Chapter 81

81 Conflicting Interest

Zenon gave a confused gaze to Caspian upon receiving the order to kill the perpetrator, especially if it was a werewolf.

The Royal Advisor was well aware that vampires and werewolves didn’t see eye to eye in the past, which led to the war between the two species and almost led to their extinction.

What he didn’t understand at the moment was, why Caspian was so full of hatred towards the werewolves that he was ordered to kill them on sight.

“Your Majesty, with all due respect, I understand that werewolves aren’t allowed to enter our territory. And it is our duty to catch them before they start running rampant on our grounds and hunting down our kind again. But we don’t know anything yet.”

Zenon pointed at the dog and said, “That poor thing might have been killed by something other than the wolf. We will find out the real culprit sooner or later after doing a thorough investigation. But even if it was indeed the work of a wolf, I don’t think killing them on sight will be good for...”

“Good for what? Do you need a good reason to kill the wolf? Isn’t the breach of the peace treaty enough of the reason to kill them on sight?” Caspian gave a piercing glare to Zenon and growled while emanating a dangerous aura around him, “Are you challenging my decision-making capacity, Zenon? I know what I am saying! Now don’t argue with me and go and catch it already.”

Zenon felt a chill shiver running down his spine, and he froze for a few seconds as he tried to process the sudden outburst of Caspian.

Caspian would rarely lose his calm like this in front of Zenon. For him, Zenon was more of a reliable friend than an advisor. And he would always respect Zenon’s views and suggestions.

But right now, it seemed as though Caspian was possessed by something evil.

.....

The others who came along with Caspian and Zenon were already trembling in fear and were hanging their heads very low so that the King wouldn’t shift his anger on them.

Though stunned for a few seconds, Zenon could feel that the King was infuriated because of some other reason. He could also tell that the King wasn’t angry at him but was projecting someone else’s rage on him.

So, Zenon gave a polite bow to the King and calmly replied, “I wouldn’t dare to challenge you, Your Majesty. But I am your advisor, and it is my sworn duty to give you my insights and my opinions. I am simply trying to fulfill my duty.”

“I already-” Caspian was ready to say something in anger but Zenon didn’t give him a chance to speak before he finished what he had to say.

“Your Majesty, even if we do find a werewolf lurking in our Kingdom, it would be wise to capture it and hand it over to Xanmar this one time. That way, they will give suitable punishment to their kind themselves. And we can prevent any unnecessary clashes between the two Kingdoms. It will take a heavy toll on our population if Sorvando and Xanmar were to go to war again.”

Caspian was still unable to shake the feeling that if there indeed was a werewolf in his Kingdom, it would definitely be the Crown Prince of Xanmar. And though he had a deep trust in his wife, he didn’t trust Everard one bit.

If Caspian had an opportunity and the right reason to eliminate his possible competition, then he would gladly take that opportunity.

However, Caspian was also the King of his Kingdom, not a mere husband to his wife.

He had to think about his people as well. And he couldn’t afford to go into a war with the werewolves, especially when the werewolves actually possessed the strength and resources to go toe-to-toe with the vampires.

So he snuffed out his desire to kill Everard and took Zenon’s advice into consideration. “Alright. Whoever or whatever it is, capture it and bring it to me. Alive. I will question it, and then I will decide what to do next.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Zenon thought that this was progress from before. At least the King wasn’t ordering him to kill on sight. At least he was willing to wait until the culprit was actually caught.

Zenon bowed before the King again and gave his words, “I will lead a team and search each and every corner of these woods as well as this town. And we will uncover who is behind all these recent troubles.”

Caspian gave a piercing gaze to Zenon and further ordered, “You better find that culprit by the end of the night. Don’t even think about returning to the castle before you capture it.”

“I will do that, Your Majesty.” Even though Zenon said that, he wasn’t sure if he could fulfill his promise to the King.

One thing that he was sure of was that he had no time to waste. He quickly looked at the Royal Guards and ordered in a loud and determined voice, “Come on, what are you all waiting for? Let’s go!”

Zenon rushed away from there as soon as he said that.

And all except one of the Royal Guards followed after Zenon. They all knew that their King didn’t need any kind of protection. Rather, someone who had the misfortune of standing in front of the King as his opponent would be needing the protection instead.

So, the Royal Guards didn’t hesitate one bit before bowing to the King and leaving his side.

Caspian sighed in frustration and looked at the dead dog again. The more he looked at it, the more he was convinced that it was the work of a werewolf.

‘There’s no way an animal with lower intelligence would have done that,’ he thought to himself.

Caspian clenched his jaw and his fists, and he promised to himself, ‘If it is indeed a werewolf then I should interrogate it first. If it turns out to be that bastard or it is in any way related to that bastard then I will make sure that they will never dare to lay their eyes in Sorvando.’

‘I will make sure to break their bones into so many pieces that they will think their transformation is painless compared to what I did to them.’ Caspian was clenching his fists so tightly that his already pale knuckles now almost looked white.

A little farther away from where the crowd was, a short man with a round belly and a mustache was crossing his arms across his chest. And he was looking at the crowd and the King. He had deep frown lines between his brows as he looked around.

From the expression on that man’s face, it looked like the man knew something about what was happening in the town and the nearby woods.

A while later, from the corner of his eyes, Caspian felt as though someone was watching him. He swiftly turned his head in the direction of that man.

However, by the time Caspian turned to see, that man was nowhere to be seen.