Sustaining The King’s Life - Chapter 238

It has been two days since Faustina had stayed in the castle. And in the duration of her stay, she could say that she felt stretched. Not in a pleasant way. It was like having her limbs stretched and then her hand on two opposing angles. She was constantly summoned by the king, and Sheila. From the first two days were simple greetings for the king, and with Sheila just lectures and just checking of how her magic functions.

But the preceding day was different. Lilianne Disfiegro, more often than not, would always be in search of the king. Whenever she meets Faustina, she scoffs at the mere sight of her and would ignore her. Faustina couldn’t say she wasn’t thankful. It was better that Lilianne was ignoring her, instead of trying to harass her.

However…

“Have you heard? Lady Disfiegro seemed to be harsh to the maids.”

Maddie told Faustina this, and Faustina had seen numerous evidence regarding how Lilianne treats the maids. The maids in the castle all belonged to noble families, but they couldn’t say a word because Lilianne was a Disfiegro. Going against her meant to go against her family. That is how cruel and hypocritical the high society is.

And Faustina couldn’t stand it any longer.

“I’ve heard, M’lady,” Maddie answered. “But it’s not like the maids can do anything about it…”

Faustina stared at Maddie. “Are you scared of her, Maddie?”

Maddie was braiding Faustina, who was staring at the mirror. And so, this results in Faustina seeing Maddie’s expression.

“To be frank, M’lady, I’m not scared of her.” Maddie said. “But I do fear she might do something.”

“To you?” Faustina asked.

“To you.” Maddie retorted as she finished braiding Faustina’s hair. Afterwards she picked hair ornaments to go with Faustina’s blue dress.

“She’s known to sabotage people. And you have a weak disposition ever since you were a child. Given how she’s the king’s betrothed, she might not let you off easily since the king favors you.”

Although Faustina wanted to tell Maddie that the king doesn’t see her that way, she stopped as Maddie spoke once more.

“I’m just worried about you, M’lady.”

Faustina stared at Maddie. She couldn’t help but smile; this girl was very honest with her. Faustina felt bad and relieved at the same time. Because right now Maddie was the only person who understood her best.

“Thank you, but I’m okay, Maddie.”

Maddie smiled. “There.”

Faustina then stared at herself at the mirror. She was looking at a girl that wasn’t Faustina Heilen but Faustina Feuerlon who was dressed in blue and gold.

Yesterday, when the king called her to the sapphire palace, he had only told her it was the only place that will provide them the privacy to speak.

Faustina closed her eyes, remembering what happened.

—

She was nervous.

The sapphire palace is said to be used by the king’s consorts. What reason could there be?

Faustina took a deep breath as she sauntered to the halls of the sapphire palace. Like any other palace, it was luxurious and was beautiful with blue roses as the scheme. She was walking with Maddie, and as expected the palace was contained by maids even though it was unused. Faustina never came here before in her stay several months ago for obvious reasons.

The maids then opened the large door which then led to a room that had a view of the garden below from the balcony terrace that was the source of light of the room. Faustina then ambled her way inside, and with a last glance to Maddie who gave her a thumbs up, the door shut close.

Faustina took a deep breath before turning around.

“Faustina.”

Before Faustina could speak—

“It’s me!”

“What?”

“It’s me, it’s me! You don’t remember?” The king had a cheery voice, something Faustina wasn’t used to at all. The king was now in front of her with his beaming, sapphire-blue eyes.

And then, it rang a bell—

“D-dietrich?”

“Yes! You do remember me!” The king then held Faustina’s hand and smiled. “That’s great! For a moment there, I thought you completely forgot about me.”

Faustina stared at Dietrich, the fifth king. She parted her lips to say a word, but she was too overwhelmed to even speak. Dietrich noticed this, and so he pulled her gently towards the balcony.

“I’m sorry I abruptly called you.” He said. “In this palace, too.”

Faustina stared at Dietrich who was staring at the sky as they got into the balcony.

“We haven’t resumed our talk since then. Do you remember?”

—

“Aren’t you hungry?”

Faustina jumped back to reality, realizing that she dozed off to her own thoughts. She eyed the king, who was looking with blue eyes unreadable.

“I’m…”

“You’re still uncomfortable, Faustina?”

She didn’t reply.

“Well, it’s not that surprising.” The king says as he drank his tea. “After all, your master died with her corpse taken, and then you’re with this stranger telling you to obey his orders. You’re stuck in a tug of war where you’re not even allowed to choose which side you should go, because apparently you’re only being pulled by something you don’t even know.”

Faustina stared intently. “Who… are you?”

“Oh, you noticed?” The king says, and munched on some scones. “I’m the late king—the fifth king—Dietrich. Well my name is actually Alexander Octavius too, but Dietrich’s my nickname, so feel free to call me that. Oh, and it means ‘ruler of the people,’ by the way.”

—

“The two of them struggled to come back to this body. It was an odd thing to see at such specific time.” Dietrich said. “You see, I don’t actually frequent in any body. I didn’t want to disturb and use my descendant’s body for my own convenience. Octavius would beg to differ, because it was all his purpose.”

“All… his purpose?”

Suddenly, the smile in Dietrich’s face faded.

“Back then I was meaning to tell you something about the first king. Maybe he didn’t want you to know by that time… however, right now, I don’t think he can stop me anymore.”

“He can’t stop you anymore?”

“Yes.” Dietrich nodded. “Noah’s body grew stronger. And that’s because you made a crack on the seal.”

Faustina blinked.

“Since you made a crack on the seal, your mana now could flow better in your body, and when the king absorbs your mana, there will still be room for your own, and that means you wouldn’t collapse like before.”

Faustina then stared at her hands. She… cracked the seal on her mana? And that’s when Faustina dawned to a realization—that night, when she forced herself to give more mana to the king—she felt something inside her shattering.

“I figured that when Noah grew stronger, he could repress the king more. Right now he had let me occupy his body. Because I wanted to talk to you.” Dietrich exclaimed. “I know that he is wary of the priestess, so I chose the place she didn’t want to involve herself with.”

The sapphire palace. “So that’s why…”

Dietrich smiled.

“You’ve grown. You look like you have a better control on your magic now,” Dietrich remarked as he patted Faustina’s head. “Sheilalev and Noah will be strategizing. On the duration of your stay, treat it as a way to rest.”

“…Thank you.”

Dietrich smiled again. “Don’t. You owe me nothing.”

Dietrich was dissimilar to the first king the Noah. He was always smiling, as if there wasn’t anything bothering him at all…

“How does it feel?” Faustina found herself asking.

He turned towards her.

“How does it feel to have souls in your body?”

Dietrich stared at Faustina with gentle eyes.

“I don’t know.” He said. “I think I’ll let him answer to my stead.”

“Who…?”

Dietrich then patted Faustina’s head again.

“Noah.”

—

Faustina stared at the king who opened his eyes now. First he was confused and dazed, but then when he realized where he was, his expression shifted to surprise, understanding, and then to his usual gentle façade.

“Faustina.”

He spoke differently from Dietrich—and so Faustina was certain who he was.

“Your majesty.”

The king stared at the balcony.

“So he took you to the sapphire palace.” The king said. “What a lavish man.”

Faustina could only agree. She then bowed her head to excuse herself out, but then she was stopped shortly by the king who held her arm.

“Wait.” He said. “I need to talk to you.”

Faustina stared upwards at the king who was looking down at her. Her head fell below his broad shoulder, so his built and stature was a lot bigger compared to her. And it was overwhelming to see. Faustina averted her gaze, feeling oddly uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“I wanted to be alone with you.”

“Wh-why?”

“Because you have to know something.”

Faustina’s heartbeat was speeding up—her pulse quickening in pace. What is it that the king have to tell her? Her cheeks flared red and she couldn’t even look at him in the eye now.

“It’s about your origins.” The king said. “Faustina—”

“You…” He said grimly. “You are not a Heilen.”