“My King, we’ve caught Peter in the forbidden forest. I think we can get the truth from him,” Blair said and bowed to Ethan respectfully.
“Come, bring him here,” Ethan ordered at once.
Rufus’ POV
When Blair walked by, we exchanged glances.
I was able to understand what he was trying to convey. For some reason, Peter must have decided to turn his back on Richard, and that was why Blair brought him here.
Peter was in terrible condition. He had completely lost one of his arms. There was a wound on his face so deep that bones could be seen through it.
But without even looking at Peter, Richard immediately told our father that he had no idea who this man was.
Sylvia retorted angrily, “Peter told me himself that he worked for you from the very beginning. He even lurked around the school to keep an eye on me and Rufus.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. I’ve never seen this man in my life until this moment!” Richard was determined to play dumb to the end.
Peter then raised his head and glared at Richard. Finally, he spoke up and revealed the truth. Not only did he enumerate every single detail of Richard’s sinister plan, but he also confessed that Richard was planning to kill him as well.
“You are cruel, Prince Richard. I did exactly what you asked me to do, but then you sent someone to kill me in the forbidden forest. You wanted me dead and buried with your secrets!”
Peter was crying out in despair. What remained of his limbs were also mutilated. Even if his wounds healed, he would never live life the same way again.
“Your Majesty, Peter is telling the truth. When I found him in the forbidden forest, he was being chased by Richard’s own men. Had my subordinates found him a second later, I’m afraid he wouldn’t be alive and speaking before us right now,” Blair added.
Peter pounded the ground with his left fist. “I was wrong! I should never have followed Prince Richard from the beginning. He is nothing but a cold-blooded man! He is cruel even to his own people. He does not deserve to be a prince at all!”
Peter’s cries echoed throughout the hall, filling the air with desperation.
I was standing aside and watched with nothing but indifference in my eyes. The truth was that the person chasing after Peter was actually my subordinate. Back in the forbidden forest, I told Blair to task one of our men to pretend to be on Richard’s side.
So far, this plan was turning out the way I hoped.
This made my father very angry. He slammed the table and bellowed, “Richard! You are unbelievable!”
The expression on Richard’s face immediately changed. He rushed over to Peter like a madman. “How much did Rufus pay you, huh? Why are you slandering me like this?”
It looked like he was about to punch Peter, but I stopped him.
In his anger, my father commanded his subordinates to seize Richard and pin him to the ground.
Unwilling to yield, Richard argued, “Father! They’re all lying to you! What about Rufus? Aren’t you going to punish him for breaking out of prison? And Sylvia! She is manipulating animals to bend to her will! That’s an evil skill if I’ve ever seen one! It’s her you should be investigating. We cannot allow our country to be infiltrated by aliens. What if she is actually a spy?”
“I only broke out of prison because my subordinate told me about your evil plan. I had to run to the forbidden forest to rescue your victims. But before I could report this to father, you chased me down and even intercepted me. Ask the prison guards. They can testify for me.” With a calm expression on my face, I gave Richard a look that told him he was doomed this time. “Oh, and that evil skill of Sylvia’s? Ridiculous. The wild wolves listen to her only because she once saved their leader. Sylvia didn’t even use them to hurt others. She enlisted their help in rescuing the injured.”
“Bullshit!” Richard ripped the gauze off of his body and revealed the bite marks on his skin. “Are you saying the wild wolves didn’t hurt anyone?”
“You deserved it,” I coldly retorted.
Those wounds on Richard’s body were from Rin. If it weren’t for Rin that day, Richard’s plan might have actually succeeded.
“You!”
A guard rushed in all of a sudden. “Your Majesty, there’s a big group of injured soldiers waiting outside the palace to see you. They want to report to you what happened in the forbidden forest.”
“Okay, let them in.”
After receiving the king’s order, the group of soldiers walked into the hall as orderly as they could with their injuries.
I was surprised that only a small half of these were my men, and the other half was Richard’s. The leader of this group was one of Richard’s confidants.
The man walked ahead of the others and was the first to speak to my father.
“Your Majesty, we are here to testify for Miss Todd. She was the one who sent the wild wolves to save us and carry us out of the forbidden forest. If it weren’t for Miss Todd herself, all of us would have probably died in that forest.”
Rufus’ POV
Richard had completely lost control and broke out cursing. “You are all traitors! You ingrates! After every nice thing I’ve done, you go and betray me when I need you most!”
Even I myself was slightly surprised at this and did not expect Richard’s own soldiers to side with us. I turned to Blair. I thought he had arranged it, but he shook his head and seemed to know nothing about this either.
Richard’s soldiers ignored him and continued to confess to the crimes Richard had done.
“We followed Prince Richard into the forbidden forest. His plan was to kill Prince Rufus along with his men. But later, the mudflow came down and injured all of us. Prince Richard didn’t even look back at us and ran away without a care.”
“No, I never wanted to leave you behind! But you must understand, I had to protect myself! I almost died in that forest too.” Richard interrupted them and tried to make up an excuse.
Whether or not Richard was telling the truth was beyond me at this point. I was just eager for Richard to get his punishment. He had killed so many people because of his stupid ambition. He must pay the price of his actions.
“So, you are admitting to following Richard’s plan in the forbidden forest? Think carefully of the answer you will give me. Attempting to kill the prince is a capital crime.” With his hands clasped behind his back, my father sharply looked at the soldiers.
The head of the group heaved a deep sigh and gathered his courage. “Yes, Your Majesty. We admit to this. If Miss Todd hadn’t sent the wild wolves to rescue us, we would already be dead right now. Facing death again is nothing new to us anymore. Our only wish now is that the future of this nation will not fall into the hands of a leader like Prince Richard.”
My father turned to Richard and scoffed. “Is there anything else you have to say for yourself?”
Now that Richard’s own confidant turned against him, Richard had no excuses left. Lowering his head, he said, “I’m sorry, father. This is all my fault. I should have never done those things. I shouldn’t have buried bombs, knowing that it would kill innocent people.”
At this point, my father’s anger overwhelmed him so much that he trembled and staggered backwards. Immediately, my mother got up behind him and helped steady his footing.
“Ethan, calm down. The doctor already said that you must avoid extreme emotions.”
My father pushed her away and walked over to Richard, kicking him in the stomach. “You bastard! Do you have any idea how many people you’ve killed? I cannot imagine that I raised such a heartless person like you!”
Richard was at a loss. He tried to get up awkwardly. “Father, please listen to me. This is all Rufus’ fault! If he hadn’t suppressed me in every way all my life, I wouldn’t have turned out like this!”
Richard was spouting nonsense. Ever since the beginning, it had been Richard who always plotted for my demise. I never took it personally. I never even fought back by playing tricks on him.
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