AWDC Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Bride Kidnapping

“Your Majesty, King Charles, I am deeply honored to be granted an audience. The reason I have come before you today is to report that I have come of age, become independent, and have recently taken a bride.”

Stepping forward before King Charles was Prince Tzukira, the King’s eighth son, who was 18 years old.

The King had 18 living sons. This number did not include daughters or deceased sons.

Frankly, the King had not remembered that he had a son named Tzukira until he heard about it from his aides earlier that day.

“A commendable act, indeed. Raise your head.”

Although he was the King’s son, a person called His Highness, he was still a subject of the King. Even the Crown Prince had to request permission to be granted an audience with the King.

All the more so for Tzukira, the eighth son, whose name the King couldn’t even remember, who was prostrating himself on the floor.

“Yes, I obey your gracious command. Behind me is my wife, Riyuki.”

“Hmm, Riyuki, raise your head.”

Following those words, the wife, who had been kneeling on the floor in accordance with her husband’s actions, slowly raised her head.

The moment he saw her face, the King’s eyes widened. He had fathered over 50 children and had been intimately involved with over 200 women. This King, with such a history with women, was astonished.

(Beautiful, a beauty!)

Magnificent, pure, intelligent, voluptuous, a face of rich beauty, yet also fresh and innocent. How many women had he seen?

Yet, the King’s heart leaped at the sight of Riyuki.

(A pity. I didn’t know that such a beautiful woman existed in my country. It’s unfitting for that idiot son of mine to have such a beautiful bride.)

The King’s lust quickly surpassed the boiling point.

“How old are you?”

It was an unexpected question from the King. Normally, in a public setting, even if he was the King’s son, as a vassal, he would not directly answer a question from the King. A person acting as an intermediary would always ask the question again before an answer was given.

However, the Prince’s wife answered without hesitation.

“Yes, I am 17 years old.”

The Prince and the intermediary were flustered, but the King found it amusing.

“Is that so? In that case, while you may be called a wife, you have not yet cultivated the proper skills, have you?

You are too young to properly perform the duties of a wife.

Listen, Tzukira. I shall personally educate this woman for you.”

Prince Tzukira was panicked.

He was supposed to have an audience with His Majesty the King together with his wife, to be recognized as the King’s son, married, and allowed to start a family.

Instead, the King himself was saying that he would educate his new wife.

To put it bluntly, it was the same as the King ordering him to hand over his new wife.

(The King took a liking to Riyuki at first sight and intends to make her a concubine.)

After prostrating himself for a while, Prince Tzukira raised his face with a calm expression.

“My wife was born into a lowly family, lacks education, and is not properly trained.

If Your Majesty would educate her, she would become a proper woman.

There is no greater joy for me as your subject.

I humbly request that you train my wife.”

The word “training” is used to describe the process of training and taming livestock such as horses.

The fact that he used the word “training” meant that Prince Tzukira was offering his wife to the King as if she were a horse.

Before the many vassals lined up, an astounding situation was unfolding.

The King was trying to seize the bride of his own son.

As Lord Midland had lamented, the King was tired of state affairs.

He found the greatest relaxation in hosting women at banquets rather than being involved in politics.

At times, he didn’t care if the woman he took a liking to was already married or even had children.

However, in the past, there were figures like Lord Midland who would admonish him if his laziness or lust became too apparent.

He had hesitated to behave so outrageously lest he be caught by their watchful eyes.

“Hmm, that is a good attitude,” the King said, nodding in satisfaction at the Prince’s words.

“Yes, yes,” the Prince said, prostrating himself, his face changing to an expression of (I’ve done it).

This became the trigger for the chaos. Lord Gregg, upon hearing this story, was greatly angered and grieved.

He felt that his years of hard work, serving the King and single-handedly taking on the responsibility of national defense, had been for nothing.

“Your Majesty, I implore you to look after the affairs of the nation!”

Lord Gregg, from a distinguished family that was on par with the Midland family. A family that supported the country in military affairs, and usually did not get involved in national politics.

However, with the death of the head of the Midland family and the worrying state of national affairs, Lord Gregg admonished the King.

“Please, take heed of your actions!”

Although he did not directly mention it, it was a rebuke to the King for his shameless behavior of seizing his son’s bride.

The King also held Lord Gregg in high regard.

However, the King, who was overjoyed to have Riyuki, a beautiful woman, at his side, was greatly offended.

“Enough! You are a military man, overstepping your bounds. You are being disrespectful.”

The King changed his expression and flew into a rage.

There were no disrespectful words. Moreover, it was a major figure who had supported the country since its founding, and it was permitted to speak frankly to the King.

“I never want to see your face again. Leave the court immediately and consider yourself confined to your residence.”

The King’s punishment of Lord Gregg was excessively harsh and beyond what was normal, but there was no one to intercede.

Previously, no matter how angry the King was, when Gregg and Midland opened their mouths, those around them would follow suit.

Even the King had no choice but to quell his anger.

However, on this occasion, Lord Gregg was alone.

Lord Gregg was standing by the window in his mansion within his territory, quietly looking at the garden.

“Where did I go wrong?

I took over from my father, leading the army and standing on the battlefield countless times. The Midland family took charge of national affairs, and I ran around the battlefield without any worries about what was going on in the country.

I believed that increasing the King’s authority was the quickest way to unify the country, and I discussed it with the old Lord and changed the system that valued formalities and rituals.

Did I go too far?

In the past, my family would speak frankly to the King and make him change his mind.

He could not refuse our direct advice.

Now, there is no aide who can offer advice to His Majesty.

Did I increase His Majesty’s power too much?”

He spoke words that were a mixture of reflection and nostalgia.

At that moment, a dark shadow ran through the garden, and an arrow flew.

“Did he even consider such a thing?” the Lord said with a sigh.

The arrow was coated with poison, and Lord Gregg passed away that very day.

The perpetrator was never caught.

It could be said that the Flanderk Kingdom had been maintained by the Midland and Gregg families since its founding.

For generations, no foolish heads of these two families had appeared. Even when the King was replaced, sometimes young, sometimes foolish, this country remained safe because these two families had excellent heads.

But with the sudden death of both heads, the two houses were left with inexperienced heads.

And the King, Charles, who was known as an enlightened and wise ruler, had grown tired of his long years of service in state affairs.

This incident became the trigger for the chaos in the Flanderk Kingdom.