“Grand Duchess Leonora Stryker enters the hall!”
As soon as the Royal footman announced my name, the whole room buzzed. As for what they are talking about, I’m pretty sure it is something I shouldn’t care about.
“Madame, you’ve arrived.” Adam immediately went to me when he saw me.
“How are things at your end?”
He smiled, albeit looking nervous.
“It is as planned.”
When I told Adam that I am going to dethrone the king, we immediately created a plan. If he said it is as planned, the officials are already taken care of. To think that they fell for it. I simply told Adam to gather them all in the same room as per the king’s order and have a drink and an appetizer while they waited for him. Of course, the drinks are tampered but not with drugs that can kill them. It was only an alternative in case none of them would eat Kinilaw, a dish that I personally made. Of course, it tastes the best when made from healthy fine fish. I made another one for us to eat and Adam and Lyra both loved it. What makes it dangerous is I made it with a pufferfish.
“Did they all eat it?”
He nodded. “Lyra also stayed a bit longer to confirm it.”
“Then what’s left is the king.”
“What about the soldiers?” He asked.
“I told you I’ll take care of it.” I did. In fact, all of them are probably having a blast in the tavern I rented. I told them yesterday that they don’t have to go to the ball and they all said yes without even asking a question. Wow, as expected of the game writers! The characters are well-written! Tch.
“So there are no soldiers around the palace tonight?”
“Yes. Even if there is, it’d be a piece of cake to deal with them.”
“I see. I’ll leave everything to you now, Madame.” And with that, Adam left on my side. I smiled at every noble I saw but never really talked to anyone until the arrival of the king and his wives was announced.
“Oh, the first prince is as handsome as ever! I wonder if I ever get a chance to dance with him tonight!”
“I heard that the Grand Duchess crawled to his bed last time. How indecent!” EXCUSE ME? TO THAT SMUG-LOOKING FACE THAT GAVE ME A SHOCK THE MOMENT I SAW HIM?
“Shhh! Don’t make a loud noise. She might hear it! Anyway, it was also rumored that she slept with hundreds of her soldiers that’s why she was able to have the title of field marshal! Outrageous! Should I also sleep with them? Maybe they’ll be kind enough to give me a star!” LEONORA DID THAT?! She sure got the power if she ever did. You go, girl! How Admirable!
Ohhh, this gossip is making me intrigued.
“No, enough of that! Why did our topic shift to her when we were supposed to admire the beauty of the royalties? Oh, how lovely they are! Look at the 7th prince! I heard he can speak now! He grows up very quickly!”
Wow thanks, party pooper. Whomever you are.
Anyway, when will the king start talking? Is he savoring the gossip about him and his family?
I looked at his expression.
He is. He loves receiving all of the attention.
Look at him smiling so widely. Gosh.
His eyes went to me and boy, I feel so creeped out when he smiled at me while scanning my appearance. This disgusting old man!
He raised his right hand and all of the noise immediately stopped. Even the musicians stopped.
“THANK YOU FOR COMING TO THE 7TH PRINCE’S BIRTHDAY TONIGHT! AS EXPECTED OF MY SUBJECTS! YOU EVEN DRESSED SO…” He trailed his words and winked at me. Oh, I’ll take my time killing you later. “…GLAMOROUSLY!” The crowd went silent and a second later, they all kneeled and started reciting an oath. I remained standing while raising my brows at him.
The nobles stopped talking and turned their attention to me when the first prince shouted, “Why are you not bowing, Grand Duchess?! Are you trying to insult the royalties?!”
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Oh thank god, he set the atmosphere for me. I was just thinking of how to do it.
“Ah no, William. I am under no obligation to bow after any of you. Starting now, of course.”
I walked slowly that only the sound of my heel could be heard. Heh~ How dramatic. I stopped when I reached the stairs where they were all standing at the end.
“I am about to kill the king, any last words to say to him?”
They all looked at me as if I have two heads growing. The king was about to burst into laughter when I grabbed the sword that Adam left in the newel post earlier.
“I’m not joking. Darn. Why is everyone trying to make me a clown these days?”
I ran the gap between us and slashed the king’s leg without warning. A moment of silence filled the hall.
“Told you, I wasn’t joking.” I slashed his other leg again, making him kneel in front of me. The royalties shouted in horror followed by the outcry of anyone who attended the balls except Adam and Lyra, of course. They all tried to leave the place but Adam was quick on locking the doors from outside so they had no choice but to stay inside the hall with me.
“WHERE ARE THE GUARDS?!” The first prince shouted.
“Oh, they might not come. I gave an order to them. I am the field marshal, right?”
His eyes widened and grabbed the sword beside him to try to attack me but I swung my sword at him first.
“ARRRGHHH!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, LEONORA?!” He shouted while gripping his right arm.
“Don’t call me by my name. You can’t carelessly utter my name just because you are a prince.” I turned my gaze to the king and winked, making him tremble in fear.
“That will be the last time you will say my name. After all, you can’t call the name of a ruler without a thought, can you?” I continued, trying to make myself clear to William.
They all went silent again so I looked around and saw how everyone’s expression looked so dumb that I can almost see a question mark above their heads.
“W-What do you mean by that?” William asked again making me roll my eyes at him.
“For Pete’s sake, why are you all so slow?! Do I have to spell everything out for you?” This is embarrassing!
I stabbed the king making him shout in pain. The outcry of the nobles started again. Geez.
I looked at the king who is now in tears while trying to cover his wounds. I suddenly remembered what Adam said while we were planning for this.
“Madame, let’s say you already have the king’s head… what will you say to the crowd at the moment?”
He is so invested in this, isn’t he?
“I don’t know. I’ll think of it later.”
“I think it’ll be for best if you think about it now. You’d only be conflicted if you were already in the scene.”
Adam was right. I should’ve thought of what I would say at this moment. The longer the silence, the more awkward it’ll be for me.
Well, here goes nothing…
“Any last words to say to your subjects, YOUR HIGHNESS?”
He froze so I sighed. “What about you, William? Any last words to say to your father?” He remained silent.
“Okay. Nothing? Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”
I looked at his wives and even them has nothing to say to him. Even the Queen Mother. I see. They weren’t programmed to react to this situation well. How dull.
I cut the king’s head swiftly that no blood gushed out until I was able to get a meter away from him.
His head rolled over the stairs so I went down to follow it. How bizarre. I am only doing this to play with the developers but why haven’t I received any reactions from them?
When I was on my last step, I was taken aback when I saw a familiar figure standing in front of me. I glanced around and noticed that all of them were still fixated on the king’s head that already stopped rolling and not on Trevor who appeared out of nowhere in front of me. Can they not see him?
I looked for Adam and even him is also looking at the king’s head. So they can’t see him?
I walked past Trevor and tried to go to the king but his words stopped me from taking another step.
“Do not kill anyone again, Leonora. You will regret it in the future.”
Then he vanished without even trying to kill me. What does he mean by that?
“HAIL THE NEW KING OF ASWAIN! HAIL LEONORA THE USURPER! IN YOU WE PLEDGE OUR LOYALTY!” They all kneeled and kept shouting. They flipped the switch so fast!
Adam nodded his head at me and bowed. Looks like I can exit now.
I turned my head to the remaining royalties and they were also kneeling, even the expression of William softened. Wasn’t he raging a while ago?
I dropped the sword beside the king’s head and walked out of the hall. What a roller-coaster ride.
When I arrived at the room, Lyra was standing there, holding a basin full of water. I washed my hands with it and told her to leave the room quietly after.
What Trevor said made me confused. Was that the new approach that developers thought of? Because if that is, it is a bit effective.
A knock on my door made me sit up. I can feel that there are multiple people standing behind it.
“Adam?”
It isn’t. Adam would’ve answered quickly.
I observed the doors quietly and only a few minutes later, they busted my door open.
“Oh, back so soon?”
I looked at the expressions the officials have. It’s empty. I checked the king’s, and it’s also empty. Where is his shitty grin that he always wears every time he sees me?
They all charged at me. I thought they’ll come back stronger. Why are they disappearing the moment I land a hit on them?
Is this the best you could do devs? This is disappointing.