Chapter 569: An Unplanned Visit

Liam nodded. “I think so too. After all, Princess Olive is from Visionary.”

Thomas asked, “King Liam, you are working with Princess Olive. I wonder what she wants?”

Liam shook his head. “Princess Olive hasn’t told me. I have a feeling it concerns the royal family and the secret of Visionary’s disappearance.” He turned to Thomas. “Mr. Thomas, you’ve been chief army for over forty years. Are you familiar with Visionary?”

“Visionary vanished a hundred years ago. I’m not familiar with it, but…” Thomas hesitated.

“But what?” Liam pressed.

Thomas lowered his voice. “I once saw a secret scroll in the palace. It contained records of Greenland and Visionary.”

“Please continue, Mr. Thomas,” Liam urged.

“Greenland and Visionary share a history. Our ancestor and Visionary’s ancestor were a couple. Visionary’s ancestor was legendary—possessing remarkable medical skills and the ability to train wolves.” Liam’s eyes lit up at Thomas’s last words.

Thomas continued, “Visionary’s ancestor used a wolf cavalry to expand territory for our ancestors, and together they created Greenland. But I don’t know what transpired between them. Then, Visionary’s ancestor established her own kingdom, Visionary.”

“It’s said she had a three-petaled flower on her forehead, a birthmark, perhaps.”

“Empress Flower?” Liam murmured. He nodded. “Yes, the Empress Flower. I understand it’s not possessed by every Visionary queen. To my knowledge, Olive is only the second.”

Liam studied Thomas. “Mr. Thomas, you seem quite apprehensive about this scroll.”

Liam nodded. “Yes, the scroll I saw was incomplete; many pages were missing. I didn’t see the whole story, but I saw the ending.”

“What ending?”

“Before Visionary’s ancestor died, she used her blood to leave a prophecy: a hundred years later, Visionary would produce a second king, not a queen, and there would be an unavoidable, bloody conflict between Greenland and Visionary.”

Liam thought of the wandering monk who’d spoken of an emperor and a female star born concurrently, ushering in an era of dual kings. If Olive were Visionary’s king, who ruled Greenland?

Thomas looked at Liam. “King Liam, you’re the most capable of seizing power, yet you remain neutral. Why?”

Liam’s face remained impassive. “Because I’ve been waiting for someone.”

“Who?”

“The person with the true blood of a child—Greenland’s rightful ruler.”

Thomas nodded, pleased. “For years, I’ve secretly sought the baby girl born concurrently with my father—his sister. Unfortunately, all clues vanished.” Liam looked at the chessboard, the remnants of his game with Olive.

“Mr. Thomas, the missing pages likely detail the war between Greenland and Visionary—a desperate conflict. The princess is extraordinary. If we don’t find the true ruler with the child’s blood, our country is in danger.”

Thomas pondered. “I met someone recently—the girl who sent the baby away.”

“What? Where is she?” Liam asked urgently.

“Her life was difficult. She went to Imperial City, became a bar girl, married a wealthy man, fell seriously ill, but had a filial daughter.”

Liam stood abruptly. “Where is that daughter? If I’m right, she’s not the man’s illegitimate child; she’s Greenland’s princess!”

“She fled to Imperial City, was favored by a powerful man, but the marriage failed. She jumped from a building into a river and disappeared.”

“Imperial City,” Liam repeated silently. The baby girl had been exiled there.

“Mr. Thomas, is she dead?”

Thomas shook his head. “I don’t know. But that girl is with me now. Terminally ill, she won’t survive two days. If her daughter lives, she’ll visit her mother one last time. We wait.”

Liam nodded slowly. “Alright.”

Olive, finished with Thomas, would now seek her mother, Joyce, and Aunt Annabelle. Their arrival in Greenland was earlier than planned; Annabelle’s mother was terminally ill.