Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 437 - 437: Brewing Conflict

"Why don't you go ahead and have your dinner?" Caspian stood at the entrance of the central wing and asked his wife instead of walking along with her and following her to the bedchamber.

A subtle frown line appeared on Anastasia's forehead. She looked at her husband and asked, "You haven't finished your work?"

Caspian gently smiled and caressed his wife's cheek when he saw her getting sad. So, he clarified, "I need to talk with Zenon for a bit. I will be there with you after freshening up."

"Alright." Anastasia also smiled back and nodded her head. "I will see you in a bit."

She then headed towards her chamber while being followed by her two personal guards.

Caspian, on the other hand, headed towards his workroom.

As soon as he stepped inside, he ordered one of his attending guards to call for Zenon.

Zenon hadn't returned home yet. He was still working on some of the cases that the King had handed over to him earlier.

"Milord, His Majesty is looking for you." The guard delivered the message.

Zenon instantly headed towards the King's workroom and greeted the King. "Good evening, Your Majesty. Was there something that you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Yes." Caspian gestured for his advisor to take the seat. As soon as he did, he rested his arms on the table and leaned forward while holding a serious expression on his face.

Then he said in a grumbling tone, "It looks like we need to hold a meeting with Lord Bartholomew. He is getting bolder and bolder by the night."

Zenon's face instantly hardened. "Don't tell me that he had the audacity to actually try and harm the Queen when we still have one of his men in our custody," he growled.

The two suspicious vampires that the royal guards had encountered in the forest this morning while they were traveling with the Queen were actually working for Bartholomew.

And although the royal guard who went after them was able to capture one of them and drag him to the castle, the other one managed to escape.

Caspian and Zenon had speculated that Bartholomew wouldn't try anything stupid since one of his men was already caught. However, when Caspian went to fetch the Queen, he found around a dozen vampires lurking around in the forest, waiting for the Queen's carriage.

Caspian gritted his teeth and replied to Zenon, "Don't worry. There were just a handful of them waiting to ambush the Queen's party. I took care of them right as the Queen's carriage arrived at that spot. The guards moved the bodies. They are transporting the bodies back to Turner's mansion right as we speak. It should work as a warning for that bastard."

"Oh!" Zenon frowned because the King had left for Warmane Mansion without any bodyguards.

Although he knew how strong and capable the King was, he couldn't help but worry thinking that the King could have gotten hurt in the process.

"I shouldn't have let you leave without any bodyguards," he said while regretting not being persistent earlier.

Caspian slightly spread his arms and said in an attempt to release Zenon of the unnecessary burden, "I am unharmed, Zenon. It has already happened. Stop thinking about the past and think about the future. We cannot let Bartholomew keep on acting like a loose bull."

He slammed his fists on the table and said in a low growling voice, "Trying to ambush my wife and potentially hurt her was the last straw he could pull."

Zenon couldn't agree more with the King.

Thus, he asked with a serious expression on his face, "When shall I invite Bartholomew for the meeting?"

"Invite him at the earliest hour tomorrow." Caspian got up from his chair and said as he began to walk towards the door, "We cannot afford to drag this any further."

Zenon walked alongside the King and asked, "But what if he denies his involvement in any of the disturbances that have happened until now?"

Caspian gave a side glare to Zenon and asked angrily, "We know that it's him!"

"Yes, but he has been controlling everything from the background. He isn't carrying out the protest and attacks openly." Zenon sounded frustrated. "He can easily escape the punishment by pinning all the blame on his subordinates."

Caspian's eyes glowed brighter with rage. He clenched his fists and smashed the decorative vase that was kept on the corridor for decoration purposes.

Everyone who saw and heard the smashing sounds got startled and afraid. They didn't want to accidentally anger the King and face his wrath.

Caspian stepped on the broken ceramics and snarled as he continued walking, "Then I will just kill that bastard tomorrow. End of discussion."

Zenon nervously tiptoed and caught up with the King's speed. Although the King had already dismissed him, he wasn't done talking.

"Your Majesty, we can't just do that. I regret to say that he has some level of influence on a handful of big houses. His death might fuel an internal conflict. You also know that he has been feeding nonsense to people."

Caspian rolled his eyes and said nonchalantly, "Then I will just purge them all. Do they all think that I am a weak King just because I am a bit more lenient than my father and my grandfather? I can very well surpass them in cruelty. If they all want to be treated like rodents then I will gladly fulfill their wish."

"But–" Zenon wanted to calm the King down. However, he got disappointed when Caspian slammed the door in his face.

Zenon was afraid that Caspian would actually do what he just said. But he didn't have the audacity to barge inside the King's chamber without the King's permission. At least not when he knew that the King was already in a bad mood.

He grunted in deep frustration and took a deep breath before speaking from outside the door, "We will talk about this tomorrow when our minds are calm."

Zenon then headed away while hoping that the King wouldn't take any questionable action in the fit of his rage.

Inside the chamber, Caspian took off all of his clothes and strode towards his bathroom. He dipped himself in the icy cold water and closed his eyes.

In his head, he was repeating a single sentence, 'Calm your anger before you go to Anna.'