There was no time to dwell on what had happened back then.
What mattered was the present.
There was no longer any need to verify whether the stone mural was genuine, because both the Winged Protector and the Veiled Lady existed in the royal archives. It was simply that with the passage of generations, too many things from the distant past had been lost.
Now, the truth once sealed beneath the dust had been uncovered. Among those present, whether they were commoners who had followed them, soldiers, merchants, nobles, or ministers, all of them fell into a wordless silence.
No one had expected that the beliefs they had followed since birth had been a mistake from beginning to end.
"This history should no longer remain hidden."
Jarvan III broke the silence. He stepped forward and took the stone mural from Luke, then gave an order. "Summon everyone to Grand Plaza, including the mages. I have an important decision to announce."
"Yes!"
Several people accepted the order and quickly turned to leave.
"We should withdraw from this place first as well. Leave some men behind and clean out everything here."
Jarvan III swept his gaze over the surroundings. Looking at this place where the Mageseekers' sins had been deeply buried, a flash of grief still crossed his eyes.
Something like this had happened right under his nose. He felt ashamed that all these years, he had immersed himself in the flattery of those around him, becoming self-satisfied over the slightest achievement and allowing one leaf to blind him to the mountain before his eyes.
"I am sorry, everyone. I am not a qualified king."
He let out a deep sigh, and his face seemed to age by several years in an instant.
"Your Majesty, please do not say that."
"You cannot be blamed for this."
"This was all done by those cunning villains, colluding in secret to commit such crimes against both man and heaven."
"We are the incompetent ones."
Seeing him like this, the people around him all stepped forward and spoke up.
Because even Sylas and the other mages had to admit that when it came to being a king, Jarvan III was indeed qualified.
With the Mageseekers carrying out their schemes in private, and so many nobles covering for them, hiding it from his eyes had never been difficult.
But when it came to responsibility, as the king, he did indeed bear some small share of it in countless intertwined ways.
Yet this topic would inevitably circle back to one key point.
The ban on magic.
Even Jarvan III had only followed the teachings of his ancestors. The great cause of banning magic had been passed down from ancient times for hundreds of years, so how could it possibly be abandoned so easily?
Without today's incident, the truth that had been sealed away would probably not have been revealed for a very long time.
When something was wrong at its very foundation, there were only two choices.
Either continue being wrong with unwavering resolve, or awaken midway and repent.
By Jarvan III's generation, he and his ancestors had already been wrong for far too long.
At the very least, he had now come to his senses.
On the way out of the Mageseekers' secret base, Luke remained quiet the entire time, silently thinking about something.
He kept feeling that this incident was still missing one link, a link that was crucial, yet also not quite so crucial.
Lux walked beside him. Seeing the heavy look on Luke's face, she could not help saying with some worry, "I wonder if Mother was caught up in this. If she stayed home the whole time, she should be fine."
The moment she said that, Luke suddenly understood.
He raised his head and abruptly gave an order. "Quinn, take a squad and come with me."
"Yes."
Quinn immediately responded.
Seeing this, Lux quickly asked, "What are you going to do?"
"You all go to Grand Plaza first. I'll be there shortly."
After leaving those words behind, Luke took Quinn and a group of soldiers and quickly left the team.
Under everyone's surprised gazes, they sped up and hurried back toward the capital.
Half an hour later, Luke led the squad to a certain location.
He looked at the somewhat old but quite large estate before him, then dismounted.
The capital was still far from settled. Soldier squads were everywhere, heading to one location after another. Countless people were being arrested this time.
Heavy troops guarded the city gates, and even the escape routes through the sewers had been blocked.
This was to prevent the guilty from fleeing amid the chaos.
It could be said that everyone involved in this incident was now like a turtle trapped in a jar inside the capital. There was nowhere left to run.
And the estate before him was the key point Luke had forgotten, the estate of Russell Chambers.
The main gate was locked, but Luke broke it open with ease. Then he led his men straight inside.
"Keep watch outside."
He looked at Quinn and gave the order, then walked toward the estate before him.
"Yes." With one gesture from Quinn, the soldiers swiftly spread out and surrounded the estate so tightly that not even a fly could escape.
By then, Luke had already stepped into the estate. It was silent inside, as if no one were there at all.
He slowly arrived at the drawing room and saw a man sitting on the sofa, unhurriedly drinking hot tea.
The man looked to be over sixty, but he was in good condition. He was dressed in rich and noble clothing and possessed a thoroughly aristocratic air. At a glance, he was clearly a noble used to a life of luxury.
Russell Chambers.
Strictly speaking, perhaps he was the true mastermind behind this rebellion.
At the same time, back then, he had also been one of the leading ministers who opposed Melli being made queen.
As light flickered in Luke's eyes and he activated the Eye of Truth, what he saw beneath the man's appearance was Russell's true face.
It was a woman with black hair, purple lips, fair, delicate skin, seductive brows and eyes, and a stunningly beautiful face. Her exquisite features carried a mature charm, giving off an indistinct, alluring aura.
As for her identity, Luke recognized her at a glance.
The Deceiver, LeBlanc!
Seeing her, Luke was not surprised. Or rather, he had already faintly guessed it before this.
Otherwise, there was no way he would believe that Du Couteau, an assassin, could have come all the way from the Noxian capital to the Demacian capital without obstruction and made contact with Tourt and the other nobles without there being some deeper explanation.
LeBlanc was the leader of the Black Rose, a secret Noxian organization. She was mysterious and unpredictable, filled with cunning schemes.
Even the name LeBlanc might very well be an alias.
Her personal interests were unclear, but she seemed to enjoy bringing all kinds of trouble to Runeterra.
With the help of her special abilities, she could disguise herself as many identities, appear in several places at the same time, and forever hide in the shadows, plotting shameful conspiracies.
No one knew how long this woman had lived through the river of history. If one spoke of age, she could even be traced back to the founding era of Noxus.
And during all that time, no one knew how much trouble she had caused.
Luke was not at all surprised that such a woman had infiltrated Demacia.
He even suspected that LeBlanc might have been living here as a Demacian from a very early point in time.
And over the years, she had already taken up a certain position within Demacia.
That much could be seen from her existing influence alone. The most representative example was Tourt.
Tourt was one of Demacia's eight ministers. As the representative of the nobles, his influence had almost reached the very peak of Demacian politics.
Yet everything such a person had done had followed LeBlanc's orders.
And his ally had been Josie, also a representative of the nobles. As for even more allies, they were still under investigation.
But just thinking about that much already made the situation terrifying.
And in truth, this woman had indeed nearly plunged Demacia into complete chaos.
If Luke had not laid out his own plan ahead of time, the outcome of today's incident absolutely would not have been what it was now.
At that moment, in the drawing room,
"I believe this should be our first meeting, Second Prince."
Seeing who had come, LeBlanc, seated on the sofa, raised her head. A pair of glittering eyes on her outstanding face carried a hint of curiosity as she looked Luke over and spoke first.
"I did not expect you to come personally to arrest me. In that sense, it does fulfill my long-held wish to meet Your Highness."
As she spoke, she slowly set down the teacup in her hand.
At this moment, what Luke saw was no longer a man in his sixties, but a young woman with a bewitching figure and graceful curves.
"The people coming to arrest you are still on the way. I came only to ask you a few things."
Naturally, Luke would not be deceived by the delicate, beautiful face before him. He knew very well that this woman's heart was as venomous as a snake or scorpion, and that she viewed human life as no more than grass.
So his expression remained calm as he walked into the drawing room and sat down on the sofa opposite her. Then he spoke. "Why have you always wanted to meet me? This is indeed the first time we've met."
LeBlanc smiled faintly. "I have long heard of the Second Prince's deeds. As for why I wanted to meet you, it is because in the capital, I have examined and appraised many people, yet you alone were the one I underestimated."
Her gaze was hard to read. She kept looking at Luke as if she were looking at some rare treasure. "You are someone who fell outside my entire plan. Like a game of chess, you gave me the feeling that a new opponent had suddenly appeared at the board. You arrived abruptly, and your counterattack was just as abrupt. Every step you made was beyond my expectations. You did not even give me a chance to react before putting me directly in check."
"Second Prince, who exactly are you?"
For an instant, those eyes seemed capable of seeing through his very essence, making Luke feel as though his entire body had been seen through.
But he did not panic in the slightest. He only smiled. "I am who I am. Who else could I be? You, on the other hand, feel very strange to me. You seem like a spectator who has nothing to do with today's events, watching from the sidelines. And your information came quite quickly too. That nephew of yours, Tourt, has already been cut down by the sword."
"There were only two possible outcomes for today's events. Since you have already appeared here, there is naturally no need to guess what the result was."
Upon hearing the news of Tourt's death, LeBlanc's tone remained as calm as ever, with not the slightest trace of grief. Though that was only natural. She was not truly Russell.
To LeBlanc, Russell might have been just one of countless tools.
Compared to the news of Tourt's death, what interested her more at that moment was the young man before her, that extremely handsome face and those composed eyes.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time she had met this prince at such close range.
She had observed him from afar before, and more than once. Every time, she had seen him lazily lying in a chair, letting time slip past him as if it were worthless.
But precisely because of those observations, she had made an incorrect judgment.
If she could have looked at him from such close range back then as she did now, perhaps she would not have looked down on the prince before her so lightly.
Now that she saw this prince again, she did indeed feel a trace of amazement.
Because very few people appeared anymore who could make even her feel unable to see through them, and the person before her was one of them.
At this moment, she sighed softly. "They were still somewhat too impatient. It is also my fault. I failed to recognize who my opponent was this time. A chess game that chooses the wrong opposing general from the start is doomed to fail."
Today's events had indeed left LeBlanc feeling surprised, astonished, and even shocked.
Because even before this, she had never expected her plan to fail at such speed.
Just as she had said, Luke was someone who had fallen completely outside her plans.
No matter how she calculated it, her plan should have succeeded this time.
Jarvan III would die. Jarvan IV would ascend the throne. The ban on magic would continue to be maintained. Jarvan IV, who had risen to power in the short term, would be nothing more than a puppet manipulated by the ministers.
During that period, she could set many stages of her plans into motion. After this one move, she could at least consolidate half of Demacia's political power.
In that case, although this country would still be called Demacia, in truth, it would have truly fallen under her control.
What remained would all be difficult bones to chew, but in her eyes, resolving them would only have been a matter of time.
However, in this plan, she had overlooked one person.
Luke.
Someone who had been an accident from the very beginning.
LeBlanc even felt that Luke should never have appeared in the first place.
Yet now, he was sitting alive and well across from her.
And the great chess game she had been brewing for so long, the schemes she had woven for so long, the accumulation she had built over such a long period, all of it, every last bit, had become nothing in a single day.
All because of the man before her.
He was like someone who had appeared out of nowhere. At some unknown point, he had already seen through her plans.
This was precisely what LeBlanc found strange. It had been a very long time since she had felt as though someone had plotted against her.
Perhaps she should not have looked down on him from the beginning. But in the end, because of her mistaken judgment of him, she had regarded him as another chess piece she could control.
Strictly speaking, it was her arrogance that had led to this failure.
"Compared to that, I am still far more curious about your very existence."
The curiosity in her eyes was undisguised. Her beautiful eyes, which seemed to contain some strange magic, studied Luke as she said, "It seems the person who rescued you and your mother back then is still secretly helping you."
Those words stirred Luke's interest. This was also why he had come here. So he looked straight at LeBlanc without the slightest evasion and said, "Tell me about what happened back then."
The two of them sat in the drawing room without drawing swords on each other. Their conversation was like a casual chat between friends, and both of them seemed relaxed and at ease.
"That person never told you?" LeBlanc paused, then gently curled the corners of her mouth. "Since things have already come to this, there is nothing left that cannot be said. I do not mind telling you."
Luke did not speak. He quietly waited for her to continue.
He was very interested in the person LeBlanc had mentioned. It seemed there were still hidden circumstances behind what had happened back then.
Who exactly was the person who had secretly helped Melli?
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