章節 128: To Be King (2)

Edited by: Kuro

Thank you Elysiafaith for giving me ko-fi to post 2 chapters! These chapters are dedicated to you. Thank you again for supporting me and my work :D <3 Thank you everyone for supporting my work ^_^

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Grey was sitting in the Ministry of Finance; they were people who regulated the money coming in and out of the kingdom. They also had branches of people in charge of the Royal Family's expenditures.

He was staring at a man who sat on the couch in front of him. He was an older man, probably in his 60s or 70s. He looked like he could kick the bucket at any moment. Even so, he was wearing expensive clothing, showing his status and wealth.

He was the head of the Ministry of Finance as well as Consort Ceanna's father, Justin Leanen. The Leanen family were Earl's who had been around almost as long as the Queen's family, Ross, one of the Ducal families in the kingdom. They had been in charge of the kingdom's finances for a very long time.

System 505 and Arisa put a tracker on Earl Justin Leanen just in case the man had important information.

"You want us to set aside some money to fix up the White Lily Mansion?" A scrawny older man with long gray hair and a stubbly beard asked with sarcasm.

The White Lily Mansion was named by King Maverick. He didn't change the name, but it was once known as the mansion where he allowed his favorite consort to live. Ever since she died and Ameer was chased away, it was left to rot. It was like a forgotten and neglected garden.

Grey was wearing a black military suit that was not only basic in style, but also in color. He had his sword at his side, as well as combat boots that went up to his shin. It was tight fitting, so no one needed to guess how strong he was under his clothes.

He was holding a teacup in his hand, slowly sipping his tea as though he was a nobleman who had been born and raised in the capital. He was quite elegant for a military man.

"That's right. I have been called by the Queen to stay in the Royal Castle for an indefinite amount of time. I need a residence to go back to, do I not? Or should I stay in the Crown Prince's residence as it's the only unoccupied area?"

Everyone in the Ministry of Finance was on Consort Ceanna's side.

Grey's inquiry hit on everyone's sore spots. Everyone in the office wanted either the First or Second Prince to ascend the throne, but after so long, King Maverick still hadn't picked a Crown Prince. Even while he was close to his deathbed, he still refused to give power to one of the two Princes.

That was why factions were created to support one of the two Princes. The two oldest Princes had their advantages and disadvantages. People chose sides based on what they needed and what would benefit them the most.

That was why the Crown Prince's castle was left untouched. No one was allowed to live there.

"We will get your residence fixed up right away, Third Prince." Earl Leanen gritted his teeth.

When he saw Prince Ameer leave, he had someone contact his daughter to let her know of the events that took place in their ministry. He knew that she would be livid, but she could only deal with it. It was true that the Crown Prince's residence was the only place left where Prince Ameer could stay if they did not fix the White Lily Mansion.

When Consort Ceanna saw her father's letter, she wanted to rip it apart like it was Ameer's face. But she could only grit her teeth and take deep breaths.

The common people were on Ameer's side even if he was cursed. He fought and saved many people while he was on the battlefield, winning the hearts of the citizens. If the newspapers released that their war hero was living in an abandoned mansion without a single servant, the commoners would cause a riot.

Her once twisted face became calm. She was a prideful woman. She didn't want anyone to see her with her face ugly and twisted from anger.

"Tell father to fix the mansion and be sure to plant spies in the mansion. They need servants, do they not?"

She then sent her trusted maid to Earl Leanen with a letter.

Consort Ceanna sat at her small table in her room. There was a pot of tea in front of her. She held the letter with her delicately pale hands. She rarely left the castle, so her skin was very pale. Her face was garnished with light makeup, accentuating her light blue eyes. Her long, navy blue hair was intricately put into a bun with a few braids. She had small pieces of jewels in her hair as well as an expensive hair clip that kept her hair together. She looked noble, elegant, and beautiful, but as she aged, she could not get rid of the fine line of wrinkles. Even so, she wore her age and beauty with pride.

She gripped her father's letter tightly for a moment but then released it. She placed the letter on the table gently, contrary to her intense grip earlier.

It was only a matter of time before one of her sons would become King. Until then, she had to make sure either her husband died or Ameer died first. As for the Fourth Prince, even though he was adopted by the Queen when his mother died, he still decided to follow the third prince, almost angering the Queen to death. She had since disowned him and took away all the resources she provided to him.

He would probably be killed by the Queen once Prince Ameer died so she did not need to worry about him.

Her biggest obstacle to the throne was Prince Ameer.

*****

Grey met up with his closest aides in an inn near the entrance of the capital. He didn't want to meet up anywhere close to the castle, lest they wanted to run into nobles or spies of the Queen and Consort Ceanna.

There were three other people with Grey. There was the Fourth Prince, Noah Lux. He was Ameer's self-proclaimed sword and shield, the muscle head between the two. Even so, he was loyal and a good judge of character. He wasn't much of a schemer, so he let Ameer do the thinking while he did whatever Ameer wanted him to do.

He's also extremely overprotective of Ameer even though he's younger than him by a year. His brown hair and eyes made people think he was cute and small, but once he was given a sword, he was nothing more than a battle maniac with only fighting in his eyes.

The other two people were Abner Paige and Hartley Tavil. Abner was a man in his 30s who had been on the battlefield since he was 12. He looked rough and tough, but he had a wife and two kids that he loved. He talked about them on a daily, making everyone run the moment he mentioned his wife or kids. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tall build. He also had a scar on the left side of his face that went from the top of his eyebrow to his chin.

Hartley Tavil was actually a woman with a masculine name. She had black short hair and brown eyes. She was about 6 feet (roughly 182cm) tall, buffer than most men, and always had a giant axe on her back. She had a girlfriend who was also in the army. The two could be seen fighting monsters and people side to side or back to back depending on if they were surrounded or not. She was quite the battle maniac and let her girlfriend do the thinking. Even so, she was loyal and had more than a decade of experience on the battlefield. She was about 4 years older than Ameer.

They were all wearing casual clothing, but the people around them could see by their posture that they were knights.

The four of them walked into the inn, paid for four rooms, but went into Grey's room.

They all sat down around Ameer's bed, letting him sit there with Noah next to him. It was the usual setup whenever they met in secret.

"I heard you slept at the castle, how was it?" Abner teased but he knew Ameer had a bad relationship with most of the Royal Family.

"Ah, the bed was moldy and dusty, the walls were falling apart, the paint was peeling, vines grew from the floor and crept up the walls. There was no food or running water. There's some charm sleeping in that house, but I'd rather not do that again."

With his three friends, the original Ameer would joke around, just like this.

"I know they hate you, but I didn't think it would be that bad." Hartley sighed as she scratched the back of her head.

She didn't care if someone was cursed, disabled, or shunned by society. As long as they were nice and strong, she didn't care. If they betrayed her though, that was a different story.

Noah gritted his teeth. "They have always been like that. Discriminating against Ameer for being cursed."

Noah was always attached to Ameer even when they were children. They were both without a mother so the two bonded from the start. Even when he was adopted and then disowned by the Queen, he didn't care. He didn't like her anyway.

"Speaking of that curse, I heard information about it… Though I can't tell you who, I do know that the Queen and Consort Ceanna have something to do with my curse. I intend to snoop around to see if I can break the curse once and for all."

"I knew they had something to do with your curse. You would have to be blind not to see it." Noah slapped his fist into his thigh. He was beyond angry.

They all knew Ameer was suffering from the curse since he was born. They didn't know how he got through the pain as a child, especially without his mother, but it just showed how strong and resilient he was. Even a grown man would buckle to the floor and cry, begging for the curse to disappear.

Abner, the oldest of the four, was also the one who was consistently emotionally stable. He acted as the voice of reason, like in this situation. "Let's not act rashly. First, we need to cure Ameer and then we can go from there. Revenge comes after his curse is gone."

"I agree with Abner. I don't want to make any rash decisions for the time being…" Grey furrowed his eyebrows, seemingly thinking about what he would do after getting cured.

He knew he had to become King. Did he have to kill his way up like the original Ameer? Was there a way to keep these people alive?

No, there wasn't. They would just try to kill him over and over again.

Grey steeled his heart. He had to. When they tried to kill him, he too would have to kill them if he wanted to survive.

It was a monster vs. monster kind of world. Either kill or be killed.