"Your mother was a wonderful writer and an amazing storyteller, " The king said without blinking an eye.
"Of course, she was. Because it was her who told me that a king and a politician can never be in agreement," Callum replied back. "We have our own roads to walk, if not this year, I believe in the next five years."He took a slight pause and then added," Maybe, even before five years."
"This is not the ending I had in mind," King Leonardo said with a sigh. He could see the gravity of the whole situation.
If Callum walked away, so would the other three of his mates. The four of them (Santiago, Callum, Killian and Nash) could fight with each other, hell even kill but would never do anything without each other. There was nothing that the king Leonardo knew better than the fact that he needed Santiago right now more than anyone else. He was trying his best to secure the marriage alliance between the crown prince and two years old Eleanora Vitello, Santiago Vitello's only child.
For the betterment of the royal family, he was ready to bind the two years old innocent girl with his eight years old son. And he might have succeeded too if not for the interference of Persephone Vitello. Santiago Vitello's wife was one hell of a stubborn character. Even after millions of attempts, he couldn't shake her decision to not let her children have anything to do with the royal family.
"Well, this is the ending we get," Callum said with a smile. "Also, may I inquire what the duchess offered you to change your mind overnight?"
He refused to believe that Calliope hadn't blackmailed the king.
"Oh, she showed me the mirror and….future," King Leonardo said with a chuckle. "Dare I say a bit embarrassing past of my ancestors too."
Calliope understood one thing too clearly. Secrets are the biggest weakness of a man. Even a mighty man as the mighty king of a country could be brought on his knees. His secrets are the key to his destruction. There was a reason why secrets were kept hidden, away from the prying eyes of the people. But Calliope Wilding was able to unbury those long-hidden skeletons.
The human heart is weird. It develops in imagination. He dreams of his future with his eyes open but is afraid of the unknown. Does it even make sense? Maybe not to anyone else but it does to King Leonardo. He was afraid of Calliope Wilding. As embarrassing as it might sound but it was true. He was afraid that an eccentric woman like her might do anything to destroy him even at the cost of her clan's reputation. She was fearless and unbridled.
"We have underestimated Lady Calliope Wilding," He continued."She is not as soft and fragile as her father made her seem. I must say that she knows where to strike."
Calliope struck him where it hurt the most. They had been playing with her life and now she was playing with them. He must say that it wasn't fun to be played like that.
"You are speaking praises of a murder?" Callum said as he didn't have a share of being evil. "She killed William Joseph."
"She killed him in self defense, "King Leonardo said immediately. "Her face wasn't clear in the CCTV footage we got. Also, if we caught her and put her in jail for the offence she had committed. With her power and influence, the whole world will know that PM Joseph threatened a woman half his age to marry him and tried to sexually assault her. Can you imagine how the truth is going to damage the country's reputation? Some truths are better hidden."
This was news to Callum. Instead of getting angry for getting his future screwed over, he was angry for that unknown woman now.
"You have lost your goddamn mind!" Callum said in anger. He lost the respect he had for this man as the ruler of this country. "You are saving Joseph for what? He is a manipulator, fraud, criminal and now a rapist too. Why are you doing this?"
"Callum, every ruler and country has to hide such embarrassing truths," King Leonardo said in a soft voice.
"I think this conversation ends here," Callum said and left.
…
Author Note: Ah, three chapters back to back with Callum and King must be hard on all of you. But you must understand how important it's to understand the background and world setting.
Callum had his whole life reset while Calliope finally did the unthinkable! She just needed someone to make her see how important it was for her to think about her own life.
If you have read *The Villain* you will find how different Persephone and Calliope are. Calliope would jump into the ocean for her family but Persephone would toss her husband first to observe the danger and run from there. I wish Calliope was a bit less selfless.