Saving the Heartthrob Frenemy-Chapter 514: Single parent
"The weak are food for the strong your Majesty... If your father didn’t want to fight for the throne we wouldn’t risk men going to battle to die for a man who has no interest in keeping that position. The best we could do was protect him but even then he ran like a coward breaking the protection circle and costing us five of our men. Your father was killed soon after that," said one of the elders kowtowing again his body trembling.
Qie Xieling’s brow arched hearing this. So for them to fully support the King he had to have strength? He had to be able to fight. Qie Xieling found it quite interesting.
His brow furrowed with discontent. The room was hushed, the tension palpable as the elders awaited their newly declared king’s response. Qie Xieling’s eyes, usually warm and welcoming, now blazed with an unsettling intensity, and his aura seemed to cast a dark shadow over the room.
"What if I am the same?" he began, his voice low and resonant, "What if I don’t care for the throne?"
The elders exchanged uneasy glances, but none dared to interrupt him.
"If you had at least protected him better it would have never put his offspring in danger. Do you know what this...," he said but stopped himself when he realised he was about to say this character. It wasn’t entirely their fault but they couldn’t be absolved of blame. If it weren’t for that this character wouldn’t have been abused, tortured and married off leading to his death. It was only a game but Qie Xieling couldn’t help but feel sympathetic. It was too tragic.
"... do you know what I have been through? Do you know that that woman deserted me and left me for the wolves? I was sold and forced to work in a brothel entertaining sleazy men," he said with a slight tremor in his voice his pain evident.
"To rule without the genuine support and respect of my people is a hollow victory. A king without the love and loyalty of his subjects is no king at all."
The elders shifted uncomfortably in their seats, feeling the weight of his words settle heavily upon them. A heavy silence hung in the air as his words echoed through the hall. The elders, recognizing the gravity of the situation, bowed their heads.
They kept their heads down while Elder Xuan’s voice trembled with remorse. "Your Majesty, we beg for your forgiveness. We failed to protect you. We will live with the shame and guilt of our inadequacy for the rest of our lives. Please accept the throne. We will work hard to earn your trust."
Soon loud pleas echoed in the hall as they slammed their forehead against the floor begging him.
His expression unreadable he observed the elders as they pleaded. After a moment of silence, he spoke, his voice firm and commanding, "I will consider your request." With that, he rose, his figure imposing, and left the elders kneeling in the hall.
As he made his way out, a sudden wave of dizziness swept over him. Gasping, he reached out to steady himself against a nearby wooden pillar. His vision blurred, and the world spun around him before everything went dark, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
***
Qie Xieling woke up with his ears ringing, disoriented, and a face so close to his that he almost screamed. He sat up abruptly, feeling his head throbbing, but Jolie gently pressed him back down onto the bed.
She sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed with a smirk that wasn’t quite a smirk. Qie Xieling suspected something was amiss. Jolie’s smile was all too familiar. It was that kind of smile that she showed when he was about to find out something that he wouldn’t like but was amusing to Jolie.
As he turned around, he saw a group of elders and two maidservants kneeling in silence. They thought that they had angered the king so much that he fainted. When they heard him fall they ran out and carried him inside. Panicked they called the physician afraid that it was something serious but now...
Confusion etched his features as he asked Jolie what was happening. Jolie laughed softly before taking a bite of her apple. She looked like she was enjoying this a little too much.
Qie Xieling, "..."
She signalled for the physician to step forward and repeat what he had said.
The physician cleared his throat nervously, "You-your Majesty, forgive the intrusion, but it seems that you have... are... you are with child," he said with the last part said so low that Qie Xieling didn’t hear it.
"What?" he asked and the man was sweating bullets while kneeling there. He heard that the new king was as fierce as the grand king. He was afraid that he would be whacked across the face into next week.
The room fell silent again and the elder cleared their throats urging him to speak. Qie Xieling understood that they were scared to tell him so he rubbed his temple while saying, "Whatever it is I can take it. Just tell me."
The man swallowed his Adam’s apple bobbing before saying, "Your majesty you are with child."
Qie Xieling, "..."
At first, silence blanketed the room, and then a chuckle escaped Qie Xieling’s lips. Soon, it turned into a hearty laugh, echoing off the ornate walls. The elders exchanged nervous glances, unsure of how the king would take such unexpected news. To their surprise, King Qie’s laughter was infectious, and they soon found themselves joining in, albeit cautiously. They knew he was a ger but didn’t care at all but now knowing that he was with child they were curious to know who had the balls.
Just as the laughter reached its peak, Qie Xieling’s expression darkened, his eyes flashing with anger. "Enough!" he bellowed, rising from the bed. The elders froze, fearing they had overstepped some unspoken boundary. With a thunderous voice, the king ordered them to leave, and they stumbled over each other in their haste to obey, creating a comical scene as they hurried out of the chamber.
