After that, he looked at Ryan.
"What are you going to do? Do you want me to take you with me? I heard you were close to death. I don't think staying here is good for you. Besides, they sent you on a mission, right? That means you've finally found your path. So they'll drag you into this senseless war, even if you don't want to."
Ryan nodded, agreeing with him. "I think that war has already started, big brother. They've tried to kill me twice, and I suspect it was one of our brothers," he replied with a long sigh, sounding exasperated and anxious.
He was obviously acting, but it was enough to fool his brother.
"What do you mean twice? And what do you mean it was one of our brothers?" he asked, his gaze turning dangerous and his hands tensing slightly.
"I was sent to that ruin as a normal person. It was after passing the test of the ruin that I became a Walker."
He clenched his hands around the glass cup, and it cracked, but he didn't destroy it.
"Who sent you, a non-Walker, to such a dangerous place? Was it Brandon who made those stupid arrangements?" he asked sharply.
"It was Father."
"Father?" Albert swallowed his words, stunned. "Impossible. Why would he send you there? Has that crazy old man gone senile?" he asked, perplexed.
"I don't know." Ryan shook his head in frustration and lowered it to look at the tea in his hand. It had turned slightly black, demonstrating his mental instability.
'Damn, I'm a great actor and I hadn't even noticed,' he thought, realizing that even the tea was reacting to his magnificent performance.
Still, he had to keep talking: "It was an edict from the King, so there was nothing I could do. Besides..."
"Wait." Albert immediately interrupted him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Did you just say you became a Walker after passing through a Ruin? You mean that ruin had trials? Was the path you obtained special?" He asked quickly, with a strange emotion in his voice.
Ryan nodded. "Er..." He swallowed his words before answering. "Somehow I obtained a Hidden Path," he revealed.
His eyes sparkled with amazement, and a smile of joy spread across his face. "Hahaha, good, very good. It seems that our little brother will finally be able to enter the upper echelons of the kingdom." He was more excited than when he was promoted to the rank of General or when he became one of the Nine Generals.
Right now, Albert couldn't describe the happiness he felt. He had always seen his younger brother as more than just a brother; he had to take care of him as a son, given that his father hadn't been very present in his upbringing.
That's why pride now overflowed from his smile, leaving Ryan stunned.
'He doesn't seem to be lying,' he thought. 'He didn't even ask me what kind of path it is, so it must be a genuine smile.'
Albert grabbed his glass again. His mood had improved several notches, so he looked at the horizon. "Keep telling me. Tomorrow we'll confront our father. I'll break his nose if he dares to tell me he sent you there to toughen you up. My mother already permitted me to do so."
Ryan then continued. "I don't have much to say. But... Max died," he said.
Albert turned to look at him. "You don't seem sad."
"I'm not."
"Any hidden reasons?"
"He was the one who tried to kill me. So I killed him."
His eyes softened as he realized that his brother had changed more than he had imagined. The little bookworm was now talking about taking revenge for a betrayal and killing his old friend, without seeming affected.
That was quite a change.
"If that's the case, then that's one less threat." He replied casually, looking back at the horizon.
Ryan nodded. He knew that what he was about to say would affect his brother. But he couldn't keep it to himself.
"Arnold..." He spoke, but couldn't find the right words in time, causing Albert to frown and turn to look at him.
"What about Arnold? He went with you guys, now that I think about it. Will he be coming back with the rest of the group?"
Ryan turned his head slightly. "He died," he said. "To save me," he emphasized.
CRACK*
The glass in his hand shattered, and Albert grabbed him by the shoulders again. This time, he wasn't the least bit excited.
"Who?!" he shouted, his voice trembling.
Ryan sighed.
"Tell me, who was he?! I'll kill him myself!" he roared.
"It was the Third Brother."
Albert suddenly froze for a brief moment upon hearing this.
"Are you sure?"
"He originally wanted to kill me, but Arnold defended me," he assured him.
He really didn't need to hide anything from him. He knew the relationship between Arnold and his brother. Even though he treated him like a subordinate, the reality was that they were like sworn brothers.
Lying to him about his death would only cause Albert to investigate for a long time until he discovered the truth, and that would inevitably lead him to an answer that Ryan could give him right now. So there was no need to hide it.
In this case, he would surely investigate as well, but arriving at the answer with such a big clue was much easier now.
Furthermore, Albert is currently much more powerful than Brandon, so if he knows in advance what happened in the ruins, it will surely make his life more complicated, allowing Ryan to move much better, now that he will be Brandon's target.
Albert observed him for a while, thinking about several things.
He lowered his head slightly before replying, "His body..."
"I couldn't get it out; the ruins were collapsing, and I had to get out quickly," he replied.
"Go back to your room. I'll see you tomorrow."
Although his mood had been affected, Albert still took out a few bottles of wine and placed them on the windowsill after Ryan left.
He poured two glasses and placed them on the windowsill.
Although his face was darkened, his dangerous gaze swept across the city. In the distance, a horse-drawn carriage was approaching.
He could sense a special presence coming from it.
He suddenly spilled the glass of wine he was about to drink out the window, slightly staining the castle walls.
'When the blood of a people is spilled to protect their king, then their king is useless. A king who watches over his own future and not that of his people is not worthy of the throne. A king who turns his sword against those who sincerely worship and greatly admire him is trash.'
'You forced me, Father. Don't blame me for what may happen.' The glass also slipped from his hand and fell into the garden, shattering into pieces.
Then he left his room.
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