Howling Wolf Castle, Great Hall.
Crash!
The exquisite ceramic teacup slipped from the viscount’s hand.
The moment it struck the hard floor, it shattered into countless pieces.
Scalding red tea splashed all over the viscount, yet the nobleman seemed completely unaware of it.
His mind was still trapped in the information the knight had just reported.
“You... say that again.”
Cullen stared at him.
“The heir to a kingdom of how many citizens?”
Cullen shoved aside the two maids who were hurriedly trying to wipe the tea from his clothes and suddenly rose from his seat.
His rugged face was filled with shock.
The calm and relaxed manner he had shown earlier had completely disappeared.
“My lord, the Identity Blessing above that prince’s head said fourteen hundred million citizens.”
Knight Solin answered respectfully.
He was not surprised at all that the viscount had dropped his teacup.
In fact, he thought his lord was already handling the situation quite calmly.
If it had been him, he probably would have been so shocked that he fell straight out of his chair.
“Are you certain you didn’t see it wrong?”
Cullen asked suspiciously.
It could have been fourteen million.
It could even have been one hundred and forty million.
But no matter what, it should not have been 1.4 billion!
At present, there were three major human kingdoms on the continent.
The Kingdom of Soxia, which worshiped the Sun and Wind.
The Kingdom of Milan, which believed in Thunder and Earth.
And the Kingdom of Rhine, which revered the Sun and Moon.
Even if every free citizen, serf, slave, and all the people of their vassal states were added together...
There was absolutely no way the total population would reach the terrifying number of 1.4 billion.
Cullen could hardly imagine it.
If a country truly had a population of 1.4 billion, just how vast would its territory be?
How much food would it produce?
And how terrifyingly powerful would such a nation be?
“My lord, when I met His Highness, I secretly counted the digits several times.”
Knight Solin gave a bitter smile.
“There were definitely ten digits.”
Cullen’s expression gradually became serious.
It was as if a dark cloud had gathered over his face.
Even during the war to suppress the rebellion of the Duchy of Mason, when he had once been surrounded alone by several enemy Transcendent Knights, his expression had never been this grave.
He knew his knight very well.
Solin was not highly educated and had never read many books.
But at the very least...
The man knew how to count.
That meant the person—
That Highness—
really did possess such an Identity Blessing.
But even if what Solin had seen was real...
Could it still have been caused by an illusion or some kind of magic?
Cullen had never heard of magic capable of changing a Blessing during all his years of experience.
However, that did not necessarily mean such magic did not exist.
“Hmm...”
Cullen slowly sat back down.
His fingers unconsciously tapped against the armrest of the chair.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The rhythm was slow and heavy, as if he were calculating something in his mind.
Seeing this, Knight Solin did not interrupt his lord’s thoughts.
He continued kneeling respectfully on one knee upon the wolf-fur carpet.
Though he quietly switched legs.
The previous one had gone numb...
Time slowly passed.
Tap, tap, tap.
At that moment, the sound of light footsteps broke the silence of the great hall.
“Darling~”
A teasing female voice rang out.
A tall figure entered the hall.
She was a beautiful woman who looked to be only in her early twenties.
She wore a loose silk nightgown with the collar slightly open, revealing elegant collarbones as smooth as white jade and just a faint glimpse of pale skin beneath.
Her long, smooth purple hair flowed over her shoulders like a waterfall, shining softly beneath the candlelight.
Her figure was extremely attractive.
She had a slim waist, gently curved hips, and long, well-proportioned legs.
Even the loose nightgown could not hide her alluring body.
Without a doubt, she was an exceptionally seductive beauty.
Knight Solin only glanced at the newcomer once before immediately lowering his head.
He was afraid that even a single disrespectful thought might appear in his mind.
After all, this beautiful woman was none other than his lord’s second wife—
Viscountess Danielle Martha.
“What kind of important information made you leave me alone in the room for so long?”
