In the royal palace of Helsia, Derin walked inside the King's chamber and bowed to greet the king who was sitting on a chair behind the desk.
"Your Majesty."
When the King looked up at him, Derin felt the pressure. He really wished to avoid giving this report to the King. However, there was no way to avoid it.
"What is it?" Zaro Aventine asked as he could sense that something wasn't right.
"The soldiers who went to check on Her Majesty have returned but... they said that Her Majesty didn't enter the palace, let alone the capital," Derin informed the King with his head bowed.
Hearing this, the eyes of the young King grew wide and he abruptly rose from his seat. "What do you mean?" he asked. "How is that possible?"
"I have no idea, Your Majesty," Derin replied, not daring to look up even once.
Placing his palms on the table, Zaro Aventine narrowed his eyes as many possibilities entered his mind.
In a split second, fear invaded his mind and made him entwine his fingers.
"Send soldiers to comb all the paths from here to Jerivia. They shouldn't miss any single clue," he commanded Derin after what seemed to be forever.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
With that said, Derin bowed and left to comply with the King's order.
* * *
In the vast royal training ground of Cedore, Andres and Orius trained together as usual.
Despite the strong sun, the cousins continued their friendlies and after a few rounds of archery and sword fighting, they decided to continue it some other day. Now, they were sitting on the ground under the shadow of a big tree to take some rest before they leave the training ground.
"I think you improve a lot," Orius Alewine said to his cousin. "Our win rates are always equal but your number is higher than me today. Did you train regularly than usual?"
"I'm quite free these days," Andres replied with a chuckle. "Besides, I want to polish my skills. I have something interesting to do."
"Interesting? Let me guess," the young Duke jokingly said and continued, "Like ruining the plan of Zaro Aventine?"
A bit taken aback, the Crown Prince turned to his cousin who simply smiled at him.
"I also have spies in Jerivia and around the King," Orius explained. "I heard what happened and I know right away that it's your doing."
"How?"
"It's not me. It's not Arin or Iria and Aryan Tripas won't make that kind of move," the Duke shrugged. "Then it comes down to you."
Andres Francia stared at his cousin for a while before he turned away with a smile on his face. "Your brain is still sharp as ever, Orius. Zaro Aventine may be pretty smart but he is no match for you. Why didn't you make a move when you lived as his younger brother? I believe that you will be able to take his position easily."
"Maybe," Orius muttered. "But do you think the late King Tobias would allow that? I'm not even his son."
Observing his cousin, Andres remarked, "I doubt that's your only reason."
A few seconds passed before Orius finally nodded. "I was wrong about Zaro Aventine. That's why I paid the price. Iria paid a heavier price than I did."
Andres Francia could sense the suppressed rage in his cousin's voice but he fully understood him.
"I thought that he was different from his father," Orius continued. "I really believed that. I know he likes Iria and I even thought that everything will be better if they get together."
The Duke scoffed at his own words. "I was such a fool. If only I don't have such absurd beliefs, Iria won't suffer and our family name won't be trampled." He looked at Andres and said, "You know her illness. That's totally unacceptable!"
"Do you want to join me in my game?" Andres suddenly asked, confusing Orius.
"What game?"
"Let's play around with Zaro Aventine for a while and when he is weak enough, we will wage a war. Your Alewine Army and the private army whom I personally trained... I bet they will be enough to take down Zaro Aventine after we absorbed his strength through the game." With a little smirk, Andres added, "After dealing with internal problems for a while, he will be too weak to fend himself against us."
"Internal problems?" Orius asked, becoming even more confused than before.
The Crown Prince nodded. "I will stir up a huge rebellion. Forget about strengthening Jerivia, Zaro Aventine will be rendered weaker by the rebellion in just a few weeks."
Orius stared at his cousin, wondering just what plan did he make.
Was his plan already put to work?
"What do you say?" Andres asked him. "Do you want to join me? Let's go to Helsia to stir up some trouble."
Turning away, Orius smiled and quickly turned back to his cousin again. "Will Uncle and Aunty even allow that?"
"Don't you remember? We often have a hunting trip together. We can use that as an excuse," the Crown Prince simply said as if it was a simple matter.
Orius rarely witnessed this side of his cousin and he was quite amused by it. "You just got married and you will go on a hunting trip? I bet your father will be pleased to teach you a lesson."
Andres Francia frowned as he knew that Orius had a point. Besides, now that he thought about it, he just realized that it won't be a good idea to leave his wife alone for that long.
"Ophelia is lively. I bet she will love to come with us," he suddenly said.
Orius Alewine hopelessly sighed. "That's dangerous."
"Both of us will be there and so are the guards," Andres argued. "Valerie can come too. Just think of it as a vacation. No one will know our presence there anyway."
He placed his hand on Orius's shoulder and in a much firmer voice, he added, "This is a great chance, Orius. Once Zaro Aventine eliminate the whole remnants of Helsia, it will be too late.
"Think about it. He is trying his best to conceal the disappearance of King Rozalez.. What if he declares him dead? Then the remaining soldiers of Helsia will pledge their loyalty to him and by that time, he will be a great threat to Qalagon."
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