“I never thought that Andonara would leave me.”
Roland was not moved at all after hearing that. He even felt like laughing.
It was quite amusing for a king to say such things that were completely beneath him.
Roland did not say anything.
“Do you not feel guilty at all toward me, the victim?”
At this point, Roland chuckled.
The soldiers around immediately glared at Roland.
“What are you laughing at?” The king was as calm as before.
“Do you feel guilty about Kaka?” Roland asked.
Though it was mainly the general chairman who caused Kaka’s death, it was undeniable that the royal family played a part too.
“Kaka?” The king seemed confused. He seemed to have heard the name before, but he couldn’t remember who the guy was.
At this point, the servant who was by the king’s side whispered something to him.
The king was enlightened. “You’re talking about Young Bard? Why should I feel guilty about him?”
Roland secretly sighed. The fact that the king didn’t remember who Kaka was meant that he never considered the royal family’s plots against Kaka a big deal.
But it was understandable that the big shots couldn’t remember the little guys who were killed by their machinations or who were simply useless.
“If you don’t feel guilty about Kaka at all, why should I feel guilty toward you?”
The king stared at Roland in silence.
Roland displayed no emotional response under the king’s eyes. He was like a pine tree at the peak of a mountain.
After a while, the king moved his eyes away and said, “Did you lure my queen away in order to avenge Young Bard?”
Of course not.
But Roland gave the contrary answer. “You can think that way.”
The king seemed graver than before. “Are you provoking me?”
“Again, you can think that way.”
The king’s servant was infuriated. He was about to go forward, but the king stopped him and said, “Are you not scared of death?”
Roland replied gently, “I’m undying.”
The king’s pupils constricted. Then he went on, “But I can deal with the people around you, for example, your friends in this world.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Roland chuckled and said, “When I lose one friend, you will lose ten. Don’t underestimate an undying Golden Son. Besides, I have a lot of compatriots.”
“Such as the dragon knight, the Saint Samurai?” asked the king while leaning forward.
Roland smiled but did not say anything.
“I’m often threatened.” Instead of bursting into fury, the king sighed and said, “But this is the first time I’ve been threatened by a young man who has no power, rather than other nobles, lords, kings, or even the pope. Yet, I don’t have any way to counterattack.”
While speaking, he leaned back against the throne weakly.
Roland waited for a while. Seeing that the king remained silent, Roland said, “Your Majesty, I’ll take my leave if you don’t have anything else to discuss.”
Then, he turned around and left, not caring if the king allowed him to go or not.
But after he turned around, the king suddenly said, “Let’s make a deal about Andonara.”
Roland had lost interest in talking to the king, but since it was about Andonara, he could only stop and ask, “What kind of deal?”
“You claim that you took the queen away for revenge, but you must’ve been attracted by her beauty. So, we can make a deal about that. You’ve seen both Veronica and Evelyn. They’re both top-rate girls, only slightly worse than Andonara. I can marry both of them to you in exchange for the queen, how does that sound?”
Roland simply sneered.
Seeing that he was uninterested, the king raised his offer. “What about an additional dowry of 150 gold coins, as well as the post of a royal Mage in the court?”
Roland was too lazy to reply to the king, who thought so differently from him that any negotiation would be pointless.
Seeing that Roland disrespected the king as such, the royal guards went forward, trying to subdue him.
But the king shouted, “Let him go.”
Under their furious gazes that stabbed like swords, Roland walked out of the room casually.
Outside of the door, he found Antis waiting for him up ahead.
He walked to Antis and said, “Take me out of the royal palace.”
Antis seemed rather surprised. “But the king hasn’t given any orders yet.”
“You want me to fight my way out of the royal palace?” Roland asked back with a smile.
Antis took a deep breath, suppressing his rising anger.
Roland was disrespecting the whole royal family, but after thinking for a moment, Antis realized that there was nothing he could do about the Golden Sons.
Their ability of resurrection was their greatest strength.
Antis waited for a moment. Receiving no orders from the king’s room, he led Roland away and asked, “What did the king tell you? You don’t have to tell me if it’s inconvenient.”
“It’s not a big deal. He simply wants to exchange Veronica and Evelyn for the queen,” Roland said with obvious mockery. “He’s truly a classic king who has absolutely no feelings.”
“The queen is more important than the two princesses. That’s the king’s choice after weighing the gains and losses,” Antis said slowly. “I’m not trying to change your opinion of the king, but he’s a worthy king in our eyes. He never levied heavy taxes, placed the burden of the royal family on his subjects, or waged war for selfish interests during his thirty years on the throne. Furthermore, to protect his people, he often chose to stay back if there was no chance to win, for example, when you took the queen away.”
Roland thought carefully for a moment and realized that it did make some sense.
It was true that the conclusions drawn from different perspectives could be highly different.
When they came to the gate of the royal palace, the sun was rising in the east.
Antis said, “Let’s say goodbye here. Since we can almost be called friends, I need to tell you something from the bottom of my heart. I don’t know what the countries in the dimension of the Golden Sons look like, but in this world, our king is really a great king. If you ever visit another country, you’ll know that our king has really been governing the country and restricting the lords with his best efforts. So, don’t be too demanding on the royal family, and if possible, give the queen back to us, so that the royal family won’t be completely humiliated.”
After that, Antis returned to the royal palace.
Roland chuckled, impressed by Antis’s eloquence.
