From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

Byrne looked up at the imposing bookshelves and myriad of books, feeling a surge of excitement deep within.

For a moment, he transformed into a true scholar, unable to resist making an inquiry.

"Is this all knowledge?"

However, against Byrne's expectations, Aldrich shook his head. Then the middle-aged man calmly extended his hand, and the books left their shelves in droves, swirling around the two men.

He watched the books circling in the air around him and spoke slowly with indifference:

"The tomes stored on those bookshelves, most of them are not the knowledge you imagine. They are primarily my various research works, as well as a lot of intelligence, rumors, and information."

Aldrich paused, then continued:

"I am indeed a scholar, but my most important observation is on people and nations, and I have little interest in knowledge that has no practical use. You might say that I'm a pragmatist."

"That intelligence and information are all things useful to the family and to me personally."

Byrne quickly grasped the other's meaning. So that was it—the "Dragon Taming Lord," the "Ring Scholar" Aldrich Romann, was in fact the intelligence chief of the "Dark Night" Romann family.

Then it struck him, no wonder Aldrich had the reputation of "never losing a duel," since achieving this required mastering two fundamental things.

One was not to provoke those who you could never beat, to prevent all your flashy preparations from ending in an instant defeat.

The other foundation was to always be prepared, to grasp all the enemy's intelligence in advance, only then could one truly be without fault in battle, winning with the weaker against the stronger.

"It seems you've understood."

The middle-aged man, who had always been composed and proper over the years, nodded gently, his hand now holding a wine glass that had been nearby, filled with fragrant red wine.

He looked at Byrne, his gaze pondering something.

Byrne immediately asked:

"So, Lord Aldrich, you have intelligence on that black dragon, right?"

"Did you kill Bast Leone?"

Aldrich suddenly asked a fatal question without any warning.

Mr. Byrne froze for a moment, then knitted his brows, shaking his head with a serious tone, "What are you talking about? I can't understand. Lord Aldrich, you very well know that Viscount Bast was killed by someone from the Stars Embrace Order."

"Lord Aldrich, we have been in close association for several years; why would you suddenly ask such a thing? Could it be that you do not trust me?"

"Please don't be upset, my apologies, His Excellency Byrne."

Aldrich immediately apologized with a gentle tone and continued with a smile.

"I just felt you had the motive and the opportunity, but regardless of the truth, I have no evidence, and our two families need to work together for many more years, so the truth doesn't matter anymore."

"It seems you still suspect me, Lord Aldrich. When you mention motive, are you referring to that special ability of mine?"

Byrne gave a wry smile, shaking his head and speaking solemnly, "I don't think I have any such motive. If I was willing to sacrifice my own lifespan to save Zayne, would I kill Viscount Bast just because I don't want to give up my lifespan?"

"Lord Aldrich, I have great respect for you, and I hope that you can respect me as well!"

Aldrich remained silent for a while, then nodded very solemnly.

"I understand. No matter what, I will not bring up this issue again."

Byrne nodded slightly, indicating he would no longer be angered by the matter.

His innermost feelings were in turmoil! Years had passed, and it was unexpected that Aldrich was still pondering the cause of Bast's death in secret!

Just now, he had thrown a question like a bombshell. If Byrne had shown any unnatural expression or reaction, it might have led to unfortunate consequences.

Nevertheless, the meaning revealed in Aldrich's words was also worth pondering.

Regardless of the truth, it seemed that he had already promised not to pursue the matter further, because Byrne's unique ability was extremely precious, and the alliance between the families was the most important issue at present.

"This is it."

Suddenly, Aldrich reached out and pulled two clean, smooth sheets of paper from a book floating nearby.

"All the intelligence you need about that black dragon is right here on these two sheets of paper. Byrne Fischer, the decision to seek revenge is yours to make."

Byrne was silent for a moment, but he couldn't help voicing his doubts.

"Actually, I'm quite curious, Lord Aldrich, why don't you agree with revenge?"

Aldrich looked at him again, seriously explaining his own philosophy.

"Well, to put it simply, I prefer to establish a kingdom with more order and law, whereas private vengeance is a representation of chaos, and chaos is the source of all disasters and destruction."

Byrne was slightly startled, then immediately asked, "A nation of order and law, are you a follower of the World Order Church?"

However, Aldrich immediately denied this, calmly stating his viewpoint.

"No, I am not a disciple of the World Order Emperor. I just share some similar ideals with them. In fact, the orderly state I want to build is very different from the type that the World Order Church wishes for, which completely serves the Extraordinary people."

The more Byrne listened, the more intrigued he became, and then he further inquired, "I am quite curious, what exactly are the differences between your envisioned orderly state and that kind of order?"

Aldrich pondered for a moment, then provided an explanation:

"I want to establish a dual-order state where Extraordinary people and commoners can coexist. Because of their power advantage, Extraordinary people will inevitably be the superiors, a fact no one can change. Yet, even commoners who hold no power should retain a certain dignity."

"Currently, the laws and order of Cyart are often only nominal. Byrne, let me ask you, if a member of a noble family wanders in the slums of a city and takes a fancy to an underage girl, then publicly takes her away and forceful rapes her—"

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"What punishment would he face?"

Byrne didn't even have to think, he answered very honestly, "If it doesn't cause too much of a stir and the matter isn't blown up, it's very possible he would face no punishment at all."

Commoners live like weeds, while nobles possess immensely great power, also controlling the military, legal, administrative and other powers of a region, and even the Church tacitly acknowledges the Extraordinary people's superior status.

Hence, when the Extraordinary nobility commits any wrongdoing against commoners, as long as it is not too excessive, then there is no chance of them being brought to trial.

The status of the extraordinaries is exceedingly transcendent, with no restraint or oversight.

As long as it is well concealed, not to mention raping an ordinary common girl, even human trafficking and massacring villages in private, are actually things that have been done by Extraordinary nobility.

Especially during war times, such atrocious deeds are even more frequent, Byrne has seen far too much already.

Aldrich nodded his head, saying:

"Yes, such vile acts are actually happening every day on the Ouden Continent, you and I are very clear about that. But what's more obvious to all of us is that even if we feel uncomfortable with evil deeds, if we wanted to intervene, we couldn't manage it fully, right?"

Yes, everything he said was correct, Byrne was silent for a long time, then inquired:

"Lord Aldrich, there is still something I don't understand, why do you care so much about the lives of commoners?"

"Good question, but it's also a question that doesn't need an answer. Why can't I care about them?"

Aldrich revealed a smile and drained the red wine from his goblet.

"As a Cyart person, I wish that all my fellow Cyart people can live a bit better, isn't that very normal?"

Byrne took a deep breath and continued:

"But as you've also said, even if we want to take care of it, we absolutely cannot manage it all; it's difficult even to discover crimes, let alone the subsequent trials."

"Hmm, that's why the country of Cyart needs reform."

Aldrich's words made Byrne contemplate internally, whether the Romann family remains loyal to the Royal Family.

"Moreover, I have always been searching for a ritual spell or similar power that can strictly monitor criminal behavior in various cities and villages, it's just that so far, I have found none."

Byrne listened quietly, his thoughts inevitably drifting to Bast's ambitions and ideals, thus he maintained a reserved attitude towards Aldrich's statements.

He felt one should not listen to what a person says, but rather watch what they do, only then can one see with clarity and understanding.

Of course, although that's what he thought deep down, on the surface Byrne still nodded and smiled, saying:

"I see, Lord Aldrich is a respectable idealist, truly wanting to change Cyart. I admire your thoughts from the bottom of my heart."

Then, he turned to look at the two pages that contained information about that black dragon, but after only a brief glance, he nodded and set them down.

"I've already memorized it, thank you."

The black dragon's name was "Black Ash," and it was a Monarch Level powerhouse...

Byrne took a deep breath; the most important thing now was to see which book Christine had found.

Did it contain any record of a way for them to leave this place?