A knock sounded at the door.

Julian opened the door and entered the room. The first thing he saw was the boy’s slightly nervous and uneasy face. He was sitting in a chair, playing with a toy in his hand. Seeing Julian enter, a flash of fear passed through the boy’s eyes. Then he bit his lip hard, putting on a calm appearance as he looked at Julian.

“Respected sir, what brings you here?”

“I have good news to tell you,” Julian said, walking forward to the boy’s side, then bowing slightly and extending his right hand.

“We have agreed on terms with your family. Now, it’s time for me to send you home… Young Master Zach.”

“I can go home?”

Hearing this, the boy could no longer hide his excitement. He suddenly jumped up, his eyes widening in surprise, waving his small hands excitedly.

“Is what you’re saying true? I can go home?”

“Of course,” Julian raised an eyebrow, then withdrew his right hand and stood up straight again.

“Please get ready immediately. We’re about to depart.”

“I will, respected sir. I’ll prepare right away,” the boy nodded vigorously in response, then looked around somewhat confused, as if searching for something.

“Respected sir, I don’t see my attendants. They…”

“They’ve already gone ahead to prepare for your return. We’re responsible for taking you back to the family. Please rest assured, with my protection, no one can harm you.”

“I see…” The boy’s previously excited expression immediately fell. He sighed almost imperceptibly, then nodded.

“I understand, respected sir. I’ll go prepare right away.”

“Very good. I hope you can make haste. After all, as the saying goes, time is life…”

Seeing the boy’s response, Julian didn’t say anything more. He just turned and walked out of the room, leaving a final meaningful remark.

When Julian walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, he saw Ophariel standing not far from him, her face tense and uneasy.

“My lord, are you really sure you want to do this?”

“Life is always cruel,” faced with Ophariel’s answer without any confidence, Julian just shrugged indifferently.

“Of course, it’s not necessarily so… Frankly speaking, this is just a game, a game I really like. It’s as simple as that.”

“But…” Ophariel opened her mouth, hesitantly looking towards the door.

“He’s just a child,” then, Ophariel lowered her voice, either pleading or trying to persuade Julian before her.

“Theoretically, that’s indeed correct. But for us, he’s just a commodity,” Julian held up one finger and shook it lightly.

“You understand, for us, he has no value or meaning in staying alive. On the contrary, his death will bring us sufficient benefits. Otherwise, why do you think we came all this way, wasting so much time to come here? Is it just to protect someone who might very likely pose a threat to us in the future? Don’t forget, you agreed to this before. What, now that it’s come to this, you want to back out?”

Hearing Julian’s question, Ophariel opened her mouth but didn’t say a word. That’s right, before this she didn’t think there was any problem with it, and she had made her decision early on. For the benefit of Julian’s territory, sacrificing this boy who had no connection to them was absolutely worth it from a standpoint of interest. But when it came down to it, Ophariel felt hesitant for the first time. Indeed, that little brat wasn’t an innocent and kind fellow, but he was still a child after all, and Julian held his fate in his hands. Faced with her lord, that child had no chance at all. In this situation, did she really want to do this? Watch this child die before her eyes? Just like those attendants before?

For the first time in her life, Ophariel felt such regret. She even doubted if she had made a terrible decision.

“I do want to back out.”

“This is why you died alone in an abandoned well.”

Hearing Julian’s taunt, Ophariel raised her head in horror. She anxiously looked at the young man before her, her eyes revealing uncontrollable fear.

“You know…”

“I don’t know,” Julian said, waving his hand to cut off Ophariel’s inquiry.

“It’s just from your personality, and looking at your current appearance, it’s not hard to guess. Forget it, this isn’t something I need to care about, and it’s not something you should care about either. Before you speak up to stop me, you should remember your identity, right, former princess?”

Hearing this question, Ophariel’s body trembled, then she lowered her head.

“…Of course I remember. I am your… deputy, my lord.”

“What is the duty of a deputy?”

“To execute the commander’s orders… and to assist him.”

“Good that you know,” saying this, the smile on Julian’s face faded, replaced by a cold and serious expression.

“Then, now I order you as your master to carry out your task. Do you have anything else to say, Miss Ophariel?”

“I… have nothing to say. I’ll go prepare now.”

Saying this, it was as if all the strength had been drained from Ophariel’s body. She turned around and left.

“What a difficult princess to serve,” watching Ophariel’s retreating figure, Julian pursed his lips, then revealed a somewhat playful smile.

“But, it’s because of this that it’s interesting. Well then… let the game continue. This is just the midway point.”

When two carriages left the inn and drove towards the Zach Family’s direction, almost all the nobles received the news immediately. Faced with this sudden scene, everyone felt somewhat unprepared. They had originally thought that Julian would stay here for a longer period. After all, Roya City was their territory, and the longer Julian stayed, the more thoroughly they could prepare, the more confident they would be. But now, this young high-rank swordsman had clearly made his decision. Had he already reached an agreement? With whom? Under what conditions was it achieved? The nobles were all guessing but couldn’t come up with any answers. During these days, whether from the reform faction or the orthodox faction, many people had gone to the inn where Julian was staying to negotiate with him. But Julian didn’t seem to have any intention of dealing with anyone. He didn’t express his attitude towards either side specifically, nor did he particularly lean towards any faction’s stance. Almost everyone who came to him left disappointed. Because of this, many nobles subconsciously thought that Julian was planning to raise the price to gain sufficient benefits. But now, before they were even fully prepared, he had already set out?

No, this wasn’t the issue. They didn’t really care whether Julian left or not, but the question was… was young master Zach in the carriage?

If he was in the carriage, should they take action?

But before that, even if they did take action… what were the chances of success?

For a time, almost all the big and small forces in Roya City were on edge. With the struggle for the position of the Zach Family patriarch, many forces had already been grasped and infiltrated by the other side. No one knew whether those around them were friends or enemies. If they took action, what if someone stabbed them in the back?

The carriages didn’t encounter any obstacles on the road. In fact, after setting out, members of the orthodox faction who had received the intelligence had already sent people to isolate and seal off the nearby streets to prevent outsiders from taking advantage of the situation. This also gave the reform faction a rather dangerous signal; at least, what they were worried about might have already happened.

Because there were no obstacles, the carriages quickly arrived at the gates of the Zach Family. The guards at the gate had clearly received orders beforehand and didn’t obstruct them, quickly letting them pass. Then, the carriages drove inside and stopped in front of a middle-aged man standing with his hands at his sides.

“Welcome, Lord Julian,” the middle-aged man opened the carriage door and bowed his head as he spoke.

“We have been waiting for a long time.”

Getting out of the carriage, Julian gave a meaningful look at the middle-aged man before him, then said nothing and turned to walk towards the second carriage. He opened the door and extended his hand.

“Alright, young master, you’re home.”

Hearing these words, the middle-aged man suddenly gritted his teeth. He wanted to raise his head to see if the boy before him was his young master, but now, as a servant, he could only lower his head, suppressing his excited emotions, and step back a few paces. Soon, he saw a small figure jump down from the carriage.

It’s young master Zach. The young master has returned!

The man felt incredibly excited and elated in his heart. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn’t know what to say. Finally, finally this moment had come. Wasn’t this the moment they had been waiting for, putting in so much effort? The young master had returned, so there was no doubt about the inheritance of the patriarch position. Their wish had finally been fulfilled. Even so, the man still remembered his duty. He stood in front of the boy and bowed deeply.

“Welcome back, young master Zach.”

“Mm.”

Unexpectedly, young master Zach didn’t show the excitement the man had imagined. On the contrary, he just responded with a sound, then got down from the carriage and obediently stood beside Julian.

What’s wrong with the young master?

The man was somewhat confused inwardly, but now wasn’t the time to inquire. So he could only reluctantly put aside his inner questions and turn to lead everyone towards the inner courtyard.