Release that Witch

” … ” Gerald didn’t know how to reply. The only thing left for him to do was to drag his own brother to hell with him. However, after some time he calmed down and asked, “Do you think you can get rid of me by telling your lies?”

“Get rid of you? No, that wouldn’t help me at all dear brother. I was helpless, I had to do it.” Timothy’s tone remained calm, as if he was only stating facts, “If I had honored father and waited five years, I was afraid that I would have had to face 3rd sister’s pirate fleet. You know what she has been doing recently, right?”

Gerald shook his head and felt a stabbing pain within his heart when he realized how great the distance between himself and 2nd brother had become. He remembered that his brother was very clever from an early age but wasn’t good at riding, shooting or fighting. As long as he had an opportunity to deliver a slash to Timothy, he could behead him – “She set up her own army, brother. Really, I admire her. She had even begun to organize it before father gave the order to fight for the throne, this was something even I didn’t expect. We got along so harmoniously during our childhood, so how could it have developed like this? Why do we have to kill each other for the throne?” Then, he took a step towards Gerald and asked, “Take yourself for example. I’m afraid that you now want to split me in half with your sword, right?”

” … “

“I know you do, brother, since you told me before that when you want to kill you get a frightening look in your eyes.” Timothy sighed, “I will bluntly tell you, I had to end this fight for the throne beforehand. Otherwise, if I had waited for five years I would have had to face Garcia’s fleet. She has already controlled Clearwater for several years, and has made it a city suitable to handle business and the recruitment of soldiers unlike Valencia, the City of Golden Harvest, which is only good for business and not suitable for rearing soldiers.”

“I need an army strong enough to withstand 3rd Sister’s fleet, which isn’t something I can achieve when I can only depend on a trading city. Gerald Wimbledon, tomorrow you will be sentenced to trial because of the assassination of the king and your absence from your territory. I, on the other hand, will travel back to Valencia during the night so that I will be there before the news of father’s death spreads. I’ll be deeply heartbroken, and will accept the throne only because I, as the 2nd Prince, am the duty-bound inheritor. Anyway, I will become the King while you will be sentenced to death by the guillotine.”

“You …!” Gerald roared, enraged, and attacked his brother. However, the distance between him and Timothy was too far, so his sword was intercepted by two Knights who then slashed at him in return, and a sword pierced his calf. Gerald lost his balance due the sudden injury and fell on the ground. The guards tightly swarmed around him and pinned him to the ground so that he could not move.

“You want to hold a trial? Do you think so lowly of me? I will tell everyone about what happened! I will let all people know what kind of monster you are!”

“Of course I will not allow you to do that, brother,” Timothy patiently declared. “The Alchemic Workshop has invented a drug named “Forgotten Language”, it uses the modulated poison of the sand lizard from the southern border and is mixed together with milk. After drinking it, you won’t be able to emit any sound. Rest assured, you won’t feel any pain, but the flavor is mellow and it’s befuddling. If you have to blame someone, then blame our 3rd sister, the genius. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be forced to do this.”

Timothy waved his hand towards the Knight Commander, who gave his salute and lead Gerald out of the Palace. The other guards also left so that the last remaining people were Scholar Ansger and Timothy.

“Your Highness, since your taking over the throne is already settled, I will call you Your Majesty from now on,” said Ansger as he bent down.

“You have done well. When I sit on the throne of Graycastle, I will honor our agreement, but … but after I saw how miserable my brother was today, I think some provisions should be added to our agreement to ensure my safety.”

The scholar’s look changed immediately, “Your Majesty, you mean -“

“Rest assured, I just do not want to be betrayed.” Timothy pulled a small pill from his pocket, “This must have been so much for you to handle. Maybe you should take this pill, it will dissolve after seven days. This should be enough time for me to travel to Valencia, getting the sad news and then to travel back to Graycastle. Later, when I become King, you will become the Chief Astrologer like we had agreed, but I do not want the others to offer you a higher price.”

“Your Majesty … You have to be joking,” Scholar Ansger’s face became pale and his look became pained. But in the end, he grit his teeth, and eventually swallowed the pill.

“Smart choice.” said Timothy as he nodded with satisfaction, “You may go.”

……

When the palace was deserted, the prince’s face darkened.

He grabbed the porcelain that was placed on a small table beside the bed. Several sounds of porcelain shattering could be heard. So, the guards who were stationed outside immediately rushed in. “Your Highness?”

“Get out!” He shouted.

“Yes,” the guards quickly lowered their heads and went out, closing the door behind them.

Damn, this wasn’t how I had planned it!

Timothy hadn’t planned to kill his father. With Wimbledon III’s favor, he only wanted his father to take notice of Garcia’s actions and stop her. His older brother Prince Gerald, on the other hand, would be a pawn within Timothy’s hand.

Timothy had thought that this plan couldn’t go wrong. By controlling Gerald’s mentor, Scholar Ansger, Timothy could manipulate his brother from the dark – Within the Astrologers Association, Scholar Ansger’s status wasn’t high, but when Ansger wrote some letters to Gerald, the 1st prince was quickly hooked. All this went exactly like Timothy had planned. His elder brother was strong in battle but he wasn’t good at thinking, but he still wasn’t willing to hand over the throne.

With each letter they exchanged, Scholar Ansger would increase the ambitions of Gerald, guiding him along the path Timothy had prepared. When the last letter with the astrological predictions was sent, Timothy secretly returned to the side of the King, informing him that the 1st prince may come to pressure him into abdicating the throne. There was no doubt that once this matter was confirmed, the King would immediately imprison the prince out of rage or even sentence him to death or exile instead.

Then, King Wimbledon would have to focus on his other children, and when he saw that Garcia was actively developing her military forces, she would inevitably become a second eyesore for him.

But … who could have thought that when Timothy had revealed the news, the King would only smile, pull out his personal dagger and directly stab himself in his chest!

Everything happened so quickly that Timothy had no chance to intervene, he could only watch his father die.

He slowly sat down beside the bed. In the first moments after the incident he thought that this was all an illusion. His father’s final smile was just like a nightmare, causing his hair to stand on end. Timothy went through the whole thing over and over again, even inspecting his father’s body, but he still couldn’t find a single clue as to why his father had killed himself.

He also thought about the idea that it was simply a double, but he couldn’t find any flaws in the situation in front of him. Even the remnants of his father’s old wounds were exactly the same as he remembered.

Seeing that Gerald had arrived to meet the king, he calmed down. With this he could push the blame for King Wimbledon III’s death onto the 1st Prince, and then he could use his own identity as the 2nd Prince to inherit the throne. After a smooth coronation, he would no longer be restricted to his own territory. Then, he could mobilize forces throughout the whole Kingdom to pressure Garcia, forcing her to give up the Harbor of Clear Water.

It seemed that the ending was better than it could have been, but Timothy still felt deeply uneasy … As if he was led by an invisible hand, who was already able to control the war of Graycastle’s upper nobility, but Timothy himself knew nothing about it.

However, at the moment he could do nothing else besides claiming the throne, so he had no choice. Timothy Wimbledon swore to himself that if he ever found out who was the cause, he would let them know what happened when they angered a King!