The Debt Of Fate
Chapter 129: Bright Blood

Chapter 129: Bright Blood

King George’s temper worsened as the day went by. He had only a few days left to live at most, and Anastasia was nowhere to be found. General Robert had a lead, but the carriages had already left Wiwell some time ago. It would take several days to gather any useful information. What annoyed him most was that he didn’t have that much time.

"Your Highness, a report from General Robert," a eunuch announced with a knock, interrupting his deep thoughts.

"Bring it in," the king commanded. He felt pleased with himself for having entrusted the task to General Robert. After all, he hadn’t expected a report this soon.

The eunuch opened the door, bowed respectfully, and handed the letter to the king.

King George opened it and read the message. The more he read, the darker his gaze became. There were details that General Robert was unaware of but he was not. Now, seeing that the supplies had been split in two at Wiwell, he could more or less guess what had happened.

When he thought that death was the only thing awaiting him, he had done his best to ensure the throne passed smoothly to his son. He had asked the queen to send Anastasia to deliver the king’s seal and scepter of authority to the crown prince.

He had chosen Anastasia because he wanted to continue fooling his wife into believing that someone had infiltrated the palace and poisoned him. He trusted his wife’s cautious nature. Although Anastasia hadn’t known what she was carrying, she would have protected it with her life.

The people he’d ordered to disguise themselves as men from Gube and kidnap Anastasia had staged an ambush at the shore of Wiwell. The king wasn’t sure what had gone wrong, but Anastasia’s group had reached Wiwell village later than planned. This delay would have favored a nighttime ambush, but he didn’t understand why they had chosen to spend the night at the edge of the village instead of proceeding to the shore, where there was a royal lodge available for camp.

King George guessed that Anastasia had refused to travel at night to protect the treasure entrusted to her by the queen.

Since the group had not arrived at the shore, the kidnappers decided to strike at the farmhouse. Given that they spent the night there, they would likely leave the next morning without stopping again at the shore.

So they attacked the group, but the soldiers fought fiercely. Because the farmhouse lodging had been unexpected, the attackers didn’t know exactly where to find the princess. Seeing that the soldiers were camped outside, they assumed the princess was resting in one of the carriages but they failed to locate her and were forced to retreat and devise a new plan.

Since they were disguised as thieves, no one would have expected the commander to split the supply into two groups at that moment. After all, in such situations, it was safer to stay together. So the kidnappers didn’t pay attention to the farmhouse and instead began planning their next move aboard the ship.

In fact, whether the princess fell into the water by accident or not, the plan had always been for her to fall in, cause a commotion, and quietly kidnapped Anastasia amidst the chaos.

Now, hearing that the supplies had been divided into two and knowing that the small box had not been found on the ship he could make a guess.

Either Anastasia had never boarded the ship at all and had Miss Ashcombe pretend to be her the entire time,

or

after falling into the water, Miss Ashcombe, who had come to meet her at the shore had found her and joined the kidnappers. They had then found a way to switch identities, allowing Anastasia to travel with the caravan. He thought of this ending because of the missing box.

The more the king considered this possibility, the more irritated he became. He had underestimated Anastasia. He remembered her poisoning case, she had dared to consume poison in small amounts to protect herself. When the queen informed him of the investigation’s findings, he had been surprised, but thought little of it. After all, desperate people did desperate things to survive.

"I should have paid more attention to her," the king regretted. Thinking about the current situation, he no longer believed the plan had originated with the commander. She had dared to risk her life for a chance at freedom. Her mind was sharp; far deeper than he had thought.

Now, he even suspected that Anastasia had deliberately consumed something harmful when she realized she was about to enter the palace. As long as she fell ill, a royal physician would be summoned. He suspected she hadn’t known what type of poison she’d ingested. So falling sick in the palace was the only way for a royal physician to check her and discover the poison. Her actions was killing two birds with one stone. After all, after the incident the duchess did not dare harm her again.

King George suddenly clenched his fist. A woman with such a mind could be a great help to his son; if properly used. But if she had her own agenda, his son might fall prey to her schemes.

No matter what, he felt Anastasia had to die.

He was just about to give the order when he suddenly vomited blood.

"Your Majesty!" the eunuch, still waiting at the side, cried out and rushed to support him.

"Send for the physician!" he shouted. King George tried to suppress the vomiting to issue commands, but no matter how much he tried, blood continued pouring from his mouth.

The eunuch panicked. Everything had happened so fast. He tried to support the king and thought of feeding him medicine, but how could the king ingest anything in that state?

The physicians arrived quickly, as they had remained nearby due to the king’s untreated poison.

Even after hurrying to his side, there was little they could do.

"Why is the king vomiting so much blood?" the queen demanded as she rushed in after hearing the news.

Two physicians attended to the king, but in truth, they were helpless; merely cleaning the blood and applying pressure to sensitive points in a futile effort to stop the vomitting.

"Your Majesty, the medicine suppressing the king’s poison must have lost its effect," said Physician Nathan, who was observing the king. His brow furrowed in confusion as he stared at the bright blood staining the floor.