Endless World: The Rise of Leonard Lawson

”Crown Prince, we’re about to arrive at the capital in another half an hour.” Curtis entered the room and informed him.

But soon, he became startled.

’Did I enter at the wrong time?’ He wondered silently.

Inside the room, Leonard had his legs on Mirelle’s lap.

He was lying on the bed while she was massaging his legs. Such an ambiguous position and action was hard for Curtis to not overthink.

’Why am I not born a woman?’ Curtis cursed his fate silently. Had he been born a woman, then he could have been in that situation to serve the Crown Prince.

Amidst his bitterness, Leonard’s voice resounded.

”Is there anything else to report?” He looked at Curtis in confusion.

Curtis shuddered for a moment.

”No, nothing else, Crown Prince.” He composed himself and bowed.

Shortly after the bow, he immediately left the room.

As soon as he was outside the room, Curtis forbade the guards from entering. ’The Crown Prince and Lady Mirelle’s relationship cannot be spread.’

While Curtis mistakenly believed something was going on between these two, back inside the room, the actual situation was different.

”You really don’t take me for a sixth circle mage.” Mirelle smiled bitterly. Despite the somewhat complaint, she still continued to massage his legs.

”If I do take you as such, then those brothers of mine in the capital will be guarded against me.” Leonard mused.

’As expected... The Crown Prince is misleading others with this.’ Mirelle sighed inwardly. She held some glimmer of hope that maybe Leonard was seeing her in a new light. But it appeared to be her wishful thinking.

Although he was changing his persona, he still had his principles.

”But how will this rumor spread when everyone on the ship is your people?” She furrowed her brows and questioned. She highly doubted these Crimson Guards would gossip about the Crown Prince.

”Have you forgotten about someone?” Leonard chuckled and counted from one to twelve.

”One to twelve?” Initially confused by the number counting, Mirelle soon recalled Number 13.

”Right, there was he who was forced to impersonate and disguise himself as you.”

Ever since Leonard was done with his disguise, Number 13 was sidelined.

Afterward, there were many more incidents that occurred, which caused her to gradually forget about him.

”But wait, you want him to spread the rumors?” Mirelle knitted her brows.

Why would the Crown Prince use Number 13 over and over again?

Leonard smiled briefly and moved his legs slightly to remind her to continue massaging.

’Seems like there’s more to Number 13’s identity.’ Mirelle understood his silence. It meant that he had no intention of divulging further.

As she resumed massaging his legs, Leonard kept his eyes on the ceiling.

The decision he made back then to have Number 13 disguised as him was a probe and also a countermeasure.

Sure enough, he was correct, and that Number 13 was never a regular crewmate.

Just like what Curtis had in mind, a regular crewmate being the sole survivor of a mass killing spree conducted by Claudia was definitely suspicious.

However, Leonard could sense that Number 13 was truly concerned about his safety, which made him wonder if it was another hidden piece planted by Spencer or his equivalent.

That suspicion was confirmed the moment he received a letter from the top by Number 13 back at Velastra.

’If I’m not mistaken... Number 13 should be from the Echo Division.’ Leonard deduced. The Crimson Echo Division, aka The Watchers, with the nickname being The Red Whisper, was responsible for internal surveillance, loyalty checks, and infiltration countermeasures.

One might wonder if Number 13 was truly from such a division, then how was it possible for Claudia to succeed?

After all, his role was specifically targeted at Claudia.

Therefore, by logic, Number 13 should never be from such a division!

And it was precisely this kind of reverse mindset that caused Leonard to be even more certain.

As for why Number 13 acted helplessly and even enabled Claudia to kill so many of them.

He would get a cold chill because that would mean Claudia’s identity and action had long been in the calculation.

She was a disposable piece meant to help him obtain Mirelle’s loyalty.

Hence, Jeff was instructed to eliminate Claudia during the approaching time of his departure.

Unfortunately, they miscalculated something, which was the fact that he had pardoned Claudia and granted her freedom.

Eye for an eye...

This was probably a good saying in the mouth. But oftentimes, the chances of really doing eye for an eye were very slim.

Although the innocent crewmates were indeed sacrificed, Leonard also compensated for their family’ well-being in later generations.

Those people all worked hard for their families anyway. And now their wishes could be fulfilled.

Was it immoral to hold such thinking?

Maybe, but Leonard’s heart was at ease.

Life was like this.

There were no definitive rules for good or bad people.

As for the reason why he didn’t wish to inform Mirelle of these findings.

He reckoned she would feel disgusted about being used as a pawn.

Her ideology and grand mindset were all seen as a joke—a leverage to use against her. Since he already knew about being used as a pawn, there was no need to involve others to feel like crap.

’Equality within the academy. I’ll help you realize that dream.’ Leonard was motivated to help Mirelle achieve this goal.

After all, he also shared similar thoughts.

Deploying those with connections rather than those with skills was the most foolish decision ever.

Others would attend the academy for their future career, but he would attend to recruit and poach talented individuals regardless of their status and background.

”Mirelle—”

Just when Leonard was about to inquire with her on how she planned to reform the academy, a loud wave crashed into their ship.

The ship’s barrier automatically activated. It sustained no damage, but the impact still caused the ship to tilt left and right.

”What’s going on?” Alarmed, Mirelle gently placed Leonard’s legs to the side and stood up. She expanded her magical perception to survey the situation outside.

A normal wave wouldn’t have been capable of triggering the ship’s automatic barrier!