They sat there for a while. It was enough for William to recover some of his energy — and for Jhen too — but it wasn’t anything that would get them back to 100%.It was something that would help in the next stage of their mission, one that promised to be pretty difficult. The palace would be filled with traps and, according to Jhen, other creatures inside as well.

“Creatures? How can there be monsters in there with all those guards around the palace?” William asked.

“The royal family used to raise all kinds of creatures, and most of them were kept in a specific area of the palace. They released the creatures to make sure no one from the outside could explore the palace. Same reason why they activated the traps,” Jhen explained.

That made the situation a bit more complicated, but nothing that would make William or Jhen feel afraid. They were already prepared for that dangerous mission.

The three of them stood up after resting for a while and continued toward the castle, taking the elevator that was nearby.

That old, rusty elevator — definitely not something that looked safe — worked just fine. That surprised everyone.

William noticed the look of relief on Jhen’s face. “You didn’t even know if this elevator was gonna work.”

Jhen glanced at him. “Of course. Look at this piece of junk. You really think the chances of it working were 100%?”

William didn’t even know what to say. He just nodded.

The sound of the elevator going up was pretty loud, but there were no creatures around to hear it, so it was fine.

Jhen also mentioned something important. “We’re gonna arrive at a part of the palace that probably hasn’t been explored by the people who are here. That’ll give us a good chance.”

She had an uneasy expression. William noticed and asked why.

“What aren’t you telling us?” William asked.

Jhen sighed. “The only problem is… we’re gonna arrive in an area that’s pretty far from where we actually need to go. It’s gonna be tough with all the traps and creatures inside the palace.”

William tried to lighten the mood. “We already knew it was gonna be like that, didn’t we? So let’s calm down and keep moving.”

Finally, the elevator reached its destination. The ride felt like it took forever — partly because they had a considerable height to climb, and partly because the elevator was really slow.

It was far from anything modern. But they finally made it.

“The room waiting for us is the storage room. This is where they kept mining stuff — equipment, gemstones, that kind of thing,” Jhen said. “I don’t think there’ll be traps inside the room, just when we try to leave… but let’s be careful.”

The three of them stepped out of the elevator slowly. The storage room was covered in dust, full of spider webs — normal spiders this time — and smelled like mold, like a place that had been abandoned for a long time.

Several gemstones were stored inside glass display cases. It was hard to see through the dirty glass, but the stones were so shiny that they were still visible.

“Think these are worth a lot? Or maybe useful for something?” William asked.

Jhen immediately shut him down. “You’re not thinking of stealing from the royal palace, are you?”

Part of him wanted to say, ‘Technically, all of this belongs to me too.’ But he decided to stay quiet — mostly because Victoria was there.

Speaking of her, Victoria asked something that had been bothering her for a while.

“Why is the royal palace even a place that can help William get stronger? I mean, improve his bloodline. What’s the logic behind that? I’ve always wondered… If it were that easy to improve a bloodline, wouldn’t everyone be coming here?”

It was only a matter of time before Victoria started wondering about that. William and Jhen exchanged looks, and surprisingly, it was Jhen who decided to speak.

“William has royal blood. That’s why we’re here. Not just anyone can improve their bloodline in this place — only those with royal blood,” Jhen said.

Jhen and Victoria had spent a good amount of time together while William was inside the dungeon. Maybe that’s why she trusted Victoria enough to tell her this.

This was a secret Jhen had never told anyone before, and she wanted it to stay that way. The fewer people who knew about William, the better.

If that noble family managed to overthrow the entire royal family, what would happen to someone like William? There was no doubt he wouldn’t stand a chance against them — at least not with his current level of power.

“You’re kidding, right? This has to be some kind of joke,” Victoria said, completely stunned.

Jhen shook her head. “It’s not. But please, don’t tell anyone. We need to help William get stronger, and after that, we’ll fight against the invaders… and against the family that took control of this island.”

It was a long process that required patience. Victoria understood that well — and that was a good thing.

Though, what she actually wanted to ask was something else. “Wait… does that mean I have royal blood too? I mean… I got my bloodline from him!”

She sounded excited — but that wasn’t exactly how it worked.

“Your bloodline is pure, one of the best, but it’s not the royal bloodline. It doesn’t transfer like that,” Jhen explained.

Victoria looked a bit less excited than before, but she was still happy. Her bloodline really was one of the best, exactly because it came from William’s blood. It was even purer than Jhen’s.

“Now it makes perfect sense… the reason for this mission, and why you were keeping so many secrets. You didn’t even tell anything to those city guards who were asking questions. This mission really is something serious,” Victoria said.

Both William and Jhen were happy that Victoria understood things and wouldn’t share that with anyone. It was as if a heavy weight had left their shoulders.

“Alright, now that we are all on the same page, let’s move,” Jhen said.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep