Second Arc (His Art of War) - 75. Conflicting Loyalties
"How did you know him?" asked King Eudon in confusion.
"I've known him at the peace alliance meeting when he was still a prince of Asteria," replied Rose.
"So you weren't with Prince Ilex that night?" asked King Eudon again.
Rose shook her head.
"I wanted to tell you after the rebellion was over, but then I heard about his betrayal." Her words stopped there.
Whereas without any further explanation, King Eudon already understood what she meant. If a princess from another kingdom said she spent the night with a traitor then she would ruin the relationship between the two kingdoms.
Hearing the words 'that night', King Esteve frowned with a displeased face.
"What do you mean by 'that night'?"
Rose turned her gaze to King Esteve.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. At that time we didn't do anything. He only saved me because I had broken through Asteria's hunting ground." Even though she kept her calm, actually her heart was pounding. She realized that night she had been too naive since she had never been in love before. Even though at that time her purpose was only to make Angel fall asleep, she had kissed him and it was her first kiss. She even accompanied him all night because she could not bear to see Angel sweating and deliriously calling his father's name. But of course, all of that was just a secret even Angel didn't know about it…
King Esteve sighed and let it pass. After all, that was over. Besides Artheur and Rose's engagement was no longer possible after Draconis and Zephyrus fell into Angel's hands.
"What has Asteria offered to you?" asked King Esteve.
"As you heard before. Prince Ilex offered to help me to free Rose from the rebels. In exchange, I had to give my poison to him but it turned out he tricked me," said King Eudon with an annoyed tone. He turned to King Esteve.
" How about you? "
King Esteve turned to Flare who was just standing and watched them in silence before returning his gaze to King Eudon.
"King Gervis offered me to cooperate with him. In return, he agreed with my request for half of Euphorion's territory."
Their surprise was clearly visible on King Eudon and Rose's face while Queen Thea could only lower her head. Now both of them understood why Angel attacked Draconis even though they looked innocent.
"Esteve ... Why did you do that?" asked King Eudon in disbelief.
"Draconis has relied on marine products for too long. Meanwhile the most trade sector is controlled by Euphorion and Asteria, so I intended to start developing my kingdom's agriculture. Unfortunately, our land is not suitable for that, so I'm interested in taking half of Euphorion's territory," replied King Esteve with regret.
All of them fell silent, although anger and disappointment at their defeat still filled their hearts they knew Euphorion actually had a clear reason to attack their kingdoms.
"Are you done talking?" Flare's voice broke the silence.
Rose turned to her.
"General, you said I could ask anything. May I know what happened to King Angelus during the last five years? He is the second prince of Asteria, but why did he become the King of Euphorion?"
"As you heard, he came and usurped Euphorion's throne. According to the rules, only the strongest magic-user can become king of Euphorion," replied Flare in a relaxed tone.
"But isn't he the Reinheart's descendant? Why does he have magic power?" asked King Eudon curiously.
"Only His Majesty alone knows about that," replied Flare.
They were silent as they remembered the old rumours that some Asterian nobles doubted Angel's identity. Now they began to think that Angel was actually a dark magic user's descendant who was trying to rule over Asteria.
'Is that the reason why King Gervis tried to get rid of him five years ago?' they thought. Even though they hated to admit it, they understood. And although Asteria was the one who started this war, Asteria couldn't be blamed either. Because if they were in King Gervis' position, they would do the same. They would also attack Euphorion to get rid of Angel.
While Rose remained silent, she remembered that five years ago when Angel saved her in Asteria's hunting ground, Angel didn't seem to have any magic power.
'Was he covering it up? Did he already have some bad intentions towards Asteria royal family? Is that the reason why Prince Ilex hated him? ' Confusion and doubt filled her mind. From all of this Rose could conclude that Angel was the one who had evil intentions from the start but what he did five years ago and what he had done earlier made her heart waver.
Rose shook off her doubts. What Angel did to her five years ago and earlier could be just his strategy. He could pretend to be a Reinheart family for so many years, it was easy for him to pretend to be nice to the others.
Seeing their expressions, Flare spoke again.
"I only can say His Majesty is only doing his duty as king of Euphorion not for his personal gain."
"Of course we know. After all, each kingdom has its own interests. Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Euphorion and Asteria's interests cause a war involving our kingdom," replied King Eudon.
The knocking sound came, interrupting their conversation.
"Come in," said King Eudon.
Frost entered the room.
"Your Majesty, King Eudon, His Majesty is calling you to the study room."
Rose turned to King Eudon with a worried face. She still remembered that Angel nearly killed her uncle in the hall earlier. While King Eudon showed no fear at all. He was a king, he must be responsible for his decisions.
"Fine," replied King Eudon as he moved his feet.
But Rose's voice stopped him.
"Uncle." Her voice sounded trembling.
King Eudon stopped, he turned his head towards Rose and smiled before continuing his steps out of the room followed by Frost.
"Please, be safe ..." muttered Rose.