The King said somewhat nostalgically, "At the time, I saw she was young and beautiful, so I lived with her for a month. Later, soldiers captured me and took me back to get married. I didn't know your mother was pregnant with you then. If I had known, I wouldn't have let you live in the slums. Now I'm here to take you back to the palace. You should stop being a Thief."
After Hiddell followed the King back to the palace and became a prince, he, who had once been a Thief, gained many things he had never imagined before: beauties, money, and the identity of His Highness the Prince, second only to one person and above tens of thousands.
After becoming a prince, Hiddell thoroughly enjoyed himself, playing with a large group of beauties every day.
Over two years, Hiddell indulged in a life of wine and women. He always skipped the marksmanship and cultural lessons arranged by the King. Gradually, the King lost confidence in Hiddell and gave up hope for him.
The King's neglect caused Hiddell to fall further, ultimately becoming a useless good-for-nothing who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun!
One day, Hiddell heard that the King intended to give the throne to his sister, Fiona. This panicked Hiddell because his relationship with Fiona was very bad—so bad that whenever Fiona saw him, she would take out her big gun and try to shoot him.
Speaking of Princess Fiona, she was a beautiful young woman with long purple hair who wore a purple princess dress. Knowing that Fiona was born in the palace, Hiddell was intensely jealous. Why did she get to have a carefree, luxurious, and extravagant life from birth, while he had to live like a rat in the slums?
Every time he met his sister, Hiddell would mock and sneer at Fiona. Having lived in the palace for a long time, Fiona couldn't stand this kind of treatment. So, every time they met, Fiona would give Hiddell a thorough beating, teaching him how to behave.
Despite being beaten, Hiddell not only didn't change his attitude towards Fiona but grew to resent her even more.
Actually, when Hiddell entered the palace to become a prince, the King had given him the position of First Heir to the Throne. Fiona was changed to the Second Heir to the Throne. However, as Hiddell continued to deteriorate, the King became very dissatisfied with his performance and returned the position of First Heir to Fiona.
The king said to Hiddell, 'If you wish to become the first heir to the throne once more, then reform yourself and become someone more outstanding and stronger than Fiona. Only then will I return the position of first heir to you.'
After being demoted to the second heir, Hiddell listened to the king's words and felt a renewed hope of becoming king. He certainly did not want to lose this opportunity.
With that in mind, he decided to turn over a new leaf starting the next day. But when the next day came, after indulging in wine and women, he decided to reform himself the following day. On the third day, feeling drained from the previous day's excesses, he decided to reform himself the day after that...
A week later, lying in bed, Hiddell declared he no longer wanted to reform himself, because turning over a new leaf was too exhausting. It was much better to be a lazy pig! All he had to do was eat, drink, and be merry—how wonderful!
If Fiona wanted to be the first heir, he could just let her have it. After all, his relationship with Fiona wasn't so bad that they were sworn enemies.
Originally, Hiddell and Fiona were indeed not sworn enemies, but Hiddell's foolish actions led Fiona to want to kill him on sight.
Their relationship turned into a blood feud because a month ago, Hiddell slept with Fiona's best friend and lover, Lelith. At the time, he was out with his guards on the streets when he happened to spot Lelith.
Lelith was a blue-haired girl with a voluptuous figure. Seeing how beautiful and stunning she was, Hiddell ordered his guards to seize her and take her to a hotel.
After booking a room, he had the guards throw Lelith onto the bed. Once they left, Hiddell, without a second thought, pounced on the helpless Lelith. After forcing himself on her, he tossed ten coins at her and left the room.
Lelith was the daughter of an ordinary merchant. Faced with a prince like Hiddell, her family had no way to resist. Feeling tainted and guilty toward Fiona, Lelith hanged herself.
The next day, when Princess Fiona went to Lelith's room to take her on a date, she discovered Lelith had hanged herself.
After weeping bitterly for a while, Princess Fiona decided to avenge Lelith. Upon investigating and learning that her half-brother had indirectly caused Lelith's death, Princess Fiona immediately hid a gun and stormed into Hiddell's room.
Upon learning that Lelith was Princess Fiona's lover, Hiddell became even more smug and even said to Fiona, 'Your girlfriend was amazing!'
Hearing this, Princess Fiona erupted like a volcano, pulling out a large, black, and thick gun from under her skirt. 'You bastard, you deserve to die! Let me show you my big baby!'
Seeing Princess Fiona pull out the large, black, and thick gun from under her skirt, Hiddell grew fearful. He didn't want to be hit by the bullets from Fiona's gun, because if they struck him, he would surely die instantly.
'Sister! I'm sorry, I was wrong! Please forgive me!' Hiddell knelt and begged for mercy.
'Hmph! It's too late to realize your mistake now. Prepare to die!' Princess Fiona gripped the gun in her hand, pulled the trigger, and a bullet shot out from the barrel, piercing Hiddell's thigh.
A bloody hole immediately appeared on his thigh, with blood continuously flowing out. Hiddell screamed in agony.
This scream immediately attracted the guards outside Hiddell's room. As guards stationed there, they couldn't just stand by and watch Princess Fiona shoot Hiddell, so they intervened to stop her.
'Get out of my way! Don't stop me! Anyone who tries, I'll kill!' Princess Fiona shouted loudly.
Would these guards not stop her? Of course they would. If Princess Fiona were to shoot Hiddell, they would be executed by the king!
A large group of guards rushed toward Princess Fiona, trying to seize her gun and apprehend her to be handed over to the king.
Seeing the guards charge at her, Princess Fiona fired a shot, but it missed. Seizing the opportunity, the guards continued to rush at her. Eventually, they managed to wrest the gun from her hands and apprehend her, delivering her to the king.
After learning the full story, the king punished Princess Fiona by confining her to her room for a week to reflect on her actions.
Upon learning that Princess Fiona, who had tried to kill him, received such a light punishment, Hiddell felt the king was biased. From then on, he harbored resentment toward the king as well.
...
After learning that the king intended to pass the throne to Fiona, Hiddell spent the entire week on edge, unable to eat or sleep peacefully.
Because once Fiona became king, she would undoubtedly make his life miserable and would likely send him to the guillotine.
At this critical moment, a Silver-Haired Girl appeared before him.
This Silver-Haired Girl appeared without a sound, filling him with fear. Hiddell observed her carefully.
The Silver-Haired Girl was sucking on her index finger, a gesture identical to that of a newborn baby sucking on its hand.
Seeing this, Hiddell felt less afraid. At the very least, the Silver-Haired Girl seemed harmless. He continued to observe her.
This girl had smooth, flowing silver hair tied into small twin tails. Her golden gem-like eyes were like black holes, irresistibly drawing one's gaze. She wore a white off-shoulder dress, her beautiful legs clad in white garter stockings. Overall, she looked stunning and captivating.
If this Silver-Haired Girl were an ordinary commoner's daughter, Hiddell would have pounced on her without hesitation. But the problem was, she wasn't an ordinary girl—her origins were terrifying, so Hiddell didn't dare.
In today's world, anyone who knew of the Deep Sea Cult would recognize this Silver-Haired Girl, as the cult used her as their image representative during their missionary work.
Whenever the Deep Sea Cult arrived at a new location to preach, they would plaster her posters all over the streets. Her image appeared on flyers, newspapers, and even television.
Shifting his gaze away, Hiddell took a deep breath. There was no mistake—this Silver-Haired Girl was the Sixth Saint of the Deep Sea Cult's Seven Saints—Eugen.
Of the Deep Sea Cult's Seven Saints, the world only knew Saint Eugen, as she was the only saint publicly promoted by the cult. The names and appearances of the other saints remained unknown to the world.
Hiddell walked up to Saint Eugen, placed his right hand over his chest, and spoke humbly and respectfully,'Saint Eugen, your presence here is an unexpected honor! I am unaware of the purpose of your visit to my room, but if there is anything I can assist with, I am willing to go through fire and water without hesitation.'
Seeing that Hiddell carried no airs of a prince, Eugen removed her hand from her mouth and said, 'You're quite sensible, much better than your father.'
'Saint Eugen, you flatter me. Any ordinary person who sees you, regardless of status, would act the same way I do,' Hiddell said with a smile.
'Alright, I won't waste any more words. Our Deep Sea Cult intends to support you as the new king of Free Iris!' Eugen stated her true purpose for coming here.
Hiddell was overjoyed, but quickly calmed down. He didn't believe the powerful Sixth Saint of the Deep Sea Cult would help him for free. 'May I ask what price I must pay?'
Eugen smiled faintly.'Speaking with a clever person is refreshing—it allows me to get straight to the point. Of course, my support for you as the new king is not free. First, you must join our Deep Sea Cult as a mid-level follower. Second, once you become king, you must have Free Iris join our Deep Sea Cult. Third, you must hand over seventy percent of the nation's annual income to our Deep Sea Cult.'
'Very well, I agree,' Hiddell immediately nodded in agreement. As long as he could become king, he was willing to pay any price.
Although joining the Deep Sea Cult would antagonize the Atlantic Governors Mansion, the Deep Sea Cult was not weaker than them. If the Atlantic Governors Mansion sent the Military Police to arrest him and bring him before a military tribunal, the Deep Sea Cult would certainly not stand idly by and would send people to protect him.
Surrendering seventy percent of the nation's income was a harsh demand, but as king, his income would undoubtedly be greater than as a prince. Calculating it this way, he would still come out ahead.
Once he became king, he would immediately start building more luxurious palaces. Oh, and he would also gather all the beauties of Free Iris into the palace to become his harem concubines.
But constructing and gathering would require a lot of money. Hmm! If he ran out of money, he could just increase taxes on the citizens, right? Raising personal and commercial taxes threefold would do the trick! Then he could collect even more tax revenue. Hahaha! He was truly a genius!
'You've made the right choice. Tomorrow, I will make you king and provide you with a personal guard unit that will follow and protect you.'
'So soon? Very well, I'll await your good news tomorrow.'
After concluding the discussion with Hiddell, Eugen stood up and vanished from the spot.
...
A moment later, Eugen appeared in the king's room. The king, upon seeing her, initially wanted to shout for guards but, recognizing Eugen, immediately spoke in a grave tone, 'I and my nation will not join your Deep Sea Cult. Leave my country at once, or I will have my soldiers arrest and imprison you.'
"So you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, huh! Very well, very well. You won't join, is that it? Then die today!" Eugen's murderous intent was fully revealed.
The King was terrified and shouted in panic, "There's an assassin! Come and protect me!"
In no time at all, over a dozen soldiers and two guards burst into the King's room. Seeing the stranger, Eugen, they didn't say a word and immediately tried to open fire to kill her.
Seeing them trying to kill her, Eugen looked on with disdain.
"Such audacity. You shrimp soldiers and crab generals want to make a move on me? You really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth." Eugen took a blood-red magatama from her hand.
"Soul-Bewitching Jade!"
After Eugen infused the blood-red magatama with her Ship Qi, it erupted with a red mist.
After inhaling the red mist, the soldiers and guards immediately became sluggish.
"Get aside!"
"Yes! Master!"
The soldiers and guards obediently stood aside. Upon seeing this strange phenomenon, the King immediately realized the truth and said, "Is it the ship device in your hand causing this? Hmph! Don't think that just because you do this, I will submit to you. I said I wouldn't join the Deep Sea Cult, and I won't. Even if you kill me, I won't change my mind."
"Clap, clap, clap...!"
Eugen clapped her hands and said with admiration, "As expected of His Majesty the King, you truly have backbone. Since that's the case, I'll send you on your way now!"
With a swoosh, Eugen disappeared from her spot. When she reappeared, she was already behind the King. With a single slash of her hand, she decapitated the King.
The King's head fell to the ground, rolled a few times, and bumped into a chair. Looking at his headless body, the King immediately realized he had been decapitated by Eugen.
Finally, he opened his eyes wide in disbelief, because he had not expected Eugen to actually dare to kill him. He thought Eugen wouldn't dare kill him, because he was the King! If she killed him, the Atlantic Governors Mansion would definitely not let her off.
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