The Hero's Forsaken Princess
Chapter 178: Talk inside the Palace

Chapter 178: Talk inside the Palace

At Averion Palace...

General Artemis, Captain Alucard, and his army finally arrived at the castle. The royal guards were surprised when they saw Alucard’s army marching toward the palace gate. They stayed outside and surrounded the gate.

The royal guards went to their respective positions, preparing to defend the castle.

"What are we going to do?"

"Inform our Majesty right away!"

"Look! General Artemis is with them! Shall we open the gate?"

They stopped panicking when General Artemis showed up at the entrance gate.

"Let us pass. We are going to talk to King Solomon," General Artemis commanded the royal guards who were stationed at the entrance gate.

"We will wait for the royal command, General. Please wait for a moment," the royal guard replied.

It did not take long before the Captain of the Royal Guard approached the gate. After talking to General Artemis, the two had agreed that only Captain Alucard and Commander Kevin were allowed to enter the palace.

The royal guard captain immediately escorted them to the palace hall. King Solomon, Queen Amara, high-ranking officials, and the other royal family members were present.

"Your Majesty, I brought here the Captain of Zephyra’s army. They are here to tell you their demands in order to resolve this battle peacefully," General Artemis said, introducing Captain Alucard.

King Solomon and Queen Amara exchanged glances with one another. One of them didn’t want to compromise. However, King Solomon had to make his decision.

"I will listen. Let’s see if I can grant their demands," King Solomon said.

Captain Alucard and Commander Kevin were surrounded by Averion’s officials. They were still cautious, thinking they might get attacked by the royal guards. They were inside the enemy’s territory. Everything could happen.

However, General Artemis reassured them that he would protect them from harm. He wouldn’t let the royal guards attack them in his presence.

Trusting General Artemis completely, Captain Alucard stepped forward to talk to the ruler.

"We only have one demand. You should abdicate the throne. Let Princess Eve become the new ruler of Kingdom Averion," Captain Alucard boldly declared in front of everyone.

His statement gained negative reactions from the people inside the palace hall, most especially Queen Amara.

"Hahaha! That’s ridiculous! Do you think we are stupid? Why would my husband abdicate his throne for that useless princess? She doesn’t deserve to be the ruler of this kingdom! My son is the true heir of the throne." Queen Amara said while laughing sarcastically.

"You are unbelievable! How dare you make such a demand?! We should throw them out of the palace! We must not listen to their nonsense!" Princess Aliyah butted in. She was enraged when Princess Eve’s name was mentioned.

Eve King Solomon didn’t expect that the representative of Kingdom Zephyra would ask him to abdicate the throne for Princess Eve. What kind of joke is this?

"Where is my daughter? Is she with you?" King Solomon asked Captain Alucard expectantly. He wondered if they brought Princess Eve with them.

"Yes. She is with us! She will be here." Captain Alucard simply replied.

Queen Amara narrowed her eyes upon hearing that. She clenched her teeth just thinking about Princess Eve. ’I thought she became a prisoner in Kingdom Zephyra.’

"I can’t understand. Why do you want me to abdicate the throne and give it to my daughter?" he added.

"Princess Eve is not my daughter! We will never pass the throne to her. Perhaps she used her body to seduce the King of Zephyra? Hahaha! She’s just like her mother — the daughter of a mere slave!" Queen Amara revealed to everyone. She could no longer hide the truth, furious that Eve had started to covet the throne.

Captain Alucard and Commander Kevin were displeased to hear the insulting words coming from Queen Amara.

’How could they say that? They don’t know Princess Esmeralda’s true identity. She is not a slave!’ Captain Alucard thought to himself, clenching his fists.

General Artemis tapped Captain Alucard’s shoulder, telling him to calm down. Only General Artemis knew about Princess Esmeralda’s identity.

"Stop insulting our princess!" Commander Kevin burst out. He failed to control his temper.

"Princess? Who are you referring to?" Princess Alessandra joined the conversation. "Are you telling us that Princess Eve has betrayed us?"

Crown Prince Stefan could only stay silent. His wife noticed the complicated emotions on his face.

"My dear, are you alright? Why are you so quiet?" The Crown Princess asked Prince Stefan worriedly.

"It’s nothing." Prince Stefan shook his head, his eyes fixed on his father, King Solomon.

He already learned the truth that King Solomon committed a crime against Princess Eve’s mother. In fact, King Solomon was the one to blame for the suffering of Eve’s mother.

’I feel sorry for my sister and her mother. It was my father’s fault. If not for his selfishness, Eve and her mother wouldn’t have suffered here in the palace. He should have let them go before my mother found out about their existence.’ Crown Prince Stefan murmured inwardly, the guilt was consuming him.

Meanwhile, Commander Kevin answered Princess Alessandra’s query. "Yes. Princess Eve is our princess. We pledge loyalty to her and her mother because they are from a royal lineage of Kingdom Zephyra!"

Everyone gasped in disbelief when they heard that. But Queen Amara refused to believe him.

"You’re lying! Hahaha! What the hell are you talking about? Royal lineage? You’re just making up stories. Do you really think we’d believe your lies? Hahaha. You are making me laugh with your ridiculous joke." Queen Amara mocked him.

This time, General Artemis could no longer stay silent.

"No. He is not lying. It’s true. Princess Eve’s mother is Princess Esmeralda, the exiled princess of Kingdom Zephyra. She is the daughter of King Arthur Godlwyn," General Artemis announced to everyone.

There was a moment of silence after he spoke up. King Solomon looked at him with a questioning gaze. This was a shocking revelation!.

"Are you telling the truth?" King Solomon asked him, eyeing him with anticipation.

General Artemis nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. Esmeralda is a princess of the Kingdom of Zephyra. I can attest to that because I was the one who helped her enter the palace while she was on the run. She was being hunted by Zephyra’s knights."

Everyone was rendered speechless, including Queen Amara. There was no way General Artemis would lie about this.

"I am saddened because you treated her like a slave. She didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. But it was I who failed to protect the daughter of my old friend. King Arthur was a dear friend of mine, and he entrusted me with the care of the princess," General Artemis expressed his thoughts and feelings. He didn’t want to lie anymore.

King Solomon’s heart sank upon hearing those words. He felt like his world crumbled into pieces. He didn’t know that the woman he loved was indeed a princess.

"How could this happen? I had no idea. She did all sorts of labor in this palace, serving us. Who would have thought she was part of the royal family of another kingdom? Damn it! What have I done? I really don’t deserve her." King Solomon was filled with regret.

Seeing his remorseful expression, Queen Amara became more furious. ’Does he love her a lot? My husband didn’t forget her at all.’

Meanwhile, the other officials of the royal court were shocked to hear the revelation. They finally understood the reason why Queen Amara treated the third princess differently. Princess Eve didn’t resemble Queen Amara because she had a different mother.

"Princess Eve concealed her true face for so long. Maybe Queen Amara was the one who forced her to do that. In fact, she is the most beautiful maiden in this kingdom." One royal court official whispered.

"Oh, this is bad. Maybe General Alaric knew the truth—that’s why he volunteered for the assassination mission. He was the one who insisted on bringing Princess Eve with him to Kingdom Zephyra. This is all just a façade! The general has returned the daughter of the exiled princess to Kingdom Zephyra!" The Chancellor started to suspect Alaric, thinking he had betrayed the kingdom.

General Artemis’s face contorted when he heard that baseless accusation.

"Stop accusing, Alaric! He will never do that. He is a loyal warrior!" He defended him.

"How sure are you? Can’t you see? Princess Eve brought the enemies here. Are you siding with them, General Artemis?" Chancellor questioned General Artemis’s loyalty.

"You really love to blame someone else for their incapability," Captain Alucard butted in.

The Chancellor was about to retort when suddenly they heard a loud commotion outside.

"What is going on there?" King Solomon asked the royal guards.

One of them stepped forward to report the situation. "Your Majesty! There is a huge dragon that landed in the royal courtyard!"

"Then we spotted Princess Eve and General Ravenmoor together. There was another person with them, but we couldn’t identify him."

"What? Princess Eve is riding the dragon?!" Everyone gasped in surprise.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.