Chapter 201: I Am Not Any Monster

The study room of the King of Megaris was a huge and lavish partitioned chamber with a long wooden desk and chair, both made of sturdy polished redwood, near the windows, while there was a smaller desk on the other side near the shelves where the king's aide took care of less important paperwork.

The ornaments were relatively minimal compared to the other rooms inside the royal palace, but there were several tokens of war over the fireplace and the stone walls had various shelves that were filled with a number of precious books and documents from all over the continent. In the center of the study, there was a set of well-cushioned chairs, a couch, and a nicely carved center table meant for entertaining guests. 

The wide glass windows were positioned to face the east, allowing natural light to brighten up the study during the day, and one could see the beautiful view of distant mountains and the river outside. The peaks of those mountains looked white due to them being perpetually covered in snow, but during winter, not just those mountains but also the entire capital would be covered in snow, turning the city into a white canvas.

When Drayce entered his study, he saw two additional tables placed near his desk where Jasper had already arranged a tall pile of paperwork meant to be personally read and approved by the King of Megaris. The astounding sight of pending work made Drayce reconsider going back to his queen who he left alone in her chamber. 

After staring at the stack upon stack of scrolls, Drayce turned to look at his aide. 

Jasper merely shrugged as he gestured towards the parchment tied with a ribbon on the middle of the desk. "My father gave the deed of one of our coal mines as a wedding gift"—he then gestured towards the new tables filled with paperwork— "while this is the wedding present from me."

"Do not tell me that you are not being compensated enough in exchange for your work for you to not give me something of value."

Jasper did not show a hint of a smile, but his eyes were obviously laughing at Drayce. "For any wise king, what could be more valuable than the welfare of his kingdom? These are all the issues that, once you resolve and approve, would make our Great Megaris prosper even more!"

"If other subjects put more effort into work, it can also aid in the prosperity of the kingdom," Drayce commented as he sat in the chair behind the desk.

"It is not like other subjects will listen to the arrangements of another subject."

"Those other subjects would once they realize their pretty little necks are at risk."

Jasper made a face when he was sure Drayce wasn't looking. "This subject does not wish to be assassinated by other subjects, at least until he gets a wife and has a child or two for the sake of the Candace Family. After that, this subject will happily sacrifice his youth for his king and this kingdom."

"What youth? You'll be a bald middle-aged man by then."

"I'm already balding even though I'm still in my twenties!"

"One more word and you will end up sacrificing all your precious hair," Drayce warned. "I'll make sure not a strand will be left behind."

Japers gave him a narrow-eyed sulking look but wisely chose to stay quiet. 

Drayce went through the scrolls one by one, his actions smooth and fluid as he signed and tossed them aside after just one glance. It was one of the extraordinary powers he possessed; he never had to read the entire thing for long like other people to see the core details. Glancing once at what was written inside the scrolls was enough for him.

Jasper continued to inform him of a few other things that recently happened in the capital. 

"Your elder brother, Prince Keiren, is showing signs of rebellion once again. He has secretly started to conspire with those annoying ministers from his mother's faction. It seems the harem of the former king is also involved, although we are yet to discover concrete evidence. Once the First Concubine makes her move, your father's other wives might side with him too."

"Let him play for as long as he wants," Drayce commented. 

"I heard he made secret contacts with Thevailes. One of the knights under him was said to have met with King Samer of Thevailes."

"Hmm," was all Drayce said in response as he continued to look through the scrolls while tossing them to one side. Jasper divided them depending on which territories the recipient of the documents are, as well as which ones would be kept in the royal archive

"Aren't you worried?" Jasper asked. 

"Do I need to?"

"If you have decided to rule the kingdom like any ordinary human king, then it's something to worry about. A civil war will cause the economy to suffer, and many innocent citizens will be swept into trouble. If you get rid of the rebels with your powers before they execute their schemes, we will have nothing to worry about."

Drayce sighed and looked at his aide with a cold gaze. "Do you want me to hunt them down like a monster? Won't that make me nothing but a heartless butcher? Then there won't be any difference between me and those self-entitled monsters who call themselves humans despite not acting like one."

Jasper was taken aback a little. and thought about what just happened. He had served Drayce for a long time, and this kind of discussion was not the first nor the last they'd ever have. His king had never behaved like this whenever they talked about his powers before.

"Did something happen?" Jasper asked with concern.

"I am not any monster who will simply hurt anyone—and that devil, I will bury him somewhere if I can."

Hearing the dangerous edge in his voice, Jasper was sure something had happened. "You are not a monster. Now tell me what happened? That devil troubled you again?"

Drayce frowned, and merely threw a, "Aren't we getting late for the royal court?" before standing up to leave.

Jasper, the adviser of the king and the one who handled everything in his king's absence,  also stood up and followed behind Drayce. Since Drayce was unwilling to answer, he pretended as if he did not ask those questions. "Even if those old rags keep standing for hours, it won't hurt their knees. Even if they do, so what? The royal treasury has too much money, and we can provide them with ointments for years. Don't worry."

Drayce wordlessly walked out of the study. The commander of the royal knights, Slayer, was already waiting outside of the study with his own brigade of knights. 

They all bowed towards Drayce. "Greetings, Your Majesty! Greetings, Lord Candace!"

"How are you feeling now?" Drayce asked Slayer. Though he recovered due to those magic elixirs, the long journey had also helped as it allowed his once gravely injured body to rest.

"I am absolutely fine, Your Majesty," Slayer replied.

Jasper couldn't be silent when his two friends were acting so formal, like a king and his subject, and commented as he looked at Drayce, "When Your Majesty was still resting in some other chamber, I saw Sir Sanders sneaking out to the training grounds to bully—I mean, have a sword fight with his vice-commander early in the morning. I am sure he is perfectly fine even if he is to head out to the battlegrounds today."

Slayer reserved his respect for his king alone. When he looked at Jasper, he had that innate arrogance swordsmen have as they looked down on intellectuals. "I am sure Lord Candace is bored of handling paperwork all day long. Reading and writing all day are bad for your eyes and your back. I must take you with me the next time my brigade is deployed to the frontlines. Who knows, your hair growth might be stimulated once they feel the air of the battlefield."

"Good idea. I hope he will stop whining over his lost hair after that," Drayce commented as he walked. Slayer and Jasper escorted him while the rest of the knights followed them.

"Tss." Jasper made a face. "If I leave the palace, I wonder if His Majesty will survive that horrible flood of paperwork."

Slayer responded in kind. "With your swordsmanship poorer than even the novices among the knights-in-training, shouldn't you wonder whether you'll survive the flood of enemies?"

The young lord realized that Slayer's words made sense. "What, my hair is not enough, you two want me to lose my life too?"

Crossing the wide corridors of the royal residence towards the main palace, Drayced halted in his tracks. The knight and the king's aide also stopped their bickering, not questioning in their minds why their king had stopped. 

Drayce closed his eyes when he heard distant yet familiar voices that informed him that his queen was finally awake. Only after he satisfied himself from listening in the women's conversation did Drayce finally take a step forward. 

"Was it a nice melody, Your Majesty?" Jasper asked, smiling lightly as he followed his king. 

Drayce nodded lightly. "Hmm, a sweet one."

Slayer always maintained a neutral expression whenever he was on royal duty, but he too couldn't help but smile at the rare sight of his king being happy. 

Other than Arlan, Slayer and Jasper were aware of Drayce's various abilities as well. They too had known what kind of life he led under the reign of the previous king, thus they understood what a precious being their queen was to their friend.