Chapter 66 - Bradley's Dead Body

Back in the courtroom, the dead body was still silently lying there being unnoticed by everyone. Zion had placed the body leaning against a pillar beside the window before placing a letter inside the prince's clothes. He had hidden it so well that everyone inside the court would have to look twice before figuring out that an extra person was leaning against the pillar. No one knew what was written in that letter, but it would be revealed as soon as someone noticed the body.

It seemed that Zion's wish to get the body noticed was fulfilled. An official who wasn't on the enemy's side noticed the body, and his eyes widened.

What was this person's body doing here? Wasn't the prince supposed to be inside that cold room within a coffin? The official was confused and was just about to call out to others when he noticed a scroll that was hanging on Bradley's robes. Half of it was outside, and the other part was inside the clothes.

The official frowned and grabbed it before reading it. As soon as he read the letter, his eyes widened, and he didn't say anything. He glanced around before silently putting the scroll in his sleeves to hide it from the wolves that were itching to devour it. After that, he left the body as it was and walked toward the king with a calm face before glancing around again.

He was one of the officers who would never believe that their king, Rhesus, could commit a crime. He had blind faith in his king no matter how much evidence was presented before him. So he calmly went beside the king when no one was watching him and handed him the scroll before escaping the area as if nothing happened.

Rhesus was stunned when he suddenly saw someone handing him a scroll. His eyes squinted before he opened and read the content. Only one sentence was written inside it, but it was enough to shake his entire world.

"The enemy is an imposter."

This meant that the author of this letter especially wrote this for Rhesus! The latter's eyes widened as he recognized the handwriting of the person who wrote this. It was the same person who had told him everything about the case earlier!

The king's glance instantly swept past the crowd filled with officials, but he couldn't find anyone. Neither any human nor a Dhampir servant was present here. He couldn't even see Vincent, who he had initially assumed to be the main detective according to his conclusions.

Who was it that sent this note? Who-

His eyes stopped at a familiar body that was leaning against the pillar with his eyes closed. The last time the king had seen this face was when the murder hadn't happened yet. Back then, he just had an argument with his son about something he couldn't even remember, after which Bradley left the room in anger.

The king had thought that he had much time in his palms, and he could easily coax his son as before. But who would have thought that after just a few weeks, his son would plan his own murder? To be honest, Rhesus hadn't known that his son was alive at that time. He had really considered that his son had died a brutal death. It wasn't until he met Zion in his servant's identity that he found out the truth that his son had been planning to overthrow Rhesus so cruelly.

Rhesus had only felt one thing back then: a hope to see his son alive. He didn't care back then that his son hated him for some reason enough to revolt against the kingdom just like that despite being the crown prince. As long as his son was alive, he knew that he would happily kill himself to satisfy Bradley's desire.

But now, when he saw a familiar face that didn't have a spark of life, the king's heart sank deeper in the ocean of sadness. His eyes moistened as he continued to stare at his son's corpse, and then he looked down at the scroll with familiar handwriting.

This was a clear warning. An outsider had misused the opportunity of what his son was doing to create a disturbance and destroy the Vanne kingdom.

When the king thought of this, his face paled as the hands that were holding the scroll trembled. Someone wanted to wreak havoc in his kingdom, and he didn't know a damn thing about it. His glance swept past the crowd before stopping at his son's face. He had to use all his power to hold tears in his eyes and not cry out loud in front of all of these people. The spies among them were still here.

He took a deep, shuddered breath and closed the scroll before stuffing it in his sleeves.

It was good that he found out sooner than ever about the presence of the imposter. Otherwise-

The king frowned as he pursed his lips. Otherwise what? He didn't know what to do. If his son were the enemy leader instead of that imposter, he would have surrendered instantly and begged his son to stop the bloodshed. He was even ready to die a brutal death at the hands of Bradley.

But what was the point of thinking like this now? His most precious son was dead!

Rhesus's eyes turned red as he glanced at his son's dead body before he shut his eyes close. What should he do? He indeed was the king who owned the throne, but he didn't have even an ounce of power right now. Just how was he supposed to deal with this situation? Would anyone believe him?

When he thought of how he had killed all of his elder brothers for the throne, he fell into depression all over again. He really wanted to travel in time and kill himself. At least, the Vanne kingdom wouldn't have fallen in such a pit, and so many people wouldn't have died. This was his retribution for sure. This was the cruelest punishment he was forced to face for something he did in his youth.

Just as he was silently repenting, he heard the sound of footsteps that echoed in his ears. He instantly looked up to see someone standing before him covered in a hood from head to toe. His glance swept past the crowd before stopping at the dead body. The man in the hood seemed to have frozen and stared at the body for a long time before he let out a chuckle.

"Good game." The man shook his head and smiled. Only his lips were visible through the hood. His voice sounded ethereal, as if someone had put some meditative magic that could make people calm. "Looks like someone wants to destroy all of my plans."

Rhesus, however, shivered after hearing that voice.