"If what you said is indeed true, then do you have any idea who would fake your father?" Leo turned to look at Ethan.

"That is the big question, who would do it. Our Silver royal family hasn't even offended any other territories ever since its establishment, of course, aside from the Blue Fin Kingdom, which in the end became our ally. So, the only people I could think would do that is the Black organization, just like what Barbara had done." Ethan replied.

"So that means your father is dead?" Charlotte asked.

"That..." Ethan was unable to reply. To assume that his father was a fake was simple, but to really believe that his father is a fake is a different story. It's hard for him, especially since that is his own father.

"It's useless to assume anything." Leo finally dismissed the topic, "Maybe your father changed because he can't accept that his sons don't want the territory he painstakingly built and the situation right now might just be a coincidence."

"Maybe..." Ethan was still feeling suspicious, "But if it was really the past him, then it would be really against him to use his family as tools for war."

"Yeah... I don't know about that. But anyways, let's focus on our current mission." Leo replied.

"Okay!" Ethan nodded.

Moments later, Leo, Charlotte, and Ethan finally arrived at the entrance of the secret tunnel.

"We're here!" Ethan said before putting his hand up in front and suddenly pulling down a lever in a form of an ordinary stone.

Whooooosh!

A secret door soon after opened after Ethan pulled down the lever.

What greeted everyone was a dark staircase leading up. There were no torches lighting up the place or was there any place to put some torches. It was easy to guess that when the Third Prince used this secret tunnel in the past, he would always bring a torch with him to lighten up his path.

"Lead the way," Leo motioned to Ethan.

Ethan just nodded his head before walking ahead.

Although they didn't bring with them any torches, but with the Fire Elemental following along, it was enough to bring light to the dark tunnel. It wouldn't burn them as well, since all the Elementals know how to separate foes from friends due to having their own intelligence.

Along the way, Leo and the others easily noticed some normal rats running away when they walk near and tiny ordinary spiders hanging up the ceiling of the tunnel in their cobweb homes.

"This staircase will lead us to the abandoned storage room under the castle. No one uses this storage room anymore, so there is no need for us to worry about unexpectedly meeting someone once we go out." Ethan assured.

Leo smiled and replied, "I was indeed a bit worried about that..."

"Why was it abandoned though?" Charlotte suddenly asked.

"It used to be my second brother���s storage room for his important items only, then was passed to my third brother who created a secret tunnel, but with both of them gone after using the storage room, father decided to lock and abandon the storage room, maybe in fear that my first brother or I would use it again which might then lead to one of us leaving Silver Kingdom." Ethan chuckled.

"To be honest with you, all of you four brothers are really weird." Charlotte can't help commenting, "If it was me or the majority of the people in the Celestial World, we would definitely fight really hard for the throne. But the four of you don't even care about it. Seriously, are your brains still working fine or not?"

Charlotte's words also express what Leo has been feeling all this time. Even he, not a member of the Silver royal family, was doing everything to help Queen Olivia have the throne of the Silver Kingdom. But the four of them who have the biggest opportunity to become King was actually running away from the throne.

"Truthfully speaking, aside from the territory being trash, we brothers can't just bring ourselves to hurt one another, really. Maybe it's because in the past we were raised together, grow strong together, and also did a lot of things together, as in without anyone of us missing. Though not until second brother left to chase his dreams," Ethan can't help bringing up the past once again.

"That might indeed be the case..." Leo also agrees with Ethan's words. Even his older brother who he was extremely close to also doesn't want to fight with him in becoming the Patriarch of the Heart Noble Household in the past, to the point that despite being the older brother he always pushes the responsibility of managing the Heart Noble Household to him.

After a few minutes of walking, Ethan finally stopped, signaling that they have finally arrived.

"Back up a bit. The door here would actually open backwards." Ethan warned before pulling the lever at the side.

Whoooosh!

Just like what Ethan had said, the stone door in front of them indeed opened backwards, hence they quickly took a step back in order to give enough space for the door to move.

The moment the door opens, Leo and the others then walked outside of the secret tunnel. And what greeted them was, just like what Ethan had said, a storage room with a lot of stuff lying around. To be honest, rather than calling it an abandoned storage room, it was more appropriate to say that it's still being used.

"This..." Ethan was also shocked by the scene in the storage room. It was completely out of his expectations that someone would actually still dare to use the storage room after his father ordered it to be locked and abandoned. And what's even more shocking was, it seems like the items belong to his first brother.

"Look at those swords!" Charlotte marvel at the swords displayed at the top of the ceiling.

"I think I've seen those swords in the past..." Leo thought to himself. "Wait, that's the sword that wanted Yuki guy back in the Hundred Hills in the past had once used, right?" He turned to look at Ethan.

"Yes..." Ethan replied.

"Then..." Leo immediately realized a shocking information.

Cringggg...!

"Just like what I've expected, I will be able to find you in here."

A man that everyone doesn't want to see right now suddenly appeared, Crown Prince Edward.

"First brother!" Ethan exclaimed before quickly taking out his weapon from his Storage Ring. "Don't think that you can still beat me, I'm already a 1st Galaxy Mage!"

"Hahahaha!" Crown Prince Edward suddenly laughed, "Who says that I'm here to fight?"

"Then why are you here?" Ethan wasn't buying his first brother's words.

"Obviously, I've long been waiting for you."

"For what?!"

"Of course to help you."

Hearing that, Leo and the others were immediately dumbfounded for a second. They really almost believed those words. If only they didn't know that it was Crown Prince Edward himself that had taken away Veronica and Princess Tiana, then they would have definitely believed him.

"Sorry for interrupting the two brothers conversation," Leo interrupted as he looked at Crown Prince Edward with a doubtful look in his eyes, "You were the one who brought Veronica and Princess Tiana here, even attacked Royal Magical Knight Karl, so what made you think that we will believe you?"

"Well..." Edward said before motioning his hands for someone outside the door.

Suddenly, out of Leo and Ethan's expectations, it was actually Veronica and Princess Tiana, and even Queen Triana was with them as well.

"Oh, hi, sir Leo!" Veronica waved his hands the moment she saw Leo.

"Hehehe, hi fourth brother..." Princess Tiana also waved her hand.

"It's exactly what your older brother had said." Queen Triana can't help feeling astonished.

"You..." Ethan was in complete disbelief, "But why?"

"Hehehehe, I actually only followed my father's order because I don't have any choice." Crown Prince Edward scratched his neck, "If I dared to disagree, then I will also be branded as a traitor, right? This will also mean that it would be Commander Nov instead that will come to take Princess Tiana and Veronica away. So, I can only agree with my father's order. How about you think of this, how was Royal Magical Knight Karl able to escape when he fell into my ambush? My ambush, which means I set this ambush personally. If Karl really fell into any ambushes I've set, with his weak cultivation, he wouldn't even be able to escape alive, no matter how much he struggles to escape. To tell you the truth, everything was just a plot for you guys to come and rescue Veronica and Princess Tiana."

"And why is that?" Leo curiously asked. At this moment, he was half believing Crown Prince Edward's words, because what he had just said was indeed reasonable. A lot of wanted criminals of Silver Kingdom in the past can't even escape from Crown Prince Edward's trap, so not to mention Royal Magical Knight Karl.

"Because this war needs to quickly end now." Crown Prince Edward's face suddenly turned solemn before he continued, "The longer this war continues, the more people will die. You might now know this, but father has actually been secretly using the ordinary civilians of Silver city and Green Weed city to mine minerals and ores in the mines and to also gather resources in the wilderness outside of Silver city in order to craft more weapons and many more items for this war. And this results in many people dying every single day because the Magical Beast is currently running rampant outside after the Kingdom Protection Array was destroyed by the Black organization. To rush you here is the only way to end those people's suffering!"

Hearing Crown Prince Edward's revelation, Leo, Charlotte, and Ethan's face immediately turned solemn as well.

"Is what he's saying true?" Leo turned to look at Veronica, the only person he trusts in Crown Prince Edward's side right now.

"Unfortunately, it's indeed the case right this moment. I've seen thousands of ordinary civilians working every single day, and dozens of them also can't return every night. It's really depressing to see the sight of ordinary civilians being pulled into this mess we have caused..." Veronica nodded her head with a look of sympathy on her face.

"This has started the moment the Kingdom Protection Array was destroyed. This was also one of the reasons why I left the Silver city to meet up with Veronica." Princess Tiana agreed.

"King Erskine, is, unfortunately, no longer the same as in the past." Queen Triana shook her head.

"What mother had said, I can't help but also agree. All these desperate countermeasures and using ordinary civilians as tools to help the war, not to mention even used his own family as a tool for war, all of this choice of actions isn't how father used to deal with things in the past. Fourth Brother, do you remember the attack of the Blue Fin Kingdom back then? At that time, he didn't even think of using Princess Elaine to threatened the Blue Fin Kingdom from backing away despite having the perfect opportunity to do so, instead, he faced against the opponent's King personally and fought until the latter finally believe his words. That was the reason why the King of the Blue Fin Kingdom admires father the most and decided to treat him as his brother. But this time, that image is something we can no longer see. It's like he's no longer the father we used to know..." Crown Prince Edward expresses his thoughts about his father, King Erskine.

Leo can't help turning to look at Ethan soon after, who was also looking at him right this moment. It seems like both of them were also thinking of the same thoughts right now.