Chapter 108. Kingslayer
The air inside the tent was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
The two sides stood facing each other with drawn blades, the neutral parties remained caught between shock and uncertainty, and on the ground lay the king, his life or death no longer in question.
Every second of waiting felt endlessly prolonged.
At last, a burst of hurried, chaotic footsteps came from outside the tent.
Two of Federico’s guards all but dragged an elderly man inside, half-supporting and half-hauling him forward. His hair was gray, and he wore the robes of a royal physician.
The old man clutched a heavy medicine chest tightly in his arms. His face was full of panic and unwillingness, as though he had been dragged all the way here by force.
The moment old Royal Physician Ford entered the tent, his clouded old eyes swiftly swept across the scene.
The two armed factions with swords drawn, the king lying motionless on the ground, and Prince Aiden kneeling beside him, letting out suppressed sobs.
The silence inside the tent was terrifying. Aside from His Highness Aiden’s heartbreaking sobbing, there was not another sound.
Ford’s heart immediately lurched and sank straight to the bottom.
He cursed inwardly. Damn it! Why did it have to be me on duty today of all days?!
“Physician!” Federico’s icy voice rang out. “Come here! Examine His Majesty at once!”
Ford trembled so violently that his whole body shook. How could he possibly dare to delay?
He noticed that one of the guards who had just come in with him quickly stepped over to Federico’s side and whispered something urgent in a low voice.
Ford did not dare speculate about what it meant. He could only force himself forward.
Under the watch of countless eyes, he shuffled tremblingly to the king’s side.
He first bowed to Prince Aiden, who was weeping beside the body, and only then carefully knelt beside King Augustus.
Old Ford took a deep breath, trying with all his strength to steady his trembling hands.
He stretched out two fingers and, with utmost care, placed them beneath the king’s nose.
A moment later, his fingers jerked back sharply, and his face turned several shades paler.
Still unwilling to give up, he lightly pried open the king’s tightly shut eyelids.
The pupils he saw were already fully dilated, stripped of all light and vitality, leaving behind nothing but a dead, murky stillness.
Old Ford’s hands trembled even more violently.
As a final attempt, he pressed and felt at the king’s neck, wrists, and other places, searching for even the faintest trace of a pulse.
But everywhere his fingers touched, he found only stiffness that was gradually turning cold.
Every examination pointed toward the same cruel conclusion.
The moment old Royal Physician Ford recognized the reality before him, it was as though every ounce of strength had been drained from his body.
Overwhelming terror surged into his heart, and he could barely hold back the tears welling in his eyes.
He collapsed limply to the ground and spoke in a trembling voice.
“P-Prime Minister... my lords... His Majesty the King... His Majesty has... has already been summoned... by the honored ancestors and the gods...”
Those words were like the final judgment, crashing down upon every person present.
“Father!!!”
Prince Aiden, who had been struggling to hold himself together, could restrain himself no longer after hearing that final pronouncement.
He threw himself over his father’s cold body and burst into loud, grief-stricken sobs.
The expressions of everyone in the tent changed instantly. After one moment of utter silence, all manner of reactions erupted.
The faces of Federico’s officials were filled with shock, while most of the nobles of the Royal Domain showed a mixture of disbelief and immense terror.
Many quickly piled exaggerated grief onto their faces. Some even beat their chests and dropped to their knees on the spot, wailing aloud, though how much of it was genuine was impossible to say.
Federico closed his eyes tightly. The fingers gripping his sword hilt had gone white at the knuckles from the force of his hold.
At this moment, he felt no sorrow, only boundless fury and a sense of looming catastrophe, as though a great edifice were on the verge of collapse.
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
Who did this? What was their purpose?
Was it aimed at the king, or at me? Or was it meant to drag the entire kingdom into a chasm of chaos?
At one side, the moment Marquess Cons heard the diagnosis, a flash of extreme rage and terror passed through his eyes.
With a furious roar, he suddenly snatched a nobleman’s sword from his side and pointed the shaking tip directly at old Royal Physician Ford.
“You useless old fool! Did you look carefully?! Are you certain?! How could His Majesty possibly...?!”
Seeing this, old Marquess Graham hurried forward and placed himself in front of Ford, who looked as though he might faint from terror at any moment.
“Cons! Calm yourself! Put down your sword! The royal physician has already made his diagnosis. How can you question it!”
Cons’s chest heaved violently, as though he had been driven to the limits of rage.
Yet in the end, he lowered the sword point resentfully, though his gaze swept across Federico like that of a venomous serpent.
The old marquess then turned to Federico, his expression complicated and his tone heavy.
“Prime Minister... the situation is dire. His Majesty the King has passed so suddenly, and His Highness Aiden is still so young...
I... I believe in your honor, and in your loyalty to the kingdom. Please...”
Federico opened his eyes.
He cut off Marquess Graham’s words, his voice clear and powerful.
“The kingdom cannot remain without a sovereign for even a single day! In this hour of crisis, I, Federico La Roche,
in the name of Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Duke of the Western Frontier, and maternal grandfather of Prince Aiden,
hereby declare that His Highness Aiden Aurora shall ascend the throne this very day as the new king of the Kingdom of Orlando, to reign as Aiden I!”
He paused, his sharp gaze sweeping across the entire tent.
“Until the new king comes of age and is able to govern the affairs of the kingdom himself,
I shall temporarily assume the office of Regent and oversee the affairs of state in full until His Majesty personally takes up rule!”
The moment those words fell, a wave of suppressed gasps and cries rose inside the tent.
This was a naked seizure of supreme power into his own hands.
Federico’s gaze then fell upon old Marquess Graham, and his tone softened.
“Old Marquess, I also believe in the sword and honor of the Graham Family, and in your loyalty and fairness toward the kingdom.
At such an extraordinary time as this, the office of Prime Minister is of the greatest importance. I ask that you temporarily assume that duty and stabilize the court.”
Old Marquess Graham’s face filled instantly with astonishment.
He had never imagined such a burden would fall upon him.
He had long since withdrawn from the center of power and had grown weary of the kingdom’s political strife and scheming.
Yet he immediately understood Federico’s intent.
By placing him, a prestigious and relatively moderate figure among the nobles of the Royal Domain, at the forefront,
Federico was both offering reassurance and a share of power to the Royal Domain nobility, making clear that he did not intend to swallow everything for himself alone.
At the same time, he was binding Graham to his own chariot.
By placing him at the forefront in Cons’s stead, he was making him the new spokesman for the nobles of the Royal Domain.
In the current situation, this truly was the most suitable choice to calm hearts and prevent the kingdom from splitting apart on the spot.
He saw the look in Federico’s eyes, a look that could almost be called pleading.
Then he looked toward the young prince, still clinging to his father’s body in bitter tears, and at the knife-edge tension filling the tent.
And for some reason, he thought of his grandson far away in the Western Frontier...
A long sigh rose in the old marquess’s heart.
In the end, every excuse, every hesitation, every trace of helplessness turned into one heavy nod.
“Rhein Graham... humbly obeys the Regent’s command.”
His voice was hoarse as he accepted the crushing burden.
Federico gave a slight nod, then turned his gaze like an icicle toward Cons Montauban, whose expression was shifting wildly.
“Marquess Cons! The wine His Majesty drank passed through your hands. You are the most suspicious of all! What do you still have to say for yourself?!”
As though to answer his words, dense and orderly footsteps sounded from outside the tent just then, followed by the loud bark of Marquess Toscana’s command.
“All of you! Hear my orders! Without the Prime Minister’s command, no one is to leave the Royal Forest!”
“Surround the entire area!”
“Archers, take position!”
Clearly, Federico’s Western Frontier forces had arrived first and had taken complete control of the scene.
Cons swept his gaze around the tent.
The nobles of the Royal Domain who had just moments ago clustered around him had, upon hearing the soldiers outside and seeing Marquess Graham accept the office of Prime Minister and stand at Federico’s side, already begun to waver.
Quite a few instinctively shifted their feet backward, widening the distance between themselves and him.
As for the court ministers, they had long since withdrawn to one side, making their neutrality plain.
In the blink of an eye, he had nearly become a man abandoned by all.
Only Bernard, the Minister of Intelligence, who had remained silent the entire time as though stunned senseless with fear, still stood quietly a short distance behind him.
Who could have imagined that in no more than a moment, he would become a forsaken man, deserted by all and reduced to a prisoner accused of regicide?
But he absolutely could not admit defeat like this!
The crime of regicide was enough to condemn the entire Montauban family to eternal ruin, never to rise again!
He suddenly lifted his head and pointed at Federico, shouting sharply,
“Regent?! Hmph! Federico La Roche!
You are equally suspicious! It was your men who fetched the wine!
Who can prove that you were not the one who secretly poisoned it, murdered the king, and now intend to hold the young sovereign hostage while seizing all power for yourself?!
Why do you question only me?!”
In response, Federico’s expression remained terrifyingly calm.
“Are those your dying words?”
That light, understated sentence sent a chill through Cons’s entire body.
He knew that Federico intended to crush him by force.
Once he was dead, every charge would be nailed firmly onto his head, and there would be no road left open for survival.
Driven into absolute desperation, a mad thought surged into his mind.
Summoning all the strength in his body, he roared hoarsely,
“I refuse to accept this! Federico!
I swear upon the honor of all the ancestors of House Montauban that I never poisoned the king!
Do not think you can force the stain of regicide onto me!
I challenge you to a trial by combat! Let the gods decide who is lying! Do you dare accept?!”
A trial by combat.
An ancient tradition of the Kingdom of Orlando, and indeed of the entire Continent of Oriphas.
When both sides held fast to their own claims and no judgment could be reached, especially in grave accusations between nobles, right and wrong could be decided through a public duel.
The challenged party could not refuse. Both sides could fight in person, or appoint representatives to fight in their stead.
The victor was regarded as having received the protection of the gods, thereby proving the truth and innocence of his words.
Federico’s brows instantly drew tight.
He cursed his own hesitation for having allowed Cons the chance to lash out like a cornered beast.
He could have crushed the matter outright through military force, but the rules of trial by combat were ancient and sacred.
Before so many nobles, especially at such a precarious moment when hearts were already unsettled, if he openly refused, he would undoubtedly hand others a weapon and make himself appear guilty.
Taking a deep breath, he said coldly, “Cons Montauban, if you confess your guilt honestly, I swear I will not offend the honor of House Montauban.”
“I ask only for the just judgment of the gods!”
Cons had already staked everything. He fixed Federico with a vicious stare.
“Very well!” Federico no longer hesitated. “I accept your trial by combat!
Let sword and blood prove who the true kingslayer is!”
Federico did not look at Cons again. He turned instead toward Aiden, who was still kneeling on the ground and weeping.
Then his gaze passed over every noble and minister in the tent, all of them wearing different expressions, and he spoke in a voice filled with solemn grief.
“My lords, His Majesty the King has met with a tragic end, and the whole kingdom grieves.
Yet the road before the kingdom still remains, and a new king has now ascended!
Here and now, join me in swearing your loyalty to the lawful ruler of the Kingdom of Orlando, His Majesty King Aiden I!”
With that, he went down first on one knee, placing his right hand over his chest and facing Aiden.
The Regent had knelt. New Prime Minister Marquess Graham let out a sigh and knelt as well.
The officials and knights from the Western Frontier dropped to their knees in perfect unison without the slightest hesitation.
The nobles of the Royal Domain and the court ministers looked at one another, hesitating for a brief moment.
But in the end, beneath the orderly tramp of the Western Frontier soldiers outside the tent, they too bent their knees one by one and knelt.
A scattered but gradually unified chorus rose within the tent, carrying all manner of tangled emotions.
“I swear... in the name of my family, to offer loyalty to His Majesty Aiden I!”
“Long live King Aiden!”
The young Aiden remained submerged in the immense grief of losing his father, utterly ignorant of the oath before him that symbolized the transfer of power.
He merely clung to his father’s cold body and wept until his heart seemed ready to split apart.
...
A farce. So many schemes.
And in the end, there was only one person here who truly cried for it all...
A child who had, from this day on, lost his father forever...