... When he entered the bas.e.m.e.nt of the palace, Hill Fawkes felt his heart tremble, not out of fear, but rather uncontrollable excitement.
The flickering flame of the torch seemed to dance for him, while his steps echoed praises off the stone floor.
He never felt the dark, quiet bas.e.m.e.nt could be so wonderful.
After arriving at the ground floor of the bas.e.m.e.nt, Theo searched his body again. He then patted his shoulder and whispered, "Go, and don"t stay too long."
Hill nodded and walked excitedly into the darkness ahead... After a while, as he pa.s.sed through a darkened walkway and approached the cage, he slowed down so he could fully savor this memorable moment.
He then saw the murderer who killed his wife,
Timothy Wimbledon.
At that moment, Hill covered his mouth, as his eyes were filled with tears... Everything that he had done before was not in vain, and the outcome came earlier than he expected.
"My wife would smile at this sight," he thought.
"Who... is it?" Timothy asked. He turned around, leaned against the rails, and he desperately asked, "Is that you, demon... Did you change your mind?"
Hill came out of the shadows and paced to the cage.
Timothy was shocked and then became wary. He moved two steps back. "Who are you? Who let you in? Where is Roland Wimbledon? I want to see him!"
This was the formerly haughty king.
Hill had only seen what Timothy looked like from a distance in the ascending ceremony. At that time, he wore a crimson robe, a s.h.i.+ning and n.o.ble crown, and he held a golden scepter in his hand. Surrounded by the Knights of King"s City, he walked to the high platform step by step and accepted the coronation. Hill once hoped that he would become a good king who would give everyone a stable life, but the later raid tore the whole city, the acrobatic troupe, and the families apart. As a result, all these expectations for the future disappeared.
Now, he finally felt the sweetness of revenge—it did not contain any pity for this enemy or emptiness after success. Instead, all he felt was just sweetness and happiness, which warmed his cold heart again... To his surprise, he found he actually was fond of this kind of feeling.
"I"m Hill Fawkes, Your Majesty," Hill said as he bowed. "I"m a member of "Dove and Cylinder", and it"s impossible for you to know me, but I know you."
"..." Timothy was stone-faced and speechless.
Hill did not care at all, however, and continued, "There should have been seven members in this acrobatic troupe, but we lost a partner because of you. Since then, the six of us left no longer focused on performing, but we hid among the Rats and hotels to inquire about your movements. After that, we organized and a.n.a.lyzed the information and sent it to Lord Roland." He paused, and then said, "By the way, we told him about your plan of developing snow powder and impressing militiamen to invade the Western Region. We also made the two saltpeter factories in the suburbs close down and transferred them to other places."
"What"re you talking about?" Timothy squinted and said, "A hidden traitor who is proud of what he has done? A traitor who betrayed his king and reaped the benefits of betraying his dignity? I don"t know anything about the "Dove and Cylinder" at all. Stop your tricks, you lowlife!"
"Benefit? Betrayer? No... Your Majesty, I just followed my heart," Hill said quietly. "That partner is my wife. She died in your witch-hunting campaign. In prison, she was tortured and insulted, but the ultimate punishment for the murderer was just 25 silver royals."
Timothy"s eyes glittered.
"Do you remember now?" Hill spread his hands and added, "Although the City Hall later gave three gold royals as compensation, it actually means nothing to me. My wife will never come back. She was not a witch, but she died because of you."
After a while, Timothy said, "I didn"t do it."
This rather weak answer was as sweet as honey. Usually, this response would have been met by a sneer and a "so what?".
"At the time, Lanry, who executed the arrest, was your henchman. Even Steelheart Knight couldn"t stop him. I just wanted a fair verdict, but the court and the City Hall rejected my appeal. There"s no doubt that you were behind this..."
"No, enough! You lowlife!" Timothy could not help but roar, "Do you know what you"re doing? If that witch-hunting campaign only wronged your wife, what you"ve done will ruin the Kingdom of Graycastle! Lord Roland? You idiot! Roland Wimbledon has been dead for a long time! Your master is a real demon! You decided to serve a demon just for a woman?"
"... Is that so?" Hill asked raising the corners of his mouth. "When I begged the G.o.ds, there wasn"t any response. At that moment, I swore that as long as I could get my revenge, even if he was a demon, I"d follow him to h.e.l.l." He bowed with his hand on his chest and said, "Goodbye, Your Majesty. I"m much honored to have aided in your destruction."
...
When he returned to the bas.e.m.e.nt"s entrance, Theo nodded toward Hill. "Are you satisfied?"
"Yes, Your Excellency, please take me to see His Majesty Roland," Hill said, as he took a deep breath.
On the third floor of the palace, he finally saw the man whom he had served for the past six months—Roland Wimbledon looked much kinder than Timothy. Although they had the same gray hair and gray pupils, he did not have the arrogant temperament that kept people at arm"s length. He did not even... look like a royal n.o.bleman.
"I"m very grateful for your undercover work in King"s City," said Roland. Hill was also surprised by his first sentence. "Thanks to your intelligence, I could prepare everything to conquer King"s City at the lowest cost."
"Don"t mention it, and I was doing what was right..."
"Certainly, I know you did that for revenge. Timothy will soon have his due verdict. Now that you have what you want, you can start a new life, but I hope that you can continue to work for me." Roland got up, walked in front of him, and looked at him. "There is still much to do to help the city restore stability and even return to its past prosperity. For example, Rats need to be controlled, and the restless n.o.blemen also need to be watched, but Theo won"t be able to cope with these tasks alone. What do you think? The members of your acrobatic troupe and you can work in a secret and formal position to protect the people of the city from a similar tragedy."
"I"d love to, Your Majesty," Hill said and solemnly knelt down. "Even if you didn"t say so, I"d still follow you forever. You fulfilled what you promised before, and now it"s my turn to do so," he said slowly. "The rest of Hill Fawkes" life will belong to you."
The flower of revenge finally bore its most delicious fruit.