CG Chapter 72: A good Liar
Time flew by, and the time for Tom to depart was around the corner.
A week had passed since his and the prince's dinner, and with only three weeks remaining until the crowning ceremony, the prince decided it was time to leave.
Alexander sent a servant to inform Tom to meet him and his crew near the gates of the city.
Coincidentally, at the same time they began to move, another person was moving toward the same destination.
Alfred followed Tom's instructions and left the castle of Flameheart as soon as he could.
He prepared items that he thought were necessary for the journey before leaving.
This experience was exciting to Alfred, as this was his second time leaving Daybreak. The first was when he picked Tom up from the harbor. However, at that time he didn't have a chance to explore the city.
While Alfred journeyed alone, Tom's party, on the other hand, had a lot of people, from servants to guards and even maids.
He rode with Crown Prince Alexander in the same carriage at the prince's request.
Tom initially refused Alexander, telling the prince that he didn't want to disturb him. Nevertheless, after the prince insisted, he showed a gentle smile before entering.
…
The journey was going to be a long one, and as the two stayed longer together the prince became closer and closer to Tom.
They began to share stories with one another, and the prince told Tom about his family and brothers.
"My brothers didn't have any desire for the throne, they didn't want to busy themselves with managing the kingdom and the people's affairs. They wanted to devote themselves toward their studies and widening their knowledge."
Alexander began to tell Tom about the struggles of being a crown prince, he looked as if he was carrying a heavy burden and not a title that was desired by anyone with royal blood.
Hearing Alexander's story, Tom also shared a story of his own, he told Alexander about the tragic fate that fell his younger brother, and his stepmother.
The more Tom talked about Timothy and how he died so suddenly the more his eyes became watery, and tears fell from each side as he said, "Sorry, I showed you such a shameful sight."
While hearing the story Alexander examined Tom's body gestures only to notice that his Adam's apple was moving heavily, which was a sign of actual sadness.
There was additionally the fact that Tom left the territory of Flameheart which made his story even more believable.
Unfortunately for Alexander, despite his high intellect that surpassed many, even enabling him to secure the position of the crown prince, he couldn't see the web that Tom was laying around him.
Tom's understanding of human psychology and the art of deception was second to none in the lower worlds.
After lying to many people, Tom's understanding of deception concentrated on one simple truth, a good liar never lies. Everything they tell is the truth, a truth that suits their interests that is.
The two continued to play the game of lies, that they called friendship and brotherhood.
Alexander felt that he finally got Tom to open up to himself, he acknowledged Tom's wisdom, but after growing up in the royal family he thought himself a master at winning people over.
During the journey, Tom looked as if an idea had suddenly came to him.
"Alexander, I was thinking about what exactly the succession ceremony entails. Is there a special ritual that is held, and are all ceremonies the same for all kingdoms?"
Surprised by this question, Alexander replied, "The details of the succession ceremony aren't known to many. Even I only know that we show our respect to the seven gods by holding a sacrifice as the king passes his throne to his successor."
…
After hearing Alexander's words, Tom thought internally, 'The first part of his words is obviously a lie. There is no way that the crown prince of one of the seven kingdoms wouldn't know every part of the succession ceremony that he is going to be the center of one day by heart. There is also the fact that he is going to be part of one soon.'
'Although his words might not be completely truthful, I can still get some useful information, since the second part didn't seem like a lie. The seven gods, what might you be? In this world, my biggest threat isn't the grand knights, since I can just run away if things come to it, but these seven gods--I don't have enough information about them.'
At this moment, Tom's mind began to wander as he tried to recall everything he gathered about the seven gods from the library and his understanding of the statue in the cathedral.
'A statue that can affect my mental state despite how strong it is, isn't normal. Although I might have developed a resistance to its effects after staying near it in the past year, the feeling of losing control--I hate it, no, I detest it.'
Thinking about how he lost control in front of the statue, Tom felt the urge to destroy any and every statue of the seven gods, but he knew better than to let rage cloud his mind.
He closed his eyes as he began to develop ways to protect his mind against the statue's effects. He felt that he would need such a method soon.
Time passed, yet Tom was wondering about the same problem. Coming up with a solution to protect himself wasn't easy since he lacked a lot of essential information about the statue.
In the beginning, he had no luck, but after he began to change his thoughts from the statue itself to the statue's source of power, an idea came to him.
Once this idea came, he couldn't stop himself from creating multiple ways to stop the statue's effects.
He created one idea after another, then filtered for the best one. But he didn't stop there; when only one idea remained, he began to refine it even further.
Just like that, Tom created something that he thought would counter the effects of the statue in front of the unaware prince. Of course, he couldn't ensure that it would work since he needed to test it first.