"What do you want?" King Roderick asked as he shook the thought off his mind. King Roderick's voice sounded as unwelcoming as usual but prince Sébastien did not care.

"Father, should you not be happy that your son is back to health after been stabbed with a poisonous dagger?" prince Sébastien said as he took the seat close to the king. If there was anything prince Sébastien enjoyed most in the Palace it was annoying this man.

He was even in a better mood to annoy him today since he learned that the man was not his father. This man caused the death of his father, so the prince did not mind troubling him a little. King Roderick balled his hands into a fist hearing the insult under the prince's tone.

As a father, he ought to have gone to check how his son was doing but he did not care. Not with his favorite son on the death roll.

"I am still your king and father. Watch your mouth," king Roderick snapped.. He did not know why this son of his had such a sharp tongue capable of angering him to death.

"Are you sure you are my father?" prince Sébastien asked.

"what do you mean by that?" king Roderick threw the cup of wine by his side to Prince Sébastien. He felt angered. "Should I just kill him and forget all about the benefits he brings to the kingdom?" king Roderick thought.

Sadly he knew this was only his wishful thinking, Avalo would fall within seven days after the prince's death.

"A king should always learn to control his emotions," prince Sébastien commented. He could have dodged the cup but he let it hit him, to smoothen the king's anger. He was not ready to anger him to death just yet.

The king sigh, he should have known that this son of his just wanted to anger him to death. He was sure that Queen Magret was a decent woman. Even after not visiting her chamber for years the Queen has remained faithful to him. He knew this because he had his eyes and ears on her.

"i only asked you a question any son would ask. If you were in my shoes would you not also doubt yourself. What kind of a father conspires with his second son to steal the birthright of the first son from him?" prince Sébastien asked.

King Roderick's face remained expressionless this time. He did not expect prince Sébastien to know about his plans with Julia and he had no plans to accept it either. " What nonsense are you saying?" king Roderick asked.

" Your majesty, a king should be proud. Do I look stupid to you? General Thompson is your best friend, having your second son marry his daughter speaks volumes of your plans. We both know that Julia will never be able to defect me in a fair battle. Why else will General Thompson allow his daughter to marry him when he knows what will happen in the future. Unless the king made him a promise," prince Sébastien stated the fact.

" So is that why you conspired with your wife to have him killed? " king Roderick replied when he knew he could not continue denying it.

" I wish, I had better plans for him like cutting off his head in the fight for the throne while you watch helplessly. Too bad I would not be able to do that now, " prince Sébastien replied.

Kind Roderick chuckle. He felt relieved that he would be able to save his son from the monster before him. "indeed it is too bad that you married such a cunny woman that ruined both our plans. Tell me what do you think I should do to her for this?" king Roderick asked.

"What do you think you can do?" prince Sébastien challenged the king. He felt annoyed when he heard the king's words but he managed to control himself and not show his anger. The king must never find out he has a soft spot for the princess.

"You dare to challenge me?" the king was irritated by the prince challenged.

"yes your majesty, I do remember that the king of Avalo promised the death penalty on whoever hurt my wife. So I beg you to please..." prince Sébastien said and dramatically nodded his head like he just realized something new.

"When father kills or hurts the princess, his majesty will put father to death, then the throne and the kingdom will be mine," Prince Sébastien said. The king's face turned ugly hearing his words but he got a hold of himself quickly.

"wait, father has never been a man of his words, so I guess you will just kill someone in place of you or maybe an accident like what happened to concubine Bri will repeat itself," prince Sébastien said with a smile while the king felt very dissatisfied. If only he has not made lots of enemies over the years he would have looked for a way to murder this son of his.

" What do you mean by what happened to Concubine Bri will repeat itself. Do you by any chance know about her death," the king formed ignorance. He could already guess that the prince knew that he had choked her to death but he would not dare to say it.

" I did not know, it just that I heard that a few of her maids were aware of the king's visit that night. Moreover, a button of the king's Rob was found on her bed two days after her death when the maids were clearing. We both know that she was choked to death. I wonder where the king will hide his face if rumors like this go-round the kingdom? " prince Sébastien said.

" Stop talking nonsense, " king Roderick said in a commanding tone. There was no way he would allow such a piece of news to spread around. Four concubines in total had died in the Palace. People may begin to say that he was losing his mind. Why else will a man kill a woman in such a situation?

Although the king did not know how the other concubine had died, no one will care about that.

"Hmm, father is right, it seems I have been listening to gossip too much recently. It may be due to my injuries," prince Sébastien said.

The king took a deep breath of relief seeing that the prince let go of the topic. "Why are you here?" King Roderick asked. He knew this son of his will not just come over for nothing.

"well, father since you did not come to see if I was still alive, I wanted to check how you are coping now that your favorite son is about to die," prince Sébastien said. He wanted to watch how the king will react to this statement.