39: Subconscious tension

King Edmund sat in the empty throne room alone. The occurrences of the several days that passed had made a mockery of his court.

His daughter, Elveryn, and son, Angelus, turned him into a joke in the eyes of his council and General Zard.

Prince came at him head-on, defying his every word and attacking the city just to show him that he's no longer a little boy who'll take scraps from him.

The secret his queen revealed to him about Angelus made his decision to crown Augustus feel justified. King Edmund felt more determined to crown anyone other than Prince Angelus as the next king, the boy was a tyrant and would rule as one.

However, his heart bled for the one he'd name as heir. His son had grown wings and managed to secure to his side an army of twenty thousand fighters to his cause. He harmed Prince Augustus and challenged him and his council.

He was clear; he'd see people dead before his birthright was snatched from him,, and the King knew he meant his threat. His neglect of Prince Angelus allowed Queen Rosalyn to have her way with him and raise him to be a cold-hearted monster like herself.

King Edmund had Diane and his concubine's children to think of. Once Angelus sits on the throne one day, they'll all be killed so they never pose a threat to his reign.

That meant that Prince Augustus wasn't the only one whose life was at stake. Prince Angelus was a wounded tiger, as the queen described her; he had lost too much and had nothing more to fear of the world, and in so, he became the very thing the world needed to fear.

Scratching his chin, King Edmund was at a loss for a solution to handle Angelus. "How did I get to this point?" he blamed Queen Rosalyn's greed for power.

Back then, the woman did everything to become his Queen. Using her family name, status, and wealth to force his hands into a marriage with her against his will.

The person he wanted from the beginning was Diane but although she was born from a noble family, the Voss name could never compare to the Behern name in Sevigoria.

This decision led him to be indifferent to her and only mated with her to satisfy his ally by continuously having children with her. The children she gave him never had a second of his time or affection, especially Angelus whom he despised as the boy posed a threat to Augustus' light.

Over the years, King Edmund attempted in many ways to put out Prince Angelus's light by turning Sevigoria against him and keeping him out of the subject's eyes. He figured people were less likely to allow a person they'd never met to rule over them.

Little did he expect that Angelus would take the pieces of his broken heart and mold himself into a heartless weapon that destroyed his plans.

"Hmph," he sighed, his burden weighing heavily on him.

On the other hand, his precious daughter, Elveryn, had fallen in love with a lowly subject with no name, fame, or wealth.

She had an affair with him and boldly claimed the relationship in his throne room without any shame. The man was below her status and would never be able to marry so high above his standing.

The relationship was a stain to her as a member of the royal family, and there were people to learn of it; she'd be shamed and shunned by the ton.

No one would wish to marry her after, and the rest of her life would be spent in regret. Her affair was no longer a secret, and their biggest threat, Prince Angelus, had somehow come to know about it. The sooner he silenced Modred and ended the affair the better.

"Why couldn't you fancy a prince or a king, Elveryn?" he questioned, his heart growing heavier.

Seskel quietly walked in from the secret door without announcing his presence. He walked up to the king and quickly dropped to his knees next to the throne.

"I have delivered your order to Modred. Princess Modred wasn't particularly happy about it, but it's done, Your Highness," he reported to his king.

"Good."

"I have gone ahead and paid off a guard as you instructed. I gave him so much gold that he wouldn't be tempted to refuse your request. Modred Falck will be dead by sunset today," he added.

King Edmund placed his head on his palm and didn't say a word. He was forced to taint his hands with blood to protect his daughter, in doing so, he passed the order for an innocent man to be executed by poison.

"The Queen beat us to it and sentenced Modred to death by poisoning. So, when Modred dies of poison, the queen will be blamed for it," Seskel thought mischievously. "No one will ever suspect that you are behind Modred's death. And no one can save that low life from death today!"

"Did anyone see you with the guard?"

"No, my king. I was discreet and left no evidence behind," he reported confidently.

Seskel worked for King Edmund way before he sat on the throne. He knew the king's ways better than anyone and kept a record of where the bodies they'd killed in their reign were buried.

He was the King's executor, the man on the ground who gets the dirty work done and keeps the blame from landing on the throne. Having worked for King Edmund all his life, he's grown accustomed to loving what the king loves and hating what the king despises.

Seskel shared king Edmund's hatred for the Queen and sought Rosalyn's downfall just as much as the man. Being the king's loyal servant, he was often picked on by the Queen and punished every time she was displeased with the king or his actions which furthered his hatred for her.

"We are in the clear. Everything will happen as per your wish, my king. Modred will die and his death will open a door for you to take Queen Rosalyn and his son down, too!"

"I will celebrate when the work is done," King Edmund concluded. If things played out as he planned, it would ease his subconscious tension and put his worries to rest.

Inside the walls attached to the throne room, Jesper listened in to the king's conversation with Seskel and noted down the key information of the exchange.

'The king intends to take down my master. He'll be in for a surprise when I report this to Angelus and he counters his plans,' he snickered and tiptoed off.

The second secret passage led directly to one of the storerooms in the queen's kitchen. He made a swift exit and straightened his clothes of dust and webs before he picked up some fruits from the store and walked out.

As he walked down the main hall, his path was blocked by a blue-headed male in his late twenties with a young youthful appearance and a cocky attitude.

"What is Prince Angelus's tiny rat doing coming out of the Queen's kitchen?"

"Su-Subedei Kerst?!" Jesper paled at the sight of the head chef of the royal palace.