“Now, write. If you make a mistake, you’ll have to start all over again,” Pollux said mildly.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a shame that King Augustus was a slow learner. Pollux even had to heal him a few times before causing him more pain. And oh, what joy when his father started flinching at the mere sound of chains clinking.
Once his father finally finished writing and signing off his abdication, Pollux took the bill away. “Very good, Father,” he said mockingly. “You can learn after all. Now that you’re no longer the king, I’ll take this—”
Pollux plucked the royal crown from his father’s head and the scabbard that was tied around King Augustus’s waist. He sheathed the sword that had been dropped on the ground and took the royal sceptre resting on a red pillow.
With this, he had the three main symbols of the ruler of Angio.
“Now, one last thing, Father,” Pollux said. He produced a contract. “You should be familiar with this. You know what to do, don’t you? You can make this as easy or as hard as you want…”
Not long after, Pollux healed his father and forced him to change into fresh clothes.
“Now, Father, you’ve had a long day. What do you do after a long day?” Pollux jingled the chains.
Augustus flinched. “…Lie down in bed,” he gritted out.
“Very good.”
Pollux took away the chains, and then knocked out Augustus with a sleeping spell before he could lunge at him again.
Then, he turned his wheelchair around and headed for the door. He ended the silencing spell and the locking spell.
When he opened the door, his servants, Lady Helios, and the guards’ eyes first drew to the crown, sceptre, and sword on his lap, then to the room behind him.
Pollux didn’t close the door, and no one stepped forward to do so either.
“Your Highness…” Lady Helios begun.
Pollux passed the items to her. “Do whatever you want with these. And this, too.” He took out the Abdication Bill that Augustus had written and signed with much pain. “My father and I had a conversation, and he gave me this.”
Lady Helios’s eyes widened. She handed the crown, sceptre and sword to a guard and took the bill.
“Bye,” Pollux said.
With no more appearances to make, Pollux manoeuvred his flying wheelchair down the stairs, with his servants following behind him. As he headed down the corridor towards his quarters, he looked out the windows overlooking the destroyed front courtyard.
It was a pity that he hadn’t been able to watch Marcus be taken down.
Lady Helios read through the Abdication Bill again, but the words and signature hadn’t changed.
As the person with the highest seniority, Lady Helios ordered one of the guards to enter King Augustus’s quarters to check.
The guard swallowed, entered to check, and swiftly left again. “Alive and asleep, My Lady,” he said in a lowered voice. “He looks unharmed.”
Looked unharmed.
It was impossible for King Augustus to go to sleep in Prince Pollux’s presence. It was impossible for him to give up the crown without a fight.
There had to be magic involved.
The guards were nervous and fearful. Something had happened to King Augustus’s under their watch. They could be punished heavily for whatever had happened, never mind that it was King Augustus who let Prince Pollux in.
Lady Helios had more knowledge, and thus regained her calm faster. She knew that she had to take King Augustus down to the cells, but Princess Aurelia hadn’t told her more about when or how.
Princess Aurelia must have known that Prince Pollux would do something like this.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Lady Helios turned to the others, holding the Abdication Bill. “His Majesty has abdicated. In addition, His Majesty has been charged with crimes against the country. You, come with me to take His Majesty to a suitable holding cell. You, take the crown, sceptre and sword and place them in the throne room. The rest, ring the bells and announce that King Augustus has abdicated.”
“Tfr, ws Ojvs!” Ktf uejgvr vlvc’a ecvfgrajcv tbk j xlcu mbeiv yf mtjgufv klat agfjrbc, yea atfs vlvc’a defralbc la. Qlat ajrxr ja tjcv, atf uejgvr ofia yfaafg jcv gertfv jkjs.
Ktf uejgv gfwjlclcu obiibkfv Ojvs Lfilbr lcab Blcu Ceueraer’r dejgafgr. Ojvs Lfilbr mjra jcbatfg riffqlcu rqfii obg ubbv wfjregf—atf yfra kjs ab gfragjlc wjufr kjr ab xffq atfw ecmbcrmlber. Vtf ifnlajafv atf xlcu bea bo tlr yfv, jcv atfs jii tfjvfv vbkc ab atf wjuf mfiir atja tjv yffc qgfqjgfv fjgilfg.
After Marcus fell to the ground, Viscountess Venenum smoothly and efficiently placed magical restraint cuffs and metal chains on Marcus. Aurelia’s two ladies-in-waiting and Lady Antonia Argentum took the unconscious Marcus away.
Meanwhile, Aurelia headed to the top of the gatehouse. Viscountess Venenum and the rest of her team followed her up.
At the top, Aurelia cast a sound-amplification spell.
“Soldiers, hold. Below, cease your fighting at once,” she said, her voice penetrating through the anti-royalist chants. “Drop your weapons and surrender, and we will be lenient in your trials.”
Some of the rebels below faltered, but others became rowdier, shouting insults up at her.
Aurelia’s expression darkened. “I repeat, think carefully, and surrender now. If you have so much energy, go out and farm instead of wasting time and resources. Or you could keep fighting and aid Prince Marcus’s coup. Five minutes. Captain, count for me.”
“Yes, Your Highness!” The captain of the guards took out a small pocket watch and started counting.
Aurelia ended her sound-amplification spell as Duke Ignis stepped onto the top of the gatehouse, blinking away the last vestiges of sleep.
Duke Ignis had a grumpy expression. “What is the meaning of all this? The courtyard is absolutely destroyed.”
“Your Grace, we have difficulty restraining Prince Marcus,” Aurelia said. “Your Grace, I request your help to suppress the rebels outside the castle and Prince Marcus’s forces outside the city walls.”
Duke Ignis stepped forward, looking down at the rabble below. Some groups were already quickly fleeing, while others were trying to convince people to stay. However, as the more people left, the more stupid it would be to stay behind. “You’ve granted them leniency.”
“Our country needs more farmers,” Aurelia said. “They’re more useful alive.”
Duke Ignis turned, looking at the main castle to the top floor where King Augustus’s quarters were located.
“His Majesty should be within his quarters, with shields in place. No one can enter without his expressed permission,” Aurelia said.
Duke Ignis looked back at Aurelia. “And what are you doing, Your Highness?”
“Everything I do is for the country of Angio, and nothing less, Your Grace,” Aurelia said.
“For the country? For his Majesty?”
Aurelia didn’t speak, which was enough confirmation for Duke Ignis.
Duke Ignis’s eye darkened. “Then—”
“Your Highness! Ah, Your Grace!” One of guards raced up, breathless. “Urgent news!”
“Speak,” Aurelia said.
“King Augustus has abdicated!”
Duke Ignis scowled. “Are you sure?” He glanced at Princess Aurelia and saw that she was also frowning.
The guard nodded his head. “Yes, Your Grace! He wrote a bill of abdication and relinquished his crown! The crown, sword and sceptre have been moved to the throne room!”
“How?” Duke Ignis demanded.
The guard flinched. “I don’t know, Your Grace.”
Duke Ignis looked at Princess Aurelia. “Is this your doing?”
Aurelia tightened her lips and shook her head. “I have submitted charges against His Majesty for crimes against the country.”
Duke Ignis stared at her for a bit longer and then abruptly strode away, heading quickly down the stairs.
Bells started ringing throughout the castle.
The captain of the guard raised his hand. “Your Highness, five minutes is now up.”
Aurelia looked between the battlements, down to the ground below the walls and castle cliff.
The majority of rebels were running away. Indeed, once a few started leaving, momentum was created.
Aurelia cast the sound-amplification spell on herself. “Your five minutes is now up. Anyone still holding a weapon will not be granted leniency if you do not drop it this instant.”
That was the final push for the last few to give up and start running away.
Aurelia ended the spell and turned to the captain of the guard. “When it’s safe to do so, lower the bridge and retrieve all their weapons. In the meanwhile, communicate with the guards on the outer city walls and have them announce that Prince Marcus has been captured and King Augustus has abdicated.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Aurelia, along with Viscountess Venenum and the others, stayed on top of the gatehouse to monitor the progress of the rebels fleeing. The next step was to suppress Prince Marcus’s forces outside the city.
Duke Ignis hurried to King Augustus’s quarters at the top of the castle. But upon arriving, he found it empty, with the door open.
He headed to the throne room next. Guards at the door didn’t want to let him in, for obvious reason: the three key items of the crown were there, under a shield.
Then, where was King Augustus?
“Your Grace, His Majesty may be in a cell, due to the charges,” one of the guards said respectfully. “Copies of the Abdication Bill are being prepared at this moment.”
Duke Ignis’s expression worsened.
He headed down to the dungeons. There were many more guards than normal.
There were a few cells in the dungeons suitable for mages, with layered shields and restraint spells. These cells were nicer than the homes of many commoners, with a private bathroom, made to house high-ranking nobles.
Duke Ignis reached Prince Marcus’s cell first. As he approached, he felt an uncomfortable sensation.
Prince Marcus’s wrists and ankles were shackled with magic-restraint cuffs, with long chains anchored to different sides of the room. He was currently unconscious, albeit healed, lying on a bed. There was food and water on a side table, and prepared clothes in a basket near the bathroom. A normal inmate wouldn’t get all these comforts, but this was expected given who it was.
What Duke Ignis didn’t expect was the transformed floor, walls, and ceiling. Large magical circles were drawn on them, with magic lines leading to the front of the cell into a new structure that had a hundred embedded magic crystals. The entire cell was effectively shrunken due to the new metal lattice that boxed it.
Duke Ignis narrowed his eyes, studying the spell inscriptions. Then he realised what it was—magic absorbers. Those spell circles absorbed ambient magic and channelled them into the magic crystals.
This way Prince Marcus would be kept at a low-magic state and Princess Aurelia would also have charged magic crystals for use.
That also explained Duke Ignis’s uncomfortable feeling. Those spell circles were sucking his magic too. Thankfully, they weren’t pointing directly at him, nor was he chained by those cuffs.
Duke Ignis continued to King Augustus’s cell.
King Augustus’s cell was even more opulently furnished. And the magic absorption circles were even larger, with two hundred empty magic crystal prepared, ready to be filled.
King Augustus was stirring as Duke Ignis approached.
“Your Majesty,” Duke Ignis said.
King Augustus snapped completely to wakefulness. He lurched to his feet. The jingling of the chains made him flinch; upon recovering, he was even angrier. “Ignis! Where were you when I needed you?!”
Cognisant of Princess Aurelia’s castle guards around him, Duke Ignis lowered his head. “Your Majesty, Princess Aurelia tells me that you have abdicated.”
“She tricked me!” King Augustus said angrily. “She and damned Pollux, he—he—”
Duke Ignis waited expectantly.
“He—it was because of Pollux that I wrote that abdication bill!” King Augustus started pulling his sleeves back, trying to look for burns and scars left by Pollux, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Duke Ignis felt disgusted. What kind of behaviour was this, looking under his clothes while Duke Ignis was still standing here? And Pollux? Prince Pollux? How could Prince Pollux, a cripple and wasted mage who couldn’t even walk, make King Augustus abdicate?
“How did Prince Pollux make you abdicate? According to Princess Aurelia, the shields around your quarters were up.” With great effort, Duke Ignis suppressed his disapproval.
“He—” King Augustus recalled how he had invited Pollux into his quarters. “You—how dare you ask me that! You must be one of Aurelia’s traitors, aren’t you? When my magic comes back, I’ll have you executed along with her! Let me out right now, or else. Then I’ll—”
Duke Ignis unconsciously leaned away as King Augustus started ranting.
This wasn’t the king that Duke Ignis was loyal to.
The sorts of people who were loyal to King Augustus weren’t sympathetic and kind. Since he was born, Duke Ignis was loyal to the royal Lūpiter family, as was tradition. As he grew older, he was loyal to King Augustus due to his power and strength, the kind of strength that Duke Ignis believed was necessary to rule a country.
He believed that King Augustus’s magic would be returned soon, making him the strongest mage in the country once more. This belief, along with tradition and stability, was why Duke Ignis had remained loyal to King Augustus during this period.
But now…
If King Augustus had been calmer, steady, and more calculative—with the dignity of a king—then Duke Ignis would have thought about getting King Augustus out of the cell.
But seeing King Augustus snivelling and ranting like a common man broke the loyalty in Duke Ignis. He was repulsed by what King Augustus had become.
Prince Pollux had been the one to make King Augustus write that abdication bill against his will. Whatever Princess Aurelia had planned would have surely been better, but it hadn’t been necessary at all.
And after King Augustus’s duel with Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood of Sedaveria, Duke Ignis knew that King Augustus wasn’t unbeatable even if he had his magic.
This improper man in front of him did not have the ability to be the king of Angio any longer.
“Your Majesty, Princess Aurelia has charged you with crimes against the country,” Duke Ignis said, interrupting King Augustus. “Princess Aurelia is currently suppressing the rebels and Prince Marcus’s forces. Prince Marcus himself is in a cell near yours. I suggest that you spend this time considering how you will handle yourself when you are before the court. Princess Aurelia will put you on trial.”
Duke Ignis wasn’t a man with a lot of patience. He didn’t stick around.
Princess Aurelia had been craftier than Duke Ignis had expected. He hadn’t known she could have such a firm, strong character.
A fan cover by Kno!
Look at Rian’s expression, you almost want to do something to his face 😉😉😉😉
We’ll get back to them soon T_T
Wooo!!! I loved this chapter!!!!! And thank you so much for the shout out! Augustus getting what he deserves ☺
Thank you!!!! It was a lovely fan cover 🥰
Tricky Prince Pollux, good for him.
This boy needs good things to happen to him now 😆
That was even better than I imagined! Clever Pollux!
Thank you for the chapter.
Phew, thank you!
How glad I am that, according to the schedule, a new chapter turned out just in time for my birthday 😊💞
Ren and Rian at the moment:👨❤️💋👨🔞🔥Angio:🤺🤺😩😡🤕🔥Very realistic, I like it :)The most unexpected thing in the last chapters is Prince Pollux. A pleasant surprise :)I’m waiting for the continuation 💞
Awww, happy birthday!!
🤣🤣🤣🤣 you’re exactly correct about the difference between Ren Xiyang and Rian’s romance versus what is happening in Angio! I’m glad Pollux is a pleasant surprise 🥰
Thank you🤗
Oh I LOVE that art style. It’s like those old fairytale games I used to play on the gameboy as a kid. Which is so suitable considering the setting.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 What kind of old fairytale games were those?
Oh gosh I sold them over a decade ago and now I’m struggling to remember the names. I do remember playing Zelda, Pokemon, and Mario but I forgot the names of the rest. I think there might have been Spyro or Kingdom Hearts?
It’s just that sort of pixelated art style that reminds me of the old video games.
Awwww cute and nice!
omg i love this art style!!! this is soooo pretty 🥹🥹🥹
the russian doll of coup d’état
A russian doll! 😆😆 I had the idea of it for a while~
malevolent ableism working out in Pollux’s favor to avoid suspicion….. gods, Pollux we need to get out of this place to go where people will respect you, even if that makes crimes a different level of difficulty alxhskxj;;
even if that makes crimes a different level of difficulty LOL! Don’t worry, I have plans for him~
Pollux is a pistol! Fabulous job; time to head for Sedaveria and more respect! Meanwhile, Ren and Rian are… Hahahahahaha! Thanks for the latest 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
Meanwhile, Ren Xiyang and Rian are having fun~ 😆😆
Thank you for the chapter!!! Love that cover art as well haha 😄
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for the chapter
Thank you for reading!
Wow Pollux really thought that through. If he joins Ren and Rian I’ll start worrying about the zombies instead.
Why are you worried about the zombies? 😆😆
🤣 i’ll light a candle for them
GOTTEM!!! This was so satisfying to read
Thank you!
its so cool how you tied all the threads together and gave this coup so many layers!!! i’m in awe of your skills
blushes thank you for your lovely compliment!
Thank you for the Duke Ignis’s contemplations 👍👌💪
I rewrote that part so many times u_u I’m glad it was good!
It’s worth it, thank you 👏🖤