Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 202: Too Busy For Her

Chapter 202: Too Busy For Her

It was almost hilarious watching Lucien Seibert struggle against the magic of the blue kyanite. He bit his lip so hard that blood was starting to form, and sweat began to form on his temples.

Atticus merely watched on, making a great show of casually rocking his chair, as though he was a bored schoolboy stuck in lessons instead of a king conducting an interrogation. He smiled as Lucien Seibert began to convulse, bowling over in pain as the blue kyanite in his body protested his silence.

Anytime now. No one could stand up against the power of the blue kyanite stones unless they had lost the ability to feel any pain in their body. Judging by the way Lucien’s face had turned ashen, he was not one of the lucky few.

Eventually, the pain loosened his mouth long enough for him to gasp and spit out a mouthful of blood. Apparently, Lucien had been biting his tongue the whole time, possibly to mangle his own speech to make it impossible for Atticus to decipher his reply. Atticus raised his eyebrow, reluctantly impressed with the lengths this man would go to to keep his secrets.

"I have all the time in the world," Atticus said. "Now let me ask you again, who is supplying these illegally traded gemstones?"

Lucien wheezed, but he couldn’t fight the inevitable. "It’s―"

"King Atticus! Sir Jonah!" To everyone’s surprise, Maisie dashed towards them, with a look of grave urgency on her face.

"What is it?" Jonah barked out.

Lucien Seibert used that brief moment of distraction to slam his head against the floor, hard enough to render himself unconscious so he didn’t need to say another word.

Fuck this bastard. He was so close to cracking the case. Atticus seethed to himself and whirled around to glare daggers at Maisie for the untimely interruption.

"Didn’t I give orders that I wasn’t to be interrupted? Do you want to be thrown into the stocks?" Atticus demanded hotly. The poor girl hastily screeched to a halt, a brief look of fear on her face as she caught sight of Atticus’s face.

"There’s an emergency― we have an intruder in the palace! Queen Daphne has ordered me to get Sir Jonah! Sorry for the interruption, Your Majesty!"

She bowed low in apology.

"An intruder?"

"Daphne!" Atticus leaped to attention, all his earlier vexation replaced with worry for his wife. "Jonah, you watch over this vermin," Lucien Seibert would wake up eventually, and Atticus still wanted answers, "I’ll go check on Daphne."

"Of course," Jonah nodded seriously, "I’ll let you know once I have something from him."

Atticus barely registered Jonah’s reply before rushing back to the palace, and Maisie was forced to sprint alongside him in a bid to keep up, while also trying to explain the situation to him. She was so out of shape when compared to Atticus that she could only pant and cling to a banister to catch her breath.

Hopefully, the king had understood her words and reassured Her Highness of her worth!

Meanwhile, Atticus arrived at the door of Daphne’s new room, not knowing anything more than the fact there was a dead bird.

Did that infernal griffin chick finally die? He didn’t have any attachments to that noisy needy annoyance, but Daphne adored it. She would be devastated if anything happened to it.

"Daphne!" Atticus called out, flinging the door wide open. "I just heard the news. I know you loved Zephyr, but he’s in a better place now. Please, don’t be too upset!"

"Atticus? What are you doing here?" Daphne asked in startled confusion, not understanding his words.

She was sitting at the edge of her bed, her hair frizzy and unbrushed. Atticus looked over her carefully; his wife was paler than usual, her face drawn and wan with dark circles under her eyes. It was a far cry from the spirited, lively woman that he had seen before the start of the event.

His heart ached, and then it lurched when his eyes registered the strange stains on her nightgown.

There was blood on her outfit!

"You’re hurt! You― go get Sirona!" Atticus ordered Maisie, who glanced at Daphne for confirmation. Daphne shook her head, so Maisie stayed put as Atticus’s hands started to prod at Daphne’s body. His eyes roved all over her, trying to find the injury responsible for the bloodstain.

Daphne grabbed his hands and shook her head, refusing to meet Atticus’s eyes. "I am unhurt. This isn’t my blood. What are you doing here?" She then turned to Maisie. "I thought I told you to call for Jonah? Why is Atticus here instead?"

"I did!" Maisie’s eyes darted towards Atticus’s face, which was rapidly darkening at the uncharacteristic coolness of Daphne’s words. "But they were together... and the king wanted to see you," Maisie said meekly.

"My queen, are you displeased with me?" Atticus demanded, crossing his arms as he stared down at Daphne. "I’ve been worried about you, but this is how you treat me?"

Did Daphne wish to be left alone so badly that she didn’t even want to look at him when he was right in front of her?

"I did not ask you to worry about me. Please save your efforts," Daphne said evenly, but shame curdled in her gut and she could not lift her gaze from the floor. "You... you can go. I am perfectly fine."

Once again, she had caused trouble for Atticus. Maisie had told her a day ago that Atticus was still busy with plans for rebuilding the town and interrogating the smugglers, yet now he was standing in front of her. She had distracted him from his responsibilities and added to his burden.

Daphne didn’t know how to face him.

"Sunshine, that’s a load of rubbish!" Atticus declared, "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You look like a wreck!"

Daphne could only muster a wry half-smile at that. At least she and Atticus were still in agreement regarding this matter.

"Just... call Jonah over instead. I’m sure you must be too busy."