Chapter 74

"HIS MAJESTY WILL SEE YOU NOW," the guard announced. Daniel nodded at Henry before stepping toward the open doors.

Laya and his knights were on alert close by. They already had their orders, in case things got out of hand.

"My goodness, Duke Van Konigl, it has been too long," the king said as soon as Daniel entered.

"It has, Your Majesty." Daniel bowed. "Thank you for accepting to meet me, even on such a short notice."

"Nonsense, I always enjoy your company. Please, have a seat." Daniel complied.

He was surprised that the king was alone in the room, apart from the footman serving the tea. He was sure the rooms surrounding them were filled with royal knights though.

"Thank you," Daniel uttered when he placed a cup of earl grey in front of him.

"I'm sorry to hear about what happened with your adopted son."

The duke clenched his jaw at the mention of Geoffrey, especially the word 'adopted'. Even if they did not share the same blood, Geoffrey was his 'son', period.

"Yes," Daniel mumbled.

"Hmm, there are some outrageous rumors going around about you, have you heard?" King Titus said while taking a sip of his tea.

"Your Majesty knows that I don't pay attention to unnecessary noise that foolish people like to make," Daniel responded. "I am here to discuss far more important matters."

"Oh?"

"I won't beat around the bush, Your Majesty." Daniel stared at him straight in the eyes. "I know that you ordered my family and the Gottanlichs to be killed."

Titus was surprised, but only for a few seconds. Then, he burst out laughing.

"As expected of the Duke of Salicera, you are as direct as ever." The king was silent for a while. "What would you do if I said that I did it for the good of Malorenia?"

"But we both know that you did not," Daniel said. "It was purely for your personal interest."

The duke was really surprised by how calm he was, the king's lie did not move anything in him.

"If you had the nation in mind, you would have at least married another pureblood. But you did not, you broke the tradition of thousands of years because your feelings were swayed."

"It seems you have investigated everything about me." Titus put his cup down.

"I have." Daniel mirrored his action. "And since everything is out in the clear now, could you tell me why you chose to eliminate our families, instead of trying to find a middle ground with the nobles?"

"There was no middle ground, both the former Gottanlich and the Van Konigl dukes were stubborn. I had no choice."

Daniel scoffed.

'There is always a choice when it comes to taking a life.'

He studied the old man sitting across from him and pressed his lips into a thin line.

'How did I ever think that he was a good king? He is nothing but a selfish bastard.'

"What will you do?" the king asked after a moment of silence.

"Well, first of all, House Van Konigl will not support the royal family any longer," Daniel started. "We will withdraw our financial and military support, Salicera will not follow your authority anymore, and I will cease any involvement in Malorenia's politics."

"I see," Titus uttered. "Are you sure you want to betray your country? Van Konigl is one of the founding families, after all."

"Betray? Hardly." The duke shrugged. "It's you who betrayed us. I don't have anything to lose anymore. The most dangerous men are those who have nothing to lose. Didn't you say that to me once?"

"I see that you are even threatening me now, Daniel," King Titus sat back in his sofa with a grin. "What if I told you that you still have things to lose?"

Daniel tilted his head to the side.

'Does he know that Magnolia joined the Phoenix? Is he going to use that as leverage?'

"Something incredible reached my ears a few days ago," Titus started. "It appears that the duchess, your wife, is a Gottanlich." Daniel froze. "And to make things worse, she joined the vigilantes that her husband himself fights."

"After today, we have no allegiance to you, so technically there is no treason there." Daniel knew that he was spurring nonsense, but he had no idea what else to say.

"Is that so?" The king smiled. "Even if the Phoenix targets the King of Malorenia? Or do you plan to work with them as well?"

"If that ever happens, then it would be war. I don't wish to put my people through that again, if I can help it." Daniel pushed to his feet.

They both knew that he could march with his army to the capital and slaughter everyone. Everyone knew that Salicera's military was the strongest and largest in the country.

After hearing about the Van Konigls withdrawing their support to the king, other nobles would join Daniel, which meant even more power. They would surely win a war.

Destroying them would be the perfect revenge for his parents, Magnolia's family, and Geoffrey's death. But Daniel knew that the impact of cutting their support to Malorenia would have a bigger effect on Titus and his power. He would just sit back and watch his downfall.

"Good day, Your Majesty."

"About your son." Daniel halted before reaching the door. He swallowed hard.

He reckoned that the king wanted to provoke him in any way he could. Daniel turned around to face Titus again.

"I just wanted to teach you a lesson, but I think I took it a bit too far." The duke's jaw felt like it would break from how hard he clenched it. "Sending a burned body was Fred's idea to be honest," he continued. "But I'm not going to pretend that I didn't enjoy it."

Daniel's nails dug into his palms. He was standing, frozen, just glaring at the king. It was hard to breathe now, but he maintained his control.

Surely, he could kill him in one strike, he was close enough to reach him before any of the royal knights did. But that would defy his whole plan.

"I–" his voice came hoarse and hard. "I'm sure you will pay for that one day," Daniel uttered. "I will enjoy watching that as well."

"You misunderstood me, Daniel," Titus said with a smirk. "Pretending to kill your son was a bit too far."

The duke blinked at him a few times. "Pretending?"

"Yes, the body Fred sent to you was not your son. It was a child who had died from an illness, he procured the body from one of the orphanages."

"What are you saying?" Daniel's heart was beating so fast it made his vision blurry and his ears ring.

"I'm saying that little Geoffrey is alive."

"What?" The duke's knees nearly gave in.

"I think we can have better negotiations now, don't you think?" Titus' grin split his face in two.