The King's Lover
Chapter 125: A Wise Decision

Chapter 125: A Wise Decision

"Do that and I’ll just do another raid," Caius casually said.

Everything stopped—even Maximus froze mid-bow. Time dragged out a bit as Gaius glared at his son.

"You wouldn’t da—" but he didn’t get all the words out before he started to cough again.

The physicians were once again stressed as they all moved quickly to attend to the King, trying to stop his coughing, but Gaius chased them off.

"Get out! All of you," he yelled into the handkerchief he had been handed. The physicians didn’t wait to be told twice and all rushed to the doors.

"Your Majesty," it was Lord Maximus who called. He was the only other person left behind.

King Gaius narrowed his eyes at Caius, slowly pulling the handkerchief from his lips. Then he turned to look at Maximus. "Wait," he said, dismissing Maximus with a wave. free.webn\ove(l)(.)c(o)m

Lord Maximus knew what the order was for. It was for him to wait before releasing the prisoners. "As you wish, Your Majesty," he said and started to withdraw.

"A wise decision," Caius said to his father.

The King looked like he might stab him. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Well, if I had come to you directly, you would have kicked me out. Aren’t you impressed by my methods?"

"If this is one of your crude jokes, Caius, you have no idea what you’re messing with."

King Gaius was seated upright on the bed with the blanket over his legs, while Caius sat across from him, his arms on the armrests and a smirk on his face.

"Your Majesty, wouldn’t you say I did a great thing? I freed children who were wrongfully captured and stopped an illegal auction. To call it a crude joke is downright insulting."

"What do you want?" Gaius asked again, clearly unimpressed by Caius’s glamour show.

"The name of the Lord in charge. Just the name."

"No," King Gaius said plainly. There was clearly no room for argument.

"What do you mean, no?" Caius asked. Even with this, he still couldn’t corner his father.

"No," Gaius simply said. "I know this is for the wench," Gaius said, "Ask any other questions you may have, and in return, you shall release the prisoners and let the auction carry on as before."

Caius narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t as good as he liked, but it was clear his father was willing to compromise. "Do I know the Lord in question?" Caius asked, annoyed that he was giving in.

"Any other questions. Trying to get answers from me in that manner is beyond pathetic."

Caius’s eyes narrowed. His father was calmer; he didn’t look as agitated as when Caius walked in. "I have one condition—make that two," Caius said.

"Which are?"

"Children or people are no longer a part of the auction. If I won’t get what I want, neither will they." freeNovelFire

Gaius narrowed his eyes. "Done. The second one?" he asked.

"They will pay taxes," Caius replied. "There is no reason why such a business shouldn’t benefit the kingdom. I’m guessing we don’t get a single coin from it—neither gold nor silver. Well, that will have to change."

"What are you doing?" Gaius asked in horror.

Caius smirked. "You can keep your name, but the business is illegal by Velmount law, and what I have done is lawful. If they intend to keep running, they will do the needful."

Gaius didn’t say anything for the longest time, and Caius was worried he might have made too much of a demand. However, the King simply said, "Ask your questions."

Caius’s eyes widened slightly, then darkened. Who was the King trying to protect that he would allow these terms—including taxes? That pissed Caius off.

"Was it Mother?" Caius asked.

"I thought this would be easy for you to find out?" Gaius asked with a mocking tone.

"It is. I just need you to verbally admit it wasn’t you."

"If your mother didn’t, I would have."

Caius rolled his eyes. "She failed. I’d like to see you try now." .com

Gaius smirked. "Why bother? Eventually, you’ll be rid of her."

Caius narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like the way the King said it—like he was certain. "Did you give the order for the prisoners who kidnapped Rose to be released?" he asked.

Gaius narrowed his eyes at the direct question with her name in it. "No. If Maximus sees fit that the prisoners have no reason to remain in the dungeons, he can get rid of them."

"They were held for treason," Caius said. "You wouldn’t do such a thing if you knew the state of the kingdom now."

"Oh shut it! What do you know? I’m still King regardless."

"Is that all, Your Majesty?" Caius asked, his anger curling his palms into fists.

"That’s my line. Don’t you have more questions for me?"

Caius stood to his feet. "Of course not. There’s nothing you could possibly tell me that I don’t already know. As for the Lord—you might want to tell him to be careful. He made things a little difficult for me."

Caius’s curled palms tightened. He realized he was even angrier than he had thought. Rose would not be in the state she was in if she had never left the castle, which meant... he didn’t want to complete the thought.

"Don’t do anything stupid, Caius!" Gaius called as Caius walked out of the room.

Caius wasn’t listening to his father. He knew he had to find the Lord in charge. He had a feeling he would end up uncovering the truth. The old man and his meddling. He couldn’t comprehend why the King would protect someone who was against the kingdom—or was there perhaps something he was missing?

They were on the brink of war, and the wrong move could push them over the edge. He knew their grievances with Galdoris were not something that could be resolved overnight. Caius also knew the King played a huge role in why there hadn’t been war yet. However, with the recent antics, it was clear his hold wasn’t as strong anymore.