[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke
Chapter 296: The Archduke Is Very Generous

Chapter 296: The Archduke Is Very Generous

"The King had died."

The news came like a silent storm after shrouding the entire capital city in the lingering grey fog of demise.

It slowly spread into every alley, every recess until the birds fell silent and even the wind itself seemed to carry the weight of it.

At first, neither Nazia nor the Archduke spoke. Not because they didn’t understand, but because they did.

The King was no ordinary ruler of some small turf, and his death was no ordinary event either.

He had ruled with iron fists, magic, and fear. To die now, of all times, exactly on the day of the Archduke’s wedding, felt less like a coincidence and more like a catalyst.

A trigger for something terrible to happen.

The fact alone that the news was delivered to them so fast was jarring in itself.

His Majesty had passed before dawn.

However, before the sun had even touched the castle’s tallest spire, a royal decree had arrived through a sealed teleportation channel — the kind that was solely reserved for war, death, or royal upheaval.

To proceed with the wedding would be to defy protocol. It would be a show of blatant disrespect to the emperor’s glorious memory.

But to halt the ceremony at this point would be far worse.

It would be bowing the head to a throne that had done nothing but try to break them for years. All the perils and misfortune they had been through for the past few years would be for nothing.

Nazia didn’t need time to think. She understood His Grace too well.

Darius Rael Darkhelm would never kneel in front of that throne. Not to the late King, and certainly not to the brat now crowned in his place.

Ah, yes. She corrected herself mentally... not a brat but the new King.

Though still merely a half-grown child, with royal blood running through his veins, Silas Velaria now held the power of an empire.

Holding such extreme power of adults along with the arrogance of youth was nothing but inviting trouble. Especially when Silas had always been the sort to play with fire, believing himself immune to the burn.

A week of mourning would begin soon. The entire kingdom would be expected to lower its head. Then they would crown the new ruler, His Majesty Silas Velaria.

No matter what they did next, it would be as if someone had already dug a grave, and Darius was expected to step into it willingly.

"Nazia, let’s get ready for the day."

The Archduke discarded the outer robe before stepping into the study. The warm air hit his face, making his frown relax, albeit only a little.

Nazia had to think before her eyes widened slightly. "Your Grace? We are..."

With how long she had been serving the archduchy, it wasn’t hard for her to speculate what His Grace was hinting at, but she found it hard to voice out.

"It’s my wedding, Nazia," Darius said, voice smooth as velvet, but now there was a trace of dark tint coloring everything in sight. "I haven’t seen him in hours. How much longer should I wait?"

Nazia sucked in a cold breath. She knew it, hadn’t she?

This Archduke with blood-stained hands and a frozen soul had only ever become emotional when Xion was mentioned.

The King’s death meant nothing to him. Perhaps it should have. The old monarch had been his uncle by blood, if nothing else.

But Darius had only ever received cold orders and a battlefield for a childhood.

This was precisely why Nazia had expected him to show something after hearing the news. Maybe a small, satisfied smile? A tiny wisp of pleased joy, perhaps?

But no, there was nothing but a cold, unbothered look.

Come to think of it, his silence was an answer in itself. There was no victory in the king’s sudden death nor was there any joy. Only the shifting of enemies.

Her fingers clenched over the blue silk of the royal decree bearing a mourning memorandum.

She touched the frayed edges of the embroidered corners ( the result of the teleportation) absentmindedly as she thought about the character of her master.

Others might not agree with her, however, of all the qualities Darius possessed, it was his generosity that stood out the most.

He had always given freely. Lavishly.

He would give impossible privileges to the ones he favors.

Be it riches and power, all the loyal subjects had them in abundance and it was one of the reasons why they never felt the need to betray.

In the same way, Darius was also equally generous to his enemies.

He would spill their blood until it thawed the frozen earth.

Of course, Xion was the only one pampered to this extreme. But then again, sweet Xion was different. Different from them all.

Different enough for His Grace to forge a special treaty with a neighboring kingdom just to acquire the priceless Mermaid’s Tear.

None of them had even seen it before it was given to Xion. But it made the Archduke smile. And that was a miracle only Xion could achieve.

So, if His Grace wanted to continue with the wedding rites, she, as an aid, would make sure the plan ensued perfectly until the end.

Anyway, it wasn’t new for some papers to disappear into the teleportation array. Even if the possibility was low, it was never null.

"I understand, Your Grace." She bowed respectfully before leaving the room.

Flames could consume royal commands just as easily as they did heretics. Even if the teleportation record would log the decree’s arrival, what was the point if there were no witnesses?

The same royal decree which was being treated with utmost respect in every other corner of Eldoria Lunarith, was casually tossed into the furnace by Nazia.

As His Grace had said before, both the grooms hadn’t seen each other since yesterday due to traditions.

The spouses were not allowed to see each other’s faces before the wedding ceremony, and no matter how against it Darius was, he still couldn’t win when Serena glared at him with a clear warning.

They were going to be His Grace’s in-laws so, Darius was willing to endure that annoying smugness on Noxian’s face for a bit longer.

Nazia was amused by how both Noxian and Darius reacted almost exactly as predicted.

With a soft smile, she wiped the barely there soot from her fingers. Her gaze turned toward the distant horizon where golden light spilled over the snow-blessed mountains.

"It is a good day," she whispered to herself. "A day for the crown to fall. And for the devil to wed the blessed being."

Soon, the entire ground was covered with the golden rays of the bright sun. The crisp bells began to chime in the lower cities as a signal of the celebration.

The servants bustled to prepare for the ritual that would be held in just a few hours.

For the first time in decades, the dark castle of the Archduchy was decorated with festive colors of red and blue. The flowers were placed in delicate vases as they decorated the hallways.

Black Box-

Once upon a time, there was a shy student who always buried his head in books.

Xion’s only goal was to stay out of trouble — and that mostly meant avoiding the school’s infamous bad boy, Darius, who always seemed to be staring at him.

If he hadn’t secretly witnessed Darius beating a student into a bloody mess, he probably wouldn’t have been this afraid.

But now, every time he felt that same intense gaze on him, he shivered.

Today was no different.

Just as he tried to slip away, he was suddenly pulled into an alley by none other than the class monitor, Caspian.

"Class Monitor?" Xion tilted his head, blue eyes wide with confusion.

Though he’d always had a decent impression of Caspian, he didn’t appreciate being touched so forcefully.

"How long do you plan to play hard to get, little doll?"

That sentence — along with the way Caspian was eyeing him — made Xion’s stomach twist in disgust.

No matter how naïve he was, even he knew what that tone meant.

"Let me go!" he yelled, struggling to break free from Caspian’s grip. His eyes welled up with tears as the monitor tried to force a kiss on him.

Just when Xion thought he would have to endure the unwanted touch, the pressure on his body suddenly vanished.

With blood dripping from his lips, Caspian was pushed to the ground by none other than the bad boy of the school, Darius.

"You okay?"

The relief flooded his senses, causing the tears to fall like a rain of pearls.

"Hey, it’s okay now."

The warm embrace and the soft, soothing voice made Xion reach out instinctively, hugging Darius back.

And that was how the school bully and the shy nerd suddenly became friends. As for how long that friendship lasted before blooming into something else... who knows?

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