Stolen by the Rebel King-Chapter 496: A Crazy Idea III

"Oh, come on," Cordelia said with a click of her tongue. "Now you’re just being selfish, King Atticus. You can’t possibly monopolize both Daphne and Sir Jonah’s hearts. While I admit that Sir Jonah is a precious human resource to your kingdom, he is free to love whoever he wishes!"

Cordelia then proudly fluffed her hair, displaying her signature coy smile. It was never a doubt that Cordelia was known far and wide for her beauty. That was something Daphne knew from the first moment she landed her eyes on the princess of Nedour for the first time. If given the opportunity — and if Cordelia wanted to — Daphne even had confidence that Cordelia could charm Jonah easily.

"And I have every confidence in making him fall hopelessly in love with me," she finished.

"Jonah doesn’t need love," Atticus said through gritted teeth. "He has me."

"Don’t be ridiculous," Cordelia said, resisting the urge to outright snap at the most powerful man in the world. "You are already married! I know that some kings have harems, but I’ll be damned if you dare to treat Daphne like that!"

"What?!" Atticus spluttered, reeling back in shock. "Who said anything about adding Jonah to my harem?" He anxiously looked over at Daphne, afraid that she would misunderstand. "Who even said anything about having one?"

"That is what you implied, is it not?" Cordelia quipped. "Otherwise, who are you to stop Sir Jonah from finding true love? Are you his mother, perhaps? If I may, King Atticus―"

"You may not!"

Cordelia entirely ignored him. "―I think you’re entirely overstepping your boundaries as his employer. Do you honestly expect Sir Jonah to stay by your side for the rest of his life, unloved and unwanted?"

"In that case, he can marry a Vramidian woman and stay in Vramid where I can still see him daily," Atticus said, huffing. "He is the leader of the royal knights. I am not going to leave my kingdom’s army without a head!"

"You are supposed to be that head," Cordelia said, her eyes twitching.

The more she spoke with King Atticus regarding this matter, the more she was sure she needed to rescue poor, overworked Sir Jonah from these horrid working conditions. This employer of his was a maniac with obsessive tendencies.

It would be even better if she could somehow pull Daphne from this mess, but that would be a harder tangled ball of yarn to unravel than in Sir Jonah’s case. "Besides, if Sir Jonah is truly so important to you, you could even consider our theoretical future marriage as an alliance of sorts!"

"That sounds wonderful!" Daphne piped in before Atticus could put in another word, purposely stepping in between Cordelia and Atticus. "Of course, we would need to see if Jonah is willing. We don’t want to force him into doing anything he isn’t comfortable with."

"Oh, believe me, Daphne, I am all for giving people free will to do as their heart desires," Cordelia assured, sending a pointed look in King Atticus’s direction. "Either way, your plan of using this insane engagement to get the pearl is a great idea. If King Atticus is willing to participate, I will just need a letter with his seal to bring to my father. That should do the trick."

Atticus snorted. "And you’re so sure that King Marinus will agree to give up one of his royal treasures so easily?"

"I am sure," Cordelia confidently replied. "My father is way too eager to marry me off to a king or a crown prince of another kingdom. That way, I will be unable to lay my claim to the throne of Nedour when he retires― or even before he retires. My stepmother probably wishes for the throne to be passed down to one of her biological sons or daughters as well, and I am not letting them succeed so easily. I will be gaining more from this partnership than you can ever imagine. However..."

She turned to Daphne and continued, "Daphne, that will mean that you will have to deal with the wagging tongues of onlookers for however long this farce continues. Will you be alright with that?"

"Of course," Daphne said. "This is my idea, after all. As long as it’s handled well, gossip will eventually die and the crowd will move on to the next big scandal."

Atticus wrinkled his nose. "I am not keen on having rumors flying around the streets about my infidelity."

"But it’s not true," Daphne said. "That’s all that matters. It will only be for a short while, two weeks at most." She turned to Cordelia. "Do you think that can happen?"

"Maybe even in one," Cordelia said. "My father would probably be more than eager to ship me off to my future husband." She then turned to Atticus. "We can have the wedding in Vramid. It would be best to make a scene so that the nobility knows about this. Perhaps you could find me in bed with another man and demand I leave the kingdom. Father wouldn’t dare do anything to you as well― he knows there’s nothing that can be done. It will be perfect."

Immediately, Daphne turned to look at Atticus with large, tear-filled eyes. She made sure to have them well right at her lower lids so that they looked glassy and glossy, making her seem ever so pitiful. In her time with Atticus, she had learned that this was one of the easier ways to get whatever she wanted from her husband.

"Fine," Atticus said, finally relenting. "I’ll have the letter prepared for you as soon as we return to Vramid to invite you over.

"Perfect," Cordelia said with a nod. "I’ll be eagerly waiting, in that case." frёewebηovel.cѳm

Once they said their temporary goodbyes, Cordelia turned to leave. Before she completely stepped through the door, she turned back and tossed them a smile and a wink.

"Oh, and King Atticus?" she said, drawing the couple’s attention. "I can’t wait to visit Vramid. I would love to properly know my potential future husband."

With that said, she shut the glass door behind her, quickly disappearing into the party crowd once more. That left Atticus and Daphne on the balcony still, with the former red-faced in anger and yelling at nobody in particular.

"Never!"