TOPWL 245

“How, how could this… fuck!”

Valterian cursed without pause even as he ran.

“Ugh!”

The guard protecting Valterian’s side screamed and fell backward. A crossbow bolt was buried in the center of his forehead.

Idiot! To die from a single arrow like that.

Valterian spared only a pathetic glance for the fallen soldier before he pushed onward. Arrows rained down with such ferocity that there was no chance to mount a horse. This scene was a grim reversal of the day he had rained arrows down upon them from the castle’s walls.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit!”

The guard on his left took a bolt to the chest and fell. A merciless volley of arrows instantly buried the man’s body. Valterian did not look back. His protective detail was thinning out at a visible rate, but the royal palace grew closer with every step. He only needed to reach the palace. Once there, his mother would handle everything. If he could just make it to those gates!

“Aaaagh!”

Valterian shrieked and clutched his wrist. An arrow had pierced through the exact center of the back of his hand, pinning it through.

“Your Highness, you must keep moving!”

The guards urged him forward, but Valterian was paralyzed by a level of pain [unauthorized copy]he had never known. The agony only intensified with every passing second. As Valterian remained frozen in his torment, the Captain of the Guard clicked his tongue and ordered.

“Support the Prince!”

At the Captain’s command, the guard beside Valterian grabbed his arm and began to run. Valterian was hauled along between them, his feet swinging through the air and dragging across the ground in turns. Their flight speed increased significantly, but the guard’s grip caused the pain to flare white-hot. Finally, Valterian could bear it no more; he threw off the guard’s hand and kicked him away.

“Ugh…!”

The guard lost his balance and fell, only to be instantly cut down by the rain of arrows. The Captain turned to Valterian with a look of disbelief.

“Your Highness!”

“I told you it hurts! He caused pain to the King, therefore his life is forfeit!”

“He acted only to save your life!”

“Then he should have done so without hurting me!”

Speechless at Valterian’s words, the Captain fell silent. He came from a family that had always been loyal to the crown, but the past few days of service had caused that loyalty to diminish. However, Valterian was too consumed by the hole in his hand to notice the light of devotion fading from the Captain’s eyes.

“You should have just pulled this arrow out already!”

“That arrow is stemming the blood. If we pull it now, you could bleed to death.”

“Talking back to me at every turn… fuck!”

Valterian scowled, displeased with the Captain, but his desire to live kept him from resisting the man’s lead. The moment I return to the castle, I will have this insolent wretch executed. Valterian ground his teeth at the thought.

When news arrived that Darham, that low-born bastard, had abandoned the throne and left the castle for a woman as lowly as himself, Valterian believed heaven had granted him an opportunity. Darham had left a few soldiers behind to protect the ailing King, but Valterian’s forces were superior. When he finally plunged his blade into the King’s chest, Valterian tasted a rapture unlike any he had ever felt for a woman.

‘You end up like this, Father, because you tried so hard to give the throne to a low-born dog with no pedigree.’

The King laughed even as Valterian hurled his insults. Despite the agony of a wound near his heart that failed to kill him instantly, the King continued to laugh. He made no move to wipe the blood from his mouth as he broke into a roar of laughter. Valterian watched him and grew convinced the man had gone mad.

‘Do you truly think… I would hand the throne to a mad son… just because of a lucky birth? Especially to a beta…?’

Blood rushed to Valterian’s head the moment those words left the King’s lips. The fact that Valterian was a beta was his greatest weakness, made all the more bitter because Darham was a dominant alpha.

‘Watch attentively, Valterian. This… is your face in a few days. As your father… consider this the courtesy… of knowing your fate.’

In response to those words, Valterian wrenched the blade from his father’s chest and plunged it back in. Though the King perished the moment his heart was pierced, Valterian withdrew the sword repeatedly, striking at different spots. Thuck. Thuck. A guard, unable to endure the sight of the prince repeatedly stabbing his own father’s corpse, spoke up softly.

‘Your Highness, he is already dead.’

Valterian turned his bloodshot eyes toward the guard.

‘Yes, he is dead. What of it?’

‘Then there is no… no need for further action. You might injure yourself…’

‘Did I grant you the right to advise me?’

‘…No, sire.’

‘I am the King now. I can do anything. I can kill the father who was King, and I can silence the mouth of a vermin who dares offer counsel.’

‘…I spoke out of turn.’

The guard bowed his head, finally sensing the gravity of the situation. However, Valterian had no intention of forgiving a soldier who had overstepped his bounds.

‘Cut out his tongue.’

‘Your Highness…!’

‘This is my first command as King.’

The other guards cast hesitant glances toward the Captain. The latter closed his eyes. Men who had served alongside the guard for years stepped forward to seize him.

‘Your Highness, I was wrong! Forgive me just once, Your Highness..!’

The guard cried out in desperation, but Valterian ignored him.

‘Find the seal. He must have hidden it somewhere in this room.’

He had believed the seal would be found quickly, yet it never surfaced. He thought it hidden in some secret chamber, never imagining it was in Darham’s possession. The realization that this was why the King laughed even as he died made Valterian regret not inflicting more pain before the end.

“Open the gates..!”

Valterian and the Captain reached the castle gates at last. It was a feat bought with the lives of nearly the entire guard detail. Despite the Captain’s shout, the gates remained closed. Valterian screamed irritably.

“I said open the gates!”

The soldiers atop the walls simply stared down, making no move to comply. Incompetent fools! Valterian decided that once he was inside, he would force every soldier on that wall to eat their own ears. What use were ears if they could not hear a vital command? As he squinted to memorize their faces, he realized something was terribly wrong.

“Why… why are they wearing those cloaks…?”

The Captain looked up at Valterian’s words and let out a heavy sigh. The soldiers looking down with cold gazes were draped in cloaks bearing the symbol of the Imperial Army. These were not Gotha Kingdom soldiers. They were Imperial. Upon realizing this, Valterian fell to the ground.

“Fuck…”

He had run until his lungs burned, only for it to be for nothing. Behind them, the Imperial Army approached. Valterian lost all will to fight as he saw the endless ranks of the enemy. Two figures emerged from the center of the throng. One was a tall man with black hair and blue eyes; the other was a beautiful man with platinum blonde hair and purple eyes.

The sight of them, an alpha and an omega, made Valterian’s stomach turn. He assumed they had lived lives free of hardship or trial simply because of their secondary genders. He clenched his teeth while glaring at them. Just then, his eyes fell upon the blonde man’s abdomen. Compared to his slender limbs, the protrusion was unmistakable. He was pregnant.

To have the luxury of getting pregnant in the middle of a war. It was infuriating to lose to such people. Yet, a flicker of hope ignited. If he could stab that Omega’s belly, he might be able to escape during the ensuing chaos. He wanted to order the Captain to do it, fearing for his own life, but they were already too close.

The alpha’s shadow fell over Valterian’s face. Valterian, slight of build, felt small beneath the man who was twice his size. His resentment for the man who intimidated him shifted toward the omega.

“The criminal, Valterian Aldev de Lumien Gotha…”

A silver dagger flashed in Valterian’s hand as he sat on the ground. A moment later, the blade lunged toward the omega’s womb.