Please Die, Your Highness - Chapter 69

Mavolo’s plan was proceeding smoothly.

The foolish King never suspected him, thanks to the magic imbued in the cloak he wore. Far from suspecting him, the King willingly kept him at his closest side and granted him the position of chief attendant.

Malachy O’Doherty, the old man who was the King’s advisor, had been a slight concern, but that soon ceased to be a problem. That old man was busy manipulating the young King to his own taste for his own benefit, and thus, even after noticing Mavolo’s secret plotting, he did not show it. Somehow, they ended up turning a blind eye to each other.

Mavolo’s objective from the beginning was the second prince, Prince Declan. He had no interest in this country, which was now in a state worse than a small nation, barely maintaining its existence with its old territory.

Indeed. This shabby and primitive kingdom was of no concern to him. The Great King whom he served, the Archmage, would surely agree.

He desired only the second prince, who was born with the evidence of dragon lineage upon his body. The Great King he served required a massive amount of mana, befitting the glory of an Archmage. Mavolo and the other sorcerers put their heads together and discussed it for the King, and they soon decided to place their hopes on the ‘prince born with dragon scales’ that was spoken of only in rumors.

Mana was a symbol of formidable power. It was a fact widely known even among sorcerers that the dragons, now vanished from the earth, once wielded power akin to magic. Therefore, they decided to seize these dragon scales for their King.

Contrary to their worries, every stage progressed with ease.

Without even needing to strive, the King already hated his own younger brother. Not only that. He hated him so much that he wanted to get rid of him if only an excuse arose. It was easy to advance that emotion from simply wanting him gone from his sight to a hatred intense enough to want him dead.

There was no need for much effort. King Aidan decided to kill his brother as if he had been waiting for someone to persuade him to do so.

Mavolo presented what they had prepared so that they could easily kill the second prince, who was loved by the people even more than the King.

“At a glance, it looks like an ordinary incense burner, but it is not. It was processed from the remaining dust after a certain great dragon molted in ancient times. Have the Prince stay near the incense burned from this. Infuse this scent into the clothes he will wear, his food, and the blankets he covers himself with every day. Then, observe the reaction.”

King Aidan accepted the incense burner handed over by the sorcerers Mavolo had brought without suspicion.

And before long, the second prince, Prince Declan, could not wake up for several days due to a sudden fever.

“The sorcerers’ predictions were correct. The scales on the Prince’s body are reacting.”

“What kind of reaction?”

“He has come to intensely desire molting. He wants to become his original, formidable body, rather than the fragile and small body of a human.”

“Is that even possible?”

“It is impossible. It is a mutation that a human body cannot endure. Before long, his energy will be exhausted and he will die. So, perhaps if the sorcerers……”

“No. I told you before, tell them not to dare think of approaching my brother.”

At that moment, Mavolo realized the fact that the King was not entirely stupid. The magic cloak had only dispelled the initial suspicion.

However, the King did not cast the sorcerers out immediately. Only then did Mavolo vaguely understand the inner thoughts of this foolish young King. It was clear that just as the sorcerers were using him, he believed he could simply use the sorcerers in return.

However, before long, an unexpected variable arose. The people of the entire nation truly loved that second prince far too much. Contrary to expectations, as the Prince’s—

The fact that he had been enduring for a long time while suffering agonizing pain was also a cause. Every single day, people would implore the King, claiming they knew a secret remedy or a cure to heal the Prince, begging him to let them at least try.

The King eventually sought out the sorcerers again.

“Bring back those sorcerers you are close with. Have them say with their own mouths that no treatment works on the Prince’s illness. Make those damn subjects of mine give up.”

Mavolo said he would gladly do so. And he actually did. The subjects grieved, and now they openly focused only on the Prince’s well-being. They talked about the Prince all day long, as if he were their true King.

Aidan had now reached a limit of a different kind. As if he had been waiting, Mavolo whispered to Aidan the story of the Witch of the West. To the King, who stared at him murderously as if asking what kind of preposterous story he was telling, he subtly inserted the possibility of a ‘death in a foreign land.’

Before long, the King called Mavolo again. And he answered that it was good.

“Lord Quirne.”