The Debt Of Fate
Chapter 142: Disaster

Chapter 142: Disaster

Eunuch Mose took a deep breath. He had been scared for days after witnessing that scene. Fortunately, at the time, he had only just started working closely with the king and wasn’t under much scrutiny. When others asked, he had lied, saying he must have eaten something bad and was suffering from stomach pain. No one suspected anything.

As a child, he had learned never to speak about things he had witnessed, so he kept silent.

The strange thing was that the next time the king met the Seer, Mose was present. This time, the king sought the Seer for advice. As soon as the Seer laid eyes on him, Mose’s heart skipped a beat. He felt as though he stood naked before the man—as if the secret he had buried deep inside had already been uncovered. He thought his luck had run out and that the Seer would ask the king to punish him. But contrary to his fear, the Seer recommended him to the king.

"When next the king requires my attention, let this eunuch be the one to fetch me," the Seer said, pointing at him. "He knows the things that must not be spoken," he added.

If Mose hadn’t been certain before that the Seer had seen through him, those words confirmed it. He was both terrified and grateful. From that moment, he never once considered betraying the king. He believed that with someone as powerful as the Seer by the king’s side, anyone who dared oppose him was simply seeking death. And true to his thoughts, all who had gone against the king had met miserable ends.

"Your Majesty, this is His Majesty’s secret. I dare not speak it," Eunuch Mose replied after the Queen’s inquiry. Though the king was dead, the Seer still lived—and Mose feared him more than he had feared the king.

Queen Mary frowned. "The king is dead. He was poisoned. Any information could help us find the one responsible," she insisted.

"Your Majesty... what I witnessed that year..." Eunuch Mose paused. He looked frightened.

"Tell me everything you know," the Queen said firmly. "I will clear you of any suspicion in the king’s poisoning, and I will allow you to leave the palace and live as a small merchant."

Eunuch Mose looked at her, then bowed. "My loyalty lies with the king. I want whoever harmed him to be found," he said. Of course, hearing that he could leave the palace, he felt that the secret he had carried for years could finally be spoken. So, he recounted everything he had witnessed that night.

The Queen frowned as she listened. She had never known her husband to engage in such acts. The situation felt increasingly strange.

"Do you think the Seer could have betrayed the king?" Queen Mary asked. Though disturbed by what she had heard, she tried to move past the shock. She reasoned that her husband had done everything he could to secure the throne that was rightfully his.

"I do not know," Eunuch Mose answered. "The Seer is powerful, and if he wanted to harm the king, it would be easy for him." He had no idea what the Queen’s intention behind the question was. What he meant was that the Seer wouldn’t need to use torture or tricks to kill the king—he had the means.

What he didn’t say was that once, the king had visited the Seer with an item that belonged to a noble lord. The very next day, that lord died under mysterious circumstances. If someone told Mose it was a coincidence, he would never believe it.

Queen Mary, however, interpreted his words differently. She thought he meant the Seer was capable of betrayal—and that poisoning the king would have been an easy feat for him. As promised, she released Eunuch Mose and allowed him to leave the palace. Then she summoned her most trusted guards and gave them orders to go to the Mountain of Gloom and investigate the Seer. She also sent guards to the Temple of the Old Gods with instructions to keep the Seer confined and not allow him to leave.

After making these arrangements, she felt somewhat calmer.

Then she picked up the report sent by General Robert and began to read. As she went through it, her suspicions about the Seer grew. She suddenly recalled that Anastasia—the girl the Seer had suggested as a bride for her son—was said to bring good fortune and bless the family she married into.

She also remembered that the king had first given up on life after a visit from the Seer. That was when he decided to send those two important items to their son in the North.

"Could the Seer be working for someone else?" Queen Mary wondered aloud. She couldn’t believe so many coincidences. The people of Gube had suddenly attacked, the king had been poisoned and died—all at such a critical moment.

She couldn’t help but wonder if the Seer was from Gube.

As she followed that line of thought, her heart skipped a beat. Magic and sorcery were common in Gube. The thought that the Seer might have been sent by Gube to stand at the king’s side disturbed her deeply.

The Queen shook her head. The Seer had been by the king’s side for so long. Why would he wait until now to act? It felt like a waste of time to wait decades. But then again... it wasn’t impossible.

After the last war with the people of Gube over twenty-five years ago, the kingdom’s military strength had been severely reduced. They hadn’t been able to recover in such a short span. Perhaps Gube had waited patiently for this moment.

The Seer had helped the king establish his rule. That also gave him the power to bring him down.

The more Queen Mary thought along these lines, the more convinced she became. Even as the king was dying, he still trusted the Seer. If the Seer had access to all information, then orchestrating the attack on Anastasia’s group would have been easy. At the time, everyone’s attention had been on the princess—giving the enemies time to steal the box.

"That’s not right," the Queen suddenly thought. "The princess was never even on the ship." Something wasn’t adding up.

"What if that commander was lying to mislead everyone?" she thought. After all, General Robert’s investigation had confirmed that only an injured soldier was left behind. The Queen frowned, her frustration growing. Every time she thought she had a lead, it vanished.

"What if... Anastasia doesn’t bring good fortune at all? What if she is the disaster the Seer placed within the royal family to destroy it from within?" the Queen wondered grimly, frowning deeply.