Chapter 93: Newspaper Articles

The day before the spar.

Almost a month has passed since the prince returned from the hellish ant colony. Now, Mikael haunted the Heinken palace in peace. During the mornings, he and his partner would visit Finn's laboratory to check on Nora's prosthetic arm. Mikael would take over Deon's body and provide his insights on its design with Finn eagerly taking notes. The rest of the day, the prince would spend inside his secret basement, training his skill while Mikael incubates the dragon egg which had now shrunk to the size of a van.

As they went about their daily routine, unaware of the kingdom's growing unrest, the king called for Deon in a family meeting at his office.

"Father, may I come in?" Deon asked as he knocked on his father's office door.

"Yes. You are just in time," the king's voice sounded beyond the door.

When the youngest prince entered, he was greeted with the complicated stares of his family. Sitting behind a large redwood desk was his father who held a newspaper with a strange smile on his lips. It was not surprising for the king to read a newspaper for the commoners even though he receives daily reports from his officials. It was his way of looking after his citizens and knowing their views about the monarchy.

Deon urgently sat beside Avery and whispered, "Brother, do you know why I was called?"

But his eldest brother remained silent.

The king stood from his chair and approached them with today's newspaper at hand, "I called you because of this."

The king put the newspaper on the table before Deon. On the front page was a clip headed with big, bold letters:

[The kingdom's youngest prince: heralded as a hero!]

[In the recent tragedy of the annual hunting competition, which recorded the highest ever death toll, the youngest prince, otherwise known as the cowardly prince, had secretly participated and allegedly saved a hundred participants from the jaws of mutated killer ants. The survivors cannot help but praise the prince for his noble sacrifice. Sir Connor, a tier-1 ground specialist Almagi and one of the lucky survivors, provided the following account:

Journalist: How would you describe Prince Deon Hensworth?

Connor: Well, at first, I doubted that such a young prince could do so much in that situation… but he cleared our anxieties when he selflessly ventured into the Ant Queen's chamber to collect information and led the attacks at the forefront. In my opinion, the prince is by no means a coward.

Journalist: As you know, the succession to the throne has yet to officially start. Do you think the prince would be fit as the next king?

Connor: I don't know about the other princes… but I would definitely be happy if the third prince could assume the king's role. He had this charisma that made us think we'd survive if we follow him. He was strong. He was smart. Most importantly, he was compassionate.]

Deon blushed at Sir Connor's excessive praise.

Meanwhile, Mikael pumped his fists in the air as he had succeeded in his plan to change Deon's trashy reputation.

"You did an excellent job, son!" the king praised Deon with an expression that obviously said 'Finally, my useless son achieved something decent."

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"This is truly unexpected… was my baby really smart and strong like they claimed?" the queen muttered in amazement. Everyone in the family was well aware of how frail their youngest was.

"I've heard of this too… But I just dismissed it as nonsense…" Avery peeked at his brother with a betrayed look—whether it is due to Deon's growing influence, which threatened his crown prince position, or the fact that his favorite brother whom he treated like a chick was now leaving his protective nest, Mikael would never know.

"Hmmph! I'm sure this is just exaggerated gossip. That weakling? Leading attacks against mutated monsters? Just who are they kidding?" Cail rolled his eyes as he casually sipped tea.

"Anyway, this development is definitely good," The king stroked his mustache, "Deon has always been used to ridicule the royal family. Now, the nobility would be deprived of their only card to humiliate me."

Indeed, now that Deon, the only trash in the royal family, was finally showing his bloodline's worth, the constant opposition of the nobility would lessen, as would the king's headaches.

"I'm proud of you, son. Keep it up!" gloated the king as he gently squeezed his youngest's shoulder.

Deon's eyes trembled in joy. When he thought, 'So, this is what it feels like to be acknowledged…' he felt like he was in heaven.

As the boy was basking in his hard-earned recognition, Mikael's attention was set on the newspaper's lower right corner.

In it was a small article that delivered an ominous headline.

[89th kidnapping case reported. Royal Investigations Bureau still with no leads! (Continued at page 3)]

Amidst the happy atmosphere, Mikael felt a pang of guilt. He had forgotten about his promise to the kids in George's village and he wondered how they were doing at the moment. Were they safe? Did anyone of his young friends fall prey to the kidnapper?

'They said the children from the orphanage disappeared… were they also counted in the serial kidnappings?'

Curious about the news' contents, Mikael used his skill to flip the page.

<Skill: Psychokinesis Lvl. 2 is activated.>

Mikael proceeded to read the article after confirming that no one noticed the newspaper flip despite the lack of wind.

[Last afternoon, Baroness Evelyn Brooks reported her 8-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter missing. According to her mansion's employees, the children appeared to have vanished into thin air because no indications of forced entry were found within the property. The Royal Investigations Bureau believes the youngsters may have freely stepped out of their rooms to come with the criminal, perhaps via the use of an illegal hypnotizing artifact or a psychological spell. With no riches taken from the Baroness' treasure vault, the detectives ruled out kidnapping for ransom and determined that the perpetrator may be a pedophile of unknown gender.

To date, 89 boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 10 have been reported missing around the kingdom. While there is no consistent pattern to the crimes, they are mainly concentrated in the capital. Thus, the citizens are advised to keep a close eye on their children until a definite lead is discovered, according to Sir Gordon Blake, senior investigator of the Bureau.]

--Chapter end--

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