Chapter 42 - Obedient? Nope!

As Zion had suspected, the king did come to see him when the area around the prison cleared up. He still didn't know much time had passed in this cell since there wasn't even a ventilator here. There was a small curtain in the corner for relieving yourself, and that's it. He would be timely given food and based on that. He could tell that at least two days must have passed, assuming they gave him meals twice a day.

But on the third day, when the guards exchanged their positions, and the coast was clear for the next five minutes, a man donning a cloak over his head walked inside. Zion could quickly tell who this person was! So he didn't pretend to be naive and said, "Your Majesty, don't you feel ashamed to sneak into your own prison like this?"​​

"Tell me everything you know." Then the king paused as if he wanted to say something but hesitated before he finally parted his lips. "I own this place. I don't have to ask someone's permission to sneak in like this."

Zion snickered but didn't continue that topic. He leaned back and lazily glanced at the king. "I would say you should be prepared. The enemy can attack anytime."

The detective had thought of all the consequences before saying those words. Based on how quickly things were happening around him, it was clear that the enemy was getting anxious to make a final move, and he assumed that it could be because Prince Bradley wanted to usurp the throne.

But he still couldn't understand one thing….

He glanced at the king, who went silent after hearing his warning, and asked in a solemn voice, "Do you have an unpleasant history with Prince Bradley?"

When the king heard this question, his expressions changed many times. After that, he pursed his lips and shook his head before parting his lips. "I do, but why do you want to know about that?" The king paused as if he realized something. "There's a connection between his death and my history, isn't it?"

Zion raised his eyebrows. It seemed that Rhesus wasn't the foolish person he had assumed to be. His lips curved up. "You're right."

The king was silent for a while. How good would it be if he had met this person or Vincent when his kingdom was still alright? Right now, all he could think was how to prevent something that would destroy the entire kingdom. A sigh escaped his lips before he lowered his gaze and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's my fault. Everything's my fault. I shouldn't have been greedy."

Zion didn't say anything and kept staring at Rhesus, who looked more like a lonely figure. He knew that this Dhampir king would speak about the most confidential thing that led Prince Bradley to take such a step, and he could already guess it was probably something cliche. But he still didn't open his mouth and kept staring at the man.

The king stood and glanced at the ground with a hint of disgust in his eyes as if he couldn't stand sitting on the filthy ground. He pursed his lips and finally opened his mouth with difficulty. "I had many brothers, both old and young, but most of them died because of my greed."

Zion didn't even bat his eyelids at that. He knew this would be the main reason behind the current massacre. So he didn't disrupt the king and kept listening.

"I was ignorant and had a malicious heart as a teenager and didn't want to be at the mercy of someone else." Rhesus sighed and held the prison bar. This kind of prison was different from where Zion had been, and he wasn't surprised. He knew that the king wanted to keep his daughter safe. So that was why he chose that kind of prison for her.

After pausing for a while, the king continued. "It would have been fine if I had stopped at that, but I had to be in love with the eldest brother's wife, the crown princess back then."

"Let me guess." Zion finally couldn't help himself. "Bradley was your eldest brother's son, and he looks a lot like your lover, so you couldn't kill him and adopted him when he was still a toddler. Am I right?"

The king pursed his lips and glanced at Zion awkwardly. "Kid, could you think of becoming a detective in my court after this was over?"

Zion's reply was a cold gaze that stared at Rhesus for a long time until the latter shifted his gaze away.

"He found out about that a few weeks before his death and was angry at me for killing his real father. But I managed to please him! Back then, I had thought that I coaxed him into listening to me. Who could have thought that someone would just kill Bradley?!" The king's fingers around the bar tightened instantly.

Zion didn't say anything and waited to hear if the king had anything else to say.

Rhesus took a deep breath and loosened his grip. "I couldn't even look at my son's corpse for even a second. I had originally asked others to look at the bedroom thoroughly." A sigh escaped his lips. "But now when I think about it, if there really are spies around me, I can't trust anyone. I probably had missed out on evidence by entrusting my guards to search the room after the murder."

Zion finally opened his mouth. "You're right. They probably took away anything that could raise suspicion. If not, you would have found out about the murderer's identity a few days back already."

Rhesus backed a few steps and asked, "I should go. Do you have anything else to report to me?"

"Be aware of Prince Linton and his daughter."

Before Rhesus could react to this statement, guards' voices could be heard from the outside. Zion and the king stiffened. Without glancing at the servant inside, Rhesus walked out hastily before anyone could catch him.

At this time, Zion squinted his eyes and stared at the wall before him. Even though he found out why Bradley wanted to get rid of the king, he still felt strange in his heart. It was as if a thought just popped up but flashed past his mind, making him feel irritated.

But one question did trouble him the most: how did Bradley know about Zion and his connection to his identities?

The fact that the assassin chose a servant named Grant, Zion's identity when he came to the palace, told the latter that they had selected him deliberately to keep him shut inside the prison. Zion sneered when he thought of this.

As if he was going to sit behind bars like an obedient child.