The Royal Revenge
Chapter 104: To Insult the Dead

Chapter 104: To Insult the Dead

Every vampire that witnessed the return of the bastard prince had one thing in common – fear. The rumors of Prince Aleksander’s curse preceded everything else about him.

The nobilities whispered in rushed voices, a crescendo of worry for their lives and that of the kingdom should the High Priestess Naya accept the prince’s claim to the throne.

"Your highness," the High Priestess spoke, her breath a bit shaky, "you just can’t barge in like this..." she trailed off.

There was an undeniable worry in the eyes of the High Priestess. All the other representatives of the vampire church shared her concern as well. Their eyes darted from the presider, to Wiriam, and back to the bastard prince.

"High Priestess Naya, the book of laws is to be upheld with utmost diligence," Aleksander said.

The prince made sure his tone had a hint of annoyance in it to show his disapproval of their attitude towards him. It was clear that every single vampire inside the room was reluctant to hand the crown over to a bastard prince like him.

But despite all of these, Elys who had stood beside the prince smiled in relief. She had been worried that Aleksander wouldn’t be able to hold himself well against the crowd.

By the way things were going, it seemed like Aleksander could actually handle himself well.

’Apparently, he only needed to be pushed out of his self-criticizing hole,’ the princess thought to herself. ’A bit of courage and confidence does go a long way.’

Aleksander turned towards the front where the other candidates were frozen in place. Only a select few of the candidates had stood firm in their place, whereas the rest looked as if they were just pressured by their families to take a shot at the crown.

The prince saw the presider in the middle of crowning Wiriam with his late father’s golden crown.

"Presider, let the Farvar son step down. Isn’t it quite obvious that as the sole surviving son of the late king, I am the rightful heir to the throne?" the prince demanded.

Aleksander let go of Elys’ hand, and he took a step forward. The prince boldly passed through the other noble candidates, giving each of them a stern look as if warning them not to even dare do anything rash.

As he passed them by, the son of Duke and Duchess Ravinia suddenly screamed in horror. His scream pierced into the dead of the night, a chilling screech of terror. The boy slumped to the sleek floor, and his parents were quick to rush over to help him.

"Don’t be such a weakling," Aleksander clicked his tongue in disgust, "that was just a tiny vision I gave you. There are things much worse than being shot dead by people you owe riches to."

The prince kicked the boy’s feet out of his way, and the rest of the candidates scurried back to their respective families.

Duchess Ravinia hissed at the prince, while her husband dragged their son back to where the rest of the Ravinia clan were.

Elys watched them and gloated at how pathetic they looked. Veering her attention back to the prince, the princess saw her husband carry with him an air of power that he should have donned since the beginning.

Aleksander reached his target.

"Sir Wiriam Gilver Farvar," the prince spoke with a slight hint of amusement, "and here I thought you would have your younger brother take your place as a potential candidate, seeing as you haven’t even served the palace at all as a courtier or even as a knight."

"Your highness," the vampire gave Aleksander a polite, but short bow, "the Farvar family needed me, and so I shall serve as they demand of me."

"Tell me, Sir Wiriam," Aleksander tilted his head, his eyes staring at a potential rival, "do you want the crown for yourself?"

The noble son of the Farvars cast his eyes downwards and smiled, "If that is my destiny, your highness, then I shall accept it wholeheartedly."

The prince scoffed, turned to the presider and then to the High Priestess. She still hadn’t said anything to back up Aleksander’s claim for the throne.

"Presider, High Priestess Naya," Aleksander glared at them, "are you going to just stand by with your tongues tied to the roof of your mouth? Or are you going to denounce Sir Wiriam’s claim to the crown?"

"Your highness," the presider tried to reason out with him, "Sir Wiriam has been chosen by the Mana Orb as the strongest candidate -"

"I know what I saw and heard from all of you!" Aleksander raised his voice, thunders coincidentally rumbling in the skies outside. "Sir Wiriam may have been chosen by the Mana Orb, but I have the blood of a king in me. It is I who will be king."

High Priestess Naya marched forward, grabbing the prince by his arms with force and said, "Your highness, you cannot take the crown for yourself. The late Queen Zephyrine’s prophecy has never been wrong before. And you..."

Aleksander looked at the High Priestess and snarled. She let go of him and took several steps away from the prince.

Wiriam stood by as the bastard prince made the powerful High Priestess back away from him. It was both remarkable and dangerously foolish at the same time.

How could he even do that to someone who was deemed the most revered person in the entire vampire kingdom aside from the king and queen themselves?

"Queen Zephyrine has never been wrong, you say?" Aleksander laughed. "Hah! She had prophesied her own son’s triumph before, but look at what happened to Dominick – his head had been chopped off! The rumors about me were all lies she created herself. That trophy queen was and will always be a hoax, even in her death!"

Sharp gasps rushed as the prince insulted the late Queen Zephyrine.

It was sort of a taboo for the vampires to speak evil of the dead, as it was believed those who have died may hear and never pass on to the Netherworld in anger of the insult made on them.

Aleksander didn’t believe in such things.