When a decision was made, the nobles' attention finally returned to a tired and disheveled-looking Leroy.
"Your Highness, return to your palace first. I will immediately have a healer come and treat your wounds."
"What about Mother?" Leroy asked his uncle. Duke Clayton patted his nephew's shoulder lightly. "You don't need to worry about Empress Helena, Your Highness. I will take her to rest in her room. At this time, what she needs most is time to calm her mind."
Leroy stared blankly at the kneeling Empress Helena, then finally agreed to the arrangement made by his uncle. "Then, I will leave Mother to you, Uncle. Then, there is no need to send a healer to my palace. Right now, no one can heal me better than Weiss."
Duke Clayton looked at Weiss standing behind Leroy, then decided not to say anything else. Weiss was indeed known as a great healer from the Lucano Kingdom. Her power could even make Weiss live longer than normal humans. Even though Weiss should have been hundreds of years old, the Chairman of the Mage Association still looked like a man in his thirties.
"Then, may you have a good rest, Your Majesty."
Leroy nodded, then knelt to hug Empress Helena. "Mother, please forgive me for not being able to protect Jarvis and Ervin."
In front of everyone, Leroy looked like an older brother who was so sad because he had just lost his two younger brothers. Even Duke Clayton had red eyes when he saw Leroy's messy appearance. It was clear that the deaths of Jarvis and Ervin had a great impact on Leroy that the prince, who usually always looked neat, returned with messy clothes and a body full of wounds.
The bait had been released, and Leroy could return to his palace without feeling guilty. The sad expression that had previously been on the prince's face disappeared when there was no one else but Weiss and the people from the Magician's Association. Leroy smiled coldly. The man sat down on a chair in his palace, then let Weiss heal the wounds on his body while leaning back comfortably.
"Your Highness, we lost contact with Kael a few minutes ago. It seems that the one who killed him was Prince Kenneth."
"What did you say?!"
Leroy immediately stood up when he heard Weiss' report. No one could make Leroy this angry other than Kenneth. The prince, who should have never existed, always managed to make Leroy lose his cool.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. Although Prince Kenneth seems to have decided to protect the Audoran Forest, I can see that none of the residents of the Audoran Forest have accepted his existence."
"How can you be so sure? Since that lowly person would rather side with the Audoran Forest than kill that monster, he must have found something more valuable than being a king, right?"
Weiss' eyes narrowed when he heard Leroy's assumption. The man took a deep breath, then shook his head confidently. "That's impossible, Your Highness. The monster of the Audoran Forest will not allow anyone to take something from his territory. Furthermore, that monster is not someone who would spare a human, let alone side with them."
"Are you sure?" Leroy asked once more. Weiss nodded again to reassure the prince. "Rest assured, Your Highness. We will not allow anyone to interfere with the plan," he said to Leroy.
In the end, Leroy had to believe what Weiss promised him. The prince knew that his path to becoming king would not have been this easy if it were not for Weiss. The prince took a deep breath. After Leroy managed to calm himself down again, he sat quietly and rested his mind.
"You're right. Lowly humans like him are no match for us."
Weiss nodded, then continued to treat Leroy's wounds.
From the start, Leroy had indeed made a separate agreement with the people from the Mage Association. Leroy only agreed to help them if they could make him king. The paranoid Leroy also couldn't possibly let his younger siblings live and threaten his position. So, while in the Audoran Forest, Leroy had been looking for a way to get rid of his two stupid younger siblings.
Their deaths could be the fuel that ignited the anger of the nobles so that they could stage a coup to overthrow his father. The Mage Association also agreed with the plan because they felt King Ducan was starting to be difficult to control. The existence of Princess Abigail was the reason why the Mage Association finally decided to banish King Ducan. For them, a king they couldn't fully control was not worthy of being the King of the Lucano Kingdom.
They hoped that Leroy's existence could get their plans back on track. Their chance to get what they wanted was right before their eyes. Now that they were sure that Leroy was supposed to be the one the prophecy was about, they could relax and focus on helping the prince make the prophecy come true.
Soon, Audoran Forest would be theirs for good.