The Golden Capital Andesores

Despite being deep into the night, the city remained as bright as day.

The city was bisected by the Rhine River flowing eastward to the Rift Sea. Three massive circular walls, built with enormous resources and manpower, divided the city into three sections: the outer district, middle district, and inner district.

At its peak, the capital boasted a population of over eight million, making it the most prosperous city on the entire Qilan Continent. However, all this glory had long since faded with the kingdom's decline.

The inner district, known as the Papal District, housed the kingdom's nobles, ministers and church bishops. Magnificent mansions lined the streets, with the Moen Palace standing at their center.

Interestingly, this splendid royal castle was not the most striking building in the inner district. When people thought of Andesores, they thought not of the capital of the Kingdom of Moen, but of the holy city that housed the Sun God Church's headquarters - the Grand Cathedral of Light.

Behind the palace loomed a white tower-like structure reaching seventy meters high. This magnificent Grand Cathedral completely overshadowed the Moen Palace in both height and grandeur. Through this, the church proclaimed to the world the supremacy of divine authority and the divine right of kings.

A massive golden orb of light blazed atop the cathedral, resembling the sun itself. This orb illuminated the entire royal city day and night, through all seasons. The golden light reached every corner of Andesores, earning it the nickname "The Golden Capital."

Roderick, with his golden hair and emerald eyes, stood in his office gazing at the golden sun. The light bathed his inhumanly handsome face, lending him an almost divine aura.

We often compare handsome men to fairy tale princes, but if that "prince charming" had a face, it would undoubtedly be Roderick's.

The second prince had been standing there motionless for an hour. Since the coup six months ago, he would stand like this every night, staring toward the cathedral.

If not for the occasional flash of hatred in his emerald eyes, anyone would have thought him a devout believer paying homage to the Sun God.

No one dared disturb him at such times. With front-line battle reports and kingdom affairs requiring his attention, these late night moments were Roderick's only taste of freedom.

Suddenly, Roderick felt something fuzzy rubbing against his right foot.

Looking down, his stern expression immediately softened into a gentle smile.

A small white dog was nuzzling his leg.

This was a rare magical beast called a Snow Dog.

These creatures were highly prized by noble ladies for their intelligence, trainability and adorable appearance. Their ice magic abilities also made them perfect for controlling room temperature in summer. The heavily-dressed noble ladies would do anything to acquire one to avoid heat exhaustion.

Roderick had found it five years ago during a magical beast hunt.

At the time, the poor puppy was trembling in a troll's lair, clearly about to become the trolls' dessert.

Roderick picked up the white puppy, scratching its snowy chest fur with his fingertip, making it emit content whimpers.

"Little Snow, what brings you here?"

As if understanding Roderick's words, Little Snow licked his fingertips twice then turned its head toward the door, seeming to indicate someone's presence outside.

Right on cue, there came a knock at the door.

Knock knock knock.

"Your Highness, I have urgent matters to report."

"Enter."

The door opened and in walked an elderly man wearing elegant formal attire, thick glasses, and gray hair.

Upon seeing the visitor, Little Snow excitedly wriggled free from Roderick's arms and bounced over to leap at the old man's chest.

Seeing this, Roderick gave a wry smile:

"Though I'm the master, it seems to prefer you, Alvis."

This seventy-year-old elder was the current Grand Duke of the North - Victor Alvis.

Holding Little Snow, the old Duke Alvis walked toward Roderick, shaking his head as he replied:

"Your Highness has been studying in the Empire all these years, while I've been caring for Little Snow. Some distance is only natural."

As he spoke, he handed Little Snow back to Roderick. His demeanor was humble, more befitting an old servant than a duke.

"Enough consoling. What urgent matter brings you at this late hour?"

"Yes, the pursuit team has sent new information."

"Oh? What did they say?"

The old man hesitated before carefully saying:

"They report that they've confirmed Lady Kriemhild's whereabouts and will launch the capture operation in two days."

Despite the importance of this news, Roderick showed no surprise.

He glanced at the thick stack of documents on his desk - evidence of noble corruption and oppression of commoners by the Princess's faction, some real, some fabricated.

"Your Highness, shall we order the pursuit team to delay their operation?"

But Roderick didn't answer the old duke's question. Instead, he gazed through the glass window at the city bathed in golden light.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

After a long while, he asked:

"Alvis, what do you think of Moen nowadays?"

Not understanding Roderick's intent, the old duke still respectfully answered:

"Your Highness, under your wise governance, the kingdom is flourishing."

"Flourishing?" Roderick let out a cold laugh. "Just today, eight thousand people starved to death in the outer district, and this is in our prosperous capital. You call this flourishing?"

"Ah, due to the civil war, there's a food shortage in the country. We can only prioritize supplying the inner and middle districts first. Once the civil war ends, everything will return to normal."

"Normal?" Roderick let out a scornful laugh.

Just two hours ago, a noble ball had been held in the castle. The maids were still cleaning up the leftover expensive wines and lavish dishes.

Food shortage? Yes, there was indeed a shortage - but only for the commoners. How could the noble lords ever go hungry?

Nearly two million commoners lived in Andesores' outer district. It was their endless toil that enabled the less than ten thousand nobles in the inner district to revel day and night.

Do you know the real purpose of that giant sun that keeps the royal city lit like day? A Divine Miracle? A blessing?

Pure nonsense. It was to make the commoners sleep less and wake up earlier to work.

The Sun God Church's priests colluded with the nobles to develop this advanced eighteen-hour work system.

They brainwashed the commoners with fanatical religious ideology, making them naively believe that diligent work would earn them eternal peace in the Sun God's realm after death.

Yes, this five-hundred-year-old kingdom had rotted to its core.

Roderick had never expected a real answer from the old duke. What truly concerned him was something else.

"Speaking of the civil war, there's something rather strange.

Six months ago, how did my sister manage to escape? I had ordered all city gates closed.

Alvis, do you know anything about that?"

The old duke's white beard trembled as he instinctively lowered his head:

"This... I find it quite perplexing as well."

"Perplexing? Indeed. The east gate she escaped through was under your jurisdiction. If even you don't know, I suppose there's no way to investigate."

"Your humble servant feels ashamed."

The old duke carefully raised his head, trying to read Roderick's expression.

But when he looked up, he found himself staring into a pair of emerald eyes.

Their faces were less than two centimeters apart. The old duke could feel Roderick's breath on his face and the murderous intent brewing in those eyes.

The old duke stumbled backward, nearly falling.

"Hahaha, don't be so nervous. I was just joking."

"Ha, haha... Your Highness, this is... perhaps another custom from the Empire?"

Cold sweat poured down the old duke's forehead, but he forced himself to laugh along with Roderick. However...

"Alvis, do you know what I love most?"

"Your High-"

"I love dogs. They're clever and obedient, but most importantly, they're always loyal."

Roderick stroked Little Snow in his arms, his expression as tender as if holding his own child.

"However..."

In that instant, all tenderness vanished from Roderick's face, replaced by ruthlessness.

Without warning, he grabbed Little Snow's throat and squeezed hard.

Little Snow's pink tongue lolled out, its bright eyes bulging as it whimpered in agony.

The adorable Snow Dog now looked grotesque.

It desperately kicked its legs trying to escape Roderick's embrace, but how could it possibly break free with its tiny strength?

With a crack, the white puppy's body went rigid. Its bulging eyes filled with confusion, fear, and disbelief.

Alvis collapsed to the ground trembling, his lips quivering too much to form complete words.

He watched as Roderick tossed Little Snow's corpse aside like garbage, then turned his gaze on him, those eyes now swimming with almost tangible murderous intent.

"However, I despise dogs that wag their tails for others." He stepped forward and pulled the fallen old duke to his feet.

"Victor Alvis, do you understand?"

"Your Highness... I, I..."

Roderick brushed the dust off the old duke's clothes, his expression instantly returning to gentle and peaceful:

"You're getting old and unsteady. Young Fran comes of age next month. He's been training well under me - let him inherit the family business then."

The old duke swallowed hard. Fran was his only son, born late in life.

"Yes, as you command."

"Good. Don't worry about the pursuit team. Take this creature's corpse and leave."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Bang!

The door closed, leaving Roderick alone once again in the vast office.

He returned to his desk, his expression gloomy. The kingdom had too many problems that needed addressing.

"Xingmei." He suddenly called out a name into the empty room.

If Siegfried were here, he would have been surprised to hear this name pronounced in Chinese.

From a shadowy corner, a figure emerged.

The newcomer's attire was quite peculiar - they wore a black bodysuit covered with stocking-like chainmail, brass armor on their limbs, and carried a fan with only its ribs at their waist.

From the curved chest and light frame, this was clearly a woman.

Though her entire outfit was eye-catching, the most striking feature was the bright red plum blossom embroidered on her right shoulder.

"I'm here." The woman's face remained hidden in shadow, only her cool voice carrying forth.

Roderick glanced at the flower on her shoulder. He had never seen such a plant on the Qilan Continent - it was as mysterious as the woman's origins.

Six months ago, this woman calling herself Xingmei had suddenly appeared before him, claiming she could help him achieve his goals while reciting every detail of his life history.

Though her identity and motives remained unclear, Roderick didn't mind his subordinates having secrets as long as they proved useful.

"Go to the Konstanton domain. It's time to close the net."

"Capture or kill?" The woman's words were concise, without a single wasted syllable.

"Kill."

"Including the Princess?"

Roderick fell silent. He closed his eyes, pain and struggle evident on his face.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, now showing only determination.

"Including her."

"Understood."

With those words, the woman vanished into the shadows.

"Use the church's teleportation array in my name. You can arrive in a day."

"Mm." A distant acknowledgment echoed from somewhere unknown.

This time, Roderick was truly alone in his office.

He leaned back in his chair, wearily gazing at a painting on the wall.

It depicted Moen's founding emperor and his four companions bravely facing an endless army of demons.

As if inspired by his ancestors in the painting, flames ignited in Roderick's emerald eyes.

He spoke in a low voice, seemingly addressing both his ancestral painting and himself:

"This kingdom must be reborn.

Anyone who stands in my way...

Must die."