The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 247: Future Plans

The three of them trudged back, exhausted, to the site where Rafael had killed Ricard in a glorious display of magic. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Orion had Raziel slung on one shoulder. He wrinkled his nose as he spotted the huge blood splatters on the ground, caused by the deaths of two men. It rivaled the hordes of bodies he had crushed earlier. He strode over to the nearest one and realized it wasn’t the prince.

Then, he strode to the next body lying in a pool of still-wet blood, only to point at his exposed neck. He looked around, only to realize that it was not lying in the vicinity. "Where is Prince Ricard’s head?"

"Oops," Rafael laughed awkwardly. "I kicked it away earlier."

Orion and Soleia shot him identical unimpressed looks. Rafael could sign in reluctance at their exasperated faces, and he went to look for Ricard’s head through the rubble.

Why did he have to kick it so hard? He grumbled to himself internally. Then again, he didn’t think he would be needing to show his father Ricard’s dead body― it was only because of Orion’s words that he saw the wisdom in offering irrefutable proof of death.

Thankfully, after a few false starts where he had mistaken broken bricks for Ricard’s ugly mug, he managed to find his brother’s bloody head. He held it up by its hair and examined it, a disgusted frown forming on his face.

Decapitation did not make him look attractive in the least. His eyes were bulging out, his mouth still stuck in a frozen scream.

"I’m back. Can you help me carry his body?" Rafael asked, stopping as he caught Orion and Soleia in a low conversation with each other. They had awfully serious looks on their faces, and Rafael hoped his ex-best friend was not trying to convince Soleia to leave him while his back was turned.

Then again, that wasn’t Orion’s method of doing things. Orion only glanced at him and picked up the rest of Ricard’s body from the ground.

"I should be grateful you didn’t rip him to pieces," Orion said. "It’ll be awfully troublesome to bring all of him back to the palace and reassemble him for your father." His eyes darted to the other body. "What about the other body?"

"I’ll carry him," Rafael said quietly. It was the least he could do. He created a spike from the spilled blood and drove it through Ricard’s head, before carefully picking up Oliver’s body and placing it on his back as though he was piggybacking him home after having one too many drinks.

"I’ll take the head," Orion offered, and Rafael handed him over.

The three of them walked slowly back to the palace, their eyes nearly closing from tiredness. A calm silence enveloped them before Rafael broke it.

"What were you talking about just now?" Rafael asked, because he was nosy.

"I was telling him about Elowyn― or Elinora Wynsler," Soleia said. "Orion was asking about her."

"Well, she’s getting married soon― oh no wait, she can’t," Rafael said, pointing to Ricard’s spiked head. "This was her fiancé, and you’ve already fished her second choice up from the ocean. God, thanks for reminding me that we’ll have to break the news to her."

"Technically, you are still her first choice, so I wouldn’t be so smug about rubbing their deaths in her face," Soleia said, failing to see any joy in this new development.

Both princes being dead meant that Elinora could only marry Rafael if she wanted a shot at becoming queen, no matter Rafael’s choice in the matter. If she had the support of the king, things could get ugly very quickly. There were only the three of them, covered in all sorts of wounds and bruises and aching all over with tiredness, against the entire weight of the crown.

Rafael caught her frown and asked, "Are you honestly worried that she would worm her way into my bed? Or that I would actually choose her over you?"

"Of course not," Soleia said placatingly. "I’m just saying that if it came down to her and your father against the three of us, we might lose... terribly."

And that was an understatement.

Orion blinked. "Are we committing regicide now? I didn’t tell my mother that. Can it not wait until we have gotten a good night’s sleep and some food?"

"You dare to eat what the palace will feed you?" Rafael asked, surprised. "Are you not afraid that my father will poison you and send you back to Vramid in a coffin? And what do you mean by telling your mother? Is she―"

He glanced at Ricard’s very dead head. It was highly likely that Orion’s family, untrained and unarmed as they were, died while trying to escape. He tried not to feel guilty, because they were terrible people, but they were also all the family Orion had, and he loved them.

Back in Vramid, Orion had often spoken about them after their battles. The entire reason why Orion was even in the military was because he wanted to eke out a better living for all of them.

"They are currently living in Raxuvia’s slums," Orion said, and whatever guilt Rafael had just begun to feel vanished at once. "Once this mess is resolved, I’m hoping I can get them somewhere else to stay."

"Rafael has a house on the outskirts of town," Soleia offered, and Rafael stared back at her, stunned.

"Soleia! That’s our marital house!" Rafael protested.

"Well, we are not staying there anytime soon," Soleia retorted primly. "We might as well put it to good use. Besides, Orion has done so much for both of us. Is a house and land too much to give him?"

Any other time, she would rankle at letting Lucinda and Elisa stay at the home she shared with Rafael. But with Rafael’s new position in court, there was no way they could return to that house. It might as well be given to Orion and his loved ones.

And Oliver was dead, so there were no more fake Duke Kinsleys to inherit the estate.

Rafael’s eyes clouded over as he recalled this fact.

"Fair enough," he said reluctantly. "But are you planning on staying in Raxuvia?"

Soleia also turned around to look at him, curious to know about his life plans. Orion thought for a moment and shrugged.

"It’s either here or Nedour. If your father doesn’t have me arrested or murdered, I might as well stay here with my family."

"Best hope my old dad is in a good mood then," Rafael said, his eyes staring at the gates of the castle, where an entire army seemed to be stationed to greet them.