窃情谋欲

A large wall with a humongous gate at the front stood there. The white stone wall was so high that nothing can be seen from the outside. Armored guards with swords, spears, and bows were stationed at the top of the large walls.

Though they looked nothing special, they were undoubtedly among the top warriors of the kingdom, as this city was indeed in need of that kind of force to keep its peace.

There was already a long line of people trying to enter the city through the gate, and the guards at the front were verifying their identities and the commodities they had with them.

Duncan, the commander, took himself to be the one to talk to the guards for a speed passageway. Since he was that much respected and since the person in question was the Duke and his family, they didn\'t have any choice but to cut them from the line and allow direct entry.

The Royal Capital was the tourists\' main attraction in the Spring kingdom. It was a bustling, hot mess. There was all kind of strange shops with weird and mysterious things, beauty spas that cannot be seen anywhere else in the kingdom, and many attractions that were exclusive to this city.

All kinds of people adorned the palace. People with different colors and accents, people of different sizes and shapes. They were all here.

But that was not the main attraction, though. It was the Royal Palace at the far end of the city, which was situated at the top of a hill.

The Palace was an omnidirectional ancient building. People walking in any direction inside the Royal Capital can be able to see the palace at the hilltop. It was truly a marvelous feast for the naked eye.

"It truly is splendid every time I see it!" The Duke reminisced at the sight. He had a childhood playing around this very city and the palace.

Though he and the king have fallen apart, they were once childhood friends.

"Come here! We\'ve all the food in the world. The kind you have never heard of and the kind you will never find anywhere in this vast world." A small plum man with a belly bigger than himself rubbed his hands together as he said those words.

Since there were too many shops around the city, the shops were cramped together, making them look like they were built side by side.

But these chains of shops were owned by rich merchants. Common people cannot afford the tax to own a small space in this area. The tax was that much high.

It was a tactic used by the late king to make sure the tourists and guests only see the prim and neat restaurants and not the shabby and old ones, to fluent the richness of the Kingdom.

Not to mention the royal family themselves have many shops around the corner, like the fruit stand and cool refreshment bars, in the shades of large trees for the thirsty people to refresh before continuing their journey through the kingdom.

"Wow, so incredible. It\'s getting developed by each year. There weren\'t this many shops last time I visited the capital." Daenys said, as her sparkling eyes jumped from shop to shop. Though she had the urge to just jump out of the wagon and skimp through all the shops there, she held herself back.

"That\'s true. Seems like the crown prince\'s birthday celebration is going to be grander than the previous year." The Duchess said as she was also astonished at the change in the whole atmosphere.

"The king is at it again, isn\'t he?" Daemon smirked. "He is just showing off his favorite son. This is just his grand agenda to prove to his vessels that Arthur is his favorite son." He slouched back in his seat in a lazy way and watched the bustling city.

"Why would he do that?" Asked Daenys in a low voice.

"Dear sister, you really ought to listen to the gossip coming from your noble friends. After all, all you girls do is complain and gossip."

"I thought you needed my help, dear brother. But it appears you\'re more than enough to handle it yourself, considering you get gossip more than me." She slyly smiled at him.

"...Cough~ Cough~ That\'s not what I meant, dear sister. I was nearly suggesting you should hold more tea parties and... and..." He fumbled for words, but nothing came.

"And...? Listen to the gossip, right?" She folded her arms.

Throughout the conversation, the duke and the duchess rolled their eyes and minded their own business of sightseeing rather than indulging themselves with what they call \'child matters.\'

After some more minutes, all the wagons suddenly came to a stop.

·ƈθm Someone softly knocked on the wagon window.

"My lord..." Came a much-revered sound.

"What\'s the matter, Duncan?" The Duke asked as he slid the curtains to the side.

"It\'s the portal. We seem to have a problem." The knight said in a low voice.

"Which is?" The Duke nodded to continue.

"Duke Silverthorne and his entourage are here, my lord."

"What seems to be the problem with that?"

"Well..." He took a deep breath. "He\'s blocking the way. He\'s claiming to be waiting for an important person to arrive, and he can\'t allow anyone to pass through the portal before the party arrives."

"That\'s bullock. Just how long is he going to tire us out then?" Daemon fumed with anger.

Duke Silverthorne is a power-hungry hyena, who was picking up crap behind everyone to gain more power and influence. Somehow, he managed to sack the King and gained more power than any other noble house in the entire kingdom.

Duke Zadkiel was vaguely aware that this guy might be the reason for his and the King\'s fallout.

"What should we do, my lord?" The old man asked, seeing his master in deep thinking.

"What else? Order him to move his crap out. We\'re not one of those nobles who will shudder before him." Daemon was completely red. He had the urge to just bolt out of the wagon and punch the Duke\'s perfect set of teeth.

"Daemon," the Duke spoke in a low voice. "We\'re not going to do something stupid because of a minute\'s rage. If you\'re like this, you\'ll be the first to fall in any type of battle and..." He looked straight into his son\'s eye. "Do not use your vulgar language publicly. I don\'t want to gain another name for our house. Understand?"

"..."

"Understand?" He asked again, with more intensity. His voice was never raised, it was the same as before; Slow and graceful, but the way his tone played out was like a hot blade slicing through butter.

It spread where it mattered. And that was all there to it.

"Yes sir," He replied downcast.

No matter how prodigy he was, he was still nothing compared to his father. Who had both power and grace- he respected those types of people.

With a faint click, the door to the carriage opened, and the Duke hopped out of it.

"I\'ll talk to him personally. See if I can instill some sense into his horseshit mind." He walked off, tightening his belt.

"...Eh?" Daemon looked at the receding back of his father.

\'Ha, horseshit mind.\'

The servants and soldiers made a line for the Duke to freely walk, the same was the case with the other unfortunate passengers and travelers.

Though the area was cramped with people who want to travel back and forth, no voice or shout was coming from any of them.

Such was the power of influence and gold. Such was the power of the Silverthorne house.

\'What shit show is he gonna spew now?\' The Duke thought as he made his way to the Silverthorne Duke.

"Father!" Just as he was walking, he heard a familiar calling.

He turned to see Damien gracefully walking towards him.

"Mind if I tag along?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Sure, but you may not like the boring talking."

"That\'s alright. I want to see the commotion myself." He said playfully.

"And they might try to belittle and trash talk you with their foul mouth, do not engage and only be civil, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I\'ll be alright." He shrugged.

On the outside, he was just unamused, but on the inside, he was fire-dancing on a beachside of an island as he exactly remember what was about to happen in this little conversation and the subsequent arrival of the said party.

\'Silverthorne, this will be a complete shit show for you. It can cause so much trouble in the future, hell it might even come back to bite me in the ass later, but this particular incident will forever be etched on everyone\'s mind. It might even take a page in the history book and I\'m ready to write my name on it. He~ He~.\'