Chapter 617: Broken wine glass

  Chapter 617 Broken Wine Glass
   "But Your Majesty is not your enemy!"
  In the palace corridor, Gilbert was shocked.
  "He is your father! You can't be an enemy of him! You can't even..."
   Thales smiled and hummed:
   "Can't you?"
  Gilbert curbed his face and tried to calm down:
   "Listen, Your Highness, I really have been looking forward to you, trusting you, and loyal to you, but my intention is definitely not the case!"
   "What else could it be?"
   Thales sarcastically said:
   "Let me be a prince, do you want to be a mascot in Mindis Hall?"
  Gilbert frowned and became more anxious:
   "No, Your Highness, you should be the future that everyone is looking forward to, everyone! And you have been doing this all the time, everything should be natural, and everything will happen!"
  But Thales just silently looked at the opponent's hand on his shoulder.
  Isn’t all of this now natural and natural?
  Teacher?
  "You are the heir to the throne. Of course I understand that you feel suffocated and depressed, and dissatisfied with the status quo, but at least wait until..."
   "Wait until the day I am successfully crowned?" Thales said lightly.
  Gilbert hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and nodded:
   "Of course, at that time, I will fully assist you, no matter how difficult it is, no matter how much sacrifice, I swear!"
   "I, Sodor, Jok, Connie, Guy, and many insightful people in the kingdom, we will help you, but before that--"
"help me?"
  Tels interrupted him coldly:
   "Just like you used to'help me'?"
  Gilbert paused.
  I saw Thales raising his right hand, slowly but undoubtedly pushing away Gilbert's palm:
   "Six years ago, I asked you to search for my'friends' in Xiacheng."
   "I ask you to help find them, save them, help...me."
  Gilbert was startled and said sadly:
   "His Royal Highness, I, I have to blame for this matter, I can't shirk the blame..."
   "I just returned from the Kingdom Secret Division." Thales said calmly:
  "You know, I found that they are not what you said, because they hate me and refuse to help me. In fact, Secret Science is very interested in searching for my childhood playmates."
   Gilbert's complexion changed slightly.
   "His Royal Highness, Secret Branch has always been at odds with you. The reason why they are so enthusiastic..."
  But Thales interrupted him and said to himself:
"And they also told me: In the past few years, Gilbert, you have used your contacts and face to find the Chief Defense Officer, mobilize the City Hall and the Security Department, and gather the security officers and tax officers to fight against the Xiacheng District and the Western District. The district launched several large-scale cleanups—just to find someone for me."
  The teenager looked at the teacher’s eyes seriously:
   "I am grateful, Gilbert."
  Gilbert was startled, not knowing how to reply.
   "Until Secret Branch told me more."
  Thyls expressionless:
   "For several years, the City Hall and the Vigilance Department have attacked in such a high-profile manner, and directly ended up, intervening in the Black Street Brotherhood and the Blood Bottle to help the endlessly biting dogs."
"They drive away homeless people, disperse beggars, and let the powerless and low-level people suffer bad luck. They check out the vendors, close the shops, and make the pitiful and honest people useless. They hunt for petty thefts and blackmail places. The gang, but let the real scum escape. They caught a few black and evil models, serving as political achievements to soothe people's hearts, but turned a blind eye to more heavier oppression and exploitation. They acted hastily and vigorously, but they happened to hide in the corner of the gutter. The power of the country is reduced to zero."
  Tales stared at each other carefully:
   "They are rude and cold, arrogant and self-confident, like a latte sweeping the floor, they care about movement rather than cleanliness."
   "And after they left, the already chaotic Xiacheng district only got worse."
  Gilbert heard this and hesitated repeatedly:
   "His Royal Highness, I, I don't know, I'm sorry, if I had known the Chief Defense Officer and they..."
  But Thales could not let him finish:
"the most important is."
  "Their actions have almost irreparably destroyed all clues," the prince raised his voice:
  "From the abandoned house to the Red Square Street, everyone, things, places and things are completely different. Now I want to follow the clues to find the beggars back then..."
"almost impossible."
  Tyles carefully examined Gilbert’s reaction:
   "It's like, like someone deliberately did it."
   "Just to stop me-find them."
  At that moment, the foreign minister suddenly changed color!
   "Is that so," said the young man in the dark palace corridor: "Gilbert? When you asked the Security Department?"
   "What Secret Branch told me, is it the truth?"
  The Minister of Foreign Affairs did not answer.
  In the air, only Gilbert's steady breathing sounded.
  The silence lasted for a long, long time.
   Thales shook his head and continued to speak.
   "Six years ago, when I asked you to find them, you told me it was not possible, because ‘this is for confidentiality’."
   "I became a prince at the National Conference, you still tell me no, "for their safety."
  "When I go to the Northland again, you write to say that you are working on it but the progress is slow, ‘you can’t let the caring people notice.’"
  "Until I returned, you told me that I could not find it, and at the same time advised me not to look for it, because-‘you can’t go back’."
  Tels calmly faced his teacher, as if telling someone else’s story.
no answer.
  The answer to him was still an embarrassing silence.
   Thales raised his head and chuckled lightly.
   "Secret Branch said, for six years, you still haven't been able to find them."
   "Because you don't want to find it at all."
   Thales whispered:
   "Or, is the secret branch lying?"
  But Gilbert just bowed his head deeply, unable to discern his expression.
  The silence lasted for a long time.
   "Forget it, Gilbert, whether or not Secret Science has lied or how many lies," the boy turned his head and said in a daze, "It doesn't matter anymore, it doesn't matter anymore."
  At this moment, Gilbert suddenly spoke:
   "Secret Branch didn't tell you anything, right?"
  "You are just to test my reaction, just as you test the Duke of Iris."
   Thales sighed.
  The cunning fox of the stars.
"Correct."
   Thales looked lonely.
   "Secret Science feared me and didn't tell me anything."
   "All I know is that I have inferred from what I saw and heard from the old places in Xiacheng District and Xihuan District."
  Gilbert closed his eyes.
  In the corridor, neither Thales nor Gilbert spoke, they just staggered their eyes tacitly and looked away.
  I don’t know how long it took before Gilbert finally spoke.
"I am sorry."
  His tone is exhausted, as is the content:
   "But you can't find them."
  With pain and relief, Thales sighed.
  The two fell silent again.
   "You know, I tried to convince myself, Gilbert."
  Thyls faced the darkness in the hallway, and his tone was ordinary, even gentle and friendly, just like old friends chatting.
"Really, I tried it. I tried to convince myself: Although Gilbert Caso is called a sly fox, he is in a high position after all. He doesn't understand the doorways of Xiacheng. He doesn't know. He will not deliberately destroy Dropping clues will not deliberately prevent me from locating people, so I used the simplest and rude method in the world."
   "And he is my teacher, one of the people I believe in the world, I should not and cannot doubt him."
   "I said to myself, as long as you tell me that you haven't done that before, I will believe it."
  Thyls has no gods in his eyes:
   "I tried it, really, I tried it."
  Gilbert raised his head when he heard the words, and said with difficulty:
   "Your Highness, I, I..."
   "Why?"
  Gilbert was silent for a while before he said awkwardly:
   "In the Scarlet Year, your Majesty was crowned hastily, the enemy was surrounded by enemies, and the throne was unstable. The Fuxing Palace had to do strange ways to repress chaos."
   "Morat Hansen has been a close friend of the former king for many years. He has profound qualifications. The Kingdom's Secret Science has only been trusted, and he has been able to act arbitrarily and run rampant outside the law."
  "This was very effective at the beginning, simple and rude, neat and direct. But over time, it condoned your majesty's adventurous style and blurred the boundaries of the secret branch."
   Thales frowned.
  "They have the support of your majesty now, but once you succeed to the throne and crowned?"
"It is conceivable that in order to remain in power, the secretarial staff will definitely find ways to seize the means that can restrict you at any cost, and your past and background are the most criticized weaknesses. Your old acquaintances It is the handle that secret science can't ask for."
  "But you are the future of the Star Kingdom and the hope of reforming the government. I can't let the Black Prophet or any unkind character restrain you even a single cent."
  Gilbert looked at Thales, his eyes gloomy:
   "So you can't find them, you can't."
  "Even if you find it before the secret department, you can't find it. Your...their clues should be buried forever, no one knows."
  The foreign minister's voice fell.
  In the corridor, even the unextinguishable lights dimmed a lot.
   "So, Gilbert, you deceived me."
  Tales said in a trance:
"From the beginning."
  At that moment, Gilbert's face turned pale.
  But Thales still gave him a consoling smile.
   "It's okay, Gilbert, I understand," Thales said tiredly:
  "Just now, do you feel the weight and thickness of this net."
   "Your subconscious obedience to it, its silent control over you, including its influence on me and my vigilance against it, are far ahead of our sincerity."
  Gilbert showed a bitter face and swallowed his throat.
  Thyls stared at the shadows in the corridor:
"Just like students facing teachers, employees facing their bosses, wives facing their husbands, and courtiers facing the king, if they stand on an unequal scale from the very beginning and stay in unclean waters, it will dominate their relationship. It's not just each other."
"When we are shrouded in the established power structure, Gilbert, when you have to do your best to not be thrown down by a biased scale, when you are bound to the top, when you The only choice left is the time to adapt or destroy."
  "Before you realize it, you completely lose the right to choose freely."
  "Unless you reject it, jump out of it, go beyond it."
   "Conquer it."
  Gilbert's breathing became fast.
   "No, your lord, I don't understand!"
  Gilbert’s voice was very low, almost subconsciously murmured:
   "All of this is for, for, for—"
   "For my good?"
  Tels took the conversation gently.
  The Minister of Foreign Affairs did not answer.
  Tyles exhaled with a smile.
  "Gilbert, have you ever thought that although you are father and son, why does Wiya always refuse to mention you?"
  Hearing his son's name, Gilbert trembled slightly.
   "I never asked him the specific reason. But I think I know the deeper reason."
  Thyls gradually lost his consciousness, and his thoughts drifted to the north:
   "Perhaps you know, Gilbert, I have a friend in Exeter, or a friend I think I think."
  "When she encounters difficulties, I worry, worry, and consider for her all day and night."
  Speaking of which, Thales chuckled:
  "I'm such a fool. I always think she depends on me and needs me. I always think I'm protecting her and helping her. I always think I'm..."
   Thales’ smile gradually disappeared:
   "For her good."
   "But I was wrong."
   "Because that's not what she wants."
  Thinking of the familiar face, Thales closed his eyes deeply:
   "And I never regarded her as a friend who treats each other as equals, at most just a ‘person who needs me’."
  Gilbert looked at him startledly, and began to tremble.
"Gilbert, since we met, everything you have done so painstakingly has been to make me a good king. For this, you even sacrificed yourself and gave everything to help me defend me. I am very grateful, but... …"
   Thales opened his eyes, his eyes clear:
   "But I am not the kind of wise monarch you are looking for, Gilbert."
   "It's not like my father."
   Gilbert shook hard.
"You can't make a mold for everyone in your heart, and then use all your means to influence and guide them-and you are not at all abnormal, even proud, that it is'for their good'- -Just to fit them into the mold tightly."
  "Because I, Wyah, or even my father, and even yourself, Gilbert, we are not born to die."
  Tels is gentle and authentic:
   "That's why, I will never become him."
   "No matter how you teach me to be close to him in dressing style, academic system and even behavior style, I will never become the next..."
   "Prince Midiel."
   "No matter how good he is."
  Gilbert was shocked and lost his voice:
   "Your Highness, I..."
  But Thales just smiled friendly, as always.
"You are a good teacher, Gilbert, really. You treat the students meticulously and without giving, you give everything you ask, and you are thoughtful and considerate-you are really good, so good that I can't even find the slightest. defect."
  "But I didn’t understand until I met the old crow, and met the teacher Hexer who shook his head and shook his head, and always relied on the three words ‘what do you say’ to mix up his salary in class."
  Tyles took a step forward and looked directly at Gilbert’s red and wet eyes:
   "Your biggest problem, Gilbert, is that you are so kind."
   "It's so good that students can rely on you and need you, so good that you don't even leave students with the slightest leeway for'bad'."
  Gilbert opened his mouth to speak, but his lips trembled, and he could only greet two lines of tears.
   "But it turns out that my friend, even without me'being good for her,' she can live well."
   "Even better."
   Thales sighed and smiled unconsciously:
   "I am happy for her."
  The next second, Thales opened his arms without hesitation and embraced Gilbert, who was already speechless.
   "And I hope you can be happy for me too, Gilbert."
  Thyls pressed against the opponent’s ear and trembled:
"my friend."
  The Minister of Foreign Affairs trembled in his arms.
   Thales suddenly found that Gilbert, who was dressed in glamorous clothes, was so thin.
  But the next moment, the boy converged his emotions, forced the moisture in his eye sockets back, and gritted his teeth:
   "By the way, Earl Caso."
   "I don't like your schedule."
  Thyls let go of Gilbert, who stared at him blankly, his mouth raised:
   "It's too full."
  The voice fell, Thales raised his hands and chest, respectfully, and bowed to Gilbert in a respectful manner.
  As six years ago, Gilbert saluted him.
  In the next second, he exhausted the greatest strength of his life to restrain the shaking, straightened his back, pulled up his steps, and turned away.
  Dare to look at the other person again.
  Click.
  The sound of a stick landing behind him.
  Tales felt a pain in his heart.
  But he still maintained his perfect smile, stepped forward and stepped into the unknown darkness in the corridor.
  The palace is deep and the lights are faint.
  But Thales, who was absent-minded, didn't go far until he ran into an acquaintance at the corner.
   "Oh, sorry, my lord," the palace steward, Baron Quentin, who had taught Thales not to waste royal property, rubbed his forehead:
   "I, I didn't see you, it was not intentional."
  Tels also pressed his chin in pain.
   "It's okay, it's just an accident."
  But he is very happy, at this moment someone can talk.
  Even nonsense.
   "My Lord Baron."
  Tyles forced a smile:
   "I heard Captain Adrian say that you are unwell?"
   "Oh, nothing, I used to pretend to be sick and hide from work." Quentin tugged at his delicate cuffs, wiped a notebook with a cracked cover, and didn't care: "Don't delay things."
   "Sorry for making you tired."
  The prince apologized dullly: "Whether it is the wine glass at the banquet, or today..."
  But Chief Quentin interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
  "You know, wine glasses are not a problem."
"Anyway, they are not expensive-uh, sorry, I mean, they are expensive, but there are still many workshops and merchants rushing to send money back and paste, just so that the royal family and the Fuxing Palace can use the wine glasses they produce. "
  Quentin sighed:
  "And I have long wanted to change those glasses. They are fragile and fragile. They always give the little ones an excuse for being slow. Now I only hope that the metal and thick wooden cups can be stronger."
  Tyles smiled, nodded, ready to leave.
  "Just...why?"
  Tels heard the words.
  I saw Baron Quentin looking at him deeply:
   "His Royal Highness, I have always been surprised, why do people from the North have to throw a glass when drinking?"
  Fall the wine glass.
   Thales was silent for a while:
   "You know, even though I've been there for six years, I'm also very strange."
  Baron Quentin intentionally or unintentionally:
   "Strength, throw, smash, bump, smash, rupture, smash, but what does this prove to show? Extravagant? Tyrannical? Outrageous? Fierce? Powerful? Masculine?"
  Quentin stared at him, his tone suddenly softened:
  "You know, just use the rare and precious cups that have been uploaded from history and used by grandparents and fathers. Everyone is grateful. You can drink a glass of wine with peace of mind, and everyone is happy, isn't it good?"
  Tels was silent for a while.
"I do not know."
   "But if I don't break it in Mindis Hall."
   Thales raised his head and smiled weakly:
   "Fuxing Palace won't change a new wine glass, right?"
  Quentin looked at him, pondering for a while.
  "The new batch of wine glasses may not be better than the old ones."
   "Maybe," Thales is in a complicated mood:
   "But you don't know."
   "If I knew," Baron Quentin replied very quickly:
   "What if I have seen it?"
  Tels looked at him.
   "Perhaps you can't imagine, Your Highness," the baron sighed, and rubbed the cracked old notebook under his arm:
   "But I have worked here for more than 30 years."
  "When I was a little kid, I followed my father with a pen and paper, keeping things and keeping accounts, and solving the basic needs, food, housing and transportation for every star."
  The palace director is out of God’s way:
"everyone."
  Everyone... a star.
   Thales did not speak.
  Baron recovered, looked at Thales, with unspeakable emotion hidden in his eyes:
   "So, I have seen every batch of wine glasses."
   "Every batch."
  Thyls was silent for a few seconds and nodded:
   "You are so lucky."
  Quentin smiled self-deprecatingly, noncommittal.
  The next second, the prince smiled at the manager:
   "But I remember that Hexer, Gilbert's teacher once said a word."
   "Under the sun, everything is new."
  After hearing this, Baron Quentin was silent for a long time before sighing.
   "You know, even if the Canstar royal family is rich and an enemy country," he looked at Thales, his eyes not without worry:
   "You still have to pay for the broken batch of wine glasses."
  Pay the bill.
  Tels pursed his lips.
"Yes."
   "Really."
   Both fell silent.
   "Or keep an account for you, Your Highness?"
  Quentin broke the silence and patted the notebook, with a little hope in his tone:
  "You know, maybe when you grow up, after you are crowned, the creditors will give you...free of charge?"
free.
  Tails raised his head and continued to look into the darkness under the lights in the distance.
  "Thank you, Lord Baron, but no need."
   Thales spoke quietly, slightly surprised:
   "I still have to pay the bill."
   "Or early."
   "Or late."
  (End of this chapter)