena is powerful. Absurdly powerful. She's given us practical combat lessons. You can't beat her. Even you, me, and Clervie-even if you could rally every child in the House of the Hearth to rebel right now, we still couldn't beat her. So put those unrealistic ideas away. We'd only be sacrificing ourselves for nothing."

"Someone has to make sacrifices, don't they?" Xingsu countered. "Besides, sooner or later, she'll make us kill each other. If that day really comes, it'll be too late for anything!"

"At the very least, we need a workable plan!"

"Then what else can we do!"

"At any rate, I can't just watch you all throw your lives away for nothing!" Peruere's face flushed involuntarily. She hurriedly turned her head back, then turned away, opened the door, and left Xingsu's room.

"...Heh, she's pretty gentle after all." Xingsu's head ached. He rubbed his muddled head and lay down on his bed.

Too much had happened that day. After a jumble of wandering thoughts, Xingsu's exhausted body finally got some rest.

Peruere had lied.

Ever since she was little, she had been able to feel a different power flowing through her body. Every time she used that power, a curse upon her deepened.

The black curse on her hands was growing ever darker. She could feel that if it spread up her arms and reached her heart, something bad would definitely happen.

That power might help her overthrow Crucabena, but she did not know how much power that would take, nor where the limits of Crucabena's power lay.

She might even be consumed by that power and become a monster, yet still be unable to defeat Crucabena.

If it really comes to that, I must protect them. Even if that power costs me my life...

So Peruere thought.

On the training grounds, just as in one training session after another, Xingsu's sword plunged unerringly into a vital point of the human body-Clervie's heart. Even at the very end, as Clervie died, she was still smiling at you.

No...

Peruere lay on the verge of death in a pool of blood, her blood-red pupils trembling. With all the strength in her body, she said one sentence to Xingsu.

"You traitor..."

Then she fell silent forever.

No, no...

Crucabena wore the same exquisite makeup as always and smiled gently at you. "Congratulations, Xingsu. You haven't disappointed me after all. Now you are the next king of the House of the Hearth. Look behind you. Those children are nothing but defective products. Only you-you alone are my most perfect child."

This shouldn't...

Xingsu looked back.

Everywhere he looked, there were corpses and bloodstains.

Xingsu still remembered a few of the faces.

That was Vilina. Her academic results had been among the best, but she was far too gentle. The first time they had been forced to kill someone, she had cried harder than anyone.

The corpse beside her was Weizban. That boy was always full of mischievous ideas and loved playing pranks. He was hopelessly in love with Vilina, yet had no idea how to express it, so he played pranks on her every day. His wound was the same size as Vilina's, and his hand still clutched his sword tightly. It looked as though he had killed himself after killing Vilina.

This corpse was Scott... oh, this one was a complete piece of shit. He deserved to die. Stealing candy from children, pulling little girls' hair, yanking down other people's pants-there was nothing he wouldn't do.

This corpse was Clervie. She had barely fought Xingsu at all. Rather than saying she had been killed, it was more accurate to say she had run into your sword.

Even with your life on the line, you still wouldn't hurt a friend... Clervie.

"Come, let me guide you to become a true king!" Crucabena's voice suddenly rang out.

This shouldn't...

"You will stand at the pinnacle of the House of the Hearth and become a king admired by all! You'll trample every vermin beneath your feet. From now on, you'll grow stronger and stronger, until..."

"This isn't how it should be!"

Xingsu jolted upright, gasping for breath.

"Haah, haah... scared by my own dream..."

Xingsu lay back down, pillowing his head on his hands.

Become a king?

If becoming a king means staining my hands with blood, means killing my friends with my own hands, then I'd rather kill myself with them.

So Xingsu thought.