บท 131: To Be King (5)

Edited by: Kuro and Lille

I would like to thank 917brat and the other ko-fi supporter (anon), especially 917brat (who gave a whooping 60 dollars) for completing the ko-fi goal. TWICE. Please enjoy this chapter. Thank you once again for supporting me and my work!

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Grey and his three closest men woke up around late morning. They came back before dawn, so they were a bit tired after running around last night.

Grey and Noah were the first to wake up. They relaxed at the dining table, waiting for Abner and Hartley to wake up.

Grey somehow was able to get some sleep even though he was in pain and Noah was an early riser. Plus, it had been a while since it was just the two of them, so they didn't urge anyone to wake up the other two.

Noah had a lot of questions, so he felt it was a good time to ask with Abner away. "Big Brother, yesterday Abner said, 'Children should stay pure and not be tainted by the pleasures of humans.' What does that mean?"

Grey, who was about to drink his tea, paused and looked at his innocent little brother and best friend. "In what context did he say this?"

"We were trying to go into Queen Meredith's room, but he checked to make sure she was sleeping. He put his ear to the door, paused, and dragged me away. Then he said that."

Grey could only imagine Abner's inner turmoil. He could only imagine what Abner heard behind that door.

"Noah… She was having sex."

"Sex? Like what people were born as?"

Did no one teach this poor child sex education? Shit, Ameer, Royal Family, what were you doing letting this poor boy into the world without knowing what sex was? Then he remembered that Ameer also died single and had a sexless life... Grey couldn't say anything about that.

"No… You have genitals right?"

"Yes?"

"Well, some people like to do stuff with their genitals with other people to feel good or have fun. Some people do it to have kids. That's sex." There was oral sex, anal sex, and vaginal sex. That's just the main three. He wasn't going to talk about people's kinks though…

"So she was using her genitals with someone else's genitals."

"Most likely."

"That makes sense. Thank you for telling me, Ameer! You really know everything."

Grey wanted to choke on his drink, but he held the urge down. Did he just corrupt an innocent child? He hoped not.

After that talk, Abner and Hartley finally decided to come down for breakfast which was a relief to Grey.

It was a simple breakfast and there wasn't much talking taking place. They didn't want to talk about something so important in the dining room.

Grey knew he had to be careful. His soldiers were loyal and would not be swayed by money when they lived on the battlefield, but it could be different after coming to the palace. He had to figure out who were the ones who were easily bribed with money and those who would remain loyal to him.

Thus far, no one was suspicious, but he had to keep his guard up. That was why all important conversations would either be done in his room or office. Well, his office still needed some furniture, so he decided to move their important conversations to the room.

They gathered in his room after breakfast. Abner and Grey took out their maps and any notes and set them on the only table in his room. It was in the center of the room in front of a sofa.

Grey and Abner sat around the two maps they drew of the central castle and Queen Meredith's residence. They used a pen with red ink to trace a line to show the best route. On a separate piece of paper, Grey wrote down the schedule that he saw with the guards. He would continue to update it as they infiltrate the two castles.

Abner forgot to do that, so he would write down the guard's schedule in their next outing.

"Thankfully, Queen Meredith's secret entrance is in the garden and not her room…" Abner said as he put a big X through her room.

He had the look of "do not go there!"

Grey saw his expression and was a bit curious, but Abner seemed traumatized, so he didn't ask…

"Now that we have the map situated, let's do a few more scouts around the two castles so we can get a better picture of the guard's schedule as well as Queen Meredith's and Consort Ceanna's schedule. Afterward, we can go into the secret passageway. I say we go in the central castle and then out from Queen Meredith's garden, but we will have to get a better understanding of the guards before we finalize that."

"Alright, I have a luncheon to attend with Consort Ceanna and Queen Meredith. Ah, Noah, you were also invited, so I need you to stay back so we can talk about it. Dismissed!"

"Understood!" The three shouted.

Abner and Hartley left the room, so Grey and Noah, who were left behind, could talk about the lunch that he was notified about when he woke up.

"Noah, whatever you do, do not eat or drink anything until I give you the signal that it is okay."

"I understand! But do you really think they will poison us?"

"Yes, they will. Especially because we are nuisances to Consort Ceanna's children."

As Princes in the military, their reputation with the common folk was extremely high. They also had support from some patriotic nobles. Some nobles who were once neutral also switched to Prince Ameer's side for their military performance as well as their diplomatic excellence. Another reason nobles switched over was that they were dissatisfied with the First and Second Prince.

In comparison, First Prince Lawrence and Second Prince Tobias barely had any contributions and he wasn't very popular with the commoners. They fed the radical nobles what they wanted and disregarded the common folk.

"Being a Prince, we must be cautious about our safety. Even if we both survive in the end, there will surely be people who will try to pit us against each other. Until then, I hope you will trust me first before anyone else."

Grey knew Noah would, but he wanted to hear it with his own ears.

"You don't even need to question my loyalty. I don't even want the throne. I will be sure to protect you. You know what's right for our kingdom. I'm just the muscle head shielding you from swords and spears."

Grey also didn't want the throne, but he couldn't say that.

He had to be King. For his, God System's, and Noah's safety…

*****

Grey and Noah got ready for the luncheon with their enemies: Queen Meredith, Consort Ceanna, and her kids.

King Maverick was sick in bed, so he ate in his room. He knew of the lunch. Even if he was healthy, he didn't want to go. Over the years, he was reduced to a mere figurehead. Why would he want to sit with the people who took all of his power away?

That was why, when Grey and Noah got to the dining room in the main castle, there were multiple plates and cups already set up, but no one was sitting there.

The dining room was lavish with gold and white decorations everywhere. Only Grey and Noah seemed to be out of place with their basic outfits that were for practicality rather than aesthetics.

Grey and Noah wore matching outfits. They were simple nobleman outfits. Their outfits had a black, blue, and white color scheme. They also had scabbards with sheathed swords on their belts. Their capes were blue, but it wasn't large enough to bother them. It was the minimum requirement for princes to dress when meeting with other members of the royal family.

The servants escorted Grey and Noah to one end of the table. It was opposite of where Queen Meredith and Consort Ceanna would sit. It was like they couldn't stand sitting near them while they ate.

Noah let Grey sit at the end of the table. It was directly opposite of where Queen Meredith would sit. Consort Ceanna would sit to her right, while her two children, Prince Lawrence, and Prince Tobias, would sit to the left of Queen Meredith.

Ameer and Noah never ate meals with these four. It was the first time.

"Maybe we got here too early," Noah whispered to Grey. He sat to the right of Grey.

Grey looked at his pocket watch and smiled. "That's fine. They probably forgot about this lunch." He said that but he knew they did this on purpose.

Grey and Noah arrived at the dining room at noon, the time he was given in the letter. Queen Meredith, Consort Ceanna, and the two older princes came to the dining room at 1 p.m.

Queen Meredith, who looked oddly refreshed, smiled at Grey and Noah when she arrived in the room. She was the first to sit down. "Prince Ameer, Prince Noah, it's good to see you both in good health."

She looked completely different from Consort Ceanna. She had wavy red hair that was short, barely reaching her shoulders. She also had bangs that naturally went across her forehead. Her eyes were green, reminding Grey of what God System looked like in the world where spirits and demons roamed free. She was also a bit shorter than Consort Ceanna, barely reaching her eyes. She was also older than her by a couple of years, but Queen Meredith looked more youthful. Compared to her youthful looks, she was scheming and easily angered.

"The same to you, Your Majesty," Grey said in a monotone voice. He didn't even try to flatter her. He only looked at her for a couple of seconds before looking away like he was bored of her.

Noah said the same thing, but his tone of voice was even worse. It was like he was bored and not really paying attention, just copying the words from other people.

Queen Meredith didn't say anything about their rudeness.

Consort Ceanna had a smile on her face, but her eyes said otherwise. "It seems you two have been here for quite some time. We apologize for being late. We typically have lunch at 1 p.m. these days. It seems like the officials forgot to make that change."

Noah replied with a scoff, "It's no problem, Consort Ceanna. We ate before coming here."

Grey could see the smile on her face twitch. She wanted to yell, scream, or even rip their heads off, but she had to keep up her appearance. He thought it was funny.

"I see, you two must have been so hungry you could not wait." She was so sarcastic that her smile began to falter.

It was like she was implying that they were rude and gluttonous.

Grey innocently said, "No, I figured you would have us wait. There's no need to starve ourselves waiting and causing a scene in the castle. That would ruin the Royal Family's reputation."

Translation for his sentence: We know you two were scheming, so we decided to eat first.

Prince Lawrence slammed his fist into the table, making all the plates and cups rattle from the impact. "It seems you two are being rude to your mothers. Did you not learn manners while you were on the battlefield?"

He sneered. "Oh, I forgot, you are fighting a bunch of barbarians day in and day out. You must have picked up some habits from them."

Prince Lawrence looked more like the King than his mother. The only thing they had in common was their eye colors, the rest of his features were taken from the King. He had the King's blonde hair and facial structure. He was even a similar height to the king.

Even the sneer he made was similar to the King's.

Prince Tobias didn't say anything, just motioned for someone to get him something to drink.

He looked just like Consort Ceanna, but male. He was a bit lanky as he wasn't a big fan of exercising. He was more of an intellectual than someone who held a sword. Prince Lawrence was the one who liked using a sword and horseback riding as a hobby.

Grey glanced at the two older princes before he crossed his arms. He was leaning back in his chair, a few inches away from the table. His drink spilled out a little from the cup. He didn't want to get his clothes dirty. "Oh? Manners? Says the one who slammed their hand on the table to get other people's attention. Who do you think you are? The King?"

He was sarcastic and didn't hold back any punches.

"Silence!" Queen Meredith snapped as she put her cup down on the table.

No one said anything for a while. Grey and Noah shrugged their shoulders, not paying attention to them.

"Let us eat lunch." Consort Ceanna broke the silence and motioned the servants around her to get their food. She looked at one of the servants from the kitchen and then quickly looked back.

Noah didn't seem to notice her subtle movement, but Grey did. He knew what that look was. He had been a Villain for so long, there was no way he couldn't recognize what she was doing.

Soon, food came to the table. The food didn't fill the long table. Since they were split up, Noah and Grey got their own dishes while Queen Meredith's group got theirs. It was obviously more abundant on the Queen's side, and it even looked nicer and more appetizing.

Grey picked up the cup and heard alarms going off in his head.

[Grey! The drinks and the food are poisoned on your side. Do not drink it. It will not kill right away, but it would make it seem like you were plagued by illness. You will immediately have the urge to use the bathroom. There would be bouts of diarrhea and vomiting. This will last for a day. Finally, you will die of organ failure two days later.] It was Arisa who said this.

[Also, silver can't detect this kind of poison. It's extremely difficult to get as an alchemist has to make it. They were banned from the market, but they can still be found in the black market from time to time. Just a drop in someone's food can kill them in three days.] System 505's voice resounded in his head. She sounded tired, but she still took up the job to watch over him while System 225 was busy.

They even put it on all of their foods and into their drinks. Consort Ceanna was extremely paranoid.

He figured as much. He put the cup of water down without even putting it near his mouth. He looked over at Noah and shook his head. That was their code to not touch anything on the table.

Grey and Noah didn't touch their food or drinks. They just watched Queen Meredith, Consort Ceanna, and the two older Princes eat their food.

When Consort Ceanna got halfway through her food, she finally put her fork down. "Will you two not eat the meal we prepared for you today?"

Her voice sounded concerned. She wanted them to quickly die! That was why she had this meal prepared. If not for them getting in her way, she would have never eaten at the same table as them and ruined her appetite.

"No thanks, I'm already full," Noah said while scratching his ear. He forgot to dry it properly last night so his ear was feeling a little itchy.

Queen Meredith wiped her mouth and glared at them. "Don't you think it's rude to not eat the meal that was so graciously made for you?"

"Should we eat a meal that was laced with poison? Do you think we are stupid?" Grey spat out, refusing to be respectful to the four idiots from across the table.

Prince Tobias finally spoke up. He didn't like to be accused of things he didn't do. "Outrageous! Now you are accusing us of poisoning you?"

"Okay, then taste test our food." Grey smiled without his eyes. It was almost as if he was looking at them like they were animals waiting to be slaughtered.

"Why would we taste your food when we already have our own food? There's nothing wrong with it," Prince Lawrence said before putting his piece of chicken into his mouth. He chewed on it and swallowed to show there was nothing wrong.

"I understand. Then have those servants taste-test the food. We can't be sure that our food was made differently."

Grey looked over at the kitchen servant that Consort Ceanna looked at earlier. The young woman was shaking while holding on to her apron. She didn't look up, but she could feel Grey's heavy gaze on her like it was trying to crush her to the floor.

All the servants around the young woman were in a similar state. They knew if they looked up, they would have nightmares for the rest of their lives… Well, that was if they survived eating the food.

"They have already taste-tested your food for poison in the kitchen! Not only that, our utensils are made of silver. If there's no discoloration, then there's no poison." Queen Meredith was getting tired of the way Grey was talking to her and her family. She was very close to shoving the food in Grey's mouth to kill him.

All three of them knew of Consort Ceanna poisoning the food. They wanted it to happen anyway, so no one stopped her. They just didn't expect Grey and Noah to be so cautious of them.

"If that's the case, then the servants have no problem with taste-testing the food in front of us, right? We just want to be extra sure, lest we end up dead like our mothers."

The temperature of the room seemed to drop at Grey's last sentence.

Consort Ceanna could no longer smile as she glared at Grey with hatred. "Prince Ameer, are you implying that we killed your mother when she died because she gave birth to you, a cursed child?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Grey questioned in the same tone of voice Consort Ceanna gave him. "I wouldn't have been cursed if not for you two. I don't know how you did it, but it doesn't make sense for a curse that can't be cured even by the Pope of the church. Are the church's people so incompetent or is this something else? What are your thoughts on it?"

"It's probably because the Gods gave you that curse. Since the Gods gave it to you, it would make sense if even the Pope can't cure it." Queen Meredith quickly answered. It seemed logical to the people around them, but for Grey, it was just stupid.

What God? This world's Gods did not care about the world. All they wanted was energy from the world.

"Hah. But there's no divine or demonic power coming from my curse, so how could it be the Gods who gave this to me? Well, no matter. Seeing as how you all deny our food being poisoned, we shall leave. We don't feel safe here."

Grey looked at Noah and motioned him to get up.

"Thank you for the hospitality, but do try not to call us over again if you will be poisoning our food."

After that, Noah and Grey left the dining room. They could hear the shouts and screaming coming from the place they just left, but Grey didn't care. It had nothing to do with them now that they were gone and away from the poisonous food.