The Prince's mate

The King was the most resilient among them all, as he maintained his calm and gait attitude throughout the Prince’s words. The only time he reacted was when the Prince cut him off initially.

He silently watched and listened as the Prince talked without telling him to stop.

However, as the Prince kept talking, he began questioning the reason behind his action.

He knows his son too well to know that he would not do something of this nature publicly if it were not of great importance.

When the Prince finished talking, salience befell the entire court as everyone waited in great anticipation for the King’s reaction.

The silence elongated for a few minutes before the King finally cleared his throat, thereby breaking the silence.

Everyone inhaled sharply as they watched the King slowly stand up from his throne and walk with unbothered steps toward the Prince.

Two things crossed their mind at that moment.

The first was…

Oh no, the Prince is in trouble.

He had succeeded in getting the King angry.

The other was…

A war is about to break out between the father and son.

Who is bold enough to stop them?

Will this be the beginning of internal strife among the Royals?

What will happen to the Kingdom from now on?

Will both of them be able to solve the issue without being hostile toward each other? 

“Tell me, son, why do you think so?” The King asked inquisitively, stopping in front of the Prince. There was no sign of anger in his voice; all there was curiosity.

“Father, from my observation, she does not have the prowess to do what she was accused of, and if she truly was involved in it, she could not have carried out the whole operation on her own without someone working in the dark. This is a good opportunity to smoke them out and deal with them once and for all.” The Prince said the last part as quietly as possible so it would be for the King’s ears alone.

Raising his brows, the King stared at his son with blatant mockery before saying, “from what I’ve also observed, I know that ever since this young lady joined us, you have been hostile towards her and would not want to see her anywhere near you. That is an obvious fact to everyone in the Palace, and with your personality, you are not one to do this, much less do it to defend one who gets you irritated at every sight. So tell me, son, what is the actual reason why you stepped out to defend her when no one was willing to?”

Everyone at the court held their breath at the King’s words and anxiously waited for the Prince to respond.

The silence elongated briefly before the Prince sighed quietly and said, “Not long after she came, I…I found out that she… she is… she is my mate.” After saying this, he avoided the King’s gaze.

However, the minute he completed his sentences, gasps were heard from every corner of the court.

The silence this time around was more deafening than the previous ones. The shock was evident in the air.

It took a while before the King finally broke the silence by saying, “Son, are you certain that she is your mate?”

Returning his gaze to look at the King, “Yes I am, Father.”

The King stared at his son for a while before he signaled one of the guards to step forward.

“Get her cleaned up and send her back to the dungeon. Also, send the healer to check her wounds and treat them.”

The guard bowed and moved to help the girl to her feet.

As the guard was about to do so, the earlier Elder rushed forward and stopped him.

“Your majesty, if I may, we cannot ignore her crimes and allow her to go scot-free because she is the Prince’s mate. She was caught in the act, caught red-handed, my King. Hence, now more than ever, she must be brought to justice. She needs to be made an example that even if one is of the Royal family, they will not be let off easily.” The minute he finished his words, the courtroom burst into murmurs.

Everyone present started voicing out their opinions in the pretense of murmuring to each other.

No one had the guts to voice it aloud as the Elder had.

They didn’t dare to confront the King as the Elder had. All they could do was murmur underneath their voices to each other.

However, though they were like that, the Elder had succeeded in agitating and influencing the court against the King’s decision to send the girl back to the dungeon without finalizing her punishment nor sentencing her like they had hoped the King would before the arrival of the Prince.

He would not allow anyone to stop the execution of the girl.

Even though it has become more complicated, it doesn’t matter to him. He must make sure that she doesn’t escape this trial.

Even though the Prince says she is his mate, he has to ensure she gets put away; if not, things will get even more complicated.

Their secrets might eventually be exposed.

Though she had no idea of his involvement in the plan, she still knew some things concerning the plans that might jeopardize everything.

Now that he had succeeded in agitating the crowd, he needed to make his stand to the King on executing the girl and not letting her be sent back to the dungeon because he knew that once she was sent back, it would be hard to bring her back to face the trial and further investigations will be put in place.

Hence, he adjusted his coat and maintained a fierce stance before saying, “Your majesty, I…” but before he could go further in his words, the King cut him short.

“You what, Elder Varlam? You intend to go against my command and stand before me to say what?”