Chapter 301 - Some Things Can't Be Inherited, While Some Weird Things Can
"So, about what you were talking about with Keith, what do you mean by that?" King Henry asked Celestine, but before Celestine replied back, someone else interrupted.
"Huhuhu, old man, you forgot something. I'm also here!" Lynn uncover her robe and show herself to King Henry.
"E-Empress of Consenza as well!?" Keith panicked seeing two leaders of other countries appeared in the king's chamber.
"Oh, yeah. You're here. Anyway, back to the topic…?" King Henry just ignored Lynn.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Lynn protested.
"Sorry. Good that you're here, Claudia." King Henry greeted Claudia who removed her robe as well.
"It is nice to meet you too, King Henry. Though the situation is not very nice." Claudia said.
"You're right. Sigh… now I have to pick someone else to be my heir. Good thing his position hasn't been officialized yet." King Henry regretted that the future of his kingdom almost fell to the cult without any effort.
"It's all thanks to Roy and Celestine. If not for them, we will never know about it until it's too late. It was quite lucky that we arrived here so quick. Thanks to our new friend, Spot." Albert then introduced the floating Serpent the size of a snake. Spot has transformed into a smaller version of him and look just like a snake.
"Hello, old man! Sorry that I sunk your ships!" Spot said.
"Sunk my ships?" King Henry confused with what Spot just said.
"That one is Spot. He's the Serpent who roamed in the sea between Consenza and Varadis. Centuries ago, when your kingdom wanted to attack the Empire, it was his fault that the attack failed. He destroyed the sailing ships that caused ruckus in the sea." This time, it was me who spoke.
"It's you? I have read in our past documents that such thing actually happened. Well, I don't mind. Those are things from the past. And thanks to that, we ended up having good relationship with each other." King Henry said.
"Oh! You forgive me? You're a good old man!" Spot said.
"But you're older though. Anyway, I need explanation. There are many confusing things happening at once. I'd like to have someone bring tea over, but I don't think any of you want anyone else to notice that you're here. And I don't know if there are any other cult members in this castle." King Hendy said.
"Seventeen. Including the guards and servants, I can see about seventeen in the castle at the moment. As for the tea, I'll bring it."
I turned around and make sure King Henry's son unable to see me making a portal. It's a small portal that can be covered with my body. Though I still let King Henry to see.
I have asked Sonia before to tell Lina to prepare tea for us and told her to put it in my room. So, I just grabbed them with my portal. Now, we have tea for us.
"So, that… that thing is what Albert told me before. That seem very useful." King Henry said. Seems like he understood that I want to keep this power as secret from Keith so he didn't say what it is.
"It is. But I'm special since I can do more thanks to Victoria."
I only said the gist of it. I know he realized it from listening to Albert that Victoria is my summon, and she can create clones of herself. And those clones are where I connect my portal to.
"I heard that you will give me one." King Henry said.
"Right. Here. Keep it with you at all time."
I put the tea on the table, and throw him a Blobby after.
"I'll be sure to keep it safe with me. You're Roy, right? You can just call me Henry or Old man like the others. I prefer to be casual."
"Okay. Anyway, I'll let you and Celestine talk first. As for your son, he won't be able to do anything for a while. Even asking for help." I said.
"That's fine. So, please tell."
"Alright. Here's my story."
Celestine told the old man about her past. About how she ended up becoming a leader of a faction in the cult and how she's still evil despite joining us.
"As for my engagement with him, you remember why it doesn't work, right?" Celestine asked.
"Yeah. It was my son being stupid. You were so young back then and he refused it because your boobs size is too small for him. I also didn't want you to be paired with my son who is a few years older than you, so it's actually a good thing. Sigh… our love toward big breasts are inherited from our previous king several generations before us. It was said that the reason he wanted to attack Consenza was because the princess at the time has a big breast." Old man said.
"PFFFT!" I spit my tea back to the cup. Disgusting.
"So, your love for breasts were inherited?" I asked.
"Yes." Old man replied.
"But her breasts size was not inherited from her ancestor?" I pointed at Lynn's chest.
"It seems so." Old man said as he sighed.
"Hey! I'm still the most beautiful in the Empire!" Lynn protested.
"Ah… how time flies… many things changed. Even people's taste." Old man said.
"Hey!"
"But at least your sister got all the good part."
"HEY!"
Lynn's tone is getting louder and louder. Just shows how angry she is.
"Huh? So that girl was Lady Celestine? Huh? So, I rejected Lady Celestine? Huh?"
And there's someone who has a lot of regret over there. Let's ignore him and put Air Barrier around him as well so he won't be able to listen to our next conversation.
"Let's talk about our real reason for coming here." I started the serious conversation.
"Oh! Another puppet Shows!" Spot shouted excitedly.
"…no, just a normal story telling. We'll talk, and then I will bring Albert, Lynn, and Claudia back where they belong. Should I do that now?" I asked.
"Yes. We have met and there's no more reason for me to stay. And I have other business to attend." Albert said.
"Okay, Victoria."
I ordered Victoria to cover Keith's eyes so he won't be able to see what happened. Then, I opened two portals. One is to Tatrama, and the other is to Consenza.
"I'll take care of everything here first. Then, I will go to Arturo. But seeing how many people have explosive devices in their mouth just in this castle alone, I think I will stay here for a few days. I hope nothing happens to the king before I reach there. If he's still alive." I said.
I did this mission leisurely that I almost had Old man Henry as the next victim. I'll clean up everything here as fast as possible, and go to Arturo right away.
"Hmm… they disappear after entering the portal. That's interesting. Now, let's talk."
I told him all that I have told Lynn and Albert. And seems like he's smarter than the others and able to use time wisely, so my talk with him is over sooner than I thought. There are many things that Albert and Claudia asked, but Old man Henry can guess the missing part from my story with hypothesis and they are right most of the time. I enjoy talking with Old man Henry.
"Hmm… just what you did in this life is enough to make a huge change. You alone already made two higher-ups of the cult to switch side. It might be just two and the cult still has a lot of members left, but it's still two expert level mages. And if not for you, I wouldn't know that my own son is conspiring against me. Can I talk to him?" Old man wanted to speak with his son.
"Sure."
Victoria unwrap herself from covering Keith's eyes, and I also undid the Air Barrier.
"Keith, why did you do this? Selling the kingdom to the cult?" Old man asked his son.
"I also never expected it to go this far. At first, I just joined the faction because of my interest. Then I thought that these people could help me get the throne. And when I realized everything, it's too late." Keith said.
"You're such a disappointment. I was already thinking that you are not fit to be the leader when you rejected Celestine back then. And recently, I thought that you're fit to be a leader. But turns out, I almost gave the kingdom I have protected to the cult unknowingly. Do you know what will happen to you after this?" Old man asked.
"Death sentence." Keith said calmly.
"…that should be the case. But since the citizens don't know about this, I will spare your life. You will stay in the dungeon until the cult is destroyed. I'll make up some lies to tell the others."
"…I'm sorry father."
"Sigh…"
Hmm? That's it? That was fast.
"Then… should I clean up the rest of the cult members in the capital?" I asked.
"No. You can kill everyone outside the castle, and those who are not a noble. As for those in the castle, tell me everyone. Good thing today is my granddaughter birthday. All the servants and the guards are all here for the birthday party. And all the nobles in this city will attend. But it seems one of my sons won't be attending." Old man said as he looked at Keith.
"Birthday party? I want to go! There's a cake, right?"
"…you can be one of the servants there."
"If I'm not the one eating, there's no point in going. I guess I won't be joining. Oh, wait! I guess I can wait here until all the guests arrive, and I will tell you if any one of them is a cult member. As for the rest of the capital, I can do it after the birthday party. I guess I'll play as the servant."
"Good. Then, I want you to tell me the servants who are cult members. You will replace one of them. What about you, Celestine?" Old man asked Celestine.
"I'll be a servant as well. I'll disguise myself as a man. Hearing how your family loves big breasts makes me uneasy to stay here without disguising myself." Celestine said.
If she attended the party as she is, everyone's attention would be on her instead of birthday girl. I guess a disguise is necessary.
Now, we wait until the party started. As for Keith, I covered his head with Victoria's clones, and imprison him in the basement of my house.. Old man will instruct me later on what to do with him.