Six Hundred and Seventy-Third Chapter: Thief
“Thief?”
In a room within the Faraluo National Museum, Adele frowned slightly upon hearing Sander’s voice, then continued with a puzzled expression.
“Could you clarify? What kind of thief? Could there be others taking advantage of the chaos during the Cold Moon Revolution to rob the Palace of the Goddess?” Adele asked Sander, while he wiped the ash from his cigarette onto a handkerchief.
“The thief I refer to is not a common bandit… but a group of despicable state parasites, shameful thieves at the end of the Bourbon era. Since Robert ascended to the throne, they have been eroding the foundation of this country, and when the empire was about to fall, they abandoned ship.”
“State parasites… You mean… corrupt officials?” Adele directly asked as she listened to Sander, who had mostly wiped the ash into the ashtray.
“Something like that. Robert is known as the Greedy King; he is greedy, and so are his ministers. At that time, the entire Bourbon Dynasty was immersed in an extremely vain, ostentatious, extravagant atmosphere. Money was spent everywhere, and corruption was rampant. The one who stole the Light of Maria… was the biggest worm among them, Ayman Dubois.”
“Ayman Dubois? Could it be Ayman Dubois? If I remember correctly, wasn’t he Robert’s chancellor? He is often described as a small man who successfully escaped judgment, a collaborator of Robert’s tyranny, known as the chancellor who was a lackey to Robert,” Adele blurted out upon hearing Sander’s words, while Sander responded after finishing his cigar.
“Yes… Chancellor Dubois, the lackey. Nowadays, some plays depict him as a sycophant faithfully executing Robert’s tyrannical orders, occasionally whispering slanderous remarks to harm loyal people. But how many people realize that this chancellor is not just a ‘small man,’ but a true ambitious person, the hidden hand behind a series of tyrannical measures during Robert’s reign, the direct cause of Robert’s transformation into that kind of ruler.”
“He wasn’t Robert’s lackey; he was the manipulator of Robert. The so-called Greedy King Robert was merely a puppet under his control.”
After finishing his last drag of the cigar, Sander said with a serious look, exhaling a puff of smoke. Upon hearing this, Adele’s face showed even more confusion, and she asked straightforwardly.
“Robert was a puppet of Dubois? How did that happen? Can you explain?”
Listening to Adele’s question, Sander slowly extinguished the cigar b*tt in the ashtray and then began to explain.
“After Charles and Maria died in the mysterious shipwreck, according to Bourbon inheritance laws, Robert was crowned king. However, although Robert was the first in line to inherit, he was never groomed for succession. This was because Charles quickly became a complete Red Tier, gaining centuries of longevity, and thus did not need to worry about succession issues in the short term.
“Charles was flamboyant, confident, energetic, and talented. He believed that Faraluo would enjoy long-term stability and prosperity under his governance. During his reign, he rarely considered what would happen if he were to d*e soon. He barely spent time or effort cultivating his children, only providing them with material support and basic rules, then letting them go their own way. This applied to Robert as well. Therefore, Robert, like his siblings, enjoyed a life of luxury and did not involve himself in state affairs, never being groomed to be king.
“Thus, Robert lacked the qualities necessary to rule from the beginning. He was unprepared for Charles’s d*ath. After hearing the news, he cried and wailed for days, even crying when he was crowned. He was completely at a loss when faced with immense power, unsure of what to do. With his powerful father dying suddenly and mysteriously, he was enveloped by fear from the start of his reign. He was suspicious of everyone and everything, always believing someone wanted to harm him.”
Sander sat silently, narrating his story. Listening to this, Adele seemed to guess something and said.
“Panic… suspicion… lack of confidence… It seems Robert’s mental state was very poor when he took the throne. Is this why he later ruled with tyranny?”
“It can be said so. His extreme inferiority complex due to his own lack of talent and his extreme fear due to his father’s d*ath shaped Robert’s highly suspicious and unpredictable personality. He thought everyone was out to get him, so he used his power irrationally and violently in self-defense, resulting in him randomly killing people and destroying his kingdom from the beginning.
“Robert’s personality made it difficult for him to trust others, but once he trusted someone, he became dependent on them. Unfortunately, the one he trusted was Dubois.
“Dubois is a mysterious figure. As a merchant, he gradually approached Robert through large donations to the court and eventually gained his trust. He was appointed as the royal treasurer and then promoted to finance minister before becoming chancellor.
“In secular history, Robert ordered Dubois to carry out numerous tyrannical acts, but in reality, after gaining Robert’s trust, Dubois manipulated this weak-hearted king through his dependency, gradually taking control of the late Bourbon Dynasty.”
Sander continued explaining to Adele, whose expression became slightly grave. Then she continued speaking.
“So… the main responsibility for the fall of Bourbon should lie with Dubois?”
“No, I think the primary responsibility still lies with Robert. His inherent weakness of being insecure and suspicious created a critical vulnerability in the dynasty. Secondary responsibility falls on Charles, whose arrogance shaped Robert’s character. Then come factors like Dubois and the Church. Especially Dubois, he exploited Robert’s weaknesses to amplify his influence until he brought down Bourbon.
“Dubois is a vile opportunist with premeditated plans, like a dirty leech that saw Bourbon on the verge of collapse and latched on to feed greedily.” Sander replied seriously, and Adele continued.
“An opportunist with premeditated plans? How so?”
Adele asked Sander, who then lit another cigar and explained slowly.
“Robert is widely known as the ‘Greedy King.’ This title comes from his excessive wealth accumulation during his reign. Not only did he impose harsh taxes on all social classes, but he also plundered various treasures from the people of Faraluo. People say Robert collected wealth to sustain the decadent Bourbon Royal Family, but that’s not the case.
“At the end of Bourbon, other members of the royal family did not benefit from Robert’s wealth. Instead, they too were targets of his plunder. Where the wealth Robert amassed over the years went remains a mystery. No one knows where these funds ended up.”
“Robert’s wealth disappeared without a trace? This… This is impossible, right? Was Robert just collecting money without spending it? What was the point of gathering so much wealth if he didn’t use it? Was he just a miser? What was the purpose of collecting so much money?” Adele expressed her confusion, and Sander replied while smoking his cigar.
“This is the puzzle. Robert collected such vast wealth, yet he did not indulge in luxury, nor did he undertake large-scale construction projects or military campaigns…
“Before the Cold Moon Revolution, Robert displayed extraordinary abilities in suppressing early rebels, surpassing his previous chalk level. Revolutionaries speculated that he might be secretly planning a major operation or preparing a powerful secret weapon. This secret enhanced Robert’s strength to the level his father achieved.
“Revolutionaries became extremely vigilant due to these speculations, using items provided by the Church to investigate Robert’s palace outside Froz. However, they encountered strong interference from ‘Shadow’ extraordinary powers, which further confirmed their suspicions and made them more cautious in their plans.
“But no one expected that when revolutionaries finally prepared everything and launched the revolution to attack Robert’s palace, they encountered almost no resistance. Robert’s palace was easily breached, and his body was found on the throne. He had already died there before the revolutionaries attacked, poisoned.
“The victory over ‘Greedy King’ Robert during the Cold Moon Revolution was easier than most people thought. Conversely, dealing with other Bourbon lords required significant effort. The biggest question was that after the revolution, a thorough search of Robert’s palace yielded almost no treasure. Later, the revolutionary government reviewed Bourbon’s accounts and found that Robert’s royal treasury had mostly remained untouched, with no major expenditures recorded.
“Both the royal treasury and the palace were empty, with no significant expenditures noted. The enormous wealth Robert amassed during his reign vanished inexplicably. Along with this wealth, Robert’s most trusted minister and chancellor, Dubois, also disappeared. Thus, almost everyone linked the sudden disappearance of national wealth to Dubois.
“However, the revolutionary government lacked a robust extraordinary system for a considerable time after its establishment, making it unable to pursue Dubois. Even after the government stabilized, it was too late to catch Dubois…”
With a very serious expression, Sander slowly narrated to Adele. After hearing this, Adele frowned and spoke gravely.
“So… could the Light of Maria also be among the wealth that vanished during Robert’s reign? Did the chancellor, Dubois, take it with him?”
“This is quite possible. After all, this is the largest theft case in Faraluo’s history. The whereabouts of the Light of Maria have been unknown since the Cold Moon Revolution, suggesting it is related to Robert’s grand theft.
“If you must find those crystals, I am powerless. The century-old Robert’s grand theft has no answer to date; I cannot help you.”
After taking another drag of the cigar, Sander slowly said to Adele. Hearing this, Adele fell silent. Just as she was about to speak again, she heard a voice from within. After a moment of reflection, she spoke to Sander again.
“I understand the situation. Regarding the stolen crystals, let’s set that aside for now. Now, Lord Governor, could I borrow the golden base for a while?”
“Haha… Borrow? I thought you would ask me to give it to you directly. Looks like I misjudged.
“The golden base is worthless without the crystals. It would just gather dust here. If the followers of the Judge of Heaven find it useful, they can take it. In a sense, it belongs to them anyway.” Sander said, and Adele was slightly surprised by his quick agreement. At that moment, Sander continued.
“However, I have a small condition. You need to leave me a reliable and covert contact channel so I can reach you anytime. Also, if you uncover any valuable clues regarding Dubois, please notify me. I want to know where such a huge amount of Faraluo’s wealth ultimately ended up.”
Sander made these requests to Adele, and after a slight pause, she nodded and replied.
“I understand. I agree to your conditions, Lord Governor.”
As she spoke, Adele picked up the golden base on the table.
…
Just as Adele and Sander finished their conversation, in a high-end hotel in Froz, Dorothy stood up from her seat on the balcony of a suite, wearing a floral cotton dress and slippers, her long white hair loosely draped behind her. She stretched her arms towards the distant sky and yawned loudly.
“Ugh… I feel so uncomfortable…”
After yawning, Dorothy rubbed her eyes, wiped her tears, and muttered to herself.
“I thought I finally found a clue… but the clue is incomplete… half of it was stolen. How disappointing. It seems getting information at the Golden Tier isn’t easy…”
Dorothy pondered, and then she started massaging her shoulders, reflecting on the latest information she had just received from Sander.
‘Ayman Dubois… a cunning opportunist, a greedy leech clinging to a decaying dynasty? The real big thief, interesting… What exactly is his identity? Does this figure from a hundred years ago still exist? Why did he collect such a vast fortune?’
Dorothy pondered, her mind already filled with countless thoughts.
