My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 44: Make Way for the King

Chapter 44: Make Way for the King

There were snakes in the grass giving way to a feeling of constantly having to look over his shoulder. Prince Stephano lived each day knowing not a single person in the palace was on his side.

The instability was always traced back to his father.

While his father had hordes of mistresses at his beck and call who openly lived as kept women in the finest homes Coeurvalle had to offer. Yet the moment the Queen even looked in the direction of one of her guards, she was put on trial for the court of public opinion to tear her apart.

In a life that had only been a prison to her, the Queen confided in a friend she had a long history that spanned to her childhood. The King didn’t appreciate the taste of his own medicine.

He put his wife to death as well as the guard.

When Prince Stephano witnessed his mother die at his father’s hands as a mere teenager, he knew the King’s reign of terror wouldn’t last forever. For it was he who was going to put a stop to it.

Valerio was Prince Stephano’s beacon of hope when his aid found him in Burien. When he saw him wield a sword for the first time, he knew that he had found his key.

They only knew one another a mere few months before Valerio was unfairly sent to war. Prince Stephano was never fully told what happened, but it revolved around Lady Leonor.

However, as he got to know her, he couldn’t blame her for what happened. She took a chance at following her heart but lived in a volatile environment just as he did. If he couldn’t save himself or turn back time, he would at least afford her the opportunity of a better life.

He invested in her so that perhaps he would have someone on the other side when the dust settled. They had been in contact for years.

Prince Stephano’s guilt constantly ate at him when he didn’t reply to Leonor’s last letter. However, he knew he needed to focus on his plans.

He had already gotten too close to her. If something happened and his plans failed, she would be affected by his death.

The only two options in front of him were dying or dethroning his father.

The Crown Prince was at a point where he would hunt his own food and cook it for himself, not trusting anyone to handle the things he ate. He was ignoring invitations to social events and isolating himself as he prepared for what was next.

The first time he visited his father’s palace in a few months, he witnessed the King brutally beat down one of his lovers. She had suggested she might be pregnant but he didn’t want the mess of another heir when he already picked one so loyal and so much like him.

At least that’s what he thought.

Red rage was all Prince Stephano could see as he brandished his sword and approached his father.

At one point in his life, he wouldn’t have been able to stand up to the King, but the man was aging poorly due to his consistent intake of sugar and alcohol.

Prince Stephano knew there wasn’t a fight to be had as he pulled his father’s shoulder and he moved easily.

"What is the meaning of this!?" the King snapped.

The Prince had always thought his father would go down with a bloody fight. It would be a power struggle to the very end. He had imagined a long speech of all his father’s wrongdoings, yet it didn’t pan out as expected.

As soon as his father faced him with a look of rage at his son’s disrespect, Prince Stephano spat out words with venom laced in each one.

"A fitting ending for a worthless man," Prince Stephano said through clenched teeth. "You will only be remembered as someone who tarnished our very legacy."

The King opened his mouth to fight fire with fire, but he was cut off when his son grabbed him by his red hair and sliced his head clean off with a sword glowing gold as his mana surrounded it.

He was told at one point that his hair was the color of blood, yet as he watched blood spray out and coat the royal bed chambers he stood inside, he realized for the first time it wasn’t entirely accurate.

Prince Stephano sheathed the sword and went to the corner of his father’s exuberantly large room where a white fur-lined cape stood proudly displayed for any visitor to observe. Behind it was a painting of the King with it over his shoulders as he held a scepter with heavily ringed hands.

Prince Stephano sliced the picture in half.

The Prince placed the cape over his shoulders, only putting down his father’s head to clasp the gold chain on his chest. He then found a crown and placed it on his head.

As he walked to the mirror after retrieving his father’s head. He saw blood splattered across his face and hands. There was a trail of blood wherever he brought his father’s head and a pool around the overweight body left next to the bed.

He was hardly taking in the environment, only going forward as necessary.

As he walked down the grand hallway, he slammed his father’s face against one of the doors until his advisor walked out with a tired expression on his face.

However, tiredness was chased quickly away by alarm. The aide couldn’t utter a word, merely stuttering as he witnessed the sight in front of him.

"Gather my father’s most trusted in the capital," the Prince, now King, gave his first order. "I’ll be in the throne room."

Late in the night, advisors received word that the King had called for all of his most trusted.

The last time that happened, many of them were sent to war.

Most armed themselves with swords or magical weapons before going to the palace. Within an hour, they were all gathered in front of the throne room, though the door was closed by guards and they weren’t allowed to enter until given the word.

As soon as they were able to, they walked into the throne room only to be met with a trail of blood and Prince Stephano sitting on the golden and dark red velvet cushioned throne. His father’s disembodied head sitting on one knee and a golden sword covered in dried blood resting on the other.

"Either join with me and pledge your loyalty, or die tonight," Prince Stephano said.

Out of 22, only six noblemen made it out alive. Those who vowed themselves to the new King brandished their weapons and fought for a new future for Castille.

Despite the bloodshed that night, it still wasn’t nearly as bloody as the fight happening in the north.