kscans

Chapter 66 - The Delusional King and the Hidden Crown Prince

King Karlwein held the cigar recommended by the Queen to his lips and slowly savored the smoke.

A suspicious white smoke filled the room. Beside him, the Queen smiled, enjoying it as well. With every puff of smoke, I felt stronger than anyone, wiser than anyone, more amazing than anyone.

Queen Margaret is my second wife. My former wife, Celina, was good-natured, but she was naggy about one thing or another, and to my eyes, she was merely an eyesore. However, as a tool for producing an heir, the relationship worked even without love. A son was safely born, and I had my former wife moved to a separate wing. Her duty was done.

Naturally, our conversations ceased.

What infuriates me is the son born between myself and that former wife. First of all, he doesn't resemble me. His auburn hair is just like my detested younger brother's. His face, too, has a hint of my brother's shadow.

My brother Cedric is gentle in nature, and excels in both academics and swordsmanship. He is kind even to commoners and is popular with the people. He deflects the opposition of nobles with his social skills. He makes no enemies and forms no factions. Moreover, he doesn't hide the fact that he is on the King's side, minimizing his interactions with those around him for his own sake. That is the kind of misunderstanding I am prone to.

But I know. That man has not sworn loyalty to me. He constantly monitors my actions and sometimes moves on his own discretion. The results often end up being advantageous to me, which is also infuriating. If he weren't my brother, I would undoubtedly have dealt with him. But precisely because he is my brother, I cannot do so easily.

And my anger towards the former wife who bore a child resembling that brother only grows.

Many women approach me. Many women say they understand me and want to be my strength. There are younger, more beautiful women in the world, women who would be envied wherever they go. As a king, I am naturally entitled to seek that.

My current Queen was special among them.

She clung to me, saying she needed me, she built me up, and she made me feel good. She was young and beautiful. If only my former wife were gone, I could be with this woman.

In difficult times, I smoked the cigars the Queen recommended. When I hesitantly put one to my lips, the turmoil in my heart subsided. What was I getting so worked up about over a small fry like my brother? It seemed foolish, when I was such a wonderful being.

"This feeling now is your true self."

The Queen's words made me realize anew the ugliness of jealousy. Even though I am superior, the other person appears to stand out more. That is jealousy.

I made a decision. I will absolutely keep the Queen by my side.

And I will eliminate what must be eliminated. The more I calmed down, the more I began to believe that my brother and my former wife had undoubtedly committed adultery.

The former wife who had an affair with my brother, and her son, should just disappear.

When I told my current Queen this, she offered me a poison to administer to my former wife and son.

Let's have a family conversation for the first time in a while. I called for my former wife, but she came alone. Her son was undergoing treatment for Mana Overload Syndrome, she said.

So be it. I'll take care of the former wife first, and the son later. I can come up with a reason afterward.

She drank the fruit wine I poured for her, coughed up blood, and died without a fuss. It was too easy. I could just blame it on the cook for poisoning her.

And so, I pinned the crime on the cook, and the Queen was smoothly welcomed to my side, officially.

Her son was the troublesome part. I couldn't meet him.

They must have been having an affair, that's why Cedric is hiding the boy from me.

When I told my brother Cedric to hand over his son, he informed me that the boy's Mana Overload Syndrome symptoms were severe, making it difficult to move him, and that if a child were born between me and my second wife while his symptoms were severe, it could create new political instability.

He says the most plausible things.

Damn it! In that case, I'll just have a child with the Queen. A child of adultery born between my former wife and my brother can be buried in darkness along with my brother.