"I already know about the assassins. Rest assured, there will be a resolution to this matter very soon. You need not worry yourself over it." The King turned his head away, seemingly avoiding Anna's face because she looked far too much like her mother.
However, the moment the King turned his head, Leona caught a fleeting glimpse of fear in his expression.
She figured she was overthinking things; how could a high-and-mighty King fear his own daughter, especially one he held in such low regard?
The King didn't have much of a role in Snow White, mentioned only in passing: after Snow White's birth mother passed away, the King remarried a year later.
Still, she had done her homework thoroughly and hadn't missed a single piece of information regarding the King.
King Servan was a middle-aged monarch, though looking at his full head of white hair, Leona couldn't tell he was middle-aged at all. If not for his overbearing dignity, she might have taken him for just a miserable old man.
According to Anna, the King had been desperately greedy for power in his youth. Back then, no one in the entire kingdom was his match, not even Grant, the most valiant knight in the Kingdom of Ferent.
Leona did her best not to anger the King, fearing that a single careless misstep would lead to a tragic death right here in the palace.
"Thank you, Father," Leona responded, making no further attempt at pleasantries.
Firstly, it wouldn't fit Anna's character, and secondly, the more one said, the more mistakes one made—saying less was always safer.
All things considered, the King seemed relatively stable at the moment. But why did the diary say his temper had become exceptionally quick-tempered?
Or was it that triggering his quick temper required hitting certain forbidden keywords?
For example, Anna's mother. The initial rules had stated that the King became quick-tempered because of the death of Anna's mother, so perhaps she could start by probing into the cause of her death.
"In a few days, the prince of the Glaze Kingdom will arrive in person to bring you back there for the wedding." Servan continuously stroked his scepter with his rough fingers, his eyes vacant as if lost in thought.
"I shall obey your arrangements, Father," Leona said submissively.
In truth, Servan had already said this to Anna many times.
"Anna," Servan suddenly called out her name, though his eyes remained fixed straight ahead, without turning to glance at his daughter even once.
"I am here, Father. Is there something important you wish to tell me?" Leona asked in surprise.
A spark began to glow in Servan's vacant eyes, though it remained quite dim.
"You will be leaving the kingdom soon. Is there anything else you wish to do? I will fulfill it to the best of my ability," he said, pausing on every word.
Leona pursed her lips.
What was this supposed to be? Comforting his daughter before she got married off?
What request could she possibly make? It wasn't as if she could ask him to kill the Queen and expect him to actually do it.
Wait, no, that wasn't right.
Leona was about to ask for some random jewelry to deflect the topic and then take her leave, but she quickly swallowed her words.
Anna had said her relationship with the King wasn't good at all; they were practically strangers.
The matter of the assassins hadn't even been dealt with yet, and he immediately pivoted to asking about the wedding—a wedding that was reportedly just a transaction.
Would such a person out of the goodness of his heart let her make a free request?
Seeing that Leona remained silent for a long time, Servan grew somewhat anxious.
"For instance, is there anything you haven't taken with you? Breya seemed to have possessed something she cherished dearly during her lifetime. Did she not tell you about it?"
Breya was Anna's biological mother.
Now Leona understood: the King was looking for something.
And that item was left behind by Anna's mother. Presumably because Anna was about to leave soon, he had grown so impatient that he easily revealed a flaw right in front of her.
However, she was very curious about what on earth could make the King so obsessed.
Soon, an idea took root in her mind.
"There is. That item is in Mother's bedchamber, but right now that room..." Leona showed off her acting skills once more, trailing off mid-sentence so tantalizingly that Servan's heart itched with impatience.
"Where is it? I will have someone bring it to you." Servan lost his composure and grabbed Leona's hand, his eyes filled with a madness that made him look like a crazed beggar.
Feigning terror, Leona said, "I... I don't know. Mother said only I could find it, but the room belongs to the Queen now, so I've never gone inside."
Servan lowered his head, dark lines appearing across his forehead.
His lips kept moving silently as if muttering something, making Leona curse her lack of mind-reading abilities.
"Anna, I grant you permission to enter the Queen's bedchamber. No matter what, Breya was once the Queen here, and she is your birth mother. Her possessions ought to be kept by you."
"Shouldn't you ask the Queen first?" Leona inquired softly.
The Queen's status did not seem low; she didn't believe a single word from the King alone would allow her to enter the Queen's room at will.
Servan fell silent, seemingly reminded by Leona's remark.
A moment later, he opened his mouth and spoke in a muddy voice:
"Tomorrow then. I will handle the matter with the Queen. You need not worry."
"Thank you, Father," Leona responded, letting out a sigh of relief in her heart.
She had thought such a request would infuriate the King and was already prepared to restart in a second playthrough.
To her surprise, the King actually agreed to her request. It seemed that item was indeed crucial to him.
"You may take your leave for now. Tomorrow, I will send someone to bring you there." The King nodded, issuing an order to dismiss her.
Leona lingered no longer, bowing before departing quickly.
After the grand doors opened and shut, only the King remained alone in the desolate main hall.
Half an hour after Leona left, if anyone had still been in the main hall, they likely would have fainted from fright on the spot.
Half of the King's body visibly turned black, looking exactly like the Shadows Leona had seen, except only half of his body was in this state.
His movements were uncontrollable, twisted, and eerie, as though he were wrestling someone for control of his body.
Unsure how long this state lasted, the King finally regained dominance.
Prostrate on the ground, he retrieved his scepter once more and slammed it heavily against the floor over and over, producing harsh, clattering thuds.
"Breya! Breya! Breya!!!"
With every strike, he roared the name of Anna's biological mother hysterically, his eyes bloodshot and his entire person violently manic.
"Just how much longer are you going to torment me?!"
"Soon... very soon! I will break free from all of this shortly! In the end, I will obtain the authority you left behind! No one can stop me—no one!"
Frantic roars filled the entire main hall while half of the King's body twitched and squirmed like some sort of viscous black liquid.
Rate on N.U.
