Three knights stood in front of the King. From their tall and straight backs, it could be seen that they were not like those aristocratic dandies who only wore fine armor and then brag about themselves in front of women. They were real soldiers.

The Duke of Buckingham ordered them to kneel, but the King stopped him.

“If I remember correctly.” The King stroked the spine of the book with fingers paler than that of ordinary people. “You were also among the morning crowd, carrying your swords.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

When his words were spoken, not only the knights, but even the Duke of Buckingham seemed a little surprised.

There were more than two hundred people there to witness the execution. The three knights had been among the crowd, and as they were about to draw their swords they were stopped by the Duke. When the King arrived, they were already hidden in the crowd, and none of them had thought that the King would remember them clearly.

“Yes.”

The leading knight replied briefly and coldly.

The Duke was angered by his apparent deliberate confrontation with the King, but the King placed his hand on the old Duke’s hand in a calming manner.

“Act more appropriately to the situation, Mr.”

“……Yes, Your Majesty.”

The knight reluctantly added the honorific title.

“Go ahead, tell me what you plan to do.”

It was impossible to distinguish the King’s emotions at the moment, whether from his expression or from his tone of voice. Just as he could praise Earl Walter’s courage in one moment and then swing a ruthless whip at him in the next, he had always been capricious and volatile. He would seem gentle and calm in one moment, but then in the next moment he would erupt into a terrifying rage.

“We intended to assassinate you in four days.”

After they started, it became easier to explain the rest of the matter.

The leading knight came from an aristocratic family from the north, Viscount Moore. He was once exiled because his elder brother angered the Holy Church. It was the old Duke of Buckingham who discovered his military talents and helped him restore his title and reputation. Since then, he had remained loyal to the Duke.

The King was not surprised that they wanted to avenge the Duke and assassinate him.

After the Duke of Buckingham was thrown into prison by the King, they wanted to break him out of the prison. But they have followed the Duke for many years, and knew of the Duke’s loyalty to the King——he would rather die in prison than let his nephew face the ridicule “look, even his uncle conspired against him.”

They were determined to make the King pay the price for his cruelty after the Duke was executed.

The time was set for September 21, the day when Bressi and Legrand would be holding negotiations over the battle not long ago. The King would leave the palace and personally arrive in the city of Truu near the border.

They were also in the negotiating team as the knights who had taken part in the battle with Bressi. At that time, they had the opportunity to get close to the King and complete the assassination.

For this reason, they have even prepared weapons.

“What weapon?”

The King was indifferent to the reasons behind the assassination attempt. He tilted his head and looked at the knights in front of him, as if he was more interested in how they planned to kill him.

Moore, who was able to fearlessly confess his treason in front of the King, suddenly paused. With a guilty conscience, he looked at the Duke of Buckingham who was sitting on the side.

“Speak.”

The lines on the Duke’s face became hard, as if he was wearing an iron mask. This was the prelude to his impending rage. On the battlefield, this was exactly what he looked like as he charged into the enemy’s formation and cut them all down.

Moore gritted his teeth, his face showing shame, and remained silent.

The King patted his uncle’s hand: “I want to ask them a few questions privately.”

After a pause, he turned his head a little uncomfortably and added: “……my dear uncle.”

Since he was officially crowned, he had rarely called his uncle so affectionately. Hearing this, the Duke of Buckingham’s anger dissipated. Although he still looked harsh and stern, his blue eyes clearly shone with moisture: “If this is your will.”

He stood up, gave the three knights a warning look, and then left.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

Only Zhu Chi and the three knights remained in the room.

“Go ahead.”

The figure of the Duke disappeared at the door, and the King withdrew his eyes.

“Are you not worried about us taking the opportunity to commit murder?”

“If you dare.” The King replied indifferently as he leaned on the back of the burgundy velvet chair, the diamond pin on his shoulder shining brilliantly, “I am sitting right here.”

Moore was silent for a while, then took the lead and slowly knelt down on one knee. He took something concealed in his clothes and offered it with both hands. Seeing such a thing, the King knew why he was unwilling to take it out in front of the Duke.

It was an exquisitely crafted crossbow.

Moreover, the tip of the arrow that accompanied the crossbow had been dipped in poison.

It was not difficult to imagine that as a knight who had pledged to the King with his soul and life, the Duke of Buckingham would be furious when he sees his subordinates actually use this “cursed object” against the King. This meant that his subordinates not only violated the knight’s chivalry he believed in, but also viciously hoped that the soul of the King would go to hell after his death.

This was one of the reasons the Holy Church gave for why they prohibited the use of crossbows.

They claimed that this cursed object was the weapon of the devil, and the souls of those killed by it would be taken away by the devil to be tortured by hellfire from then on.

In this era, such an end would undoubtedly be daunting.

“The soul will be taken away by the devil? Dragged to hell?”

Moore lowered his head and heard the King laugh lowly. He was completely bewildered by this mercurial monarch, not knowing what the other meant.

“What kind of poison?”

The King raised the crossbow and held it up against the fire from the fireplace. This crossbow used for assassination was much more compact than the one he had found urgently before, and it was indeed very suitable for assassination from a very short distance.

“Nightshade.”

“Vengeance? Not bad, it’s very romantic,” said the King.

Zhu Chi lowered his eyes and looked at the crossbow in his hand.

His words seemed to be praises, but his face looked cold under the fire of the fireplace. The toxin of the nightshade could take the life of a war horse in a very short time. Since the Duke of Buckingham’s subordinates prepared such a method to deal with him, and if they succeed, he would definitely end in death, and not just blinded.

In other words, they were not the assassins who really made the King lose his eyes.

The trail ended here.

Zhu Chi raised his hand and pulled the trigger.

Moore heard the slight sound of the crossbow trigger. He closed his eyes subconsciously, ready to welcome his death——when he stepped into this room, he no longer had any hope of whether he could get out alive.

The sound of a sharp arrow whistling through the air could be heard.

Moore could feel the cold wind almost against his scalp.

After a moment of silence, he opened his eyes.

The King was playing with the crossbow, and the arrow on it was no longer there. Moore turned his head and with his excellent vision he could see that the arrow had deeply penetrated the fresco behind him. It was a picture of a banquet, and the poisoned arrow had plunged directly into the throat of a knight in the painting.

Moore’s throat moved slightly, and he raised his head to meet the King’s eyes.

When facing those icy blue eyes, Moore realized that the King was indeed the nephew of the Duke, their gazes were exactly the same.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“You are the last person in the world who should kill the Lord Duke.” Moore could not help but say, “He spent a lifetime of effort for you and for the Legrand Empire.”

“These are not your own words.”

Suddenly, the King grasped onto something in his statement, and his eyes became piercing like daggers.

“Who told you this?”

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