The Demon Kings Cowardly Vessel - Chapter 285
Juin, Luca, and Wolfe glanced at each other, and after a split second, Wolfe mouthed, “For real?”
They all knew that King Frederic was not a simple man. In fact, according to what they heard from the a.d.u.l.ts near them, he was even considered to be slightly stronger than President Presley, which was why the latter was always respectful towards him. Who could possibly kill such a man?
“Could it be father?” Even the Crown Prince could not help but frown a little upon hearing this. As far as he knew, there weren’t that many men in Atlantis that were at the same level as King Frederic, other than his own royal father ,of course. Looking at the guard, he then asked, “Methods?”
“From the reports of the scouts, he was stabbed… There were multiple wounds, but the three holes in his abdomen were considered to be quite serious. No, four. Three stab wounds and one on his c.h.e.s.t. The wound on his c.h.e.s.t was the fatal wound. His heart… It was torn out completely,” the Wisterion guard reported.
“Three holes… and one c.h.e.s.t wound,” Crown Prince Warrick folded his arms as a worried expression appeared on his face briefly.
“And, Your Highness?” the guard continued.
“Keep going.”
“According to the reports, the three holes seem to be the mark of a trident. So, we think that–” The guard immediately shut up when he saw the warning glare from Master Shawn.
Crown Prince Warrick thought about the matter for a while before asking, “Anything else?”
“There’s one more matter…” The guard hesitated for a while before saying, “All the Water Hunters who were sent to protect Princess Cecile were killed.”
“What?!” This time, it was Master Shawn who gasped out loud. Water Hunters were elites even among the Wisterion best guards, and they were trained since young, with some started their training from as early as birth. And among those that were sent out to protect Princess Cecile included some of the very best Water Hunters that he personally trained. “How?” he asked with a thunderous expression.
The Wisterion guard greeted him and told him everything. “There were signs of an intense battle, yet none around the Water Hunters… It was like they were killed by something unknown.”
“They were the Water Hunters!” Master Shawn snapped as he stood forward. And his anger could be understood. Those were his men, his brothers, and some of them were people who had been following him their whole lives… Yet they were killed by something unknown, in a death that was unbefitting of their strength.
Hearing the anger in Master Shawn’s tone, the guard shivered slightly and lowered his gaze. He then added in a soft voice, “And one more thing…”
“What?” Master Shawn snapped.
“We lost track of Princess Cecile… and the hounds found another heart nearby King Frederic’s body.”
“You said his heart was torn out, so what’s surprising about that?” Master Shawn said as he massaged his glabella.
“The thing is… We found two hearts,” the guard said meekly as he kept his head low, afraid to look at the Crown Prince or Master Shawn.
This time, Crown Prince Warrick had a grave expression on his face. He stood aside for a moment as he tried to make sense of the whole situation.
“Three holes… Mark of a trident,” Juin thought to himself. “Could it be Princess Cecile’s weapon? Two hearts…”
He had a premonition… And it was nothing pleasant.
“I know what you are thinking, but there’s no proof that it’s hers. And there’s no way she was strong enough to kill the king by herself,” Luca mumbled so as to not interrupt the Crown Prince’s thoughts.
Juin glanced at him. “After all that she has done, do we really know what she’s capable of?”
Luca thought for a while before shrugging. “Maybe not… But look at the crown prince’s expression. It doesn’t look like he believes the princess could do, or even capable of, something like that.”
They glanced at the Crown Prince, and surely enough, the young man’s expression had gradually calmed down.
“Take my order,” the Crown Prince suddenly said in an authoritative manner. With his hands behind his back, he looked exactly like what a crown prince supposed to be, he ordered, “Send out the best search teams we have. No matter what, you must find Princess Cecile and bring her back to me safely. She must still be alive. If anything happens to her, I will destroy this entire continent and everyone on it.”
The guard shuddered at the Crown Prince’s words, and he immediately bowed, “Yes, Your Highness!”
He then rushed off.
Juin glanced at the Crown Prince and noticed that the hands that he kept behind his back were bunched into fists even though the Crown Prince’s face seemed calm. In addition, the markings on them were pulsating in angry red. He then looked at Luca and Wolfe, who both showed a curious expression.
After a while, the Crown Prince turned to look at them. As if the event earlier did not happen, he smiled in a carefree manner as he said, “Sorry for the delay. Let’s go now.”
…
They arrived at the royal treasury shortly after. As they stood in front of the door, the Crown Prince explained while looking at the door that was carved with complicated spell diagrams, “Like all the important places in the kingdom, the royal treasury is also locked with a spell that requires the blood of the royalties to open up.”
“So we can’t go in?” Juin asked.
“Of course we can,” Crown Prince Warrick said with a wink. He put his palms together before pulling out a small vial from his Dimensional Pouch. Looking at the red substance inside the vial, he then explained, “This is a vial of the Terre D’eau’s royal blood.”
He then activated the spell array on the door before fl.i.c.k.i.n.g a drop of blood toward the array. The bright red drop of blood floated shot to the middle of the spell array, before dispersing, following the lines that formed the array. Once the blood connected every line, the spell array lit up in bright red before disappearing.
“Where did…” Juin wanted to ask where he got the vial, but in the end, he stopped himself before he asked another stupid question. Since Cecile obviously worked together with him, this was probably a vial of her blood.
They then walked into the treasury.
“Be careful, this place is full of traps. Follow my steps closely,” said the Crown Prince.
As they walked deeper into the treasury, Juin thought to himself, “How could she just hand everyone out on a silver platter out to her enemy? No matter what, she’s still the princess of this kingdom.”
Seeing the changing expressions on Juin’s face, the Crown Prince then said, “The princess has lost all hopes in this kingdom. No matter how things turn out, this kingdom will still be heading toward its doom. She feels that what this kingdom needs is a new ruler and a complete revamp of the system.”
“And she feels that you, the crown prince of an enemy kingdom, will be the best ruler?” Juin asked sarcastically yet trying his best not to roll his eyes at the man who seemed friendly. He had a feeling that Crown Prince Warrick was way stronger than him. And definitely even smarter than Luca as well.
“Perhaps…” Crown Prince Warrick shrugged. Rubbing the vial of blood in his hand, he said in a gentle voice, “She’s desperate, after all.”
His action did not go unnoticed, and Juin wondered if there was something more between the Crown Prince and Princess Cecile, something that was more than just being conspirators.