Chapter 65: Before the King
At dawn, Roy turned off the capsule. All the remaining spirituality returned to him, and Ryan finally woke up.
When he opened his eyes, he had no idea where he was until the capsule beeped and opened for him to get out.
’Healing Capsule?’ He looked around and noticed all the members of the organization nearby. Some were looking at him, others were asleep.
Roy, Martin, Samuel, and Zion were the only ones awake.
"Looks like you’re finally awake, kid," Roy said, helping him out. "Don’t just lie there, that capsule isn’t comfortable at all; your bones will scream for help if you stay there any longer."
"Thank you, Mr. Roy." He thanked him and changed his clothes. Before, he had been wearing a white robe, which wasn’t wet, and now he put on his usual blue clothes. Then he looked at Martin. "What time is it?" he asked.
"It’s dawn already. The mission reports are ready. We have everything. The treasure is being suppressed by the Mirror so that its location cannot be revealed," he replied.
"Very well," Ryan smiled. "Let’s take it then."
--
After a full hour, Ryan and his people arrived before the King in the Palace.
Brandon and the Second Prince were present, but without the right to speak. They were spectators.
Ryan, Cecily, Samuel, and Martin knelt and placed all the evidence, reports, and treasure in the King’s hands.
’It really is the treasure,’ thought the King.
Although it was bruised in certain areas, he had heard the rumors from the night before about what had happened, and upon reading the written reports, everything matched up.
’Since when has this boy been so good?’ He frowned.
In front of him were parts of Kazaks, one moderately evolved, and parts of civilian humans; he understood why he was there.
Finally, a teacher.
The king frowned as he looked at her; she was conscious but staring into space.
"Professor Sara, I had your report in my hand earlier, and I believed you. Being such a distinguished, renowned professor who taught several of my children, I was sure you would not lie," he said suddenly.
These words shook Sara. She looked up and wanted to speak, but the king did not let her.
"But all this only causes me disappointment." He shook his head in frustration. "Alliance with Kazaks, alliance with traitors, and participant in a robbery against the king. What would be your next mission, Professor Sara? Kill the king? Destroy his children? Orchestrate against the Queen?"
"Blasphemy!"
When the king shouted this last word and stood up, one of the tiles beneath his feet flew toward Sara and struck her in the stomach. She spat blood, and this opened many wounds.
One of the royal guards in the king’s personal service felt deeply angered by this. He had been angry ever since he heard about all the atrocities that this woman, whom the king had trusted, had committed, but he could not let his anger carry him away.
Even so, when the king attacked, he knew that his moment had come.
"Treason must be punished with death!" he roared, his sword aimed at Sara’s head, ready to kill her.
"Stop," said the King.
He immediately stopped and withdrew his sword. "My Lord..."
"I understand your anger," he said. "But her act of treason does not deserve an easy death. Let her suffer in the depths of the basement," he declared firmly.
Sara shuddered when she heard him and, despite the pain she felt, raised her voice slightly... "Mercy..." she begged.
The royal guard simply stamped his foot hard on her back and made her kiss the floor. "A traitor does not deserve mercy from our king."
Finally, the King raised his hand to take the rest of the evidence into his hands.
Observing the traces on the different parts of the body that could be recovered, he could say with certainty that this civilian had carried his treasure for quite some time.
The Kazaks, on the other hand, did not seem so powerful. ’He must have been a genius to manage to open a Breach when he wasn’t even fully evolved,’ he thought.
From the rest of the evidence he found, he could see nothing else, so he put it aside and returned to his throne.
"Ryan," he said.
Being called, Ryan finally stood up.
"If what these reports say is true, I am surprised," he said.
"My King, you can be sure that there is no lie or deception in any of the words written there," Ryan assured him.
"Haha." He then looked at Cecily. "Miss Larsen, please stand up."
She did so obediently.
"A duo that manages to surprise me on their first real mission has not been seen since our little Rachel died. So I must give you both a good reward," he declared.
Brandon’s heart tightened at those words, and his teeth clenched with rage.
Cecily smiled. "If it pleases you, then I hope the reward goes to Ryan. I really don’t need it."
"Hahaha, an expected answer." The King nodded and looked at Ryan. "What do you want as a reward, Ryan?"
But Ryan was stunned by his words, lost in his thoughts.
’Did Rachel die?’ He was stunned by the thought.
Rachel was Brandon’s girlfriend, and they later got married.
That doesn’t matter, honestly. The point is that Rachel plays a very important role in the plot of the novel—not only as the female protagonist but also as one of the kingdom’s greatest allied villains.
Thanks to her, numerous conflicts that even Brandon, with Max’s help, found complicated, were resolved. She was a masterfully intelligent woman, surpassing Brandon.
Perhaps she wasn’t as talented as Walker, but without her strategies, how could the South have been recovered?
Without her strategies, the Kingdom would have fallen to the Kazaks of the North or, even worse, to the Damned Walkers.
But now they’re telling him she’s dead?
’Shit, no wonder I haven’t heard from her in all this time.’ He swallowed hard.
This practically complicated his life. It was impossible to fill the void of not having a "Rachel" who could at least restrain Brandon when he went crazy.
’Was that why Brandon allied himself with the Kazaks?’ He realized.
However, that opened up a whole new range of questions: How did she die? What happened?
"Ryan?" The king spoke loudly, startling Ryan.
He realized they had been talking to him a moment ago, so he immediately apologized, bowing.
What a mistake!
Getting lost in his thoughts while delivering a royal mission was the worst thing that could happen to him...
"I’m sorry, my king. I was thinking a..." As he spoke, the door behind them burst open.
"My King, several organizations wish to testify on behalf of the Ninth Prince. And Lord Roger, Hero of Winter, claims to have collaborated with him to uncover a branch of treason, and is here." The royal guard felt afraid for having interrupted, but those outside were pressing him and he could do nothing.
The king’s eyes sparkled with intense interest.
"Let them in." He even overlooked Ryan’s disrespect. The organizations didn’t matter; what mattered was Lord Roger, one of his great heroes.