When Annan heard from Bread Daryl that the man who came to Roseburg this time was the Fourth Prince, he was already relieved in his heart.
That was no doubt the best situation.
Annan was now facing two of the most pressing problems, excluding the Venerated Skeleton that was temporarily friendly.
One of them was Rotten Man Church.
Both Don Juan and Annan had a beef with the Rotten Man Church already. For retaliation, Annan would ruin their plan no matter what they wanted to do.
Not to mention, Annan had to find a way to help Master Michelangelo out in response to Salvatore’s kindness.
Next, another problem that Annan faced was “Don Juan Geraint.”
He borrowed Don Juan’s identity, and it didn’t come without a price.
Not only Don Juan’s enemies would come looking for him, but those who were close to Don Juan Geraint might also doubt whether Annan was the culprit.
Unfortunately, only Benjamin and Count Crow knew of Don Juan’s feigned death.
Annan couldn’t reveal the secret plan to the royal family.
That would undoubtedly be a backstab to the Geraint family.
Annan wasn’t an ungrateful person.
He had borrowed Don Juan Geraint’s identity to settle down, get access to the world’s secrets, and even become a Transcended. Even though acquiring these benefits didn’t come with a cost to the Geraint family, Annan wouldn’t forget the favor.
He would find a way to repay this kindness; even the Geraint family didn’t think it was their contribution.
As for the three remaining heirs of the royal family…
The Third Prince, who had the closest relationship with the Rotten Man Church, was Annan’s nemesis. He wouldn’t come to Roseburg at this time.
As for Princess Royal—
The Geraint family’s political power was in Princess Royal’s grasp.
On the surface, the king was the most optimistic of the Princess Royal. But judging from the fact that the king hadn’t made up his mind to expel the Rotten Man Church, his relationship with Princess Royal wasn’t necessarily close.
He was just hesitating whether to betray his eldest daughter.
In other words, the price of betrayal wasn’t worth it for the king yet.
Although she was addressed as the “Princess Royal,” she was already over 50 years old this year.
Also, she hadn’t yet been married.
Surprisingly, she had a military background too.
Such a terrifying old woman with a body of steel, it was unlikely that she would be willing to reason with Annan.
Even considering that Annan’s identity was as noble as hers, she would only be more suspicious of Annan’s purpose of appearing here.
After learning that Annan borrowed the identity of Don Juan Geraint to take up the position of North Sea Territory’s feudal lord, Annan would be vacated from the position by someone else sent by Princess Royal by the very least. It was impossible for her to let the neighboring country—or worse still, the future heir of the enemy country to seize power on the land of her own country and allow him to earn the people’s hearts.
—Especially this critical land was close to the Austere-Winter Dukedom border.
But the Fourth Prince was different.
He wasn’t just a mortal enemy with the Rotten Man Church but also had a bad relationship with the king. He was also competing with the Third Prince and Princess Royal.
Unlike the Third Prince, who was utterly unfavored and acted freely, his current position was the most embarrassing.
The Fourth Prince had no military support, and he wasn’t the king’s favorite either.
Because of the conspiracy relating to the Rotten Man Church, his relationship with his brothers and sisters was terrible.
Worse still, he was the abandoned son of Rotten Man Church.
The most terrible thing was that his relationship with Silver Sire Church was great, judging from the situation when he came to Old Bread Daryl first after entering the city.
For the Noah Kingdom, this wasn’t a plus point but a severe shortcoming.
In other countries, Silver Sire Church only existed as a “bank” and a “currency distributing institution.”
Only in the Noah Kingdom did the Silver Church almost take control of the kingdom’s finances, education, and culture.
Except that the church had no army at all and had no say on the law and constitutions. However, there might be ambiguities regarding who the civilians thought the country was governed by.
Due to this circumstance, King Noah suppressed the church to rob away the church’s opportunity to grow further.
Therefore, it was impossible for the Fourth Prince to inherit the throne.
Annan was different.
He was most likely the next generation of Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke.
That was why the Fourth Prince would refer to Annan in honorifics.
Indeed, both the Fourth Prince and Annan were the direct heirs of the ruler, with the Fourth Prince as the kingdom’s heir and Annan as the duchy’s heir. In addition, the Fourth Prince was much older than Annan. But, the situation with their succession made Annan’s status much superior.
“Yes, I have heard of it.” Hearing Annan’s question, the Fourth Prince quickly understood something.
He adjusted his glasses and replied in a deep voice, “Your Royal Highness, as you came over, is it because…”
“In fact,” Annan said seriously as he put his hand on his chest, “I received the mission granted by Old Grandmother herself.”
Hearing this, Prince Albert’s pupils shrank.
In this world where deities walk on the earth, no one dared to offend an upright deity, and no one dared to lie in the name of a deity. It was because they could really hear it.
The deity’s punishment could come knocking on the door.
“My eldest brother lost his fertility forever six years ago.” Annan said softly, “That’s because of the Rotten Man’s conspiracy.
“I was an ordinary person at least half a year ago. I didn’t embark on the path of transcendence back then.”
He said to Albert seriously, “That’s why I can travel through the mist on the Black Sea and come here.”
Every sentence Annan said was the truth.
But once they were connected, it could infer another meaning.
Salvatore repeatedly nodded as if he understood something.
“I probably understand it now.” Albert’s brows frowned deeply.
In his deep eye sockets, there was an inexorable dejection.
Although the Fourth Prince was the king’s son, he was treated like an animal, like those slaves who tend to complain, “What? I have to work overtime to change according to my client’s needs.”
“I also doubted whether the Rotten Man Church has reached their hand into Noah.”
The man said depressedly, “This is because a certain advisor I once trusted became a little weird some time ago.
“He knew that I could not succeed to the throne, but he was provoking my relationship with Elizabeth and Philip. Since then, I have been suspicious of him. My father knew that the internal fighting between us became more and more fierce, but he didn’t stop it from the beginning. So, I’m convinced of it already.
“The Rotten Man’s power has already infiltrated Noah’s territory,” sighed Albert dejectedly.
He lowered his head and pushed his glasses before continuing, “I even think that Elizabeth and Philip probably had already known the Rotten Man Church’s men are around them. They are not stupid people. En, it’s hard to say for Philip, but my sister must have realized it.
“But, they just followed along with the scheme. I don’t know what Philip is thinking. Does gold rain from the sky? Can he take those benefits unreservedly?”
The man frowned and said in dissatisfaction, “Don’t they already know what happens in the end for those who pursue immortality?”
Compared to Princess Royal Elizabeth, he was even more dissatisfied and distrustful of the talentless Philip who lured the Rotten Man believers to help him seize the throne—the Third Prince.
Albert obviously resonated with Annan’s situation, “I was upset, so I agreed to Kafni’s request to travel here to the Freezing Water Port.”
The man breathed out slowly and explained faintly, “Your Royal Highness Annan, I will treat everything that happens here as if I haven’t heard or seen it. If you want to come to the Royal City as a guest, I welcome you. But, please be sure to notify me in advance. I will be responsible for your highness’s stay.
“But other than that, if you have any needs, I can’t do anything. If you have any intentions for cooperation, you can go to Princess Royal to discuss it in detail. Her words carry more weight over here.”
Annan nodded.
In short, you’re not cooperating nor a hindrance to me.
Um…
That’s fine too.
I don’t need your help. I just don’t want any trouble.
So Annan replied quickly while asking again. “Then, Your Royal Highness, is there anything you want from this visit?”
“Kafni likes painting a lot. In the past, Freezing Water Port had a crazy painter who believed in an evil deity named Morrison. After Painter Morrison’s death, his paintings became much more valuable and rare. Kafni also liked his paintings, but now it’s hard to find the original. We want to try our luck.”
Albert quickly added, “I wonder if the Freezing Water Port still had the collection of paintings in Morrison’s gallery. If not, where can I find them?”
Of course, you can find them from Nightmare: Gallery. Annan thought to himself.
But he also understood that such an answer would be too ridiculous.
Kafni, who stared at Annan intently before, suddenly turned her head and whispered before Annan could reply, “No need, Dad.”
Kafni’s voice was youthful but hoarse, with mystical prosody.
Annan immediately realized that when Albert’s gaze met Kafni, he turned his gaze away.
It’s as if he is afraid of his daughter. What is going on?
Kafni stared at Albert and murmured, “It’s not that I want to come here. Grandpa Danton has modified your memory; he is a Rotten Man’s believer.
“…And so does mom.”
Hearing this, all of those on the spot were stunned.