Keith Howell - Chapter 23 Dramatic - Summary
I pretty much have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t trust me, and you shouldn’t either. This summary is not guaranteed to be accurate, it’s mostly written for myself to follow along with the route.
Knowing the King of Jade would not welcome the son he suspected of attempting to murder him with open arms, Keith and Emma opt to sneak into the castle. It’s a tense situation where they both know if anyone were to spot them they would both be sent to prison and eventually to the gallows.
Emma is almost surprised when they arrive at the innermost part of the Castle of Jade unmolested. She praises Nice!Keith; even though their route from his secret villa took longer than a straight-on approach would have, they managed to avoid notice.
The secret path Keith led her along was underground and dark, and now that they had exited, the moonlight stung Emma’s eyes.
Keith shyly accepts her praise, explaining that when he was younger he was a very naughty child. He and his brother, Tio, often played in the secret passages in Jade Castle. Emma asks if that’s why he was able to find his way even in the near-perfect dark of the tunnels.
Yes, it was. The tunnels were originally designed to prevent intruders from using them. However, even though he’s a failure, Keith is also the crown prince, so it’s important that he has the passages known only to the royal family memorized.
It’s a secret passage that leads from the Royal throne room directly to the city and has come in handy for them.
Since Emma came in through unorthodox means, she has no idea what the Jade Castle looks like, but she can smell how different it is from Rhodolite. As expected from the land of agriculture and fertility, the air is clean and clear, with a faint herbal scent.
Keith admits that this wasn’t what he had in mind when he said he wanted to invite Emma to the Castle. Once things are resolved, he would love to show it off to her in the way it truly deserves.
Abruptly, Keith coaxes Emma into a nook partially blocked by a pillar. Emma hears footsteps and thinks that it must be a soldier on patrol.
She needs to brace herself, they’re so close, but if they’re caught now they’ll just wind up in prison and then be executed.
The plan is to sneak into the King’s Chambers and speak with him privately. While there are risks in reaching the king, and more risks with the king not listening, this is Keith’s only path to salvation. Only the King can overturn a court ruling, or even stop it from happening. With everyone else stacked against Keith, his only hope is to make an ally of the king.
And, this might be their last chance to right the wing of what really happened to Tio, and finally bring Keith’s uncle Fernand’s crimes to light.
*Flashback Time*
Back when they were discussing the plan, Emma had been concerned. To prove Fernand’s current crimes, and the crimes of his past, they needed solid evidence. However, all the people who attacked Keith in both instances were dead.
As if showing off, Alter!Keith handed Emma some documents. It was a full medical report on the King of Jade.
Emma realizes that Liam, Keith’s butler, must have obtained it for him. It’s been a while since she has seen him, but he’s working on Keith’s behalf in the shadows.
The King is in a coma-like state, but they have a list of the ingredients used in the assassination.
Alter!Keith flips a page and taps a list. One of the main ingredients is a very special plant, part of a failed medicinal research project. It was being developed as a universal panacea, but depending on how it was cultivated, it could become a tasteless, odorless, toxic poison.
There are several poisonous plants in the world, some of which also have medicinal properties. But none of them are as deadly or as exploitable as this plant.
The Jade Royal Family had stopped the production and in theory, all samples of the plant have been destroyed. It was dangerous enough to make the entire nation worry about it becoming a commodity.
Fernand had been a proponent of using the plant as a national weapon for a long time. There had been a lot of back and forth between Keith and Fernand over the production of the plant.
And then Keith heard an interesting story from Silvio, about a plant that was illegal just to grow, which would soon be on the market as a ‘money tree’. No matter which side the government took, someone would want to buy an odorless, tasteless poison that had no antidote.
Returning to the main topic, Fernand has wanted to kill Keith for a long time. While both Keiths have been pushing back against him, Fernand is smart enough not to be cornered. Even his own father has fallen for Fernand’s tricks.
But now Keith has a new way to corner Fernand. That poisonous plant requires special cultivation methods, including equipment and labor. Especially if they’re trying to grow enough to enter the market with it. Now it’s near impossible for Fernand to destroy the evidence before Keith can present it to the King.
Emma wonders if Fernand and his cohorts were planning on pinning the cultivation of the forbidden plant on Keith as part of a cover-up. Once Keith is hanged, it would be easy to forge evidence against him – so even if someone else tried to expose the growing operation, they could just blame it on the then-dead Prince.
And then Fernand would completely get away with his multitude of crimes.
The first assassination attempt that Emma witnessed, when the carriage she and Keith had been riding in was attacked, was probably from Fernand. If he had died back then, it might have been easier for forgeries to be made.
Emma scowls as she considers this, and Alter!Keith notes that her face is going weird. Emma admits that she’s angry on Keith’s behalf, what he is facing is nigh unreasonable. She tells Alter!Keith that she wants to see Fernand punished, for both the crimes he’s currently committing and the crimes of his past.
She is so cute, Alter!Keith is swooning. Emma thinks that there is a hint of joy behind his teasing words.
Emma asks if Alter!Keith knows where the forbidden plant is growing. Unfortunately, he doesn’t, he’d be having an easier time of it if he did. Instead, they’ll have to ask Fernand himself for the information.
Which is how they came up with the only plan that had the slightest chance of working.
Get the King on their side.
Of course, this wouldn’t be simple, especially since Keith was being accused of attempted regicide. But, he might be willing to listen to Emma. This would be no easy task, even for her, but if she was able to reach both Alter!Keith and Nice!Keith’s heart and make them listen to her, she might be able to make the King of Jade listen to her.
If Emma wants to back out, now is the time. If she fails, then she will be arrested as Keith’s accomplice and executed at his side.
No, Emma wants to help him. Keith had helped her so much during their time together, she doesn’t want to leave Keith by himself. Back when they were attacked at the carriage, Emma had been upset that she couldn’t do anything to help Keith. But now she has her chance.
Alter!Keith asks which Keith she’s talking about.
Both of them.
Alter!Keith asks if she’s the kind of person who would risk her life just because she wanted to pay back that person for helping her a little.
No, she’s really not. But she won’t hesitate, even with certain death on the other side as long as it’s to save Keith. And she feels that way for both Keiths, both are special to her.
Alter!Keith laughs and kisses her cheek. He promises to protect her, so he is counting on her to save him.
*Flashback End*
The footsteps of the patrol fade away, and silence returns to the corridor. Emma admits that she was frightened and Nice!Keith agrees, he can hear her heart pounding.
Was it just Emma, or is everything around them hot? No, just her?
Keith laughs a little before focusing on their situation. And they have a problem, the King’s Chambers are nearby, but there’s no sign of increased security. They creep forward and cautiously peer around a corner. There they see the rest of the king’s guard; 4, no, 5 people are directly guarding his chamber doors.
Yep, after the assassination attempt, vigilance has increased.
Oh no! What should they do? No worries, Keith had spent the night preparing knockout gas bombs. He’ll just roll one out and-
Nice!Keith is suddenly gone mid-sentence, leaving behind Alter!Keith Without speaking he slowly walks out from behind the corner, towards the guards. They immediately recognize him and start shouting. Instead of pulling out the knockout gas bomb from his pocket, Alter!Keith pulls out his sword and thrusts the hilt into the nearest soldier’s stomach.
Yeah, it looks like Alter!Keith doesn’t like Nice!Keith’s plan.
The remaining guards all draw their swords at the same time, but before their blades can reach Alter!Keith he quickly attacks with his sword hilt, knocking them all out. Then, as a finale, he pulls out the knockout gas bomb from his pocket and sets it off before returning to Emma. He warns her to wait for about 2 minutes.
At Emma’s incredulous look, Alter!Keith explains that his way is the more reliable and quick way to handle the guard.
Abruptly Nice!Keith wrests control away from Alter!Keith. He immediately complains – he spent all night working on making the knockout gas. Even though it’s still Nice!Keith he has an extremely unhappy expression.
It’s refreshing to see this new side of Nice!Keith. Before, Emma had the impression that Nice!Keith agrees with and forgives all of Alter!Keith’s actions, but now that he can remember them, for the first time he can be directly dissatisfied with them.
Emma points out that both the medicine and physically knocking the soldiers out would have given them unreliable results. When Nice!Keith and Alter!Keith combine their strengths, they’re 10, no 100-fold more powerful. She’s not saying this to comfort Nice!Keith, she honestly feels this way.
Nice!Keith disagrees, it’s when the three of them combine their strengths that they’re truly powerful. Without Emma, he would be in a dungeon growing mushrooms at this moment. Sincerely, he thanks her.
It occurs to Emma that Nice!Keith is a lot more formal and stiffer than usual. She realizes that he’s nervous and takes his hand, which grasps her back. Keith admits that if she wasn’t with him, he doesn’t think he could face the king. He’s always thought it was useless to talk to him, and with Emma this time, he would have wound up with a bad ending. Emma is pleased that she can give Keith even a little courage. Smiling at her, Keith lifts her hand to gently kiss it before letting her go.
Even Nice!Keith is capable of surprise attacks against Emma’s heart.
Facing the King’s chamber doors, Keith remarks that the King is just beyond them. Emma wonders if the commotion just now woke him from his coma, and Keith muses that it must have. Because that’s exactly how comas work.
Taking several deep breaths, Keith approaches the door. And the moment it opens, Keith unsheathes his sword.
~~~
The Royal Chambers of the King of Jade are in shambles. Vases are knocked over, priceless works of art are broken, and furniture has been slashed up.
To be fair to the King of Jade’s aesthetics, it wasn’t that way when Emma and Keith first entered his bedroom. It was only after they had begun battling with swords that the room turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
This is also Emma’s first impression of the King of Jade outside of what she’s heard. Like Keith, he was an expert swordsman, with agile and quick movements. If she hadn’t heard otherwise, Emma would have never guessed he was recovering from being poisoned (and a coma). Unfortunately, this expert swordsmanship gave Emma no room to interrupt and talk to him.
The King is on offense, with Keith blocking his attacks, but Emma wonders how long Keith can last. She grows angry, wondering what kind of man he is to try to kill Keith without even giving him a chance to speak. Doesn’t he understand that Keith doesn’t want to fight? Emma has only known Keith for less than a month at this point, but even she understands his underlying kindness.
The king, who has known Keith since his birth, seems to see a completely different person than Emma does. Did he even hesitate before deciding to send Keith to a rigged trial?
The fierce battle between King and Prince comes to a sudden and swift end, with the king who had been so nimbly holding his sword coughing violently and falling to his knees on the floor. Keith looks down at him calmly, completely unlike his usual appearance.
Keith warns the king that if he continues any longer, he’ll really die. It seems he hasn’t completely recovered from the poisoning yet. The king asks who is to blame for his current condition as Keith sheathes his sword.
Keith reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a bag, explaining that he has brought with him the antidote. The king calls him a liar, he already knows that there is no cure for the poison.
For several years, Keith has been advocating the dangers of the forbidden plant. During this time, he supported the development of a cure, just in case. For some reason, his partner on the project disappeared about halfway through the development, forcing Keith to completely take over. In the end, he was able to make an antidote.
This is the first time Emma heard about this, and wonders if Keith’s former partner ‘disappeared’ because a cure would lower the market value of the forbidden plant. This is beyond what she thought even someone like Fernand was capable of.
The king asks if he seems a fool, to believe such a likely story.
How did Keith’s sense of worth become so low? Emma thinks she has the answer right in front of her.
Since Keith is terrible with his words, he’ll explain things bluntly. First of all, he never tried to kill the king even once, it was all Fernand. Interrupting, the king complains that Keith is still lying, and now trying to drag down Fernand’s good name. Keith responds that his uncle tried to kill him too. The king shouts at Keith to know his position.
Keith is well aware of his own position. Why is it that the king always believes his brother’s words, but never even listens to Keith’s? It’s been that way since Tio died, when he branded Keith a suspect without considering any of the other possibilities. What did Keith ever do to deserve such hatred?
This is the first time that Emma has ever heard Nice!Keith raise his voice. Anger bleeds into his gentle golden eyes, and she thinks that he’s been wanting to say this for a long time. Looking at the speechless king, this is completely new to him as well. Normally, Keith would apologize with an ‘I’m sorry’, belittle himself as a failure, and back down.
Emma is happy that Keith is allowing himself to be angry.
The King of Jade recovers, telling Keith that he can’t just shout out unsubstantiated accusations without proof-
However he was planning on finishing that sentence was stopped as the king has to cough more blood up on the floor. Keith starts to rush over to him, but the king holds up a hand and shouts at him to stay back.
Keith reminds him of the antidote, which would cure the king. The antidote that Keith himself made.
The king almost laughs at this and tells Keith to stop talking nonsense. First of all, there’s no way Keith is at all accomplished enough to make an impossible antidote, even with help. He’s far too lazy and too stupid.
After witnessing all of this, something inside Emma snaps. She calls out, asking Keith if he has enough antidote for a second dose. Keith awkwardly agrees that he does and is shocked when Emma snatches the antidote out of his hand. She pulls out one of the vials from the bag and removes the stopper, downing the antidote in one swallow.
It burned going down.
Keith shouts at Emma, telling her that medicine doesn’t work that way. She hasn’t even considered the side effects, not that she ever even asked about them!
Maybe so, but Emma was just able to prove that it wasn’t poison. Together, she and Keith took a large risk in entering the castle to give the antidote to the king. Beyond that, Keith is neither lazy nor stupid, it is entirely within his capabilities to make an antidote to the poison. And he would never poison the king.
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BUCHA: A Mais Poderosa e Oculta das Sociedades Secretas que Vem Determinando os Destinos do Brasil
A Bucha (Burschenschaft), incrustrada na mais tradicional escola jurídica do país, a Faculdade de Direito do Largo de São Francisco em São Paulo, fundada em 1834 pelo tão genial quanto misterioso alemão Júlio Frank, assim como a Maçonaria, desempenhou um papel marcante na história do Brasil e em especial nos meios jurídicos e na política.
Com a queda do Império, que ajudou a derrubar, e o advento da República, que ajudou a instalar, a Bucha ganhou um imenso poder e foi muito influente no século XIX e começo do século XX, tendo dela participado futuros presidentes da República, ministros, jornalistas, escritores e outras personalidades influentes da República Velha.
Após a década de 1930, com o governo Getúlio Vargas, perdeu grande parte de sua força, mas nunca deixou de escolher quem iria governar o país, atuando clandestinamente nos bastidores.
O sociólogo Fernando Henrique Cardoso, que ocupou a Presidência da República de 1995 a 2003, era membro de uma outra poderosa sociedade secreta na Universidade de São Paulo (USP), a E.S.P.A.R.T.A, fundada em 1956, uma ramificação da Bucha que contaria com um projeto de poder denominado Janus, nome do deus romano representado por duas ou mais faces, cada qual olhando para uma direção distinta, ou seja, preparada para encarar dois cenários mundiais distintos, um com o socialismo como vencedor e outro com o capitalismo, mas sempre composta por duas elites para que seus interesses sobrevivessem em qualquer panorama.
Entre seus membros, estariam proeminentes figuras acadêmicas, como Perseu Abramo e Florestan Fernandes, ambos fundadores do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), que junto com o Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB), fundado por FHC, têm se mantido há 30 anos na Presidência da República, irmanados em um projeto comum e devotados a uma mesma agenda.
Você vai saber tudo sobre a Bucha e o seu fundador Júlio Frank, cujo corpo se encontra sepultado, de maneira insólita, em um imponente túmulo sob as arcadas no pátio interno da Faculdade do Largo São Francisco, encimado por um obelisco e ornamentado com a figura do mocho, ou coruja de minerva, distintivo das lojas maçônicas frequentadas pelos “iluminados” da Baviera.
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