Footsteps echoed through the hallway as Lionel made his way back to his room. If it were the previous day, Lionel was sure he wouldn't have been able to get to his room, but after remembering some of the prince's memories, he was able to navigate the palace well and recognize some faces and places.
After he came out of the courtroom, he had been left to brood outside, worried about what might be wrong. Even now, walking back to his quarters, he was still greatly worried.
"What could possibly go wrong?" he muttered to himself, his hands fumbling with his clothes.
'I should check my stats when I get back to my room,' he thought as he walked further on.
With the current situation, Lionel had already made up his mind against showing his powers in the palace, as it was more like exposing himself to be killed.
The ways of the palace and the relationship between the prince and the king still baffled him and confused him, but he was determined to get to the root of the matter.
After settling his thoughts to one side, deciding to check his powers when he got back to his room, Lionel could finally walk calmly without his worries weighing him down.
The front of the prince's quarters was eerily silent and gloomy, as though no one lived there. He stood in front of the building, a tall gate enclosing it. He opened the black, gloomy gates and stepped inside. The place looked unkempt, as though no one had been there.
'Could the prince's absence be the cause?' he thought as he looked around.
He checked the surroundings but couldn't find a single person and was left standing there, facing the room with a ceiling built in a round shape.
"The prince doesn't have any maids, or what's wrong?" he muttered, baffled by the absence.
"I think the way the prince is being treated is worse than I might have thought," he said. "First, it was the memories, now the evidence, and then not to forget the way the king was looking at me."
"I could swear I got goosebumps. It was like he was planning something, but not there," he said, his eyes filled with confusion. "Would he call me in later?"
"Not sure," he muttered, shrugging his shoulders as he walked forward.
Lionel reached the door to the grand room, which he recognized as the one the prince stayed in, and entered. The room was also gloomy and silent.
It was scattered, with cobwebs in a few corners of the room. His eyes scanned the area and landed on a golden cup in the corner of the room and blood spilled on the floor.
"It happened…" he murmured, his voice trailing off as he saw the residue of what he had done the night he first came here.
He walked closer to the bed and sat down. Oddly, in contrast to the atmosphere of the room and its surroundings, the bed was quite soft, and he found himself sinking into its comfort.
"Finally, since I got here, I can rest," he muttered, placing his hands on the bed as his eyes roamed around.
"Now, what was that stat of mine saying?" he questioned, his hands hovering over a transparent purple panel as his stats appeared before him.
[Race: Vampire | Human]
[Role: Prince]
[Cultivation Status: Locked]
__________
[Str: 2 ]
[End: 8]
[Agi: 3]
[Spd: 3]
[Def: 5]
[Int: 4]
[Mental Fort: 5]
"Huh?" Lionel was confused as he read his current status.
At first, he had thought the king was confused about his powers, as he had never known—or believed—the prince to be able to cultivate. Yet, here it was, clear before his eyes.
_______________
"Something was off about that kid. Did you also notice it?" the king asked, his fingers tapping against the armrest of his chair, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"No, Your Majesty. What do you mean?" Allison was quick to refute, her eyes darting over the room and back to the king with a mix of anticipation and dread.
The king looked up, his gaze lingering on Allison for a moment before shifting to the man standing beside him.
"Cedric, what about you? What do you say?"
Cedric, the man with the white hair Lionel had seen in the prince's memories—the royal advisor to the king and also the kingdom's chief wizard—bowed slightly before replying, "I'm afraid, Your Majesty, I didn't pay much attention to the young prince."
"Please, cut that nonsense," the king muttered, his hands clasped together as his eyes filled with caution. "The prince is no mere child, and you know that."
"Oh…" Cedric straightened and asked, "If you permit me, may I ask something?"
"Go on," the king said, his expression expectant.
"Why do you think something is wrong with the prince? Apart from his disappearance, which was odd, I don't think anything else is wrong," Cedric said. "He looked confused, just like any other day—weak, though he did seem injured."
"He seemed injured?" The king's eyes lit up.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Didn't you notice when you checked him?" Cedric asked.
Allison's hair stood on end as she listened intently to their conversation.
"No, I didn't notice when I checked him. Though, it felt as though something was stopping me from probing further—as though there was a barrier placed on him."
"That might be the case," Cedric said. "To me, it seemed like he had been injured for a while but was somehow cured."
"But, Your Majesty, why do you seem more worried than usual? Is there more to this?"
"Ah… yes," the king admitted. "I might've ordered the prince's death."
"What?" Cedric exclaimed, staring at the king.
"Your Majesty, why?"
"For obvious reasons," the king uttered, his face hardening. "He needs to be eliminated. He's already growing, and soon, he may find a way to overpower me. I can't wait for him to eliminate me first."
"I thought that was why we had him crippled in the first place—so he wouldn't dare or have the means to grow stronger," Cedric said. Then he added, "What exactly did you order?"
"I merely had him kidnapped from his room and dealt with in the forest. He was to be buried underground, with stones holding him back from escaping. He's weak, so it was going to be hard for him to survive without food or resources," the king said matter-of-factly.
"You did that?" Cedric asked, tugging at his beard thoughtfully.
"Yes."
"Your Majesty, how sure are you that they completed the job?"
"I'm a hundred percent sure. I used the Arcane Mirror to communicate with the assassins, and they showed me the finished work," the king said.
"Now that calls for alarm," Cedric said, his hand still tugging at his beard.
"And Allison, can you recount how you found the prince when you met him?" Cedric asked, his gaze locking onto her alongside the king's.
Allison's heart thumped as the question was directed at her. She avoided their eyes, glancing at the other corners of the room.
But she couldn't escape for long.
"Allison?" the king called. "Tell me everything that happened in the forest while you were there."