***
Castlebourne.
Telmarath.
Howard Hildemar walked quickly out of his study to reach King Otto's chambers.
While the old man was sick, one of King Otto's personal servants came to tell Howard. The servant woman said King Otto wanted to talk with Howard, even though the old man knew he was feeling ill.
That was why Howard was running fast until his robe was flowing behind him, because of the speed at which the Duke of Athalaris was moving to reach King Otto Reingard's chambers.
Arriving at the chamber door, Howard spontaneously knocked on the door and announced his arrival. Soon, the door was opened by one of the servant girls.
"He needs to rest thoroughly, Duke Howard," explained the servant before Howard.
"That's fine ... let him come in," King Otto said softly and stammeringly.
The servant girl could not argue with King Otto's order. She opened the door wide to let Duke Howard walk inside.
Duke Howard's heart thumped uncertainly, with both eyes wide to discover his King, King Otto Reingard, lying pale on the bed with a tired look in his eyes.
"Have the royal physicians treated you, Your Majesty?" asked Duke Howard, curious and worried.
"They were useless... none of the medicines worked on me," King Otto replied.
His wrists seemed shrunken, his body emaciated to the point that Howard could faintly see King Otto's cheekbones. The old man also struggled with activities such as stepping and standing and lost his appetite.
"Leave me with him," King Otto pleaded.
The five female servants in Otto's room nodded. They began to put down their stuff and walked out of the room.
Now, it was completely silent in the King's chamber, with only King Otto's heavy breathing.
"What actually happened to you?" asked Howard.
"From the physicians, they said... I have Skinny Doom!" revealed Otto, trying his best to talk to Howard.
"Oh God! How many whores did you fuck?" asked Howard, curious.
"I have no idea. I cannot count them clearly," Otto whispered.
"Seems like a hell of a lot, huh? Did Ellis send them for you?" asked Howard.
Otto nodded. He certainly didn't want to choose whores carelessly. Besides the potential threat of the heir to the throne, he feared the spread of the Skinny Doom disease.
"Maybe one of the whores has the disease and passed it to you," Howard replied.
King Otto closed his eyes and cleared his throat, agreeing with Howard's possibility. King Otto was indeed crazy about sex, especially when his two wives died soon before him.
Howard himself recommended Ellis, a pimp at one of Howard's businessman friend's pleasure house, to provide beautiful whores to satisfy King Otto's sexual cravings.
At first, all goes well. Otto seemed fit and vigorous after having lustful sex with the whore, an occurrence that lasted for many years.
This year, however, his health dropped, and the royal physicians concluded something that shocked Howard, the Skinny Doom disease.
It was a disease that caused the infected person's body to become helplessly thin, blurry-eyed, with both eyes reddened.
"But it was never like this before," Otto revealed.
"They sold her body to other customers, not only you, Otto," Howard explained.
"Damn it, Ellis. I told him not to let those whores serve other men!" complained Otto.
"Uhuk!"
Howard quickly grabbed a pitcher of water and poured it into a glass. He handed the glass to Otto, which the old man downed without hesitation.
"Take a good rest. Don't burden yourself with so many things," Howard replied, helping Otto sit up and get back on his back.
Otto understood what Howard was saying. However, his mind was still racing about many things, either about his potential death or the deaths of Edmund and Alexander.
"At least tell me the good news about the war in the north, Howard," Otto pleaded, his voice lowered.
"I cannot tell you, but I can assure you Edmund is fine," Howard replied.
The lanky old man moved his head to the right side, looking at Howard with a withering gaze, "Are you sure?"
Howard smiled as he stood up from his sitting position, looking at Otto with sympathy for the old man's state.
"I'm pretty sure he'll be fine," Howard replied.
"Thank goodness. Damn, Quentin, he won't take Edmund's place in Telmarath's army!" irritated Otto.
"Leave the army to me. I'll send Harold to replace Edmund to lead the Athalaris army," asserted Howard.
"Do it, keep Edmund and Alexander safe," Otto pleaded.
The old man began to close both eyes and tried to fall asleep while calming the turmoil of thoughts in his head. Howard, who watched Otto fast asleep, became reluctant to disturb him again.
As the Duke of Athalaris stepped out of Otto's chamber, the five servants stood casually before Otto's room.
When they saw Howard's arrival, all five of them spontaneously stood up straight while bowing their heads, saluting the man.
"His Majesty is asleep. Take turns to look after him, don't disturb him," Duke Howard pleaded.
"Very well, Duke Howard."
Howard waltzed away, walking the palace corridors, until he accidentally bumped into Archmage Dieter.
"Skinny Doom. Am I right?" asked Dieter, looking at Howard with a wide smile as if he knew more about the disease than Howard.
"Do you know anything about it?" asked Howard, curious.
Dieter raised his hand to shoulder height, hinting at something, "Not much."
The man who was as old as Otto walked up to Howard right before the face of the second most powerful man in Athalaris after the King.
Dieter leaned his head forward, whispering something right in Howard's ear, "Edmund must be taken to Castlebourne. He must be crowned immediately."
"The trip to Oakenport will take a week. The travel time will take two weeks to leave and return," Howard emphasized.
"Will he last two weeks?" asked Howard in a half-whisper.
"Leave it to me. I'll make sure he lasts at least three weeks from now," replied Dieter.
"The most important thing is not to leave the throne unoccupied when His Majesty dies. There will be upheaval between the princes," Dieter explained.
"Prince Quentin, huh?" asked Howard.
"He's turned into someone terrifying. He even dared to confront Lord Caspian when Lady Sera crossed their borders," asserted Dieter.
Howard agreed, with both eyes squinting. He also felt the same way as Dieter did. Quentin's nature and personality now were far different from what they remembered before.
"Alright. I will immediately send a raven to Oakenport to ask Prince Edmund to come home," Howard explained.
Dieter nodded. The two parted ways by going in different directions from each other. Dieter walked towards his study while Howard headed towards his study as well.
Just as the door to Howard's study opened, the Duke of Athalaris' eyes witnessed the presence of someone dressed in black. He was sitting on the couch in the room.
"How is it?" asked Howard, walking over to his desk.
"Athalaris forces are trying to push their way into Downfall," replied the man dressed in all black.
"Really? And what about Quentin?" asked Howard, busy tidying up his messy desk.
"Prince Quentin was named Heir to House Helferich. He married his cousin, Arabelle Helferich," explained the man from the Phantom Council group.
"Can't you kill him yet? I need his head at once!" said Howard, banging on the table.
"We're trying, My Master," replied the man, spontaneously kneeling obediently to face Howard.
With a sharp look of annoyance, Howard looked at the man from the Phantom Council group. The man dressed in black was still reluctant to look at the angry Howard.
"I saved you from the gallows. Is this how you thank me? By failing to meet my expectations!" Howard snapped.
"We'll move now!" the man replied obediently.
"Do it, or I will put your heads on spikes!"