Chapter 93: The rot 2
The King sat rigidly on his throne, his knuckles tightening on the carved arms of the seat as his eyes bore into the kneeling figure before him. His voice, though calm, carried a weight that silenced every corner of the chamber.
"You will answer truthfully," the King said, each word measured and cold. "Was the poisoning of my son part of your schemes?"
The crippled grandmaster lowered his head, shame flickering across his weathered face. "Yes, Your Majesty," he replied. His voice was hoarse from fear and from the weight of what he was about to confess. "It was one of the objectives. I did not know who carried out the task directly, I was not given names. But... I received the same scroll as the others involved. The instructions were clear."
The King’s jaw clenched. "What did it say?"
The man took a breath. "It detailed a strategy designed to provoke conflict. To create chaos. The order was to eliminate the Crown Prince silently and leave behind traces, signs pointing to Blackmare. The plan was never to strike openly, but to push your court into believing it was their doing. The goal was to pit Valerion against Blackmare, provoke retaliation, disrupt diplomacy, and amplify the rivalry through mistrust and bloodshed."
He paused, daring a glance upward. "And in that confusion... they would embed themselves deeperand unnoticed. The political unrest would distract you, Your Majesty. It would pull your resources, your generals, your court’s attention... while they gained access to the very heart of the kingdom."
Silence fell, thick and suffocating.
The King leaned back slowly, his expression unreadable, but his thoughts were racing. War with Blackmare, one of their fiercest neighbors, would’ve drawn every sword from its sheath, more trade routes would collapse, nobles would pick sides. Valerion would be at its weakest not because of a single enemy, but because of division within. They would have destroyed themselves.
Henrietta stood quietly beside the throne, her eyes never leaving the man on his knees. She could sense it again, he was telling the truth.
The King’s gaze dropped to the crippled grandmaster again. "So you were willing to help orchestrate a war... for what? The promise of reaching Ascendant Rank?"