EMPEROR'S RECKONING

Chapter 985 Struggle

"What's wrong? Don't look at the food for too long, or it might blush," said Lyon with a smirk.

The king looked at the plate before looking straight at him with a scowl. "You expect me to eat your leftover? Me, a king?"

"This is pure disrespect to my king!" Ifiz shouted as he called out his sword, however before he could swing it further, another blade was already touching his chin. His pupils shrunk as he saw the fair lady already anticipated his move.

"Well, are you going to eat it or not?" asked Lyon as he pushed the plate further.

The king looked at his greatest soldier was at the mercy of a single draw of the blade.

"Are you, or are you not?" asked Lyon once more with a deeper tone this time.

King Cae took a deep breath, "This is an insult to me, and my kingdom, I invite you as a guest yet you treat me this way."

"I treat whoever I want, however, I want," said Lyon. "This food might have poison, it might not, you can decide which one is which."

"And if I refuse, will you kill me?" asked the king. "Right in my own home?"

"That depends," said Lyon. "Whatever decision I will make, shall be made."

The king smiled. "You think that I can kill you by poison? I'm not that dumb."

Lyon raised one of his brows as the three students raised all. The king grabbed the plate from Lyon's hand. He grabbed the chunk of meat with his bare hand whilst maintaining his glance toward Lyon. He opened his mouth and swallowed the meat right in front of Lyon before his throat jerked. His nose burst into the air as his eyes bulged. He was pounding his chest before dropping on all four.

"Your majesty!" Ifiz shouted before turning and rushing toward the dining hall. He grabbed the engraved cup right beside the king's plate before rushing back toward the latter. He crouched down by his king's side and offered the drink.

King Cae drank the cup with heavy gulps as his head faced upward with eyes close.

"Puah!" his face was not as clean as how he first welcomed them. His chest heaved, and his weary eyes turned less friendly as he looked at Lyon crossing his arms at him. "Do I earn your respect now?!"

Rayus gulped. ( He made a king of the kingdom in such a sorry state. How would the people believe what we're saying tonight? ) thought Rayus before he darted his glance toward his teacher. ( Slowly but surely, you're revealing your true power, teacher! And I'm here for it! ) Rayus smirked.

"Do you have anything else to say?" asked King Cae as Ifiz helped him stand up.

Lyon shrugged, "I believe you, I guess there are no poisons in those food after all."

( Tch! Shameless bastard! ) thought King Cae as he scowled. He took a deep breath to pacify his anger and to burden Lyon's obnoxiousness before speaking, "My offer still stands, you and your friend can stay for the night."

Lyon yawned, "That might be for the best, what about it Selena?"

"I'll go wherever you go, darling," Selena smiled before clutching at his arm.

"Then it's settled," Lyon said with a laugh. "Show us the room, King Cae."

"My servants will escort you to your rooms, please be rest assured that you will find a pleasant morning," said King Cae before he clapped his hands three times. 𝘣𝑒𝑑𝘯𝘰𝘷𝑒𝘭．𝑜𝘳𝘨

The doors in the dining hall were opened and a couple of servants in maid costumes came in line.

"They are my esteemed guests, treat them like you would have treated me," said King Cae.

Lyon smiled seeing the group of maids. He looked at the king before asking, "Are you not finishing the night?"

"I am, this day has been too enthralling for me to keep going," said King Cae as he turned and left them. The king made the first exit and they all saw him going alone without any guard.

"Sad..." Lyon muttered. "I wonder what happened."

Ifiz snorted before scowling. "Esteemed guest, I will have to excuse myself as I have some other issues at hand. I believe that you will not tell a single soul in the Broken Rose Kingdom what happened?"

"I am, but what about these servants?" asked Lyon. "You think they can keep their lips shut? All of them?"

"Esteemed guests don't have to worry about them, their loyalty is unequal. Even if one of them or more, did say anything remotely insulting, I will personally punish them," said Ifiz.

"Heh, alright then captain iron fist," said Lyon.

"Then excuse me," Ifiz left by jumping from the balcony.

"Man, at the very least smile a bit, why so tensed up?" commented? Lyon as if the entire emotion that Ifiz felt was not his fault. He turned and looked at the maids bowing their heads at them.

"Please follow us, we have prepared your lodgings in the palace as per His Majesty's request," said one of the maids at the front.

"I see," Lyon nodded. "You may lead the way then, but don't walk too fast, I want to enjoy the scenery while I'm at it."

"Understood," the maid curtseyed.

The group of maids turned around and the couple followed them at their own pace. The three students quickly regroup with their teacher but dare not to speak so loudly.

The situation was out of their predictions. They didn't know a thing about the power in Second Heaven and just got one taste of many handed to them. The king of the Broken Rose Kingdom was acting suspiciously in the eyes of their teacher, thus the tense situation. However, the king swallowed his pride and took the chunk of food that was on Lyon's plate.

( Still vigilant as ever despite his lofty behaviour ) thought Rayus. ( I didn't even notice that the king didn't eat at all and just motioned it, however... ). Rayus furrowed his brows.

"What are you contemplating?" asked Reinhard.

"The whole situation of course," said Noah. "Right?"

"It's... really weird," said Rayus as he looked up before realizing that they had arrived at their designated rooms.

"We have our own rooms?" asked Reinhard. "Hey, where is he?" he looked over the corridor and found the couple made a right turn by the end of it.

"Yes, His Majesty valued privacy and ordered us to prepare three rooms for each of you," the maid smiled.

"Sweet!" Reinhard grinned. "I take the middle room!"

Reinhard rotated the knob and pushed the door open. The luxurious fragrance of the room quickly sent his mind away before his eyes opened wide at the hefty sophisticated decorations of the room. The bed was in the middle, and he was the prince. "Woah..."

Noah looked at Rayus with a sigh and a shrug before entering the room on the right.

Rayus raised one of his brows before asking the maids to guide them. "Can we spend the night in just one room?"

"Huh?" The maids tilted their heads before one of them asked, "You mean that you three want to sleep together?"

"Well pretty much?" Rayus continued.

The maids gasped and looked at each other in disbelief. Some of them had blush on their cheeks and couldn't help but hide their faces.

"I... I think that you got it wrong?" Rayus had a rush of tingles on his nape.

"I..." one maid made a light cough, "I mean that if you want to... well... who are we to judge?"

"I-It's not like that!"

"Though, esteemed guest... we would not recommend it."

"I told you it's not!"

"But if you can't quench your desire...."

"Why are you keeping on going?!"

"May we watch?"

Rayus slammed the door and hit the bed with disgust crawling on his skin. "The fuck is wrong with those ladies?!"

He got up and sat by the bed. He sighed, "Focus... focus... assess the situation."

"The king had eaten the food, but he didn't eat any from his own plate. So assuming that the food was poisoned, then the king is in the same situation as us. So he proved innocent? But that doesn't explain why he wouldn't eat his own plate in the first place though," Rayus sighed before standing up. "Let's hear what the o—!!"

His heart thumped and banged on the ribs. He clutched his heart with his eyes shrinking and vision blurring. His knees fell on the floor, and his teeth gritted.

( Impossible!! But he ate the food too! D-Don't tell me it's a murder-suicide attempt?! ) thought Rayus as he counted all possibilities. He looked at the flower in the vase before looking at the door. His muscles got weaker with each passing tick then the doorknob was turned. There was where he found his pupils shrinking. "R-Reinhard!"

Reinhard was hanging by the door as he looked at Rayus with his jaw clenched. His breathing was uneven but he was shouting at Rayus. The former pulled himself up before Rayus saw Noah between his legs, who was also on the verge of collapsing right behind him.