My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 277: Unlikely Travelers

Chapter 277: Unlikely Travelers

One would be able to hear a pin drop in the meeting room as Desmond made such a request to the King.

Normally he didn’t bare his head for prying eyes and, as expected, the noblemen who were already on eggshells having to work with him stared at him in shock. As much as they tried to divert their eyes, Desmond already had categorized in his thoughts who looked at him and in which way.

Stephano was the one most shocked by his determination. The only other person in the room to know the secret was Quinn but it was because he had to explain that to him when he told him about about Leonor and Desmond’s history.

For him to willingly reveal himself in front of the most influential nobles in the kingdom was honorable but it was risky.

Knowing that it was a measure of a last ditch effort, he felt honored that Desmond would put himself at risk for it.

Stephano promised his protection to Desmond no matter what. If word got out and Montclarians resisted, there was always a place for Leonor and Desmond in the palace. Even if they didn’t like it there, it was better than being destitute because Castillians were nationalists with horrible biases.

Stephano nodded and he raised a hand. All he had to do was call back his mana and the green left the duke’s body, becoming gold and dissipating like steam off of hot water.

It had been a long time since he saw the man’s red eye and nostalgia struck him.

"Welcome back, Your Grace," Stephano uttered.

Desmond’s jaw clenched and he looked down at the King with an indecipherable expression. No one would be able to tell that he was trying to gain the courage to face the others in his room.

Soon enough, Desmond walked along one side of the table, looking down at the nobles as he walked by. Then he made it up the other end of the table, only stopping when he was behind Cian.

"A red eye," the knight uttered. "You’re–"

"Eirenguardian," Desmond confirmed, his rough voice still managing to reach the ears of everyone in the room. "Torn from my childhood home due to the late King’s greed. I grew up as an orphan in Burien County where I was forced to go to the north for another war also started by the late King’s greed. If I were to stop shaving my head you would also see the golden hair so true to the people of our southern counterpart."

"An Eirenguardian benefiting off of the Castillian’s good graces," an officer towards the end of the table remarked with a snort. "Just as what this knight here has been doing. Expecting us to bend over backwards just because he’s an Eirenguardian."

Stephano stood up from his chair but Desmond raised a hand because he wanted to defend himself.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, hurting his throat in the process. "Castillian’s good graces must not be worth a whole lot. I gave my body for the cause of the war yet when I returned with His Majesty, his judgment was questioned and I was seen as a monster. As if I don’t look this way because all of you were too scared to fight with your men at the front lines. Does it feel good to stay in your mansions while wars rage on and men die on your behalf? I can’t look at myself in the mirror any longer. How must you feel?"

His last words were punctuated with a cough. He hadn’t talked so much in a long time. His throat was thrashed by that point.

Many were silenced yet some managed to still stare at him defiantly.

Desmond didn’t care about what they thought of him. He cared what Stephano thought because he was going to make the call whether or not anyone liked it.

He sat down.

"Just as before," Desmond whispered to Stephano, knowing his voice was gone. "I feel our only option is to send me there with Sir Cian and hope I don’t also return with my head in a magical box."

Stephano immediately pushed away from the table and he walked towards the wagon containing the heads. His hands were trembling. He wanted to be laying in bed and working off his hangover rather than awake and working through it.

There were so many other things he wanted to think about yet he was forced to handle the murder of his loyal subjects. Perhaps sending one of his very best friends into a death trap as well.

"Is that something you’re willing to do for this kingdom who took you from your homeland then used your body until you have nothing left?" Stephano asked bluntly. "The only thing left to sacrifice is your life. Is that really what you want to do?"

"This place gave me my wife," he said quietly. "I have a duchy waiting for me to return. My seat is growing cold. The best I can do is get this conflict over with as quickly as possible then I want to be left alone for a very long time."

There was a heavy silence for a while as the King contemplated the words of the man who he no longer wanted to use for his swordsmanship. He didn’t want to see Desmond suffer and he didn’t want to see Leonor lose her husband.

The Eirenguardians were rightfully mad but...

"What if they see you as a traitor?" Stephano asked.

Cian sat up a bit straighter and interjected.

"We can hide his real identity," the knight explained. "Eirenguardian vagrants are common since there isn’t anything left for them in the kingdom. It will be the safest way he can get to the leadership– at least what leadership there is left."

"And then what happens after that?" Stephano asked, genuinely interested even if he was feeling slightly bitter towards the man after a few hours before. "He demands they cease their planning? On what grounds?"

"Offer money and protection," Cian explained. "All Eirenguardians want is restoration and autonomy. It’s too late for the dead to come back to life."

Stephano felt frustrated. That was all he had been trying to do but they wouldn’t listen. He didn’t want them to be part of Castille, he wanted them to fix what was theirs before and restore happiness and prosperity within their people.

"Then what of the mana stones that they are supposedly using for magical weapons?" Desmond asked. "I know nothing of mana yet I am the only one who will be able to cross the border without arousing suspicion."

"I’ll go."

Heads turned and shocked expressions appeared as those in the room looked at Quinn. Normally he wasn’t one to speak up.

"I don’t look Eirenguardian, but I certainly don’t look Castillian either," he explained. "Silver hair is typical of mages from the Isle of Mana and, in the persecution of mages a hundred years before, it was almost wiped out. Although, where I grew up in Magia, there are plenty of us left. We aren’t considered part of the Castillian kingdom, only protected to make up for what happened in the past. What I’ve learned from the knight is that they need mages and I can be convincing enough to get close to whichever magical weapon they’re planning to use against Castille. I would prefer to handle things without violence."

Cian’s eyebrows rose. He was impressed with Quinn’s desire to throw himself into trouble as well.

"That isn’t a bad–"

Cian was abruptly cut off.

"Why are you insistent on throwing yourself into danger?" Stephano snapped. "Your duty is to Castille."

"Any number of professors from Magia can take over for me," Quinn defended himself. "You also have one of the most talented mages to come out of the Academy sitting around in your Queen’s Palace. She’s been training for weeks and is nearly back in combat shape."

Stephano didn’t like it at all but he knew that it was right.

His opposition was due to selfish reasons anyway–selfish curiosities that arose after sobriety returned to him.

"And we can’t send more guards?" Stephano asked quietly. "There’s no way to ensure any of your safety while you’re there?"

"I arrived here by myself," Cian argued. "They don’t expect me to return with an entire party of men."

His words burdened the King as he leaned into the table.

"I will have my soldiers remain hidden on the border," Desmond said.

At that moment, a few other noblemen decided to speak up and offer their support by sending more of their own to the border if it was possible. There was a fortress nearby that would be able to hide most of them. Fortunately, with the intel they had so far, it seemed that it wasn’t yet under Eirenguardian control.

"Then is this an arrangement everyone will agree on?" Stephano asked the room as if anyone could genuinely oppose him. "If this fails. The next step is war. I hope you know the importance of this, Sir Cian."

The King pointedly gazed at the Eirenguardian knight with his golden eyes boring into him. All he could do was nod in response.

Desmond sighed. The sun was rising but he didn’t want to have to face Leonor even if that’s what he should do.