The moment Lord Hais arrived at the king's castle and disembarked from his carriage, he was immediately seized by several soldiers.
"What's the meaning of this?" snarled Lord Hais. "Unhand me at once?"
A familiar raspy voice replied, "We've just finished talking with the princess' group just now, Minister Hais, surely you understand what this is all about?"
Lord Hais' eyes widened and he immediately understood. His worst fears had come true. But how did they pry the information out of those assassins? How did they bypass the oath of silence binding them? He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to feign his innocence as much as possible.
"Yes, I heard that Esmeralda has returned. That's why I immediately rushed here to the castle." He glared at the guards holding him down. "Only to be mistreated by these imbeciles?"
The guards momentarily shrank from his glare, but they didn't release him regardless.
"Ropianna, this is a transgression? A crime against a minister of the Kingdom?" Lord Hais continued glaring at everyone around him. "Even if you're a royal court magician, you will not escape punishment?" Lord Hais started dishing out threats, but the elderly woman simply stared at him, unperturbed by his words. Her eyes were filled with disappointment.
"Take him to the throne room," said Lady Ropianna.
"Yes, Lady Magician?"
His hands cuffed and his magic sealed by the royal court magician, Lord Hais was taken to the throne room.
To Lord Hais' surprise, the throne room was already half full by the time he arrived. All of the remaining ministers of the Kingdom, nobles from different factions, royal court magicians, various officials of the capital, and even the retired General Carlos were already inside. Judging by their surprised faces when the guards brought him in, they were still in the dark about what was going on right now.
General Carlos, clad in plate armor, nodded at Lady Ropianna. It seemed that in this room, only these two knew what was going on at the current moment.
Murmurs filled the throne room as everyone looked at Lord Hais. He was forced to kneel on the floor, his body tied with chains and with magic.
Although some nobles friendly with Lord Hais started to protest against his current treatment, none of them dared to forcefully ask for him to be released, especially after seeing the glare of the retired general.
The buzz continued, until the gigantic double doors of the throne room were opened, and ?iscount Lakian, the Grand Chamberlain of the King, entered. He tapped his staff against the ground. Silence befell the throne room at once.
"The embodiment of God Nruz. The Heart of the Sun. His Majesty, King Alvis Lukas ?I has arrived. Everyone, show your respect."
Everyone in the throne room was struck speechless when an emaciated old man started walking toward the throne. He looked ill and weak, but his every movement was the epitome of the word regal.
"K?King Alvis?" whispered one of the nobles.
Everyone knew that the king had collapsed and hadn't woken up yet.
They hadn't expected to see the king here, awake and walking.
The first to kneel were the retired General Carlos and Lady Ropianna, followed by the royal guards. Seeing this, everyone else followed suit. The sound of the king's footsteps echoed in the throne room.
Behind the king, the princess, and her knights, several other unfamiliar faces followed behind.
After the king sat on the throne, he spoke, "Everyone, rise. You may raise your heads."
Everyone stood up and looked at the king sitting on the throne. Now that they'd taken a careful look, it was indeed King Alvis. There was no doubt about it.
Standing next to the king was Princess Esmeralda, and right next to the princess was a young man with short silver hair and clear blue eyes. Just a single look was enough for the nobles to realize the identity of that person.
But what was the second son of Duke Drakus doing here at the capital? And why was he standing next to the princess?
Everyone in the throne room held several questions in their mind.
Judging by the sudden summon of the crown, something big was going to happen moments from now.
The king looked at everyone in the room, before his eyes landed on Lord Hais. "Hais, it's been a while," said the king.
Lord Hais, still shackled by metallic chains and magic, bowed his head. "Yes, Your Majesty. I'm truly glad to see you safe and sound."
The face of the king contorted for a moment upon hearing those words.
Was it anger, disappointment, sadness? No one was sure. Everyone here knew that Lord Hais was among the pillars of the king's faction. They could not understand why Lord Hais was currently kneeling there, his body bound by chains.
Silence befell the throne room.
Eventually, the King sighed and rubbed his temples. "Hais, I'm disappointed in you."
"F?Forgive me, but I do not understand, Your Majesty," said Lord Hais in a trembling voice.
General Carlos snorted. "Stop feigning ignorance. We already know that you're the reason for His Majesty's collapse."
Those words stirred everyone in the throne room. They couldn't believe that a rift had formed between the king and the minister.
Furthermore, it seemed that Lord Hais tried to harm His Majesty.
Lord Hais continued to tremble. He still did his best to feign ignorance of what was going on. "I… I don't understand, Your Majesty? I've been your faithful ally, even before your coronation. I would never dare harm you?" Lord Hais glared at Lady Ropianna and General Carlos. "I don't know what kind of lies those two fed you, my King? But please believe me?"
Lord Hais noticed the princess standing next to the king. She wore a look of disappointment as she looked at her uncle.
"Princess Esmeralda, please tell your father? You know that Uncle Hais would never do something to harm His Majesty, right?"
The princess bit her lip and shook her head, disagreeing with all the things Lord Hais just said.
Lord Hais' eyes darted toward the young man standing next to the princess. Lord Hais did not like the pair of blue eyes that were looking at him as though he was garbage.
"Bring in the chief healer," said the king.
On cue, a man in his mid?fifties was brought into the throne room by the guards. Just like Lord Hais, the chief healer was bound by chains.
"The chief healer already confessed to the crime this morning," said the king.
Shivers crawled down Lord Hais' spine upon hearing this.
The king said to the chief healer, "Aldur, let everyone in this room hear it."
Before Lord Hais could stop him, the chief healer started recounting the story in a desperately loud voice. Spit flew out as the chief healer blabbered his mouth nonstop. At the same time, the everyone's face slowly transitioned from disbelief, to disgust, and eventually, anger.
According to the chief healer, Lord Hais was the one pulling the strings —the one behind the collapse of His Majesty. After he captured the chief healer's only grandchild, the minister coerced the chief healer to slowly feed poison to the king, eventually resulting in His Majesty's collapse during the banquet.
"H?His Majesty is already weak from age," said the chief healer. "W?
With the help of the poison, the curse used this opportunity to start devouring the king's soul."
To some of the government officials, this was the first time they'd heard of this curse. But most of the nobles in the room were aware that an incurable curse ran down the blood of the royal family. It was just simply taboo to talk about it.
"Lies?" shouted Lord Hais. "Why would I poison the king? Everyone knows that I'm loyal to His Majesty? If we think about it, who will gain the most if His Majesty suddenly dies? Surely, it isn't me? How about the Kelvins? The Marcuses? The Youchesters?"
Lord Hais started pushing the blame to others. "None of my sons are eligible for the throne? As part of the king's faction, if His Majesty dies, we'll be the ones to suffer the most?"
A buzz filled the throne room once again. The nobles and government officials started discussing things among themselves. The argument of Lord Hais was valid, after all. They could not see what the minister would gain from this ploy.
"The chief healer is obviously trying to frame me, Your Majesty?"
pleaded Lord Hais. "They're trying to break one of the pillars of your faction? Please reconsider, my king?"
The king fell silent. Everything Lord Hais had said made sense.
He looked at the priestess from the Temple of the Water God.
"Priestess Thea. Could you perform an Oath of ?eracity for us?"
"I'd be happy to, Your Majesty." The priestess bowed her head and moved to where Lord Hais was situated.
The king said to Lord Hais, "In front of all these witnesses, we will now conduct an Oath of ?eracity. If what you are saying is truly correct, you shall be freed from all allegations and criminal liabilities."
Color started draining from Lord Hais' face as the priestess came closer.
"But if it is found that you are behind the attempted assassination," the king paused for a few seconds, as though he couldn't bring himself to say his next words, "you shall be publicly executed."
The priestess finally stood before Lord Hais. In a soft voice, she said, "Please forgive my impudence, but we shall proceed with the ritual, minister."
The priestess took out a dagger and made a small cut on the Lord Hais' finger. With practiced movements, she started performing the ritual. Slowly, a small magic formation formed underneath her feet.
Lord Hais panicked. Once the Oath of ?eracity was complete, he would have no choice but to tell everyone the truth. Even a simple lie would subject his body to the most excruciating pain possible.
Realizing that he had no way out of this mess, he decided to confess everything. It would be better to speak now, while the oath hadn't bound his body yet.
"I'll tell you everything?" he shouted. Lord Hais breathed in. "That's right? I'm the one behind the poisoning of His Majesty?"
There was momentary silence, before the crowd burst into outrage.
Those loyal to the crown were glaring at him, while the fence?sitters held bewildered gazes.
The king grabbed his chest after hearing Lord Hais' words.
"Your Majesty?" said one of the guards.
"I'm fine," breathed King Alvis. Tears started forming at the corner of his eyes. For some reason, this betrayal felt more painful than the curse. He felt his heart being squeezed as the words of his friend echoed in his mind.
Princess Esmeralda clenched her fists and bit her lip, but managed to hold back her tears. She remained standing next to her father, concerned of his well?being.
"Hais, when we were young," King Alvis struggled to say his words due to the squeezing pain in his heart, "we both dreamed of a better Kingdom. Isn't that right? I was merely the Crown Prince back then, and you were just the deputy to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Back then, you repeatedly proposed several reforms for the Kingdom, ways to improve the lives of the citizens."
The pain became more unbearable as the King reminisced. This was more painful than the betrayal of the chief healer.
"When my father died and the Southern Faction revolted, you were the first person to come to my aid." The king gripped the armrest. "You rallied your troops to quell the rebellion, along with Carlos, Ropianna, and Mikael.
You never left my side until the end of the Bloody Thorn Plains Incident."
That incident solidified the King's trust in Lord Hais. When all seemed lost and the rebels managed to breach the capital, Lord Hais was among those who stood valiantly at the front lines.
"So why?" The king's snarl echoed in the throne room. His chest rapidly rose and fell. When the anguish became unbearable, it finally turned into anger. "Why did you do it?" said the king. "Was it for money, for power? You could have told me and I would have done what I could to help you? We're friends, aren't we??"
No one expected such words to come out of the king's mouth. Just now, King Alvis spoke to Lord Hais not as the ruler of this Kingdom, but as a lifelong friend. As a comrade who'd been with him through numerous tribulations.
"Lock him up in the dungeon." The King spoke through gritted teeth.
"In accordance to the laws of the Kingdom, he shall be executed in public at a later date."
Several guards immediately moved to drag away Lord Hais from the throne room.
"W?Wait? I was merely forced into this, Your Majesty?" shouted Lord Hais. "Please believe me. It's all part of that man's plan?"
King Alvis raised his hand and the soldiers stopped.
"Speak."
"Everything was part of Du—" Duke Kelvin's plans.
For some reason, Lord House couldn't utter those words out loud.
He felt a tingling sensation on his hand, specifically at the part where Duke Kelvin engraved the crests of Black Midas. Slowly, Lord Hais' eyes widened. He realized the real reason Duke Kelvin easily gave him these crests. The tingling sensation started to burn, and the crests started sucking in all the mana in his body.
"What's happening??"
Lord Hais raised his hand and noticed that it was swelling at a noticeable rate. The same was true for his face, trunk, and legs.
"I?It hurts? H?Help? Help me?"
Lord Hais screamed. Slowly, his body bloated, as though he'd swallowed large amounts of water.
Lark Marcus was the first one to react among the crowd. He leaped toward Lord Hais and placed a hand on his chest and channeled his mana into it, immediately suppressing the body from growing any further than this.
But it was too late.
Blood and muddy water started flowing from Lord Hais' eyes, ears, and mouth. Seeing this, Lark gave up all thoughts of saving him. He took a few steps back and cast a small dome?shaped barrier spell, enclosing Lord Hais' body.
The bloated body finally burst, sending innards, blood, and muddy water flying about. Thankfully, the barrier spell blocked everything, preventing them from splattering the surrounding officials.
The nobles started screaming in fright, while the royal guards immediately moved in front of His Majesty.
Lark was in dismay as he stared at what remained of Lord Hais' body.
If he had been a few seconds quicker to respond, he would have been able to prevent the spell from killing the minister.
"What… happened?" said the king. "Why did Hais suddenly…" Lady Ropianna trudged toward what remained of Lord Hais' body.
After closely inspecting the remains, she said, "An Oath of Death, Your Majesty. And the repercussions and restrictions placed on this one are… quite brutal, it seems."
She looked at Lark, as though asking for confirmation. The young man simply stood there, his eyes fixated on the disfigured corpse.
"An Oath of Death," said King Alvis. "I've seen one before… But is it supposed to be as ruthless as this?"
"It isn't usually," said Lady Ropianna.
Piercing the heart with magic was more than sufficient to kill a person, and this was the most common form of repercussion in an Oath of Death.
Even for Lady Ropianna, this was the first time she'd encountered such an extremely brutal case.
"It seems that even Minister Hais didn't know that he was under the oath," she said. The minister's reaction as before his death was peculiar, no matter how she thought about it.
Lady Ropianna looked at the king and added, "But one thing is for sure —there's another person behind the attempted assassination of His Majesty."