Chapter 279
Today, Gueuze’s chambers will be blown up, and his misdeeds will be exposed to the world.
The marquis opposed it, but it was Lewis’s decision.
Raymond also thought, logically, that the marquis’s opinion might be more reasonable—avoiding an excessive revelation of royal scandals, emphasizing only one or two major victims, and allowing the marquis to use that to depose Crown Prince Gueuze.
That approach would also garner the current king’s cooperation. Later, when Lewis would co of age, the throne could be transferred to him, and the marquis could serve as regent for a while before retiring.
However, Lewis rejected that thod.
“I don’t want to downplay the situation or hide anything. If this leads people to challenge , I want to overco it then. If I’m not worthy, this will pull down eventually anyway. That’s enough for .”
Raymond understood it was the recklessness of youth. Lewis was tired of bearing secrets alone. Sharing the burden with others might temporarily ease his mind, but it wouldn’t solve the root problem.
Even so, Raymond wanted to respect Lewis’s decision.
After all, Lewis had never survived until now.
Sotis, breaking conventions is necessary.
* * *
Carynne watched Lewis from beyond the window.
The garden where the young prince held his tea party was between the crown prince’s quarters and the crown princess’s quarters. In that distant past, Crown Prince Gueuze must have looked down on her from this very place. How would it unfold this ti? Carynne traced her fingers along the glass. Though it was midsumr, the glass felt cold.
“What are you staring at so intently?”
“Prince Lewis is holding a tea party.”
“So, did you do what I asked?”
“I followed Your Highness’s orders,” Carynne whispered.
Gueuze had instructed Carynne to mix sothing into the tea leaves for the party.
“Things will escalate soon.”
Soon, bombs would go off.
Her heart pounded. Carynne wanted to witness the spectacle. She also needed to be on the terrace at the right ti. Afterward, she’d have to hide in the net Raymond had set up outside the terrace.
However, Crown Prince Gueuze showed no intention of leaving Carynne’s chambers since morning.
“Well then, how about moving sowhere else?”
“No… I want to watch from here.”
Just leave already. Go outside and watch to see if your people die or not. And if Raymond or Zion kills you, even better.
Carynne grumbled internally as she kept watching the tea party.
Lewis seed to be speaking. The gathered nobles were visibly agitated and murmuring among themselves.
* * *
“Pardon?”
“Lady Lianne, what is His Highness saying?”
“Well… Prince Lewis seems to be… um… declaring that he’ll ascend the throne instead of Crown Prince Gueuze, Lady Soleia.”
“…That’s good, right? Since Crown Prince Gueuze is bad.”
“I’m not sure.”
The children didn’t fully understand what was happening. So were confused, while others were excited at the idea of Gueuze being a bad person.
“Your Highness, I’m on your side no matter what… mmph…”
“Stay quiet.”
It was the adults who were deeply unsettled.
“Prince Lewis, he… What… What is he saying…?”
“The weather is too hot today—perhaps His Highness is imagining things.”
The nobles turned pale at Lewis’s sudden announcent. Everyone present supported Lewis over Crown Prince Gueuze, yet the abruptness of the young prince’s declaration left them terrified.
“Your Highness, I believe it would be best to inform His Majesty first.”
Countess Elva pleaded with Lewis. Seeing her pale face, everyone beca certain that no prior notice had been given.
“Thank you for informing us of such a matter, but this situation is far too serious for us to judge alone.”
“I know. That’s why I told you.”
“Your Highness… we…”
Lewis seed sowhat relieved. He wasn’t the only one afraid—everyone was. No one could predict how things would unfold. Both the older and younger nobles appeared equally scared.
“Still, I thought it would be much better to share fears and concerns together.”
Lewis had always borne countless secrets alone.
The secret of his birth. His father’s madness. The corruption and feuds of countless nobles.
Among the many nobles gathered before him, there were many whose true allegiance he couldn’t determine. But now, they all share the sa burden and the sa concerns.
“Do you have clear evidence?”
“I do. And I’ll show it to you soon.”
Lewis looked at Zion’s face. Zion checked his wristwatch—there wasn’t much ti left.
At that mont—
“Your Highness! Prince Lewis! A ssage… A ssage has arrived from the main palace!”
* * *
Crown Prince Gueuze gripped Carynne’s wrist tightly. Carynne grimaced, pain shooting through her.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
“…Even if you know, there’s nothing you can do about it now.”
Carynne winced in pain but smiled at the sa ti. She might die this ti. Gueuze could shoot her in the head, or kill her in so other way. It didn’t matter. This ti, it was okay. She and Raymond had discussed it extensively and reached this decision after much deliberation.
“The next king will be Prince Lewis.”
Crown Prince Gueuze let out a sinister laugh.
* * *
Boom!
Bang!
Bang, boom— BOOM!
A deafening roar echoed simultaneously.
The walls of the secret room in the crown princess’s quarters were blown apart. The cries of attendants were drowned out by the noise. People scread for their children, children wailed and shrieked, and so ran into the arms of their parents or grandparents.
“Calm down, everyone! This is just… just to show you sothing!”
The room was exposed.
It was filled with Crown Prince Gueuze’s grotesque collection.
Corpses, corpses, and more corpses.
And among them—
“Your Majesty?”
There lay the cold, lifeless body of the old king.
* * *
“Did you think I didn’t know? I knew everything. I knew you were plotting sothing, that Father intended to make Lewis king directly, and that Marquis Penceir was devising a pathetic sche. I knew it all.”
From the beginning, Carynne Hare was nothing more than a toy.
If information leaked through Carynne, so much the better. If Carynne managed to poison Lewis, things would work out even more perfectly. But Crown Prince Gueuze wasn’t foolish enough to rely solely on this little girl.
He wanted people to think he was planning to kill Lewis.
It wasn’t entirely untrue—any investigation would confirm it. In fact, Gueuze had always intended to kill Lewis. He had been unable to suppress the desire to kill him since the mont Lewis was born. He was ready to go through with it.
But it wasn’t just Lewis who had to die.
The current king, their father, also had to die.
And so did Lewis, along with all the nobles who supported him and opposed Gueuze.
Expose everything? Spread it so widely that there’s no escape?
Go ahead.
The greater the chaos, the more it would work in Gueuze’s favor. In the end, he alone would be left to clean up the ss.
“Ah… ugh…”
Gueuze dragged Carynne by the wrist. She struggled, hitting her head hard.
“Let… go of !”
“Why should I?”
Gueuze tightened his grip on Carynne’s arm and dragged her along. When she clung to the railing on the stairs, resisting, Gueuze approached her.
“If you keep resisting, I’ll slit your belly open right here and now.”
“……”
“You should at least live for the sake of your baby, shouldn’t you?”
“…Your Highness.”
“Oh, is it dead already? That’s what the doctor said.”
So, he knew about that too.
Carynne bit her lip. The royal physicians always kept escape routes open for themselves. Naturally, anything they said to her would also have reached Gueuze.
When Carynne went limp, Gueuze grabbed her arm and dragged her up the stairs.
“Now, let’s go watch.”
The bigger the spectacle, the better.
Lewis and Gueuze had similarities. Both preferred creating explosions rather than letting events simr quietly, though their personalities were vastly different.
Gueuze felt a sinister pleasure as his long-held secret hobby was exposed to the public. The panicked faces of the people, their confusion, their screams of terror—all of it delighted him imnsely.
.
.
“His Highness Gueuze has rung the bell. He’s signaling to retreat to safety.”
“Signal the others.”
The private soldiers waiting for Gueuze gripped their guns tightly. They began moving in step. The coronation was now beginning.
With the king gone and the chain of command broken, the royal guards were paralyzed with confusion. When the screams that the king had passed began to spread, people panicked, unsure of what to do. Whose orders were they supposed to follow?
“What are you doing? Of course, you should follow Crown Prince Gueuze’s orders! Go, arrest Prince Lewis at once on His Highness Gueuze’s command!”
“Prince Lewis… he… he bombed the crown prince’s quarters.”
“Prince Lewis has blown up the palace!”
.
.
Zion moved swiftly through the smoke left in the aftermath of the explosion. If it were him, he’d target Lewis first at a ti like this.
“Everyone, get down!”
The sound of military boots echoed. The noise of people rushing in grew louder. But as soon as Zion saw the cold, lifeless body of the king, he realized the situation was about to take a different turn.
“Your Highness Prince Lewis, crouch under the table. And change out of your clothes and— shit.”
Zion swung his arm, plunging the table knife into the neck of a man advancing toward Lewis.
“Guh— aaack!”
“Sir Zion!”
“He had a knife in his hand… Get under the table!”
Without further protest, Lewis ducked down. But at that mont, a man aid his gun beneath the large table. Underneath, there were people who had fled from the commotion and were crouched down. Zion hurriedly pulled out his gun, but it was already too late.
Bang!
At that mont, the man’s hand was blown off.
“Argh…!”
And that was the end. His head was shot off in quick succession. From a distance, Raymond was providing cover fire. Zion briefly tried to pinpoint Raymond’s location but knew that wasn’t the priority right now.
“The rcenaries are approaching!”
“…Are they on our side?”
“They’re Crown Prince Gueuze’s n!”
Zion counted the bullets in his pocket. He could only hope to use them all. With himself, three other knights, and Raymond’s support fire, they would have to face at least fifty enemies… The calculation was complete.
* * *
My dear little brother, you’re trying so hard.
But no matter how much effort you put in, it won’t change a thing. Father is already dead.
And you’re just twelve years old.
Gueuze laughed as he looked down from above.
For a mont, it seed as if his eyes t Lewis’s.
***
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