Chapter 56

“Real Trouble” Part 2

A shadowy figure materialized inside the queen’s palace, in Tathiana of Balsac’s room.

As soon as the queen felt the change in the flow of mana near her bed, a thin ice sword materialized in her hand and the room cooled in immediately.

Milo’s heart warmed at how beautiful Tathiana looked as she summoned her magic. Magic he had taught her himself, even though she didn’t possess a system. But it was a necessary protective measure in case the king or the family of the current royal concubine tried to harm her.

And a well-kept secret between the two, which only the queen’s father knew.

"It’s me, my love," whispered Milo, wanting to reassure his precious lover. "I’m sorry to be so late, but I’m afraid I’m bringing you bad news," he explained.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” She asked in a low whisper, her face heavy with concern as she stood up from the chair she had been sitting in waiting while she read a book and checked if there were any wounds on the mage’s body.

Milo instead put a finger to her lips and immediately cast a spell around them to prevent the sound from escaping more than a meter around the bed of the woman to whom his heart had belonged for years.

As soon as he was done, they both sat down on the bed and, after assuring her that he was fine, Milo proceeded to tell her everything he had seen and heard that night, including his suspicions about the priestess.

“What? How dare he take away my daughter’s right to the throne?” She growled, immediately rising from the bed. Milo could have sworn the room dropped about ten degrees in temperature at that instant, and the two guards standing outside the door thought so too. Milo rushed to grab his beloved before she either snapped out of the sound-canceling spell or unintentionally broke it. “And yet he expects to continue using my family’s resources and army?”

“Calm down, exalting yourself will not lead us to find a solution.”

"But now I have not only the second princess and her mother to worry about, but a new heir!"

“I know," he replied in a soft voice.

“And I assure you that the daughter of the Marquis of Tehro will not stand idly by and try to take my crown!"

“And don’t forget Darla, you must watch out for her too," he whispered as he wrapped her in his warm arms.

“I knew that woman would only bring trouble," she whispered against his masculine chest as she returned his embrace. "We must find a way to get rid of her and take control of the temple or diminish her influence within it."

“And we will, but for now," he kissed her forehead and pulled away from her, walked to the shelf where the queen’s jewels were displayed, and picked up a delicate pin with a polished diamond in the center. After casting several spells on the gem, he returned to her side. “This will keep your mind safe from any outside invasion or influence for the time being. I will look for something more suitable as soon as I have a little more time, my love," as he placed the brooch on the delicate fabric of his beloved’s pajamas, the movement of shadows under the door caught his attention.

“Medhas is going to be too busy preparing the heroes before sending them off to war. I’ll talk to my father and..." Milo placed a finger on her feminine, luscious lips and pointed towards the door.

Tathiana immediately grasped what was happening and carefully approached the double doors of her room without making a sound while Milo hid behind one of the columns of the bed, hiding his presence between the thick curtains of one of the four posts that surrounded it.

With a single movement, Tathiana opened the doors and the body of a servant girl fell to her feet as the two guards guarding either side of the door looked at her with faces as pale as the woman who had been trying to spy on her.

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“What is the meaning of this?” The queen roared, and both guards turned towards her. One of them brought his hand towards his waist, clenching his fist around the handle of his sword.

But the guard couldn’t finish the move as Milo had teleported behind him, knife in hand, and slashed his neck with a single slash.

The maid’s screams echoed down the lonely hallway as blood trickled down her face.

“Impossible, no one could teleport inside the royal palace!” the guard muttered before drawing his own sword and lunging at Milo with the intention of attacking him, not noticing that the queen now stood behind him with a conjured ice sword in her delicate hands.

“True," she replied before piercing the surprised guard’s abdomen from behind and then slashing his neck.

The next morning, Queen Tathiana had her royal breakfast at the king’s palace. And although it had been years since her supposed husband had joined her for breakfast, or at any meal other than a banquet or in the presence of important officials for the sake of appearances, this morning the king showed up.

It was the royal concubine who was notable by her absence.

Tathiana arched an eyebrow as she spread some jam on her toast in complete tranquility and watched the king being accompanied by one of his servants entering the royal dining room.

“One of my attendants informed me what happened with one of your servants last night in your palace. I am sorry that you have gone through such an unfortunate experience.”

“Are you sorry that it happened, or that I survived an assassination attempt?” The king immediately clenched his fists around his cutlery and let out an unpleasant grunt. “By the way, don’t you find it strange that just today of all days, your concubine decided not to come to breakfast with me as she usually does every morning? And instead, I have the honor of having you, whose company I haven’t shared in years. Isn’t that very curious?” She asked as she raised a glass and took a sip of juice while looking him in the eye.

“I’ll get you another maid immediately and I’ll change the guards..." the king began to explain and Tathiana let out a snort.

How obvious! He can’t even hide the fact that he plans to use them to keep an eye on me! Thought the queen.

“That won’t be necessary," she dismissed him immediately, preventing him from continuing to speak. "My father has already taken care of that. The maid he chose will arrive before nightfall. My father will come with her to investigate the matter and will bring his own guards to take care of the protection and care of my palace from now on," she said, challenging him with her eyes. Reminding him that the only reason he was still in power was because of the support of her family.

The king’s cheeks flushed red and his face soured with anger, knowing that he would have to give an account to the Duke of Brincy as soon as he arrived for failing to adequately protect the queen. Knowing that the man would not be satisfied with having full control over his daughter’s palace, but that since this incident, which had gotten out of the king’s hands when he had sent the maid to spy on his wife, had now become the perfect excuse for him to be the one who would be spied on by the family of a wife he never wanted and could barely tolerate.

With the rebels gaining more and more ground, monsters and demons beginning to invade the south of the kingdom, the Duke of Brincy could use the attempt on his daughter as an excuse to stop supporting him and join the rebels.

And that was something Medhas could not allow.

Much less after losing control over the army of the Duchy of Lanish, even though the dying old man who was the former duke, lay bedridden on the verge of death. Not even after the new duke had dared not only to refuse to marry one of his daughters but to refuse to answer the summons he himself had sent him on the day of the heroes’ invocation to bring his army and join the mages of the tower and the holy knights of the temple to eliminate the black dragon and the other monsters that came from the other world along with the heroes.

King Medhas clenched his fists, hatred shining in his black eyes as he gazed at the woman with whom he had been forced to engender a child. But even her beauty could not overshadow the disgust he felt for her, nor the arrogance that, even after so many years in which he had not even deigned to revisit her bed after she became pregnant, still dominated her cold gaze.

And even though he wore the king’s crown on his head, Tathiana had never stopped looking at him as if he were inferior to her. Even though it was she who had failed to give him the son he wanted. Just as his other concubine had also failed to do so, and the rest of the other mistresses he had had and discreetly eliminated in the past.

But this time, things were different. He had finally got a male heir.

And he would take it upon himself to spoil the party for all those who had dared to despise him.

“All of you will learn the hard way then what happens to those who dare to defy my authority," he muttered under his breath, making sure the queen could not hear him and in a fit of rage he rose from his chair throwing it to the floor along with half of his breakfast as he left the room. “Never again will any of you dare to despise me again," he snarled. “You’ll see! I’ll finish you all!” He continued his rant as he strode down the brightly lit corridors of his palace. “I am the fucking king of Balsac! And all of you damned insects will learn to tremble in my presence!”