Chương 47: "Kindness in a Chaotic Place"

"Prince! Please reconsider!" Clan Leader Owen stood up and shouted as soon as he saw that Prince Kaio had softened up, "The dethroned King is a lunatic! A room arrest is not fit for him-"

"Surely, you're my father-in-law, but you should know when to speak or not," Prince Kaio said coldly, "And perhaps, you should choose your words carefully from now on. My brother here is already the King of this nation, and we should all consider his wishes-"

"How insolent!" he yelled, "You said you wanted to crown your brother as the King, and you pleaded for my help. So I helped you with anything that you requested me to do. My arm was even cut by the dethroned King because I tried to cover everything including General Lum's lie, which is the reason why we have successfully ousted him in his wedding! And now that you got what you wanted, you act as if you, yourself, have become the King!"

"Father!" Princess Rija suddenly barged in. "Please don't shout in front of the royal family. This is such an embarrassing scene!"

"My daughter," Clan Leader Owen looked at her with pity, "If I had known that your husband is like this, I never should have let you marry him."

"Father, please do not insult him. He's firstly the Prince before he is my husband…"

The prince approached his wife and placed his arm around her, "Rija, I told you not to roam around too much in this palace. Why are you here?"

"My Prince, it's a coincidence that I passed by. I heard my father yell, so I immediately entered," she tilted her head towards him and held hands with him. She uttered, "Please don't take his words into heart-"

"You are choosing the prince over your father?" he asked his daughter, raising his brow. "I raised you and fed you. I was also the one who introduced you to him!"

"Father! I-"

"Excuse me," King Seiro interrupted since the conversation was not about the main topic anymore, "We are in the middle of an assembly meeting. Please talk about your personal issues later."

Clan Leader Owen was embarrassed that the King pointed this out, and when he saw that the other Ministers and Clan Leaders were looking at him with disdain, he decided to march out of the room.

"So, for the final decision… Starting from tonight, the dethroned king Maro will be transferred to a servant's room and will be heavily guarded by the best mercenaries. As soon as the foreigners notify us that his place is ready, he will be brought there for exile," the King told everyone, "This assembly is done."

There were inaudible noises of the chattering of the officials who talked about the matter as they started walking out of the assembly hall.

"I hope I gained your favor, brother," Prince Kaio said with a smile, "Since you became king, I swore to myself to support you."

"Thank you, Kaio. Your support means a lot."

Prince Kaio nodded, "Then my wife and I will excuse ourselves. Have a good night's rest."

Afterwards, King Seiro headed over to Ely's room to share the good news. He was elated and felt that he was definitely a true king, not a puppet king as he feared he would be. He asked the maidservants to bring in warm chamomile and mint tea. They followed his orders, placing the tea set on the small table beside the windows, then left them alone.

Ely and the King sat on the wooden chairs and as he told her about the details, and tears formed in Ely's eyes. "Thank you so much, Your Highness, I will repay you for your kindness!"

"Repay me by being healthy," King Seiro said with a kind smile.

Ely appreciated the King's kindness very much. She knew it, he was just trying to express his authority under Prince Kaio's recommendation, but deep inside he's as gentle as a sheep.

"By the way, it's our wedding soon. How's the gown?" he asked.

Ely hesitated to answer because she felt conflicted. A part of her wanted to ditch the wedding by acting sick due to her feelings for Maro, but a part of her felt guilty because Seiro did nothing but show his kindness to her.

"Ely?" Worried, King Seiro tilted his head, trying to look into her eyes, "Is there something wrong with your gown?"

Upon realizing that the King was waiting for her answer, she quickly shook her head. "It fits perfectly."

"Good. Tell me if you want something modified, I'll ask the couturier to help you with it."

Even though Ely was smiling at him, King Seiro saw the loneliness in her eyes. He pitied her because he knew she was longing for Maro, but at the same time, he didn't want to give her to him.

After all, what kind of life would she have with a dethroned King who had a lot of enemies?

King Seiro only wanted the best life for his beloved Elizabeth - a life fit for her known title as the Queen of Ballad.

As they had a peaceful night over tea, meanwhile, Maro was surprised that he was blindfolded and dragged away out of his cell. Although he couldn't see anything, he memorized his territory very well, after all, it was his palace, and judging by the order of the changing surfaces of the ground, he concluded that he was being dragged to the servants' rooms.

He was then pushed down on the floor, and the mercenaries left him inside the room, then closed the door.

Maro took off the blindfold and figured out that he was right. It was really a servant's room. Unfortunately, the window was blocked by two large wooden planks overlapping diagonally in the shape of an 'X', and firmly nailed on the wall.

Through the small gap of the planks, he could see the Ancil mountains. He remembered that the clean trail that was usually used by common people was facing Leoniva City, while on the other side facing his palace had no trail because it was the territory of bandits and rebels.

Maro was startled as he looked through the gap because suddenly, someone inserted a small piece of paper through it.