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Heir of the White Lotus (Web Novel) - Chapter 1991: The Story of King Jacob
Chapter 1991: The Story of King Jacob
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"It is now an open secret.""Everyone knows."
"The King has been using underhanded tactics to keep General Jacob fighting the armies of the Edevane Kingdom, the nation that lies beyond the Lamiyan Mountains!"
"He sends his General false reports."
"He fabricates victories."
"He claims that Edevane has violated treaties and massacred our people."
"And whenever General Jacob returns from the front, weary and bloodied, the King gives him another reason to march back into battle."
"How long will this continue?"
"How can someone like General Jacob not see through the lies? Has anger clouded his judgment so much?"
"Every week, more soldiers die."
"Every week, more families receive the news that their sons, husbands, and fathers will never return."
"For what? For the Kingdom? No!"
"For the safety of our people? No!"
"For the King’s greed!"
"I detest even calling him my king..."
"Louis d’Aubigny has doomed this kingdom."
"He sits upon his throne while others bleed for his ambition. He has turned General Jacob into a weapon and points him toward Edevane whenever it suits his interests."
"Does the General believe he is protecting his homeland? Does he believe he is fighting for his people?"
"But the truth is far uglier. Louis is using him! And everyone knows it. The soldiers know. The nobles know. The priests know. Even the common people have begun whispering about it in the streets."
"Yet no one dares speak openly."
"Because as long as General Jacob remains ignorant, the war continues. And as long as the war continues, Louis grows richer."
"How long until the General finds out?"
"That is what frightens me. Because when Jacob finally learns the truth... I fear no kingdom will be able to contain his wrath!"
Adam read the journal entries with a contemplative look on his face.
He recalled the words of the elderly gypsy woman and murmured, "A jealous king could not abide to lose the strength once at his side. He slew the bride with hidden guile, then blamed a foe with practiced smile..."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "So that was how it happened..."
The pieces were beginning to fall into place.
According to the woman’s story, King Jacob had once been a great warrior. He had fought countless battles and earned the loyalty of the kingdom and its people through his strength.
Then he fell in love.
Adam’s mind suddenly drifted toward her before he quickly strangled that thought. He needed to remain focused for what was to come.
The king, unwilling to lose such a powerful warrior, secretly murdered the woman Jacob loved and framed the kingdom’s enemy for her death.
Adam lowered his gaze toward the journal. And now, the High Priest’s words had confirmed the other half of the story.
"An open secret..." he murmured.
So the people had known. At least, some of them had. They knew that the king was manipulating General Jacob. They knew that the war was being prolonged through lies and fabricated reports.
But they apparently did not know why.
Adam’s fingers lightly tapped against the desk. "Everyone thought Jacob was simply fighting for the kingdom. But that wasn’t it."
The elderly gypsy had said it herself.
He slew and slew through grief untold, he piled the living with the dead.
Adam couldn’t help but sigh. "Jacob wasn’t merely defending his homeland. He was avenging her," he murmured.
He smiled bitterly. "And Louis d’Aubigny gave him the perfect target."
He could almost imagine how it had unfolded. The king murdered Jacob’s bride. Then he pointed toward the kingdom beyond the Lamiyan Mountains and told the grieving General that they were responsible.
And Jacob believed him. Perhaps he had even wanted to believe him. After all, what else could a man consumed by grief cling to?
Revenge.
It was simple and convenient. And it gave his rage a direction.
Adam’s expression gradually became more complicated, and he thought, The masses probably never knew the truth.
They had seen their greatest General march to war again and again. They had watched him slaughter countless enemies, believing that he was defending the kingdom from a foreign threat. They had no idea that the entire war had been built upon a lie.
Adam’s gaze returned to the journal. The High Priest had clearly known. Perhaps the other priests had known as well. Yet they remained silent.
Why?
Fear? Loyalty? Or perhaps they had simply believed that revealing the truth would cause even greater bloodshed.
Adam shook his head.
Regardless, it explains why the war became so prolonged.
If Jacob had been fighting because of his love for his deceased bride, then every battle had only fueled his hatred. And Louis had taken advantage of that hatred.
He had kept feeding Jacob lies until the General became a weapon that could no longer be put down.
Adam leaned back slightly on the chair.
"There is just one problem," he murmured.
His eyes narrowed.
The journal had mentioned the Edevane Kingdom. But the gypsy woman had never mentioned such a name. Neither had Isabella.
"The kingdom beyond the Lamiyan Mountains..."
He turned thoughtful again.
If Edevane really existed, then why have I never heard of it until now? That’s strange. Very strange.
The Lamiyan Mountain Range was enormous, but it wasn’t an impassable barrier. A kingdom powerful enough to wage a prolonged war against Valcourrone should have left behind records.
Could it be that Edevane disappeared? He wondered.
A possibility immediately emerged in his mind. Perhaps the war had not ended with a simple victory. Perhaps something more significant happened.
"The kingdom beyond the mountains..." he murmured.
"Could that be why Sandra marked the other side of the Lamiyan Mountain Range?"
For the next few moments, Adam remained silent.
"If the two X spots mark the positions of the sun and the moon temple, why does she want me to visit them? Surely, not just to solve the mystery of what happened in the past. Then why?"
The story of King Jacob de Vile was becoming clearer. But at the same time, the more answers he found, the more questions appeared.
The most important question being: why did Sandra want him to visit these temples?
The answer to that became clear in the following pages...
