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chapter-221
Of late, Argrave had been perfecting the art of looking unapproachable. Having become a trending figure for his recent deeds and already being taller than near everyone around him, he attracted people to him like nothing else. He’d rather avoid people when he was as busy as he was. The fact he was infamous for murder helped with looking unapproachable, fortunately, as did Garm’s black and gold eyes.
When Argrave saw a woman he did not recognize skulking near the doorway to his room, he approached quietly and made his voice deeper than it normally was. “Can I help you?”
The woman jumped, then looked up at him, shocked. “I-I… I came here looking for you.”
“Why is that?” Argrave kept a stern face.
“The application for… for your status as High Wizard has been approved. Em—and… and for one ‘Anneliese.’ A conclave of High Wizards will witness you cast a B-rank spell, and then interview you about magic. The details are here,” she said, handing off a rolled scroll quickly as though it were aflame.Argrave looked down at the scroll as the woman hastily left, then smiled and pushed open the door.
“The Archduke is not dead,” Orion said incredulously.
“It’s inevitable,” Felipe said dispassionately. “He cannot be saved. Best to end him now, make good use of him.”
“You cannot do this to—”
Felipe turned back and interrupted, “Do not presume to tell me what I cannot do, Orion. It is my place to command, both as your father and the king. You are my heir now, and you must be prepared for rulership.” Felipe stepped up to Orion, looking him eye-to-eye. “Listen well—you will stop speaking of Argrave’s role in ending the plague. You will diminish what you have said, and you will tell all you meet that he is a foul kinslayer who brutally murdered both Magnus and Induen.”
Orion glared at the king. “I will not lie. Argrave did stop the plague.”
“You will do as you are bid,” Felipe commanded unflinchingly. “Argrave the Kinslaying Serpent, they call him. I will not tolerate my issue and heir espousing his virtues. He killed my son, shamed Vasquer beyond measure.”
“An evil does not erase a virtue. I will not diminish his role in the fight with the Plague Jester,” Orion refused.
Felipe took a deep breath as though swallowing his wrath. His face was like stone as he stared down Orion. “Induen was a fool who thought he knew better. He wandered Vasquer, doing as he pleased, when he should have been listening to my orders and learning what I taught him. He put his own desires before that of the family, and now he lays in some cart, his face half-eaten by ants.”
The king stepped closer until his nose almost touched his son’s. “If you knew better than I did, you would not have allowed Magnus to die at your brother’s hands not minutes away from you. You would not have come here begging me to legitimize Argrave, to give the name of Vasquer to a kinslayer and a bastard.”
Orion’s face was trembling in barely restrained anger.
“Do you want to hit me?” the king questioned. They stared eye-to-eye for several seconds, but Felipe finally shook his head, almost disappointed his son restrained himself. “You won’t. I had other plans for you, but it’s clear to me you have an issue that needs to be settled.” Felipe nodded steadily. “You will find Argrave. And you will be the one to deal with him.”
“What?” Orion’s anger gave way for confusion.
“This will put to bed these disgusting validations you’ve given the bastard,” Felipe prodded Orion’s chest. “And you can be taught a little more of what it means to be king. You will learn what it means to place the dynasty before the self.”
Felipe finally turned away, leaving Orion standing there.
“Levin,” the king said, turning back towards the coffin. “As Orion is now my son and heir, when Parbon is stripped of their lands, all shall be given to you—their mines, their Lionsun Castle, everything. If I catch but a hint of you impeding Orion… you will not live much longer.”
“I look forward to setting foot in the castle,” Levin put his hand to his chest.
“Continue to keep your ears open and your mouth shut, and you may live to do so,” Felipe advised.
Orion stepped away, shattering his father’s ward with the back of his hand with seeming ease. Felipe turned back from the sudden change, watching his son move closer to Magnus’ coffin and kneel down, offering a prayer.
The discord was obvious to all present… yet even still, none dared to gossip, and none made to leave. All felt fixed in place by the gray iron gaze of King Felipe III, and none would dare leave before he did.
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