Hypnosis

"I have fought many battles and seen many enemies. Liam, you still have much to learn."

"Counterattack? No, no, child, don't be blindly optimistic."

"Our plan is to save the survivors, and it must be executed!"

"When will we be able to reclaim Gilneas? Don't rush, Liam. This land belongs to Greymane, and it won't disappear into thin air. Our retreat is temporary, and we will help you reclaim it in the future."

"Child, you need to calm down and not make blind decisions!"

Liam walked back to his tent step by step, like a machine. Daelin Proudmoore's words kept echoing in his mind.

But he was not persuaded at all.

Clearly, the Scourge's attacks are weakening now. Since you have come to support us, why not counterattack?

Clearly, the Gilnean survivors alone have maintained the defensive line. Why do you keep transferring civilians outwards instead of reinforcing the position and waiting for an opportunity to strike back?

Clearly, the Alliance has stockpiled so many troops in Fenwood Village. Why do they only send planes and griffons as a token gesture every day, instead of fully cooperating with us to attack the Scourge and reclaim the entire territory of Gilneas?

Why do we have to live under someone else's roof?

Why do we have to swallow our pride?

He felt angry and sad. His father was dead, and now he was the King of Gilneas, but Daelin still treated him like a child, with such a condescending attitude!

'The Alliance is not sincerely here to rescue Gilneas,' a voice echoed in his mind.

'They just want to gain more population!'

'Wake up, Liam! Gilneas will be divided! Beware of the Alliance!'

This was not his own thought, but it was directly imprinted in his mind. It was as if someone was communicating with him.

'Who is it?' he roared in his heart.

'I am your inner self…' the mysterious voice conveyed this thought, and then disappeared without a trace, as if it had never appeared.

"Liam, Liam!" He felt someone push him, and Liam came back to his senses, realizing it was Darius Crowley, the Highlord who had always disagreed with his father. He had landed with His Majesty Daelin.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm a little worried about your condition." Darius looked at him, "Don't overwork yourself. Even for Gilneas, you have to take care of your health."

"I know." Liam waved his hand, a little impatiently. This was clearly a word of concern, but he always felt that Darius wanted him to relinquish power—that he only needed to be a human-shaped stamp. Was that so?

Darius was clearly a Gilnean, but he firmly stood on the side of the Alliance. He didn't know how he could trust this Highlord.

He strode towards his tent, ignoring Darius's concerned gaze.

Liam had just sat down when he felt that his attitude was a bit bad. In any case, His Majesty Daelin had come to help Gilneas, and he shouldn't be so impatient; Lord Crowley was even more of a Gilnean, and he couldn't push this person to the Alliance. He felt a little regretful, mocking himself for being so stressed that he was out of sorts, completely lacking his usual sincerity and kindness.

Recalling the words of the mysterious Valoran Head of State who had warned him, Liam felt that his mental state was indeed a little problematic. He had become too easily nervous and extremely sensitive. This was clearly not a normal state.

He reminded himself to pay attention to correcting his attitude. But just as he made this resolution, another bad news completely threw him into chaos—his sister, Tess Greymane, stumbled into his tent, telling him with a sob: "Brother, Mother… something happened to her!"

"What!" Liam stood up abruptly, extremely shocked, "What happened to Mother?"

"She has contracted a strange disease and cannot be awakened no matter what. Doctor Crowley has seen her, but he can't cure her either… What should we do, brother, what should we do…" Princess Tess's eyes were red and swollen, and she threw herself into Liam's arms, crying helplessly, tears streaming down her face.

"How could this happen, how could this…" Liam muttered to himself, his mind in a mess, wanting only to rush to his mother's side as soon as possible. The two siblings had just lost their father two days ago, and now something had happened to their mother. He felt as if the sky was about to fall.

"I'm going to see her! Come on, let's go take a look!" He pulled up his sister and strode out of the tent. He ran into Lord Godfrey, who was holding a stack of documents and coming to find him. He didn't have time to say much and interrupted the other party before he could speak: "Lord Vincent Godfrey, I'm going back to Greymane Manor. I'll leave things here to you!"

"Prince, Prince Liam!" Godfrey wanted to catch up and ask what was going on, but he saw him striding onto his warhorse and leaving with Princess Tess in a cloud of dust.

Fortunately, Princess Tess did not come alone. Godfrey grabbed a Royal Guard and finally learned what had happened from the other party.

A bad feeling welled up in his heart. Why did the Queen fall ill at this time?

Something must be amiss!

Godfrey put his own affairs aside and quickly found Lord Crowley and His Majesty Daelin, telling them about the matter. They needed to discuss countermeasures.

On the other side, Liam hurried back to Greymane Manor, where Queen Mia and Princess Tess resided. He saw his mother on the sickbed. She looked as if she was sound asleep, but her face was very haggard, and her brows were constantly furrowed. Presumably, that was because the news of his father's death had brought her a blow?

The royal physician, Crowley, was by the bed. Princess Tess, seeing that her mother could not be awakened no matter what, threw herself onto the bed and sobbed softly.

Liam's face was gloomy as he asked: "How is the situation?"

Crowley shook his head and replied: "Not good. According to my observation, this should not be a disease, nor is it poisoning, but a kind of magic, a kind of hypnotic magic."

"What about those court mages? This should be their area of expertise." Liam asked with a frown.

"We've tried, but no one can dispel it. They can't even confirm whether this is an effect caused by magic." Crowley's face was bitter. Although he was a top alchemist and doctor, he did not know magic. If it were a simple magical illusion, he could crack it with some physical stimulation combined with the effects of drugs, but the hypnotic magic on Queen Mia was obviously not those little tricks he had seen before.

Liam was very annoyed. The group of court mages enjoyed the royal family's support, lived an incredibly comfortable life, and the kingdom granted all their requests, but when it came to a crucial moment, they were so useless!

Liam asked in a deep voice: "Then what is the solution?"

"Find the caster, let him undo the hypnotism, or kill him directly, and the hypnotic effect will be broken directly. If neither of these works," Crowley paused, then continued, "then we can only find a more powerful caster and let them crack it."

Liam was silent for a while. The top mages of Gilneas were all here, and no one could break the hypnotism. The only way left was to find the caster—but how easy would that be!

He felt extremely resentful in his heart. Why attack his relatives? Have the courage to come at him!

"Despicable villain!" Liam cursed the caster through gritted teeth. He stared at Crowley and asked, "Generally speaking, to cast such a spell, what kind of range would the caster be in?"

Crowley said: "Ordinary hypnosis basically requires face-to-face contact, and sometimes even requires gaining the other party's trust. However, the stronger the caster, the fewer the restrictions on casting hypnosis. I can't give you a definite answer either. But I guess this caster's ability is very powerful!"

Liam saw that his mother was hypnotized, but he was powerless. This kind of torture made the anger in his heart rise, and he loudly ordered: "From now on, the manor is under martial law, and all entry and exit are prohibited! Find out everyone who has appeared in the manor since the Queen moved here! Find the caster!"

"I want to tear him to pieces!" he roared. The maids next to him were as quiet as cicadas in winter. They had never seen Prince Liam so furious.

Crowley was very worried about his condition and couldn't help but persuade him: "Prince Liam, you look very tired. You should go and rest first! I'll take care of things here. I will do my best to heal the Queen, I promise!"

"…Alright, thank you, Mr. Arantes!" Liam bowed to the royal physician and left his mother's room.

Crowley comforted Princess Tess, who was tired from crying, gave her some medicine to stabilize her emotions, and then ordered the maids to send her away.

After the two siblings left, Crowley sighed. He scratched his bald head, worrying so much that he plucked off a few more of his already sparse hairs.

Now that the two siblings were not around, he revealed his true emotions—he had almost no clue about the hypnotic spell that the Queen was under, and heaven knows when he would be able to develop a drug to awaken her.

But of course, he couldn't tell Prince Liam and Princess Tess directly. He had served the Greymane royal family for many years and had long regarded this family as his own. The death of King Genn made him deeply saddened. Now that Gilneas was facing a great disaster, he couldn't distract the Prince!

—

Liam was both irritable and exhausted. He came to his room and slammed the door shut.

These days, his nerves had been tense, and he hadn't had a good night's sleep at all. The troubles piled up in front of him made him extremely weary. He really wanted to lie on the bed and fall asleep, waking up to find that nothing had happened. Gilneas had not suffered a natural disaster, and his father had not died. How wonderful would that be!

But when he looked up, he really saw his father—Genn Greymane!

He was standing in front of him, wearing the exact same clothes he had worn when he parted ways with him in Gilneas City, his eyes still stern and concerned.

"Father? Is that you?" Liam thought he was hallucinating.