[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke
Chapter 120: Prince’s Favor Is Never A Good Thing.

Chapter 120: Prince’s Favor Is Never A Good Thing.

Only after confirming they had no hidden army would the king formally request their participation in the war.

It was really infuriating. Rage boiled within Ray. His jaw clenched as he recalled Isidor’s attempt to insult His Grace. It was a good thing that His Grace directly retorted the crown prince’s words.

Although he had to spend some gold to regain favor, seeing the crown prince humiliated was intensely satisfying.

He silently looked at yet another prince leisurely sipping tea.

The royals changed masks more often than they changed clothes, and no one outmatched them in fashion.

He really did not like any of these royals. Especially the one in front who was pretending to be harmless.

But that was not what Ray was here for. He had other things to concentrate on.

"If His Grace defies His Majesty’s order, it will prove to the nobles that he is indeed a threat." Ray was worried about this.

Nikolai hummed in thought. "A convenient excuse to strip him of his power."

Ray didn’t respond, but the silence was enough of an answer.

Nikolai rested his chin on his hand as his golden eyes gleamed with mischief. "And yet... His Majesty must know Darius will not refuse so easily. Your master is no fool."

"He is testing the waters. And watching how the pieces move." Ray placed his empty cup down on the table. It softly clanked on the hard surface, reminding Ray how empty, and powerless he had felt in the palace.

Nikolai chuckled. "Well, isn’t that interesting?"

There it was, the same look of amusement as if they were not discussing the lives of thousands of people but insects.

This was why, no matter how well Nikolai treated him, Ray was never fond of the prince.

Nikolai was far too different than what he let out. Being on the receiving end of this prince’s attention was never a good thing.

If it was the prince’s mercy, the receiver should run as far away after saving his life, and if it was a favor... that was very troublesome.

Just like us.

After all, they were staying at Nikolai’s place. It was, in disguise, a favor. One that the archduke had to return no matter what.

Ray had urged His Grace to rush back as soon as possible. That was also why they were in such a hurry to return.

Being on the journey to the north would have given them the perfect excuse to ignore the higher orders. They could simply claim the archduke had not received the royal decree.

People always go missing on the road, do they not? Ray was an expert in that field.

And once Darius returned to his northern territory, there would be no one to push him into submission. No one dared to provoke the Northern army.

That was most likely why His Majesty had demanded the archduke’s presence in the royal capital so suddenly. Their only reason to do this was not to give the archduke any chance to prepare.

Neither Ray nor Nikolai spoke. Each had their own burdens to bear, their own demons to fight.

The prince’s gaze drifted to the sky while his mind weaved through countless possibilities.

Darius was being backed into a corner. The archduke sure was powerful, but even he could not openly defy the crown, not without severe consequences.

If the king was preparing to make a move, then soon, the entire balance of power would shift.

And Nikolai had every intention of ensuring it shifted in his favor.

He placed his cup down and stretched languidly. "This has been a delightful chat, Raymond."

His lips curled into a slow smirk. "Next time, I’ll make sure to bring wine instead."

Ray stood up to bow gracefully and directly left the place.

Nikolai found Ray’s cold exterior amusing. He always had. It was funny to tease when the knight was so hell-bent on putting on a poker face.

Pushing himself up from the chair, Nikolai slowly left the garden. He had an appointment to keep.

Xion awaited him.

Then the prince waited for Xion to come to him. He even specially asked the servant if Xion asked, they should bring him straight to his painting room.

Minutes ticked by, and soon half an hour slipped through the hourglass.

Nikolai frowned. He was a prince. Where had he ever waited for anyone?

Even half an hour felt like an eternity to him. Pushing his irritation at bay, he went to find the culprit of his annoyance.

Xion, on the other hand, was blissfully unaware of the prince’s growing frustration.

After taking a nap to recover from the loss of excessive use of his mana, he slowly healed his ankle.

Albeit still a bit painful to walk, it was much better than a swollen pig trotter.

He strolled inside the room to exercise his numb body. Anyway, the room was big enough, and he really did not want to go out.

What if he ran into another strange aristocrat?

Yeah, it was better not to take any risk.

His finger traced over the ring that was nestled on his finger. With the way it fit him so perfectly, it was as if it was tailor-made for him.

It was this thing that had helped him fight off Klein.

After studying it, he came to a conclusion. This ring amplified the mana.

If it fell into the wrong hands, one could even destroy cities. There were not many people who could gather too much mana on their own.

But with this ring, that would not be the problem.

Thank God, there was no one who saw him attacking Klein or it might have caused him another problem.

Shaking his head out of bad conclusions, he plopped back on the bed.

He waved his hand, and a small ball of white-yellowish mana gathered on his palm.

Xion had noticed before how the color of his mana had constantly been changing. It was bright orange at first, before turning yellow and now it was almost white.

He stopped playing with the mana ball. His ring felt warm to his skin and soon the tiny ball was absorbed into the ring.

Xion hastily sat up on the bed. His eyes went wide with astonishment as he studied the ring once again.

If what he had thought was true... I need to find Darius!

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