Emor Tripas felt tight-lipped.
He knew that his uncle was right. He knew that Iria hated his uncle to the core and... Arin Helev will always go along with her.
Though he wanted to stop his uncle, he never wanted him dead.
Ever since he was young, Aryan Tripas was the only one who always took his side. Even when he suffered in his father's hands, his uncle was the only one who cared about him. When Nardodia fell, his uncle risked his life to take him out of the palace.
He knew that he was the only one whom his uncle truly cared.. Though his uncle's affection was abusive and manipulative, Emor never wanted any harm to happen to his uncle. He meant it when he said that he only wanted to stop him from committing more sins.
They were each other's weaknesses.
"Why can't you answer me, Emor?" Aryan Tripas taunted him. "Did you realize that I'm telling the truth?"
"If you want me to stop what I do, then put away your greed and prioritize the well-being of the people first. Then I will cut every tie with Arin Helev," Emor Tripas uttered, trying to sound as firm as he could.
Before his uncle could say any more word, he rose from his seat and walked out of the chamber in a hurry.
Watching the disappearing form of his nephew, Aryan Tripas heavily sighed.
What was he supposed to do with him?
The King wasn't alone for long as one middle-aged man quickly walked inside.
"Didn't it go well, Your Majesty?" Colson Leland, the right-hand man of the King asked.
"I know Emor well," the King uttered. "Sooner or later, he will realize that I'm right."
"What if it's too late, Your Majesty?" the right-hand man asked. "His Highness might end up ruining everything. I think you should remind His Highness what will happen if he keeps on defying you."
The sharp gaze of the King quickly made Colson Leland lower his gaze.
"Emor already suffered enough. I want his illness to heal and I don't want to cause any more harm to him. Watch your mouth," Aryan Tripas warned in a stern tone.
"I apologize, Your Majesty."
"Watch over him for a while and be careful," the King commanded. "He will soon return to his sense and don't do anything to delay that."
"I understand, Your Majesty."
* * *
It haven't been long since he finished dinner and Crown Prince Andres was in his working chamber.
Arin and Iria went to Orius's mansion in the afternoon and they will be spending the night there while his parents were at their chamber, chatting with his wife. It wasn't that late.
Despite sitting on a chair behind his desk, the Crown Prince wasn't focused on his work at all. Instead, his attention was on the wedding ring on his finger. All he did was quietly stare at the ring as if it fascinated him.
Well, the fact that he was now a married man was still surprising for Andres Francia.
A month ago, if someone told him that he will be a married man after a month, he won't believe it at all. He might even regard it as a joke.
While Andres sat still touching the wedding ring, he heard the sound of knocking on his door and Zane walked inside. "Your Highness."
The Crown Prince maintained his silence for a few seconds. Then with his gaze still fixated on the ring, he asked, "It's tonight, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness. The spies will be making a move by now," Zane responded and added, "We will need a few days to hear the result."
"The spies are the best of the best," Andres Francia remarked and rose from his seat. "I'm sure that everything will go as planned."
"May I ask where you are going, Your Highness?" Zane asked when the Crown Prince walked past him.
"To my family," Crown Prince Andres simply responded with a little smile on his face. Then he walked out of his chamber and made his way to his parent's chamber.
"He's finally here," Empress Amina said with a smile when she saw her only son. "Come here, Andres. Why are you busy even now?"
"I never say that I'm busy," Andres Francia replied and took a seat beside his wife.
"Ophelia asked us about your childhood and we have quite a fun talking about it," Emperor Kalos said with a chuckle, making his son frown.
"It's embarrassing," Andres complaint. This made his mother laugh.
The Empress turned to her daughter-in-law and said, "It seems like he also admit that he was quite a trouble when he was young. Not a day passed by without him creating some troubles."
"Mother -"
"But I think it's admirable," Crown Princess Ophelia remarked, interrupting her husband from speaking up. "I mean, he grew up into such a responsible and mature person." With a peal of light laughter, she added, "While my family said that I'm still the same - problematic and childish as ever."
"That's not a problem," Emperor Kalos chimed in. "You're always lively and without Orius and Iria, the palace is mostly quiet."
The Crown Prince recalled his conversation with his wife when they tour around the capital yesterday. He knew that she was quite carefree but... in a somewhat dangerous way.
As her family returned to Aederin in the day, he knew that she will be feeling lonelier than ever. So, he reminded himself to spare more time for her and help her adapt to live here.
After chatting for a while with the Emperor and Empress, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess returned to their chamber.
"I want to have some wine," Ophelia suddenly said to Andres once they entered their chamber.
"It's quite late now," Andres pointed out and asked, "Is your tolerance high?"
"Just average," Ophelia replied and added, "Why don't we just have some? I really feel like drinking tonight."
Andres Francia thought about it and finally nodded. "Alright. Take a seat and I will tell the servants to bring some wine."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l