Chapter 378: Five Years Ago (2)

Five years ago:

"… The situation is like that, Your Majesty. I think that the best course of action is to send one of the kingdom's knight orders to suppress the rebellion."

"Is it so?" A black-haired man listened to the report of his subordinate with a serious expression.

They were currently inside a hall, the palace hall, attending to the morning court. The black-haired man, who was the King of Alterna, used it to listen about the situation of the kingdom every morning.

In the hall, several officials and nobles were standing respectfully, waiting for the words of the king. And beside him, the Queen of the Alterna was seated with an indifferent face.

Right now, the atmosphere in the hall was slightly tense.

One day ago, a rebellion sparked up in the empire.

Actually, it was nothing big. Just a border city that was dissatisfied with the kingdom's policies and decided to rebel.

With the Kingdom of Alterna's strength, it was very easy to suppress this kind of rebellion.

The problem was that this was not the first rebellion.

This was the third case in the last five years.

The king frowned, thinking carefully about the situation.

'… Another rebellion? What is the problem?'

"What is the reason for the rebellion?"

"… Apparently, they think that the taxes they pay to the kingdom are too high." The subordinate reporting the situation answered.

The king snorted.

"Too high? We have one of the lower taxes among human kingdoms. What else do they want!?"

The subordinate said nothing, just lowering his head nervously.

Seeing that, the king tapped the armrest of his throne twice before speaking.

"Send the third order of knights. They have one month to suppress the rebellion."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The subordinate bowed slightly and returned to his original place.

"Very well. Let's end this court here. Everybody, you can go."

"""Understood, Your Majesty."""

Bowing respectfully, the generals, officials, and nobles in the hall left one after another.

However, one of the nobles stayed behind.

The noble hesitated slightly before walking towards the king and the queen.

He then bowed slightly and spoke up.

"My king, my queen, can I ask for a bit of your time?"

"Duke Pherald. Of course. What is it?"

The duke hesitated again, not sure if he should mention the topic he wanted to talk about.

But when he saw the king starting to frown, he sighed.

"… It's about the engagement of my daughter with the second prince, Your Majesty."

The king immediately squinted. And the queen, who had been silent the entire time, was startled and looked at the duke.

"The engagement? What is the problem, Duke?" The queen asked.

"… Your Majesty, it's well-known that the second prince is sickly, and he has never left the palace. Not many people have managed to see him, and even my daughter, who is his fiancée, has not seen him even once."

"Go straight to the point, Duke." The king said with a frown, making the duke hesitate again.

But in the end, he made up his mind and spoke up his thoughts.

"… I would like to rescind the engagement with the prince."

The king narrowed his eyes. And beside him, the queen put on a startled expression.

But after that, their expressions turned ugly.

Rescinding an engagement between nobles was not something good. It generally meant that something was wrong with one of the parties. It could even be considered a humiliation.

Moreover, we were talking about the royal family this time. The duke was breaking the engagement an engagement with a prince.

That was outrageous.

Even if the engagement had not been made official yet, it was an engagement with a prince!

But then, the kind furrowed his brows.

He knew Duke Pherald, and the man was someone careful, wise, and prudent. A man like him would not do something like this without a good reason.

At that moment, the king thought of something.

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Immediately, his expression turned grave.

"… Duke, I have known you for a long time, and I know that you are not the kind to do something like this. So, tell me the truth. What is really the reason why you want to rescind the engagement?"

The duke fell silent before heaving a long sigh.

"Your Majesty, I heard a rumor about the second prince recently."

"What rumor?"

"… One about Prince Glenn being a cursed child."

"!!!"

A heavy silence immediately filled the hall.

The king remained impassive, not revealing the slightest sign that something was wrong. But, the queen was unable to keep her expression. For an instant, her face stiffened briefly.

Fortunately, the duke did not notice it. Or at least, he did not show that he noticed it.

A few seconds later, the king sighed.

"Duke Pherald, I can guarantee that the second prince is not manaless. These rumors are nothing more than lies."

"… Understood, Your Majesty."

"However… It's true that Prince Glenn is very sickly. Even now, he can't leave his room easily. To be honest, I'm not sure about how long he can live."

The duke fell silent and lowered his head.

"… Let's wait for another year." The king said with a sigh. "If the condition of the prince doesn't improve after that, then we will rescind the engagement."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will pray for Prince Glenn's recovery."

"Mm. You can leave."

The duke bowed respectfully and nodded. Then, he left.

Only the king and the queen remained in the hall.

None of them spoke up for a while, as though they were thinking about the words of the duke.

But then–

"… It looks like someone learned about Glenn." The king suddenñy said.

"I-I don't know what happened." The queen stuttered nervously. "T-The servants around Glenn should be trustworthy. They are not the kind to reveal something like this."

The king said nothing, just sighing.

As a king, he knew better than anyone that there was not an eternal secret in this world.

No matter how much they tried to hide the condition of his second son, it eventually would be known in some way or another.

And now, that day had arrived.

Hence–

"The royal family can't have a cursed child, Soraya. You should know it."

The queen's face immediately turned pale.

"N-No… P-Please, don't…"

The king remained silent, just looking at his wife with a complicated expression.

In fact, he should have killed that child when he was born. When he learned that his wife had given birth to a manaless child, he knew that he had to kill him.

However, he could not do it.

Not when his wife was looking at him with a pleading expression.

However, he could not delay it anymore.

Right now, he could not allow anything that could be used against the royal family.

Thus, while looking at the eyes of his wife, he hardened his heart.

"The child must die, Soraya."

....

Hey guys, Aidka's here!

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