Married To The Enemy Kingdom's Illegitimate Prince-Chapter 128 — Because of Him

"Answer me. Are you the one who did this?" Lucian demanded, his gaze sharpening.

Cynthia curled her lips, stepping next to him. She slowly leaned close to his ear, her warm breath brushing against his nape as he flinched.

"I thought you said you trust me now, Your Highness," she whispered, her voice hinting at how hypocritical his question was.

Lucian clenched his fist, frustrated.

If not her, who else could it be? Unless she purposely said that to avoid his suspicion.

"Your Highness! I have brought a healer for His Majesty!" Glain sprang toward Lucian.

"Alright. Investigate the matter while I attend the king," Lucian ordered, rushing outside the room.

Cynthia silently trailed behind, her steps echoing in the empty hallways, followed by Lucian’s and the servants’.

Once arrived inside the king’s bedroom, Cynthia carefully examined it. Even in her past life, despite being married to Lucian for years, she never entered the king’s bedchamber.

The room was adorned with gold-framed portraits of himself and various members of the royal family. A large, closed door, presumably leading to the dressing room, stood shut. Beside it, a big bookshelf stood, its books covered in a layer of accumulated dust.

With the slam of the door, Valen rushed inside. He abruptly pulled Lucian by his collar, glaring intensely at him.

"You’re the one who did this! Isn’t it?!" He barked furiously.

"Your Royal Highness—"

"Shut up! Why did you attack him?’ How dare you?!"

"Your Royal Highness, the king was poisoned by an arrow made by magic. And the grand duke can’t use magic," the physician explained although his voice trembled in fear.

He had never seen the crown prince so furious ever since he began his journey as the royal healer six years ago.

"Oh! Is that so? He could have just hired someone to do it! It’s not difficult," Valen’s grip on Lucian’s shirt collar tightened, his anger intensifying. Just the sight of the young man was enough to send him into a rampage.

"I didn’t do anything."

"Why would you even confess? Do you think I am stupid and I will believe your lies?!"

Cynthia crossed her arms, shaking her head in disbelief. She was the one who did it yet the crown prince didn’t even consider other people being able to harm the king.

Stupid indeed.

She snorted.

However, now she needed to ease the crown prince’s suspicions. She hadn’t planned to take easy revenge on Lucian. He too, just like her, had to witness all his family members die, one by one.

"Enough, Your Highness. I cannot allow you to baselessly accuse my husband of such a horrible act. If you have evidence, do prove that he is guilty otherwise I cannot allow you to keep behaving like this toward him."

Cynthia removed Valen’s hands from Lucian with force.

Valen didn’t plan on letting go no matter what but she was strangely stronger than him, leaving him slightly baffled.

"He has the motive to do so! He is an illegitimate child! It must be for revenge against father!"

Valen shrieked, his eyes glimmering with fury.

His life used to be perfect. He had loving parents who barely fought and an adorable little sister with whom he played whenever he had free time during his extremely busy schedule. However, all of that changed as soon as Lucian entered their lives.

And one day he arrived when he witnessed his parents fighting for the first time. The shouting was still vivid in his mind and sometimes they would surge from the past and haunt him in his nightmares. He desperately wished it would stop as he stood behind the door, trembling in fear while his father threw objects on the ground. One of them brushed against his mother’s hand, leaving her bleeding while he left the room.

His younger self sprang to his mother, his eyes wide in shock. He loved his parents but he couldn’t understand what went wrong. Why were they at each other’s throats— Ah.

"It’s because of him," Valen concluded, blaming the child who arrived that day at the palace.

Soon after, even his sister began to drift away from him. She wanted to spend more time with that boy instead of her own brother, leaving him baffled. But he couldn’t hate his sister. He loved her too much, causing his hatred towards Lucian to intensify.

Growing up, the king barely noticed Valen anymore. His scoldings, praises, everything seemed to be directed toward Lucian— his illegitimate son.

At times he couldn’t help but wonder late at night before drifting off to slumber if it was because he was a love child. After all, he often heard servants whisper about how children made out of love were adored no matter where they went.

"Mother, you and father love each other right?" He once asked the Queen. He needed to reassure himself that he, also, was a child made out of love.

But the Queen’s eyes widened in shock. She turned her face away, and in a low and dry voice, she replied in a dry voice, "There is no such thing in this world, Your Highness. You shouldn’t believe in stupid things like this."

And then one day, Arisia collapsed while playing with Lucian.

For the first time, he saw a side of the king he never wished to see. He mercilessly plucked Lucian’s left golden eye as he would to a monster’s heart to ensure its death. Valen couldn’t help but tremble in horror at the sight.

"That’s what happens to bad children who don’t listen to their elders."

To this day, the king’s words echoed in his mind, haunting his dreams whenever he made a mistake.

Everyone present that day was instructed to keep it a secret from Arisia once she woke up. But on that fateful day, Lucian was sent to war in Valen’s stead. The decision left him questioning whether he seemed so weak in the king’s eyes that an illegitimate child was chosen to carry out the duty of the crown prince. The king, however, had explained his true intention: he merely wished for Lucian’s death.

Yet, that did not happen. Lucian returned, more victorious than ever, adored by the people. Meanwhile, Valen found himself abandoned by his own supporters, who now clamoured for Lucian to be made the crown prince.

In response, the king proposed something unthinkable: a marriage alliance with the very kingdom they had just defeated in war. The intent was clear—to make Lucian as despised as Eldoria and its people. And, to their credit, they have succeeded so far.

Valen gasped, his eyes widening as a realization struck him. They had planned to kill Lucian once and for all.

Could it be possible that he learned about it and decided to kill the king?

That was the only reason he could see the state in which the king was in right now.

"Your Highness, you need to brace yourself for the night... His majesty might not make it..." The physician’s words echoed in his mind as Valen watched the king gasping for air, lying on the bed. He had never seen him so... vulnerable and weak.

"Call more healers. Do not rest until he is cured!" Valen commanded.

The old man nodded reluctantly, unable to disagree.

Before long, the room filled with healers of all kinds.

Yet none seemed to make any progress. The king’s face remained pale, his breathing labored, and beads of sweat continued to roll down his skin.

He glanced at Lucian who calmly watched the king slowly stepping closer to his death yet he didn’t show any sign of pain on his face. Not even a frown.

"Heartless," he grumbled, clenching his fists. He hadn’t wanted to argue earlier when the healer advised him to focus on curing the king for now instead of fighting over the matter.

"Your Highness! I have finished interrogating everyone in the ballroom!" Glain rushed into the room, swinging the door open.

"Don’t you know how to knock?!"

"I-I apologize Your Royal Highness. However, it’s an urgent matter—it concerns the king’s attack..." Glain explained, bowing his head respectfully to all the high-ranking individuals in the bedchamber.

"Does not matter. Report."

Glain glanced at Lucian, who gave him a silent nod, choosing not to create further chaos in this already tense situation.

"I instructed the guards to search the room for any clues while each guest was questioned separately in a designated room," Glain explained, his upper body still bowed before the crown prince. "So far, no one has been found connected to the attack. Although a few have motives to harm the king, their potential gains are almost nonexistent."

"That’s impossible! Someone is behind this! Investigate again!" Valen demanded sharply.

"What if it’s not someone from our kingdom but an enemy kingdom holding a grudge against the king?" Lucian suggested, glancing at Valen, who raised an eyebrow, silently prompting him to elaborate.

"Wait, I mean—" Lucian hesitated, aware of everyone’s gaze shifting toward Cynthia. "We have more than one enemy. We need to investigate every possibility," he clarified.

"For now, let the guests leave the palace. It’s already extremely late," he added, glancing at the clock on the wall, which showed it was three in the morning.

"We need to wait until the king is able to tell us who he suspects is responsible for his condition," Valen sighed, reluctantly agreeing with Lucian. "Send the guests back tonight."

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