The old man seemed a little exasperated. After a moment, he added “My clan’s name is St. Claude.”
“Oh.”
And then there was silence.
Xiao Lin and the old man looked at each other. It was obvious that the name meant nothing to Xiao Lin. After a long awkward silence, Ibeiya could not help but start laughing.
Xiao Lin was beginning to feel like Ibeiya’s clan could be a very powerful clan, but regretfully, he had never done any research on the subject.
Ibeiya once again interrupted, laughing as she said, “Big Brother, there was once a King of Darkness that led the dark races, and it’s the only king we’ve ever had.”
“Yes, he’s said that before.” Xiao Lin looked at the old man.
Ibeiya’s bright eyes blinked, continuing, “The King of Darkness was named St. Claude.”
Xiao Lin was speechless.
After another bout of silence, Xiao Lin let out a dry cough, saying, “So you’re telling me that your clan consists of the descendants of the King of Darkness?”
“That’s right,” the old man said seriously. “Since Ibeiya trusts you and you could activate the Shard of Creation, we told you this secret. We hope you can keep it for us.”
Ibeiya did not seem to care as much. “It’s actually not a big deal. St. Claude had a glorious history during ancient times, but there has not been a new king after the King of Darkness fell. The St. Claude clan has greatly deteriorated. There are quite a few of the dark races that know of our clan, but so what. In their eyes, maybe we’re just like beggars on the street.”
“Your Highness!” The old man was unhappy with Ibeiya’s attitude. “No matter how many years have passed, The St. Claude clan will always be a significant part of the history of the world. No one can disregard our existence!”
“How many are left from your clan?” Xiao Lin asked.
“Not many. They’re all here.” Ibeiya smiled ruefully. She obviously did not care much about the clan the old man so proudly flaunted.
“How did your father die? Don’t vampires have very long lifespans? Even this old man is still alive.” Xiao Lin pointed at the old man who was staring at him.
Ibeiya’s expression dimmed. “My father was hunted down by humans.”
“Hunted?” Xiao Lin paused.
“You know that most of the world does not allow for dark races to exist. A country toward the north even treats us as monsters, even having specialized squads to hunt us down. Even though the St. Claude clan has fallen to this degree, our ancient reputation is still enough to make us a primary target.”
Ibeiya smiled pitifully. “Isn’t it funny? Our glory as a clan has turned into the reason we die.”
Xiao Lin was speechless. A clan that sounded as powerful as that only had two people left. Their name that was useless had caused them to be targets for hunting. It really was quite pitiful.
“What about your mother?”
“I told you before; my mother is a princess from the Rosa Kingdom. She passed away after I was born.”
“Oh, I was just making sure. It looks like you did not lie to me about that. Hold on, you’re really not lying to me, right?”
Ibeiya was silent.
Xiao Lin half-jokingly teased her before turning serious again, “Returning to the initial question, what do you actually need me to do? Even if you were royalty before, even if you have a long history, I still don’t understand what I can do for you.”
“I know your journey here is to escort away all the main members of the Rosa Kingdom’s royalty. At that moment, the city will turn into a city without a master. We will restore order to the city. Of course, the country that I mentioned before will not be so quick to be established. First, we need a city we can call our own.”
“We just need you to do one thing right now: help the St. Claude clan obtain the right to rule over the darkness of the city!”
“As repayment, we will make sure you escort everyone out safely. A city controlled by us will no longer need royalty.”
Finishing his plan, the old man waited quietly.
Xiao Lin furrowed his eyebrows, thinking for a long time before voicing his questions.
The first thing was the rebels. The information he got from Liang Taibai was that, after escorting the royalty back to Dawn City, they would immediately begin negotiations with the rebels, possibly even helping the rebels obtain the royal capital in exchange for support from them.
The general direction of that was decided on by the higher-ups of Dawn Academy, and Liang Taibai had hinted that it was basically decided by the military. That was something Xiao Lin could not change.
Lastly was the right to rule. Xiao Lin felt like the old man was looking at him with a strange look, and could not help but ask about it.
“Honestly, it’s basically a fight.” Ibeiya smiled as she explained, “There are a lot of dark races taking up residence in the royal city, and there are also a lot of clans as well. Even though we disregard human laws, we still maintain our own order. Every ten years, we organize a tournament. The winners will obtain the right to rule for the next ten years.”
“What does this right to rule give you?”
“The right to govern all the dark races within the Rosa Kingdom. Of course, the clans that don’t acknowledge it can choose to leave the country, but those who stay here need to adhere to the order everyone agreed to! No one would break it, or they risk being cast aside!!”
Xiao Lin somewhat understood why the old man had attacked him, but was still confused, “If that’s the case, wouldn’t this old man be better? I don’t think my skills are better than his.”
The old man said expressionlessly, “The rules everyone set is that only the heirs of the clans have the right to participate in the tournaments. I might be Her Highness’s uncle, but we aren’t actually directly related by blood. I’m not a direct descendant of St. Claude.”
“Neither am I! Comparatively, shouldn’t you be closer to Ibeiya.”
“That’s true. As a human, you’re not even part of the dark races, but our rules are not impeccable. There’s a way that you can have the right to participate.” The old man returned to his mechanical way of speaking. What was strange was that Ibeiya had fallen quiet as well, and seemed to be looking away in embarrassment.
“What way?” Xiao Lin suddenly had a bad feeling.
“As Her Highness’s husband, your children will definitely be the heirs in the future. As the father of the heirs, you absolutely have the right to represent the St. Claude clan!”
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