Chapter ♦ 7

ZYLITH.


At this very moment, my mind was like my internet browser, nineteen tabs open while three of them are frozen and I have no idea where the music was coming from.

A thousand thoughts were spiraling inside the genius head of mine, while my face was as red as a monkey’s bottom. Thoughts like ‘Who is this man the Queen Dowager was having an affair with?’ or ‘Is he someone of formidable power and prestige?’ or ‘Is he just a boytoy of the viper Queen?’ or ‘Could he be a hidden variable danger who might jeopardize our future plans?’ One side of my brain was stuck with such complex contemplations while the other side was busy dealing with the awkwardness of this rare degrading moment.

“(Ahem!)… Are there any underaged children in the room at present?” I don’t know why I said that, well I was just trying to ease the situation by cracking ridiculous jokes but after I blurted out nonsense in a fluster, I realized I had just made the already awkward situation even worse. My hands holding on to the recorder pen shook ever so slightly.

The otherwise pin-drop silent room was reverberating with the whimpering noises of the Queen Dowager’s once-upon-a pink spring night.

I veered at the faces of the two people currently petrified to their positions, their expressions unspeakably dumbstruck, as though being stuck by lightning, their faces enflamed, as they stood solidified as statues bolted to the floor.

And at this moment of time, I was not sure if I was awkward because of the situation or the situation was awkward because of me. I only knew that my life had become a series of awkward and mortifying moments separated by snacks.

With quivering hands, I fumbled with the switch of the audio recorder pen and finally succeeded in tuning the embarrassing thing off.

“Aha…Hahaha… Haha….(Cough!) I-Its true what they say huh, we shouldn’t trust what our eyes show us blindly, even salt looks like sugar.” I tried again to ease the already awkward situation a bit, but the duo in the room only stared back at me with weirded eyes, as if questioning me with their eyes, ‘Is-this-really-the-time-to-speak-of-such-words?’ And what do you say to that?

Hence tacitly so, I decided to shut up for the good of mankind.

In a haste, I fast-forwarded the recording of the Queen Dowager’s spring night and then replayed the audio once again.

“(Huff!) And? Is everything going according to the laid-out plans?

“What are you so worried about with me around? Of course, everything is going smoothly. You can rest assured my Queen, in the next twenty days, you will have Reuben’s head in a silver platter, all garnished and all. Hahaha..

Both Lord Xavier and Cassandra’s eyes bulged three points when they heard the male voice’s words, but what finally set them off was the Queen Dowager’s following phrase.

“(Sigh!) I hope so too. That conniving cretin is too sleeky. Every time I try to set him up, he ends up slipping right out of my grasp. But this time, (Chuckle!) If everything goes right, he along with Calavaria should be wiped out off the map of Reveldron entirely.

Lord Xavier was visibly shaking when he heard the Queen Dowager. Because, no one knew Reuben went to Calavaria with Lord Gilbert. Here Alexteris was disguising himself as the king and sitting upon the golden throne to confuse the crowd, but the crowd that we wanted to confuse, was not confused at all. Instead, they were setting up a trap within our trap to confuse us in turn, while at the meantime, taking advantage of our misperception to take out the king in one fell swoop. What genius plotting!

I couldn’t help but shudder at the mere comprehension of our current situation. This Queen Dowager was on a whole another level.

“Don’t you worry, My Queen. He has nowhere to run. Even Zeldereth is going to turn its back on the Regalious siblings this time. I will help you so you can take the throne away from the younger Regalious at ease after we are finished with Reuben.”   

“(Giggle!) What would I do without you, Viz.” The Queen Dowager’s girly giggle sounded more like a sinister chiming to my ears, sending chills down my spine.

“For you, my dear love, I will lay down the entire world at your feet. What is a mere juvenile youth who is still wet behind his ears.

“I am fortunate to have you by my side, Viz. But I was really taken aback by the fire in the Eastern Palace this time. I’m not really bothered by it, but that fool of an uncle of mine seems to be getting a bit ahead of himself, acting increasingly big-headed and reckless. We don’t want to scare the snake by hitting the grass prior to the right time. You understand what I mean, right?” 

“Of course my Queen, I shall warn Loghard to know his limits.

The earth-shattering truths my audio recorder pen revealed were nothing sort of a laughing matter. All the people in the room were so blindsided that they even seem to have forgotten to breathe for a moment.

“….. His Majesty… His Majesty is in danger!” Lord Xavier suddenly exclaimed.

All our expressions were similar to that of dreadful right now. All of us knew what and where it all went wrong. Queen Dowager Beatrice was already aware that Alexteris was sitting on the throne in place of Rueben at the moment, not only that, she also knew that Reuben was on a secret excursion and taking advantage of this knowledge, she had set up a ruse to murder him during this very excursion. Not to mention the fact that she knew who set fire to the Eastern Palace.

Geovelle Loghard!

And who was this mysterious mob boss like figure behind the Queen Dowager? I could only gulp at the magnitude of the secrets that had been unveiled in a staggeringly simultaneous pattern.

“His Majesty! I must go to aid His Majesty right this instant.” Lord Xavier did not look his usual self, he looked tired and disheveled and very perturbed.

“Lord Xavier, please calm down.” I tried to pacify the anxious-looking man a bit. “We cannot afford to alert the Queen Dowager at this crucial moment. We must handle this matter with utter caution. If the Queen Dowager gets even the slightest hint of us becoming aware of her devious plans, everything will be for naught.

Lord Xavier was a veteran in both court politics and the battlefield, so the initially nervous Lord quickly calmed himself down when he heard me.

“You’re right Your Highness. This official has been short-sighted for a moment. Forgive my indiscretion.” He bowed his head, abashed.

“Both of you take your leave for the moment. We all need to cool down our heads and think of our future plan of action.” I said as I dismissed the two for the night. “And remember to be extra careful now, these are desperate times.” I reminded them before sending them away. Because these really were desperate times. The Queen Dowager who I thought to be totally clueless was so well-aware of the biggest secret of the Regalious brothers switching each other’s places, not to mention the fact that she planned to wipe out an entire city just to kill Reuben! How whacky was this woman!

I bit my lip in unease as I fell back onto the bed, extremely worried about my volatile future. I realized once again that, whatever the future held for me, it was going to be nothing sort of pretty.

TO BE CONTINUED………..

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