Chapter 340 - In Prince Bernard's Mansion

Still in Arturo Kingdom, but this time, it's not the capital.

This is the mansion in the city near the border between Arturo and Tatrama. This is where the real king is planning to fight the fake king, and also where he is rehabilitating after months of torture.

In one of the rooms, King Harold is trying to walk. He's unstable and already have difficulty to stand up. But he never gives up. King Harold take a step slowly while balancing his body. It's a difficult task for someone who has been restrained and tortured for months, but he faces it with determination.

He tried to walk to someone in the opposite direction. She's Queen Carmen, and someone who loves him dearly. Unlike his other wives. Though it's kind of difficult to tell since she only realized that he has been replaced after sleeping with the fake king.

"Come on, honey! Just a little more! Just five meters more!" Queen Carmen cheered her husband.

"Go, daddy!"

Other than Queen Carmen, there are several other people watching him. They are the king's children.

He has many children, but these three are those he can trust at the moment. They are Prince Fabio, Prince Bernard, and Princess Luna.

Just like the queen, Luna was also cheering for her father to try his best. Even though with her Future Vision which can see further than Fabio she saw many times that his father will fall, she also saw how determined her father is and love to see him working hard. He is her pride.

"If my wife and my daughter said so, then I can do it!" Harold said.

It took him more than thirty seconds just to walk five meters. And that's already an improvement.

Queen Carmen has prepared a wheelchair for Harold. During his rehabilitation, it was her who pushed the wheelchair. Even when Bernard told her that he can let one of the servants to do that, she refused anyone to take that job from her.

"What's wrong, you two? Your father just broke a record and he can now walk further. Soon, he won't need a wheelchair anymore. Though he might need to walk with a cane for a while. Why aren't you praising him?" Queen Carmen asked the two men watching.

Although they both happy seeing their father progressed so much, they just listened to a new information. That's why they have gloomy expressions.

"Bad news?" King Harold asked.

"Yes. Sonia just told us a really bad news. She has gone to inform other kings as well. She has died a long time ago, but she's still working hard." Bernard said.

"What news?" King Harold asked.

"That's… sigh… It's Toni's mother. She has joined the cult. That's what Toni told Sonia."

Fabio explained how Toni realized that someone has joined the cult, and his mother now has been influenced by them as well. And Fabio explained how Fabio was told to meet them, but he refused saying he's too busy.

"That woman! As expected, it was not a good idea for you to marry that woman!" Queen Carmen shouted in anger.

"Yeah. I need to think carefully the next time I married someone." King Harold said.

"You're going to marry more!?" Queen Carmen shouted.

Meanwhile, Bernard looked at his father in confusion.

"Father, why are you so calm?" Bernard asked.

"Because Toni is doing his best. He knows the danger of staying there, but he still chooses to do that so we have someone from the inside. I need to be calm so we can prepare more. So, when the time comes that we fight against them, we can save Toni and hopefully everyone as well. Not just those staying in the capital obviously. Everyone in the whole kingdom as well. I think it's best to check my other children as well." King Harold said.

His other children are fighting to get a chance for the throne. King Harold need to know if they will be able to help or not.

"Though I'm glad that you changed from being a battle maniac who keeps losing, to this. You've changed after you realized you're going to be a father. I'm proud of you." King Harold said to Bernard.

"Thank you… wait, is that what you think of me!? Battle maniac who keeps losing?" Bernard complained.

The family laughed seeing Bernard's reaction. It was as if they forgot that someone close to them has joined the cult.

Suddenly, Queen Carmen noticed something approaching. She knows because of her detection skill as an expert level mage. Although she was still familiarizing herself with it, she knows when something is approaching. Thanks to Celestine's instruction, she's getting used to her power easily.

"It's Sister Jill!"

Luna with her Future Vision, got excited to see that the ones approaching is someone she knows. She's another daughter of King Harold, but from different mother than the three here.

Before Luna run toward the guest, Fabio stopped her.

"Stop, Luna. We need to see if she can be trusted or not. You can't approach her when we don't know if she's dangerous or not. Father, should I call Sonia to contact Roy to get Albert?" Fabio asked.

"No. I think it's best to see it for ourselves if she can be trusted or not. Bernard, can you arrange it so she will meet you while we're listening? Carmen, take Luna somewhere safe." King Harold said, but the one who refused that idea is Luna herself.

"No! I will be the one to see if Sister Jill can be trusted or not! After all, I'm still a princess!" Luna said.

Seeing Luna determined to see for herself, King Harold agreed.

Bernard arranged a room where King Harold, Queen Carmen, Fabio, and Luna can hear everything.

Then, Jill entered the room with her assistant. A man whom everyone hasn't meet before.

"Brother Fabio, imagine yourself attacking sister Jill and that man." Luna said.

Luna can see the future, but that future can be changed according to her action. But because she's too weak, even if she attacked the two guests, there's nothing that can confirm if they are dangerous or not.

That's why she asked Fabio's help. He also knows how Future Vision works, so he thought of attacking his sister with magic ten seconds later. That should be enough for Luna to see the rest.

"Jill, why are you here? And who is that man?" Bernard asked Jill. He acted as if everything is normal.

"Can't a sister meet her beloved brother? Oh, this is my assistant." Jill said.

"Just say what you're here for."

"Sigh… well, if you want me to be direct, then I will. Do you know that we're fighting for the throne? And I don't think that you are interested in it. I want to ask you to join hand with me to help me raise to the throne." Jill said.

"So, you want to be the next queen?" Bernard asked. Although he is looking at Jill, he can see Fabio hiding who will tell him if he can trust Jill or not.

In their hiding spot, Fabio was about to attack when Luna stopped him.

"Brother Fabio, that's enough. Sister Jill doesn't know anything, but that assistant is from the cult." Luna said.

Fabio noticed that she's shaking in fear after seeing the future, but she chooses to stay strong for her family.

"You did well, Luna." Fabio praised his sister.

Then, Fabio gives Bernard a signal to tell that the man is dangerous. He pointed at the man, and crossed his arms into X-shape. And Bernard noticed that.

"We have something important to tell you, Jill. But this man won't be invited." Bernard said.

"…we?"

While Jill is confused, Fabio appears and attacked the man with the intention to kill. But the man noticed it although it was a bit late, so he wasn't injured badly.

"What do you mean by this, Prince Bernard?" The man shouted.

"What are you doing!? Wait, Brother Fabio?" Jill was about to lash out at Bernard for attacking her assistant, but she was surprised to see that the person attacking him is her brother who was supposed to be dead.

And then, a huge amount of water is being controlled and trapped the assistant inside of the ball. That's Queen Carmen's water magic.

"Queen Carmen? And… father!?" Jill was shocked again to see someone unexpected in that place.

But the one who was shocked the most is the man trapped inside the water. Jill's assistant.

Seeing the situation is not good, he tried to break away from the water, but his magic is too weak.

Having no other choice, and seeing that the real King Harold is there, he knows his plan won't work. So, he exploded his own head while still being inside the water.

Queen Carmen controlled the water to not let the explosion affected anything outside of the water. Thanks to that, no one injured because of the explosion.

"What the hell is going on!?" Jill was confused seeing that her assistant's head suddenly exploded.

"You all have been tricked. My wives, my children, you are all tricked by that fake king claiming to be me. Now, the hindrance has gone. I will tell you everything." King Harold said.

Since they don't want to have a discussion somewhere with a headless corpse, they changed room. King Harold and everyone told Jill everything, including what seems to be the plan of the cult.

"Aha… ahahaha… so… they will replace me like how they replaced father. What have I been doing all this time?" Jill said in regret.

"In fact, this might be better. Having you split up makes it easier to see if each of you can be trusted or not one by one. We decided that that man can't be trusted. And we are powerless to stop him from killing himself. That's how most of the cult members instructed. They will kill themselves with explosives inside their mouth before we can extract information from them." King Harold said.

"So, if I can't be trusted, you will kill me?" Jill said.

"Yes. And fact is, you still can't be trusted yet. We're here to check that. You might think that I'm a cruel father who will kill his own daughter, and I won't deny it. Now… Carmen, what are you doing?"

Before King Harold asked his daughter a question, he looked at Queen Carmen who was pushing the wheelchair, but now she moved after contacting Sonia. And Sonia has disappeared again after appearing for a short while.

"I'm calling Sonia to call Roy to call King Albert. It will be easier to do that." Queen Carmen said.

"…I just told you that we don't need to do that. Sigh…"