Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 160: Jean Nott

Chapter 160: Jean Nott

"Assassin’s Guild?" Daphne repeated, blinking rapidly in shock.

She didn’t want to believe it, but then she recalled the scene from the dungeons. More than twenty men died by his lone hand. And back at the maze, he was a master at verbal manipulation and magic. That would also explain why he had so much knowledge of the artifacts at the Gibbous Auction house... his guild might have provided those items to begin with!

She shuddered. What a terrifying man. But she had to clarify one more thing.

"Do you think he was in charge of those assassins that tried to rescue me during my wedding night?"

"You had assassins on your wedding night?" Prince Nathaniel asked, appalled.

"It’s possible," Atticus said grimly, casting Prince Nathaniel a disparaging look. "You can stop pretending now. I know you sent them! Stop trying to redirect suspicion from your own misdeeds."

Prince Nathaniel blinked in surprise at the sudden accusation. Atticus only crossed his arms, a sneer on his face.

"Prince Nathaniel? Is this true?" Daphne peered up at him, questioning.

"Of course not! This is nothing more than an unfounded accusation!" Prince Nathaniel retorted.

The sheer nonsense that escaped from this man’s mouth was simply unbearable. If Nathaniel were a less civilized man, they’d be brawling in the tunnels. But Prince Nathaniel simply sucked in a deep breath and counted to ten, trying to calm himself down.

"That’s all you’re going to say to defend yourself?" Atticus asked smugly.

It didn’t work. So Prince Nathaniel extended the count to twenty, and decided to stare at somewhere that wasn’t Atticus’s infuriating face. Much better. Meanwhile Daphne slowly inched away from Prince Nathaniel. With every second he kept silent, her worry and fear grew.

"King Atticus, kindly stop judging me with the same rulebook you use for covering your own crimes," Prince Nathaniel finally said, shooting him an icy glare. "I wanted my fiancée―"

"Ex-fiancée," Atticus interrupted, glowering at him.

"Back then she was my fiancée," Prince Nathaniel pointed out.

"And now she’s my wife, so she’s your ex-fiancée," Atticus retorted, possessiveness radiating from every syllable.

"Fine, ex-fiancée." Prince Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "I would want my ex-fiancée to return unharmed, not possibly ravaged by crooks. It would be the equivalent of sending foxes to guard a hen."

He continued, "If I hired their services, I would be opening myself to extortion if they simply decided to not hand Queen Daphne over. The risk wouldn’t be worth it, not when I can mobilize my own people to do the search."

Daphne relaxed minutely. Prince Nathaniel had a point. Atticus still looked suspicious, but he begrudgingly accepted that it made sense, especially for someone like Prince Nathaniel who hated being taken advantage of and losing his reputation.

If all else failed, his pride wouldn’t let him seek outside help for fear of looking weak.

"Now what should we do?" Daphne asked.

"First things first, let’s get out of this tunnel," Atticus said, more cheerfully than before. "Then, Prince Nathaniel here can go and begin the search for Jean Nott."

"What will you be doing then?" Prince Nathaniel demanded, not liking his suddenly flippant tone, "Are you leaving all the work to me?"

"You said that you would stop at nothing to investigate this matter. I will not get in your way," Atticus said glibly, a hand on his heart. "Meanwhile, I want to take my wife on a picnic and let her see your beautiful kingdom after the sheer upheaval of today. She deserves to finally do something enjoyable for a change. What do you say, sunshine?"

Daphne was initially reluctant― surely there were more important things Atticus needed to do, but then she caught sight of his beaming smile. The way his eyes gazed at her with so much love and affection was almost too much to bear. She found herself nodding, and was rewarded with an even brighter grin.

Atticus reached out and held her hand, enveloping it with a gentle warmth.

In front of them, Prince Nathaniel’s face could have curdled milk. This man was a menace! He was doing this on purpose!

"By the way, do you have any beautiful date spots to recommend?" Atticus continued sunnily, "Surely, with your reputation, you must have gone on some dates with beautiful women. Or beautiful men. Whatever you like. I won’t judge."

"Excuse me? I’m not an unrepentant flirt," Prince Nathaniel declared, outraged. He straightened his robes and addressed Daphne so he didn’t have to look at her annoying husband.

"If you do wish to explore Raxuvia’s beauty, I do have a few recommendations for you. If you and... your husband would allow it, I would love to accompany you to ensure that the both of you get the best experience possible after what happened in the maze."

"Alright, we’ll be thankful for a knowledgeable guide." Daphne smiled and agreed easily. Since Prince Nathaniel was already offering to show them around, it would be impolite to reject him.

Meanwhile Atticus scowled. Oh, so Prince Nathaniel wanted to come along, did he? Atticus would bet his manhood he was out to ruin their date.

A wicked smile bloomed on his face. In that case, he knew just what to do.

***

"Atticus, why are we here?" Jonah asked as they stood outside the palace, "Aren’t you supposed to be busy with hunting down Eugene Attonson?"

"Clearly he is skiving and dumping the work on someone else," Sirona said dryly. Atticus had summoned her and Jonah out for an outing with Daphne, claiming that their presence was essential. Sirona could only assume that he was talking out of his ass, but then Atticus mentioned that Prince Nathaniel would be their guide.

Now Sirona had to be there. That prince had his healers hold her hostage in the infirmary; she had yet to pay him back for such an act!

"It’ll just be a short outing," Daphne said reassuringly. "I don’t want to take up too much of everyone’s time."

"It’ll be as long as it takes for you to enjoy yourself," Atticus corrected, holding Daphne’s hand as he pressed a quick kiss to her knuckles, loving the way her cheeks flushed a dark pink that complemented her new gown. Daphne had changed her dress after they left the tunnels, and now she was a vision to behold in red.

If only Prince Nathaniel wasn’t present. But alas, there he was, walking towards them.

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