He Became A Monstrous Genius After Obtaining A Time Dilation Artifact-Chapter 552: Charger . Unsettling

Kailen and the third princess went through several teleportation gates. They crossed several star systems in moments, headed towards the royal palace.

On the way, the third princess had explained the general situation of the royal family to Kailen.

The first Prince was naturally the first born of the Emperor, and was next in line to the throne.

However, any of the princes and princesses, the children of the emperor, born from himself, the emperor and any of his concubines, could compete with him for the throne.

The emperor had announced this 103 years ago, and it had ended three years ago, after which the 100 years period for the succession competition had come to an end. The first prince was crowned officially as the crown prince, having managed to emerge victorious.

Naturally, there had been scheming, assassination ploys, backstabbing, nepotism and all sorts of political schemes and methods among the princes and princesses during the contest for the crown. In fact, some of them had even died during this period.

Naturally, the emperor did not have a problem with these occurrences. He even advocated that the universe was cruel, and that if any of his children died during the succession war, then they were simply not fit to rule.

Why then had the emperor been concerned that the first prince was poisoned, if he didn’t have a problem with his children scheming against each other?

It was because the first prince had been poisoned mysteriously after the succession wars were over and he had been made the crown prince!

The Emperor was not just concerned about his officially crowned heir being poisoned; his authority had been overlooked by the assailant with this action. Someone had dared to overlook his authority and poison the one he had officially named as his heir. How could he not be angry? Also, the person was telling the emperor that they were not content with the outcome of the succession war, which had lasted a hundred years, during which all princesses and princesses had been given the freedom to use all resources at their disposal to pull each other down!

They chose to be proud, indignant, and strike after the succession wars were over?

Kailen listened closely. He knew the third princess was telling him this because of his mission.

She didn’t need to say why she was telling him all this. She knew he was smart enough to know.

As they approached the last teleportation gate that would lead to the royal palace, she continued.

"Naturally, all the princesses and princes were deemed suspects. We were all made to sign rune oaths. That way, when questioned, we could not lie about even the slightest involvement in the incident."

"The rune oaths did not kill anyone, or react, because none of you had anything to do with it? And everyone from the imperial factions, from the emperor himself, the empress, concubines, my brother’s attendants, to every other person in the imperial sector, were also made to pass through the same process, but the outcome was the same?" Kailen said. He had figured out where this was going.

"Mmm," the third princess nodded. "Not only is the poison itself a mystery, but the one behind it is a mystery. No one in any of the imperial factions is responsible or even has anything to do with any accomplice. After all, rune oaths do not lie."

Kailen nodded. Since no one in the imperial factions was discovered to be behind this, the matter went beyond imperial politics. There was a hidden power at play here. A more deadly player with their own hidden agenda wanted the crown prince dead? Or did they even want the crown prince dead? Was the poison really just an incurable poison? If they wanted the crown prince dead, could they not have just eliminated him?

Why was he still alive and suffering?

Something was really wrong with this whole situation. It was really unsettling. Kailen had a feeling that completing this mission would land him into some serious shit.

What kind of mission had he been sent on?

Kailen sighed. He would be able to find out more when he analysed the poison after meeting the crown prince.

These thoughts flashed through Kailen’s mind in a moment.

Very soon, they arrived at the royal palace, spanning five solar systems.

They proceeded quickly towards the target location, the residence of the first prince.

****

In an extremely large and luxurious room looking like a grand banquet hall, the first Prince lay in bed. His blonde hair looked disheveled, and he looked very pale skinned and sickly.

Some individuals had surrounded him. Usually, he’d be here with only his attendants, and sometimes the third princess, or his mother, the empress. As for his father, the emperor came by every once in a while. He could not be around all the time due to his duties as an emperor.

But today was different. Even his father was here.

The rest of his remaining siblings naturally didn’t show up. They did not like him, aside from the third princess.

Although they were not the ones behind his miserable state, they were all praying for his death so that they could reap the benefit of getting another chance to compete for the throne.

They were naturally not here. But the emperor didn’t force them to pay their brother a visit.

It was not like their visits would do anything for him.

"A very prodigious Black Flask alchemist will be coming. I’m confident that this time, you will be fine." The empress caressed her son’s hair. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The emperor remained silent. He stared at his son calmly and nodded warmly. He was not one of many words. Just this act was enough to show his support.

The crown prince nodded weakly after coughing a mouthful of blood.

"I’ve heard these words too many times to have hope," he mused inwardly. "But I’m glad they care."

At this moment, a figure appeared in the room.

It was the third princess.

But she was not alone. She was with a guest.

Before everyone could welcome Kailen, he squinted his eyes, as if he had realized something.