The next day.
March 6.
Clear skies.
Today, the capital was no longer under a cloudless sky. A few white clouds of different shapes had appeared along the horizon, hanging there as if frozen in place. Sunlight spilled down, shining over the capital that was, as always, calm and peaceful.
That afternoon, at Luke's estate.
"The weather's been pretty nice lately."
Luke lay on a rocking chair, gazing at the blue sky and white clouds, feeling nothing but the pleasure of having time to himself.
"Yeah."
Lux was lying on a rocking chair as well. She answered in agreement, her little face relaxed and content.
The two of them seemed to have returned to summer, back to the days when they spent entire afternoons lying in rocking chairs and basking in the sun.
It only made them feel that time had passed so quickly. Many things had changed, and many things had not.
Luke had been in a pretty good mood lately. Then again, there were not many times when he was in a bad mood to begin with. Looking up at the blue sky and white clouds, he could not help thinking of the many people living under this same sky.
Vayne had written to him some time ago. She and her teacher had chased Evelynn all the way to the northwestern border, and in their last encounter, they had successfully injured Evelynn again.
Lucian had gone who knew where. The last letter he had sent had still been several months ago.
Luke felt he should keep some correspondence going with him. That way, he could at least know how Lucian's progress was coming along.
After all, Lucian's progress was closely connected to that love-struck maniac.
Maybe when he had the chance, he should go to the Sentinels of Light headquarters and find a way to contact Lucian again.
Then he would be able to ask about his progress at any time.
However, based on Luke's prediction, Lucian was not going to find his wife anytime soon, and that love-struck maniac would not wake up anytime soon either.
Then he thought of Panis. It had also been a while since he had last seen her, though they often exchanged letters.
Several people flashed through Luke's mind one after another, and at last, he thought of Sylas.
It seemed like it had been a while since he had gone to check on him.
Thinking this, he rose from the rocking chair and stretched comfortably, then instructed Yurna, "Prepare the carriage."
Beside him, Lux heard the movement and opened her eyes, asking curiously, "Where are you going?"
"Out for a bit. I'll be back soon."
Luke answered casually, "The ice cream in the basement should be frozen by now. Take it out whenever you want some."
"Oh."
The moment Lux heard that, she knew this guy did not want her following along, so she kept lying there lazily without even making a move to get up.
Soon, Yurna had prepared the carriage. Once Luke climbed in, it headed straight for the capital prison.
About an hour later, the carriage slowly stopped at the prison entrance.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
Luke got out of the carriage, and the guards at the entrance immediately bowed and saluted him.
"At ease."
Luke answered, then walked straight into the prison.
Before long, a figure came running over from a distance, his face piled with smiles. "Your Highness, welcome."
The newcomer was, of course, Dierde.
Luke glanced at him without saying anything and continued walking toward the yard.
Dierde did not mind in the slightest and followed behind him, saying, "Sylas is currently building the library according to your instructions."
Luke nodded, and soon arrived at the yard. From a distance, he saw Sylas carrying stones.
He had to admit, Sylas really had gotten the hang of this.
Luke still remembered how thin and wasted Sylas had looked when he first saw him. Now, Sylas looked much sturdier.
For him to build himself up this much on prison food and in this environment, it was enough to show that Sylas's talent was anything but ordinary.
In the distance, Sylas also noticed Luke's arrival at a glance, and his gaze tightened for an instant.
After some time apart, this prince seemed no different from the impression Sylas had of him.
He still looked perfectly normal, but somehow carried an aura that made people want to punch him.
"Yo, Sylas. Long time no see."
Luke walked up and greeted him with a smile.
Sylas looked at Luke and, for once, answered, "Yeah. Long time no see."
"Looks like you've been in a pretty good mood lately."
Luke wore a faint smile as his gaze shifted to the other side. "I didn't notice before, but this building's gotten pretty big."
At this moment, what appeared before his eyes was a building that had already taken shape. It was about five meters tall and six or seven meters wide. The stone bricks were fitted tightly together, and the binding material between them could be seen.
Although it was not particularly large, it was clear that a great deal of effort had gone into it.
He vaguely remembered that he had once brought up the requirements of running laps and building a library.
The latter had been something he mentioned purely in passing, with no other intent at all. Now, seeing the building standing there, he could feel the passage of time through it.
For Sylas to have built it to this extent on his own was honestly not easy.
"It's pretty well built. If you'd taken this path back then, you'd at least be a master architect by now."
Luke gave him a word of praise.
Naturally, Sylas did not show much emotion because of that praise, but he did think he had some talent in construction.
After reading just a few books, he had managed to build a stable house like this.
He was still somewhat pleased with himself.
At that moment, Luke waved his hand. "A nice house like this must make a pretty good sound when it gets smashed. Dierde, go call some people over and have it knocked down."
The moment those words fell, Sylas froze in place, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
Even Dierde was stunned for a moment. Then he reacted, asked nothing, and immediately answered, "Yes, Your Highness."
Sure enough. He should have expected this outcome long ago.
How was this any different from the time he had ordered Sylas to copy books, then burned everything he had painstakingly copied?
No, there was still a difference. This was even better at messing with his head.
This house had taken Sylas months of hard work to build, and now it was going to be smashed down in a single day. It was simply ridiculous.
Soon, Dierde called people over. Several guards arrived carrying sledgehammers.
Before they started smashing, he still confirmed it once. "Then, Your Highness, we are ready to begin."
Luke nodded and ordered, "Smash it."
"Smash it!"
Dierde immediately repeated loudly.
The guards instantly raised their sledgehammers and slammed them hard into the wall.
The hammers struck the wall with several heavy thuds, as if every sound landed directly in Sylas's heart. He could only watch as several cracks appeared across the wall of the house.
One hammer blow after another.
At last, unable to withstand the pounding, the wall cracked apart with a boom and completely collapsed.
With a rumbling crash, broken stones hit the ground, letting out heavy sounds and sending dust billowing everywhere.
Luke still wore a smile as he looked at Sylas. "Well? Not a bad sound, right?"
That unbearably punchable smile fell into Sylas's eyes, but instead of getting angry, he laughed. A smile appeared on his stubbled face. "Prince, you really are different from the vast majority of Demacians I've met."
Luke asked curiously, "How so?"
Sylas raised his eyes toward the sky, his gaze somewhat distant, then drew it back. "Demacians usually aren't as punchable as you. There's something I've actually wanted to say to you for a long time."
Luke remained curious. "Say it."
"I've been putting up with your bullshit for way too long!"
Sylas turned around, looked at Luke, and roared. Then he suddenly raised his hand, a fierce glint flashing through his eyes.
His chains swung with a rattling sound and smashed straight toward Luke with tremendous force.
The attack was extremely fast.
His sudden rampage caught many people off guard, but Luke was not one of them.
He could have dodged a step earlier, but he still waited until the chain was right in front of him before narrowly avoiding it by a hair.
With a boom, the chain struck the ground, letting out a heavy crash. Sylas charged forward, swinging his left hand, and the chain attached to it lashed toward Luke as well.
Every strike looked like a killing blow.
But at that moment, the surrounding guards reacted.
"Protect His Highness!"
Dierde shouted, drawing his weapon and charging at Sylas. At the same time, several guards rushed forward in a swarm.
In a short span of time, Sylas displayed an extraordinarily powerful fighting strength. He actually flung two guards away and broke through their encirclement, still staring fixedly at Luke as he pursued him.
It was as if he had to kill him no matter what, and also as if he wanted to vent all the anger and resentment he had been holding in for so long.
The situation went completely out of control.
Ten seconds later, Sylas was finally subdued. Two guards pinned him firmly to the ground, his face pressed against the floor, unable to move. Yet his eyes were still filled with an unyielding defiance, streaked all over with bloodshot red.
Dierde walked up with a lingering fear on his face. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he asked carefully, "Your Highness, are you all right?"
Luke put away his smile. There seemed to be a scrape on his clothes. He glanced at Dierde expressionlessly. "Do I look all right to you?"
The invisible pressure he revealed directly forced Dierde to bend even lower. "A thousand apologies, Your Highness. This subordinate failed in his duties and did not expect this damned prisoner to suddenly go mad. This subordinate is willing to accept any punishment. The urgent matter right now is to check your injury."
Luke nodded faintly, glanced at Sylas pinned to the ground, and turned around.
Soon, medical personnel hurried over after hearing the news and began examining his arm.
Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm in the end. It was only a minor scrape.
In truth, there would not have been even a scrape originally.
Naturally, Luke would not be injured so easily. However, the matter of Sylas suddenly attacking him would not be let go so easily either.
Although in many people's eyes, this was purely Luke's own fault.
The man had spent all that effort building a house, and Luke had come over and smashed it without another word, then taunted him right to his face afterward.
Anyone would lose it.
But there was no helping it. Luke was a noble prince, after all.
Moreover, this time, Sylas had not only attacked Luke, he had also injured two guards.
That was right. He had suddenly burst out with strength beyond expectations, catching two guards off guard and directly flinging them away with his chains.
Clearly, all of them had underestimated this prisoner.
Even after so many years, Sylas still possessed a certain level of danger.
This matter quickly alarmed an official above Dierde, namely the Bureau of Justice not far from the capital prison.
Before long, Giovanni, one of the Eight Ministers and the representative of law, personally arrived.
He was the head of the Bureau of Justice and the central representative of Demacian law. He was known for being impartial, stern, and merciless. Many prisoners were transferred directly from the Bureau of Justice to this prison.
When he learned that a prisoner had actually attacked a prince, Giovanni was also astonished.
If this matter were to be taken seriously, the problem was extremely severe.
After he confirmed what had happened, he felt both speechless and helpless.
"How does Your Highness plan to handle this prisoner?"
As he looked at Luke, a strange look flashed through Giovanni's eyes, but it quickly returned to normal.
To be honest, this was the first time he had ever seen such a punchable prince.
When he first met this prince, his impression of him had not been very good. That was because he always felt this prince had a frivolous air about him, as if he treated many things with particular casualness.
This was different from most Demacians, who were meticulous and serious in everything they did.
However, the man truly was a genuine prince. Even if Giovanni had an opinion, there was nothing he could say.
Later, this prince had done several astonishing things and had been promoted to lieutenant general in a short time, proving that his abilities were anything but ordinary.
Yet that frivolous energy about him, compared to his steady older brother, still made him feel immature.
Recently, there had even been rumors that the king seemed to have begun thinking of cultivating this second son.
The heir on the surface was still Jarvan IV, but the current situation had suddenly become difficult to read.
No matter what, however, Giovanni was still more optimistic about Jarvan IV.
At this moment, after hearing his question, Luke immediately said coldly, "How to handle him? In your view, what would be best?"
The question was thrown back to him.
Giovanni thought for a moment and said, "Sylas is already a felon. According to the case I investigated, he escaped the death penalty back then because he was underage. Now, he has openly attacked a prince of the nation and injured two guards. It can be said that he has added crime upon crime. According to the law, he should be sentenced to death."
Perhaps because Giovanni had handled too many cases and too many lives, there was not the slightest emotion in his voice when he said this.
Hearing this, Luke's gaze flickered. "Fine, then death."
With that simple exchange, the decision on how to handle him was settled.
The death sentence would not be carried out immediately.
In Demacia, those sentenced to death were escorted to the execution grounds not far from the prison and beheaded in public as a warning to others.
Luke certainly had the authority to kill Sylas directly, but he did not do so.
Soon, he went to the dungeon and arrived in front of the cell where Sylas was being held.
Sylas looked as if he had taken a beating. He had been casually thrown there like a corpse in an utterly miserable state, while the dim light illuminated several bruises on his body.
"Tsk, tsk. Looks like they didn't go easy on you."
Luke clicked his tongue twice, then asked, "You're going to the execution grounds tomorrow. I'd like to interview you. Sylas, how are you feeling right now?"
"How am I feeling? So-so, I guess."
Sylas turned over to lie face-up, finally no longer greeting him with silence.
His eyes, far brighter than usual, looked toward Luke. "At least I finally won't have to scrape by anymore, doing things that let others make a fool of me. But without me around as your joke, do you feel sorry about it?"
His hair hung loose and messy, but his condition looked surprisingly good.
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