Carl stood up from where he sat and knelt down before her. "I will be loyal to you, your highness. I will be your most loyal knight and walk through fire and brimstone with you to see that you get what is rightfully yours," he vowed with his head bowed.
Rose found this scene very confusing. This was definitely not the way knights swear their loyalty to the Queen. It had to be in a very different way from this. She did not know what to say to him after watching him act like he was on a movie set.
When he did not hear her speak, he raised his head and looked at her. "I am very serious about what I just said," Carl said with an unhappy frown. "You should accept me and welcome me as a new knight."
"Knight?" she chuckled softly. "What you just did was very comical and definitely not a Knight's oath. I have no idea what to do with you so sit down and let's forget we ever had this conversation, okay?" she said looking at him as she waited for his acceptance perhaps a nod or an okay sign.
"Do you think I will joke with such an oath?" Carl asked obviously displeased. "Do you really think I am joking? I just swore my life over to you and you think it is a joke?" He made sure to let his expression show how hurt he was as he remained on his knees.
"Hey, stand up. Your legs are not well enough to be misused. I guess you want to remain in the hospital for long," she tried to persuade him to stand up. "Remain on your knees but don't blame me for any pain you feel afterwards."
"I refuse to stand up until you accept me as your knight. I know the oath isn't correct and this whole process is wrong but it doesn't matter. What matters most is my sincerity. I want to work for you. As soon as I join the council, I will be your spy. I will not hide anything from you," he promised.
"There has to be a reason why you are so bent on working with me," she said still very skeptical although a little less than before.
"I want my name to appear on history. I want to be recognized for my loyalty to the rightful Queen even in the next century. I want to be known as a hero and I can only achieve that by working with you even if it means I might die," he explained without standing up.
His explanation made more sense. She smiled. "Fine. I will let you work with me so your name will appear on history. That means we have to work hard so I can sit on the throne in order to make that happen," she agreed. Now that she was aware of what he wanted in return, she was willing to keep him close after all he was her cousin brother.
"Hurray," Carl shouted with his hands thrown up as he made an attempt to stand up but had to remain on his knees when he felt a serious pain.
"I warned you earlier," she reminded him. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "Now I think I should change my mind. How can you protect me if you don't have enough strength?"
"You are the reason I am still here. If only you answered me when I wanted you to," he complained while glaring at her playfully. "I know the history of our kingdom very well and I know a secret which I will tell you later."
"Are you trying to make me keep you by my side with that so called secret I am sure does not exist?" she asked now glaring at him.
"Yes. The secret will cause a great change and I will only tell you if you let me work with you. I heard you want to go to the Royal University. I will meet you there this year because I applied for early graduation from high school. I am a genius."
"You are just so unstoppable and unpredictable. I am beginning to rethink my decision," she said shocked by his revelation.
"A Queen must honor her words," he said triumphantly.
"But still, I don't think you should hurt your father," Rose said when she remembered what he said about replacing his father in the council.
"He killed my mother, I do not think he deserves your pity. I won't kill him. I will only leave him in the most miserable state after I take back all the inheritance my mother and grandparents left for me," he said easily.
"I . . ." Rose could not come up with the right thing to say. She should be tough and unforgiving since she living right now for vengeance.
She was alive to take back her throne but the thought of killing someone did not feel good. She knew her plan has to include bloodshed but faced with the reality of what the future could be, scared her and she was really hesitating.
She knew from what Carl said that he could be as cruel as he wants to be the fact that he wanted to cause harm to his father – although cruel – did not sound good in her ears. She did not want to be the cause of anyone's death.
"I will advice you not to think of hesitating. If we don't hurt, we will only get hurt. It's like a battle field. You will get killed if you don't kill your enemies and trust me there is nothing wrong with that. I would have been dead and forgotten if I did not hurt my brother. I love my brother but I had to save myself or he would have made the perfect plan to kill me without suspicion."
Rose listened as she tried to let herself get persuaded by what he has to say but she could not accept the truth.
"What will you do if Anna tries to kill you?"
Rose was so shocked by the question that she froze unable to answer while her brain tried hard to process the weight of such question. "Anna will never try to kill me," Rose replied firmly after a long silence that seems to have lasted for an eternity.
"I don't think you are certain of what the future holds. You should be careful and not trust people easily because . . .," he began advising her.
"Including you, right?" She asked with a serious frown.
"I am your cousin. We have the same grandmother. There is a higher probability that your adoptive sister will betray you than your cousin," he told her persuasively.
"I have known Anna for more than three years now but I barely know you," Rose reminded him argumentatively.
"Don't forget that blood relations stick close than any other relationship in this world. Your father did not defend your mother when the world turned against her. Rather your father persuaded the council to get him a new wife. Do you understand what I mean now?"
"My father betrayed me too. He is my father and don't forget your father tried to kill you too," Rose reminded him.
"That was because he saw me as my mother's son and not his son but right now, I see you as the rightful Queen who is my cousin sister. I am tired of trying to persuade you. I will ignore you for now while I carry out my plan. I will remember to tell you everything but remember that your opinion does not count," he said relaxing against the backrest of the sofa and exhaled in relief.
Rose became tongue tied as she looked at him. It seems that she will never be able to run away from her responsibility as the princess because she had too many people watching her and trying their best to help her get the throne.
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom They motivated her. She was not after the wealth she gets as the princess and they helped her see that it was only right that she sits on the throne.
They were offering her more than enough help and with their support, it will be difficult for her lose the battle. She was going to save her people although she was not sure of what she was saving them from.
"I heard that members of the council from our Kingdom are dying for different reasons but the deaths are too much to be a coincident," Carl informed her as he moved to a very serious mood.
"Who told you that?" Rose asked shocked by the revelation.
"My father thought the council tried to kill my brother through the accident. The council isn't aware that my brother is not my twin brother. He is feeling really threatened. He thinks they will kill my brother. He does not want to lose all he benefits from by being a member of the council. If my brother dies, I will become my father's sole heir. Should I kill him?"
Once again in a single day, Rose found herself tongue-tied and confused.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter