General Randal was busy leading the soldiers in collecting the grains when he saw Colson Leland and his guard riding horses at a distance. After a brief thought, the General turned to the Captain who was standing beside him. "I have something important to do. Take charge of this and I will come back soon."
The Captain bowed and General Randal mounted on his horse. He looked at the path where the two men went and instantly go that way.
A little over an hour passed and General Randal was surprised to know that the Minister and his guard were heading towards the outskirts of the capital.
What business would they have there?
With confusion, he followed them from a distance so that they won't become suspicious of anything. A few more minutes passed when he saw them entering a small inn named 'Grien Inn.'
The inn appeared to be out of business. What could they possibly do there?
General Randal gets off his horse and unsheathed his sword. Cautiously, he walked towards the inn. As it was risky to walk closer to the door, the General attentively looked around and peeped it from the hole in a wall.
He saw several men inside and it seemed like Colson Leland was angry at them. Though the General couldn't hear what he was saying, he knew that this wasn't normal.
Why would a high-ranking official be here, angrily shouted at young men whose appearance will easily qualify as assassins?!
Though General Randal knew that he was in a dangerous situation, he was still determined to find out everything.
What if it really had something to do with the disappearance of the Crown Prince?
The General continued peeping and he saw Colson Leland walking up the upper floor.
With that, he looked around again, trying to find a way to see what was on the upper floor. When an idea crossed his mind, he glanced around his surroundings and despite knowing how much of a risk it was, he sheathed his sword and climbed up one tree where he believed he would be able to get a view of the upper floor.
Fortunately, the tree had big leaves and it was quite thick too. General Randal used them as shields and his gaze was on the upper floor. All the windows there were closed, except one and Randal had his gaze set on that.
When he got a clear look at the part of the room that could be seen through the opened windows, what the General saw was a bed. Someone was lying there but he couldn't see the person's face until... the one on the bed get up and sit with the help of a familiar young woman. The one on the bed was...
The Crown Prince?!
Soon enough, Colson Leland stood near the bed where the Crown Prince sat.
*Inside the room*
"You finally show up, Colson Leland," Crown Prince Emor said to the official in a low and evidently tired voice. As his wounds were still quite severe, he was still weak.
"I wonder why you don't come after hearing that I wake up," Emor Tripas continued. "It's not like I don't know you're the one behind everything."
"Until I heard how you collaborate with the Qalagon King, I never want you dead, Your Highness," Colson Leland said. "His Majesty cares about you and I never want to do anything against him. However, for the sake of our Nardodia that His Majesty tried so hard to revive, I can't just watch you."
Despite his weak form, Emor Tripas still scoffed. "I wonder what you will choose to do now. I'm still alive and if I ever get out of this place, it will be the end for you. You can choose to kill me but judging from how you don't do that until now, it seems like you can't.
"What has gotten into you, Minister? You can't kill me now after those attempts you made on my life?"
Hearing out the Crown Prince, Colson Leland struggled for words to say. After all, Emor wasn't wrong.
"If you can understand His Majesty and stop whatever you do with Arin Helev, I'm willing to be the one facing my end, Your Highness," he said after a while. "All my life, I only live for His Majesty. I've never once lived for myself but... do you know what he said to me while I was adamant about killing you?
"He said that if he lost you, everything will become futile. He even said what will be the use of trying so hard if that happens." He made a deliberate pause and continued, "You're right, Your Highness. I can't kill you after hearing that from the King."
Emor Tripas couldn't believe his uncle said that. However, he refused to show anything that he felt.
"I never do anything that could harm Nardodia," he said to the Minister, trying to sound as firm as he could. "I only help Arin Helev so that he could destroy my uncle's evil plans and stop him." He looked up at the Minister and added, "You're not the only one who cares about the King. As his nephew, I care about him too. That's why I will do anything to make sure that he won't commit more crimes."
"Your Highness -"
"You are the one who triggered the war!" Emor Tripas snapped. "You try to use this as an advantage and sabotage my uncle's mind so that he could attack Qalagon. It's all because of your greed. Mark my words, Colson Leland. If anything happens to my uncle in this war, I will surely kill you."
"We won't lose this war," Colson Leland stated confidently. "As long as we can defeat Qalagon and regain our honor, everything will be fine."
"You underestimate the Queen of Qalagon," Crown Prince Emor said to the Minister. "My uncle poisoned her husband and believe me, I know her well than you do. If she is to fight our soldiers, her main target will be my uncle.
"Do you now know just what did you triggered? In the name of doing everything for my uncle, you are driving him to his death!"
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