In the palace at night.
King Dovlo andered through the courtyard, his head slightly lowered, hands clasped behind his back, presenting the solitary silhouette of a wandering spirit.
Since ascending the throne, the Logos Kingdom prospered day by day, the palace walls adorned with frescoes of every hue, still emanating the vibrancy of newness, and countless exotic flowers and herbs; jars brimming with spices burned at will, filling the nostrils with their heady scent.
Beneath the veneer of the Logos Kingdom’s wealth, lay King Dovlo’s heart, craving to establish a legacy, yet fraught with indecision.
Rui Ying’s words always hit ho for King Dovlo. His father, King Yarlessto, brought the kingdom script, history, agriculture, animal husbandry... a list of rits too nurous to count, ensuring King Yarlessto’s na would resound through eternity.
And himself?
King Dovlo was conscious that he was not without accomplishnts for the kingdom, most notably the law, which had erged within the land by his decree.
Yet...
That was all.
Compared to the shining glory his father left in the annals, his own seed so faint; compared to his father’s forr authority, his could only scrape and bow.
As he paced, King Dovlo hesitated, unsure of his path.
He approached the altar, knelt down, bowed his head, and pressed his hands together in prayer, asking:
"Lord, I seek to know when my na will shine as brightly as my father’s."
King Dovlo revered his father, King Yarlessto, yet he did not wish for his na rely to serve as his father’s footnote.
He longed not to be rembered solely as Yarlessto’s son but hoped his na would be unique in history, perhaps even... to stand alongside Prophet Al’s.
King Dovlo prayed softly:
"Great God, on the stone tablets, King Dertulian chides my actions.
Have I erred? I seek only to find where you are, I wish only... to build a legacy that rivals my father’s."
Before the altar, King Dovlo bowed his head low, for in the face of great authority, one naturally becos humbled.
So much so...
That humility becos insincere.
Genuine humility is better than genuine arrogance, but feigned humility is far worse than true arrogance.
Rui Ying entered the court, unperceived, hearing his father’s prayers.
King Dovlo claid to seek rit, yet he professed to be searching for God’s location.
Rui Ying watched with a cold sneer, finding his father’s plight pitiable.
To him, who had never witnessed a miracle, yet bore high status and great ambition, the tales of history seed less real.
And the miracles passed down by word of mouth had lost much of their impact on Rui Ying.
"Father."
Rui Ying spoke,
"I’ve buried King Dertulian’s stone tablets deep underground; none have seen them but you and ."
King Dovlo lifted his face, looking at his own Rui Ying.
After a mont, he uttered a single word:
"Good."
King Dovlo’s body trembled, struggling to rise.
Rui Ying quickly stepped forward, seizing his father’s shoulders, pinning King Dovlo in place.
King Dovlo shifted his shoulders, trying to struggle free but was firmly restrained by his eldest son.
Then, the king suddenly realized he had aged, that Rui Ying could easily hold him down, his strength far surpassing his own.
"Father, those tablets are filled with censure."
Rui Ying stated.
King Dovlo looked at Rui Ying, now forced to tilt his chin up slightly to gaze at his son’s face.
"I know, I know."
The content of that stone slab was far from obscure.
King Dertulian criticized King Dovlo for attempting to enslave the Three-eyed Ape People. His words were vehent as he claid it would lead to the destruction of the kingdom.
That uncle, long gone from Logos, first lectured King Dovlo from the perspective of faith and then spoke of a slave rebellion. Given the reproductive capacity of the Three-eyed Ape People, he warned that one day they would spread throughout the entire kingdom, and at that ti, the kingdom would be destroyed by a massive slave uprising.
Despite King Dovlo’s belief that the contents of the stone slab were nothing but alarmist talk, King Dertulian’s words made him waver once again in his original plan to enslave the Three-eyed Ape People.
"Father, what exactly are you afraid of? Does King Dertulian not know our struggles?"
Rui Ying’s voice grew louder.
"Father, let tell you, I have made another prophecy. My n gouged out the eyes of five Three-eyed Ape People."
Rui Ying’s voice was icily callous, devoid of any sympathy,
"Using those five Eyes of Prophecy, I successfully made a prophecy.
I predicted the fate of a servant; I saw that on the third day, he would break a leg.
And then, on the third day, he truly fell from the mountain, breaking his leg.
Do you know what this ans?"
Rui Ying’s voice was eerily high-pitched as his silhouette cast upon King Dovlo.
King Dovlo was overshadowed by the silhouette of his eldest son.
"What does it an..."
King Dovlo asked with a tremble in his voice.
"It ans we truly can harness the prophetic power of the Three-eyed Ape People. My priests, they even found a way to enhance the power of prophecy using spices!"
"Father, in these ten years, I’ve also discovered that the more Eyes of Prophecy we have, the more accurate and grander predictions we can make.
The more frequent our prophecies beco, my priests speculate that with just one thousand Eyes of Prophecy, we could predict a person’s entire future. With one hundred thousand Eyes of Prophecy, we could predict the future course of the kingdom...
What if, what if we had a million Eyes of Prophecy?
Father, can you imagine?
The Three-eyed Ape People say that the Eyes of Prophecy stem from Kagawus’s Divine Power.
If, if we had a million Eyes of Prophecy, perhaps we could harness all the power of the Prophetic God and predict the whereabouts of our own God!"
Rui Ying’s plea grew more impassioned as he excitedly looked at King Dovlo. With just a nod, they, father and son, could create such a monuntal achievent.
"Father! You will no longer have to grovel before the nobles and ministers. The authority of the King’s Throne will surpass King Yarlessto, deeply ingrained in people’s hearts just like Prophet Al! Our nas will be frad on the first page of history, unforgettable by the descendants of Logos for ten generations!"
King Dovlo stared blankly at his eldest son.
Rui Ying’s words excited him, drove him mad.
Compared to himself, it seed... Rui Ying was more a king.
He was more suited to sit on the stone throne in the stone-built palace.
Finally, King Dovlo hesitated no longer.
Seated upon the King’s Throne, one ought to have their na frad in the annals of history.
"Rui Ying,
those Three-eyed Ape People... they are not the children of God,
they never were."
Rui Ying looked at his own father.
He finally got the answer he desired!
Rui Ying lowered his head and released his hand pressing on his father’s shoulders, kneeling before King Dovlo.
King Dovlo slowly rose to his feet, turned his face, and looked toward the palace.
Not far off, the King’s Throne stood erect amidst the darkness.
In this world,
so kings may never understand a truth in their lifeti.
The authority of life lies at the mountain’s summit, not the King’s Throne, while the fangs of death are perfectly inverted.
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