Stolen by the Rebel King-Chapter 516: Vramid’s Past

Atticus was inconsolable for the rest of the day.

He hadn’t been present when Nereus and Jonah prepared to leave Vramid. Of course, Daphne did not expect Atticus to show up while sending Nereus off, but she was surprised to see that he wasn’t even present when Jonah was about to leave as well.

Nereus left in the afternoon — Daphne and Zephyr had sent him off, along with Sirona, who left him a list of instructions on how to care for his new eye during this recovery period — but once night fell and dinner was done and over with, Jonah had his bags prepared and ready to go.

Sirona said her goodbyes separately. By the time Daphne reached the front gates, Sirona had already exchanged her words with Jonah and was headed back for the palace. Seeing that Daphne had shown up alone, Jonah couldn’t help but shake his head with a sad, disappointed laugh.

"He is like an overgrown child," Jonah commented, sighing in defeat.

"He is," Daphne agreed with a nod. "But I can’t blame him. He is probably the most upset that you’re not staying. After all, he’s had you with him for most of his life."

"Has Atticus ever mentioned to you how we met?"

Daphne jolted where she stood, straightening up a little in attention. "No," she said honestly. Then, her cheeks flushed red.

What did she actually know about her husband?

She knew that he was the king of Vramid, though he wasn’t born as a member of the royal family. In fact, Daphne didn’t even know how he had risen to power. By the time she heard of him, his name had already been coated in blood.

Atticus’s family history and how King Rowan Verimandi was his ancestor was also something Daphne only learned quite recently. Beforehand, during their happier days of marriage, Daphne hadn’t even properly made any effort to understand Atticus’s origins. She had never asked, and now that she thought about it, she felt utterly ashamed.

It was no wonder she hadn’t guessed what he was up to. If she knew more about him, perhaps she would’ve found out about his plans sooner. What it would’ve done for them, she wasn’t sure. However, it only told Daphne that she wasn’t a good wife, despite her blaming Atticus for keeping things from her.

Was it truly a lie or an omission of truth if Daphne never bothered to ask? Atticus had no duty to report to her, even though it would be nice if he did. If she had never shown interest, how would he have known to do it?

But why couldn’t he share even if she didn’t ask? Wasn’t it natural to want to share things with the people they loved?

It was all too confusing.

"You don’t have to blame yourself," Jonah said, quickly understanding what Daphne was thinking about. "Atticus doesn’t like to speak of his past. He finds the struggle shameful, to some extent."

"He worked hard to achieve power," Daphne replied. "How could that possibly be shameful?"

"You know at least that Atticus wasn’t born into royalty, yes?" Jonah asked, to which Daphne replied with a nod. He continued, "Atticus’s family wasn’t well-to-do. He was born in the slums, the very same place you were kidnapped to all those months ago. In fact, all three of us were― Atticus, Sirona, and me. That was where we met."

Daphne pursed her lips. She had guessed that was the case, especially when Atticus let slip some bits of his past, but she had never expected it would be so tragic. It was no wonder he was so panicked when she went missing― he would know better than anyone how horrible that part of town was.

"Back in those days, Vramid was ruled by a king who did not care for the kingdom’s affairs," Jonah said. "He did not care whether or not his people lived or died, or even if the kingdom was prospering or not. All he did was stay in his palace, and eventually, the people learned to live on their own."

He explained, "That is why Atticus was not at all worried about leaving Vramid without a king for the months we were on the road― they’ve survived for generations and will be able to do so for a few mere months."

"If Vramid had a different king who was not related to Atticus, that must mean..." Daphne trailed off.

Jonah merely nodded.

"By the time Atticus came of age, he had already gathered a group of loyal fighters who were determined to change the ways of the kingdom. You have to understand that it wasn’t just the slums who were faring poorly back in those days; the noble titles were just that― titles. They had no wealth, no power, and no use." freewēbnoveℓ.com

"We stormed the palace," he continued. "Even though the king cared not for his kingdom nor people, he was unwilling to give up his immense wealth, gathered from the taxes he implemented on his people. Atticus had no choice but to resort to violence. That was when we found out that he had magic, something only royalty had."

"Was that how he became the king of Vramid?" Daphne questioned.

"Yes," Jonah said. "He didn’t wish to be. In fact, Atticus tried to pawn the crown off to me, but I would rather not have that much responsibility on my shoulders. Besides, my affinity with magic was weak. I would not have been a fit ruler for the kingdom. Atticus would also need Vramid’s support to carry out his plans."

Jonah needn’t explain any further. Daphne understood that those plans were to erase magic from the world of humans.

"His journey to a throne he didn’t even want was filled with too much bloodshed," Jonah said, "so much so that rumors of the bloodthirsty king of the North had spread far and wide by the time he was officially crowned. By then, it seemed like his reputation had been set in stone, and Atticus had no qualms about keeping it that way. Violence was the answer when it came to enemies who refused to have peaceful discussions."

There was no joy in Jonah’s laugh, only remorse.

"He had lost his way for a bit," Jonah admitted. "And there would’ve been a lot more bloodshed following his path to his goals if it hadn’t been for you, Daphne."