Chapter 351

Chapter 351

‘Good! Hurry up and sign it! Kekeke!’ Duke Alto stared excitedly at Siegfried, who was about to sign the document. It was game over the moment Siegfried signed Siegfried van Proa on the document, as the Lexus Kingdom would immediately submit the document to the emperor.

What was going to happen after that?

The emperor would have no choice but to allow the Lexus Kingdon’s invasion of the Proatine Kingdom.

‘That signature is going to be the noose around your neck,’ Duke Alto rejoiced inwardly.

Was it because Siegfried read Duke Alto’s intentions? He was about to sign the paper when he suddenly stopped right before the quill pen touched the paper.

“Wait! Excuse me, I have a question,” he said.

“W-What is it? Why don’t you sign that paper first before asking questions?” Duke Alto suggested.

“I will sign it later. I mean, I have to satisfy my curiosity first before signing anything, right?”

“Ahem!”

“Are you letting me go if I sign this?”

“That’s...” Duke Alto hesitated for a second before he finally answered, “That will not be possible immediately. We will have to go through due process, after all, but I will do my best for His Majesty to exonerate you at the earliest possible as soon as you sign that paper.”

“Ah! I see!”

“So, about the paper...”

“I guess I should sign it,” Siegfried said with a shrug as he brought the quill pen to the paper. However, he stopped right before the quill pen touched the paper once again.

“Wait a minute...”

“What is it this time?” Duke Alto asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

‘This damned bastard! Why is he stalling so much? Just hurry up and sign the damn paper!’ he fumed inside and was about to hurl all sorts of curses, but he exerted superhuman self-control and suppressed his anger.

Instead, he decided to choose his words carefully, “I hope Your Majesty is aware that the possibility of war erupting between our kingdoms is going to increase the longer you delay things. Are you perhaps hoping for war to erupt between our kingdoms?”

“No! Not at all!”

“Then what is it?”

“My tea cup is empty.”

“Your tea...?”

“I told you this tea is quite fragrant, right? I want to enjoy another cup before signing this paper.”

“Guards!” Duke Alto shouted.

The guards outside rushed in and exclaimed, “Yes, Duke Alto!”

“Tell a maid to immediately bring some tea!”

“Yes, sir!”

Duke Alto looked at Siegfried and said, “Did you see that? Now, please sign the paper.”

“I will after I have my drink,” Siegfried nonchalantly replied.

“It is but a simple signature. Please sign the paper first while waiting for your tea.”

“Should I?” Siegfried replied while rubbing his chin. Then, he brought the quill pen toward the paper once again, but he stopped once again and looked at Duke Alto.

“Excuse me...”

“Are you not going to sign the paper?”

“No, I will, but...”

“But? What is it this time? What do you need this time?” Duke Alto asked as his face slowly started to turn red.

‘Don’t tell me... Is this bastard playing with me?!’ he suspected that Siegfried was playing him for the fool right now. Unbeknownst to him, he was absolutely right.

‘Kekeke! I must be annoying the hell out of you right now, right?’ Siegfried thought while snickering inwardly.

Siegfried was smarter than most people out there when it came to these kinds of things, so there was no way he would not know what Duke Alto was up to. He knew better than anyone else what signing the confession meant, and just how important it was to the duke, so he decided to tease the duke for fun.

Duke Alto narrowed his eyes and asked, “Your Majesty, are you perhaps playing with me right now?”

“Such accusations!” Siegfried exclaimed in response and feigned ignorance. He then added, “I was about to sign it right now!”

“Then why did you stop?”

“I have a condition.”

“What is Your Majesty’s condition?”

“I want to stay somewhere else in exchange for signing this paper.”

“Stay somewhere else?”

“I’m still the king of a kingdom, so I can’t stay in some underground prison, right? I want you to prepare a suitable place to accommodate me during my stay.”

“All right, I will ask the maids to prepare Your Majesty’s accommodation, so please sign the paper.”

“You will have to add a clause explaining that. I hate liars, you see.”

“I understand! Duke Alto!” King Fernandes replied and immediately gave the mobilization command.

Speed was of the essence!

The Lexus Kingdom planned to make quick work of the Proatine Kingdom.

“Bwahaha! Should I go see what that insolent Adventurer is doing?” Duke Alto let out a burst of boisterous laughter and went to see Siegfried after the troops had been mobilized for war. Then, he wondered, “Kekeke! I wonder what kind of face he’s going to make after finding out that war is about to erupt between our kingdoms! I’m really curious!”

It seemed that Duke Alto was extremely annoyed by Siegfried’s antics when he had asked the latter to sign his written confession.

“Huh? Hello, Duke Alto. What brings you here? Oh! Will I finally be free?” Siegfried asked while enjoying a game of cards all alone in the luxurious palace provided to him.

“Free? Kekeke!” Duke Alto snickered and replied, “Yes, you will be free soon.”

“Huh?”

“After your kingdom has been trampled by the boots of our troops!”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems you don’t understand the situation.”

“I do not understand what—”

“War is about to start.”

“W-War?!” Siegfried was pretended to be stupefied. He put on his best act and stammered, “B-But I signed the document as you said, and you told me that there will not be—”

“Bwahahaha!”

“...?”

“Did you really believe me? What a moron! That document was your written confession!”

“So...?”

“We sent your confession to the emperor!”

“What?! Erm—So?”

“You still don’t get it, do you? What you did was an act of provocation, and the emperor has agreed not to protect you from this war!”

“Ah!”

“War will soon start! The thing that you feared the most! War!” Duke Alto exclaimed as he triumphantly raised his arms.

However, Siegfried raised his arms as well and shouted, “Yahoo! Woot! Woot!”

“Are you sure? Is war really going to erupt between our kingdoms?” he asked.

“...?”

“Yes! Let’s gooo!”

“...?”

Duke Alto couldn’t help but suspect that Siegfried had either gone insane or he was already insane, to begin with. Otherwise, why was he so happy after hearing that his kingdom would soon be embroiled in war?

“You seem to have gone crazy, or perhaps you’ve always been a madman. Tsk, tsk... It’s quite unfortunate, but we have no choice but to fulfill our kingdom’s age-old ambition of—” Duke Alto said while shaking his head.

Boom!

Duke Alto was interrupted by a loud explosion that shook the entire palace, but that wasn’t the end of it.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of cannon fire thundered outside.

The palace shook as if it were about to collapse.

“W-We’re under fire!”

“Aaaack!”

“Kyaaaah!”

Screams filled the air as people tried to evacuate to save themselves.

“W-What’s going on? What’s happening?! Just what in the world is...!” Duke Alto screamed while being utterly confused by the sudden turn of events.

Slap!

“Kuheok!”

Siegfried slapped Duke Alto’s face, and he fell to the ground with blood coming out from his mouth.

“W-What are you doing...?”

“We’re in war, you bastard.”

“W-What...?!”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? It’s time for war,” Siegfried said as he took out his +15 Gaia’s Fist and walked toward Duke Alto.

The Proatine Kingdom versus the Lexus Kingdom!

The war between the two kingdoms started with the Proatine Forces ambushing the royal capital of the Lexus Kingdom.