Stolen by the Rebel King-Chapter 503: Out of the Queen’s Ears II

King Marinus smiled. "Straight forward. That is a wonderful attribute to have," he said.

"Come on, King Marinus," Atticus said with a cold laugh. "There are only the two of us here. Isn’t that what you wanted? To speak without inhibitions? Surely you have more kept in your arsenal than just petty cordiality."

With a wave of his fingers, the pearl spun in the air at the mercy of Atticus’s magic. Now that he had the pearl in his grasp, Atticus found little to no need to keep up the farce any longer. Whatever entertainment he was willing to provide King Marinus now was solely out of respect for his wife’s friendship with this sleazy king’s daughter.

If, for any instance, Princess Cordelia and Daphne’s friendship were to abruptly end, he would be more than happy to burn the bridge with Nedour.

"Alright then," King Marinus said. "I hope that after your marriage with my daughter, you will make her the queen of Vramid."

Atticus’s eyebrow twitched with irritation. It took every self-control he had to stop himself from dropping the pearl just so he could reach for the old man’s neck and twist it until his eyeballs flew out of its sockets. No wonder King Marinus didn’t wish for Daphne to be present for this discussion― he was eyeing her throne!

"Vramid already has a queen," Atticus reminded through gritted teeth.

One horrible thing that had happened to him after his marriage with Daphne, Atticus realized, was that he was finding it more and more difficult to hide his emotions from plain sight. That was especially so when the situation was related to Daphne in any way.

Likewise, he was finding it difficult to not lash out at King Marinus right now.

"I understand," King Marinus said, "but my darling Cordelia has Nedour behind her back to support her. Unfortunately, Queen Daphne does not."

"Have you not kept up with the global news recently, King Marinus?" Atticus asked with a laugh. "Before his unfortunate death, King Cyrus crowned Daphne as the crown princess of Reaweth. That means that when her mother, Queen Anette, steps down, Daphne is the rightful heir to the throne of Reaweth. Princess Cordelia, from what I understand, does not have that when it comes to Nedour."

King Marinus stiffened at Atticus’s words, his lips parted with surprise but no words came to his aid. This allowed Atticus the chance to continue. He smiled, this time, a little more genuinely for outsmarting this old sod.

He said, "Unless you’re planning to make Princess Cordelia Nedour’s crown princess, I see no need to replace my current queen."

With that said, Atticus watched as King Marinus’s face turned from pink, to red, to purple, before returning to his original skin tone. He probably thought of all sorts of ways to counter Atticus, only to realize that it was true― even with the pearl, Cordelia was currently no match for Daphne.

The latter had — quite literally — power that could rival Atticus’s, a powerful family background, and a lot more affection with King Atticus than Cordelia, a soon-to-be wife, had.

Of course, Atticus was just waiting to see if King Marinus would go to the extreme and make Cordelia his heir. If he did, Atticus was sure that Daphne would be even more pleased. Even though Princess Cordelia had more royal blood in her than anyone from the rest of her family, it would be a great kick to have it written down in an official decree.

Whatever would gain Atticus extra pity points in Daphne’s eyes was a win for him.

"Are you saying that if Cordelia becomes the crown princess of Nedour, you will make her your queen?" King Marinus asked.

Atticus could already see the sweat beading at the top of his forehead, the little droplets framing his red hairline. A small smile curved his lips.

"Of course," Atticus said. "If that were to happen, after our marriage, I will crown Princess Cordelia as my queen instead."

Keyword: ’if’. Atticus would make sure their wedding would never happen. There was no way anyone would drag Daphne down from her rightful throne by his side, best friend or not.

"That could be easily done," King Marinus said, nervously laughing. "You see, Cordelia’s mother was the princess of Nedour. As such, the girl was raised to be the queen from a young age. Nedour had always been hers, right from the start."

"But there’s no official decree, is there?" Atticus goaded. "From what I know, Princess Cordelia still has a couple of younger siblings that might be in the running for the throne."

With his fists clenched under the table, King Marinus had no other choice than to grit his teeth and agree. He could announce Cordelia as his heir for now, then find another excuse to boot her down after King Atticus made her queen of Vramid.

After all, if she was already the queen of one kingdom, how could she possibly govern another? King Marinus believed it was the same for Queen Daphne and Reaweth― it would surely be passed to one of her siblings instead, and that was what King Marinus was banking on.

"Very well, then," King Marinus said. "Consider it done."

"Wonderful," Atticus said, a sparkle in his eye. "In that case, like I said, I will announce my queen after our marriage, if you hold up your end of the bargain as well."

King Marinus could only smile in reply, no matter how false it was.

***

The next morning, Cordelia was dressed and ready to depart the palace by the crack of dawn. She had pulled out her finest dress, had her maids do her hair better than any ball she had attended, and by the time she convened with Jonah at the gates of Vramid’s royal palace, she was decked out head to toe with glamorous accessories and fabrics.

When Sir Jonah turned around to greet her, his jaw dropped in shock. Cordelia immediately took that as a good sign, standing a little straighter so that her assets were on better display.

Nedish women were never scared of flaunting what they had. She could never understand such a ridiculous social rule of hiding God’s gifts.

"Good morning, Sir Jonah," Cordelia greeted, smiling. "Shall we leave for town?"

"Princess Cordelia..." Jonah said before he swallowed harshly. Cordelia didn’t miss the faint red blush that crept up his neck and cheeks. "Good morning," he said.

He frowned, then gestured to her dress.

"Are you sure you wish to wear that for today, Princess?"