Release That Witch

He was unwilling to leave his warm house in such a cold winter, especially when the demonic beasts were raging on the continent. Nevertheless, Duke Ryan designated him to place the tricky document in the hands of Prince Roland.     

Certainly, he knew what was said in the document—in fact, the entire nobility of Graycastle was discussing the alarming news: the king died in a murder and the murderer was Gerald Wimbledon, the king's eldest son. Subsequently, the king's second son rushed to the king's city and declared that he would succeed to the throne as the second-in-line, since the kingdom could not survive without a king.     

However, his action was not accepted by all. It was claimed that Gerald's trial was rather strange, as he was exposed only a few times during the whole interrogation, with his mouth sealed and his hands tightly bound. Therefore, some people were hoping to investigate the murder thoroughly and then decide who should inherit the throne.     

Besides, it was rumored that Timothy Wimbledon, the 2nd Prince, was the man who pulled the strings behind the murder. As the real murderer of the king, he pretended to be sad, but could not wait to ascend the throne.     

Regardless of the controversies, the 2nd Prince temporarily took over the position of the king, thanks to the full support of Prime Minister. At the same time, he issued recall orders to all his competitors—the battle for the throne had come to an end, and the princes and princesses, after receiving the orders, had to return to the king's city before the end of the winter. The new king would confer domain and titles on them, based on their ruling of territories over the past six months.     

Of course, Petrov could sense the eagerness behind the command.     

Through this, Timothy Wimbledon could know his siblings' reaction and know whether he could sit on the throne firmly. If they chose to give up the battle for the throne and return to the king's city, then Timothy Wimbledon would become the undisputed Wimbledon IV.     

All the documents to Border Town would be transferred through Longsong Stronghold first. When Duke Ryan read the recall order, he was fairly disdainful of it. The last king had controlled the lords well before he died; as for the 2nd Prince, his ascending to the throne was already controversial. Moreover, since Gerald was beheaded on the guillotine, it was highly doubtful that anyone would be willing to return to the king's city.     

Anyway, in the eyes of the six noble families in Longsong Stronghold, this command came at a good time.     

About two months ago, Earl of the Elk Family made an unauthorized scheme, which made the duke unhappy, especially when he knew the scheme failed. The prince also gave a fierce response, and he directly sentenced Kihls Medde to be hanged. With this, both sides came to an open rupture.     

The duke had originally planned to calm the troubled waters after the end of Months of Demons. But now with this document, he had a more legitimate option. After Roland Wimbledon returned to the king's city, Border Town would naturally be owned by the duke again. And if the prince refused, the duke could force him to leave—in the name of the new king.     

The duke did not care much about who would inherit the throne in the end.     

But as a messenger, Petrov did not feel very comfortable. Last time he promised that he would bring back a new trade agreement, but the scheme of the Elk Family came first. Now he visited Border Town again, but he brought bad news again—whether it was the death of King Wimbledon III or the recall order of the new king, neither would be welcomed by Prince Roland, Petrov believed.     

The sail to Border Town was quite smooth. As Kingdom of Graycastle lay in the south of the continent, the river did not freeze even in winter.     

From time to time, Petrov looked outside the window. He did not see any people being starved to death or fleeing from the town, which indicated that Border Town did not fall to the demonic beasts.     

That surprised him slightly. After all, he witnessed how the city wall was built when he visited Border Town last time. Truth be told, he had little confidence in the stone wall plastered by mud.     

What he saw next surprised him more. A sailing ship with the banner of Willow Town slowly passed them on the right side of the river—he had seen such a scene before, but never in the Months of Demons! [Border Town is doing business, even when they are fighting against the demonic beasts? How could they resist the brutal beasts without summoning all miners to the defense line?] he thought.     

Three days later, the ship arrived at the dock of Border Town.     

The wooden dock was still old and shabby, but beside it, a simple wooden shed was newly built. Once the ship was ashore, two guards walked out from the shed, staring at every move of the boatmen.     

Petrov immediately understood the meaning of setting sentries here.     

Prince Roland apparently did not want anyone to leave the town secretly through the waterway.     

Petrov jumped off the ship and showed his identity to the guard. Then a man brought a horse for him and accompanied him to the castle.     

Just like last time, Prince Roland Wimbledon met him in the living room. What's more, the prince ordered his attendant to prepare a sumptuous meal, although it was not the normal dinner time.     

The attendants served grilled ham, dried fish slices, an unknown salad of wild vegetables, as well as butter bread, and vegetable soup that could be seen at any dinner party.     

It seemed that the prince liked to talk business after dinner.     

Petrov thought, while his hands were busy with the forks. After all, he had not had much of a chance to enjoy a good meal. Even his Honeysuckle Family, except having dinner with guests, would just eat potato and bread with bacon.     

When the dinner was finished, the dessert was served. Petrov respectfully handed over the document.     

Roland took the document and opened the sealing wax with his dining knife. He flattened the document and took a quick glance. Then he was stunned.     

[The king was dead?]     

Roland had no feeling toward his nominal father. He was already in Border Town when he woke up as Prince Roland, and he had never seen the king face to face, plus he only found complaints and resentment toward his father in Prince Roland's memory. Because of this, he thought he was caught in an embarrassing situation—should he have a sorrowful look on his face?     

He could sense it was a conspiracy when reading the following contents. [The eldest son murdered King Wimbledon III? The 2nd Prince, under his new authority as the new king, announced the end of the battle for the throne, and commanded all his siblings to return immediately to the king's city?] He doubted that.     

Roland coughed and raised his head, and caught the regretful look in Petrov's eyes.     

[So that's it,] Roland thought, [Duke of Longsong Stronghold must be happy to see this. Whether I obey the order or not, I'm in a dilemma.]     

[Instead of bringing the promised agreement, Petrov brought a piece of bad news which might cause my death. He must be feeling guilty at this moment,] Roland thought. He secretly smiled, folded the document again and said, "I got it."     

"Uh, Your Highness, what do you intend to..."     

"Even if I intend to leave, I have to wait until the end of the Months of Demons. If I leave, what will the people of Border Town do in the heavy snow?"     

To someone else, Petrov would certainly say things like "Don't worry, Stronghold will help you handle the situation", or any other diplomatic words. However, faced with Prince Roland who he had only met twice, he could not speak so readily. For the first time, Petrov detested his own identity as a messenger. In the end he merely nodded. "I understand. Should I deliver a reply for you?"     

Roland called the attendants to bring over a pen and paper. He soon wrote a document and covered it in sealing wax and his personal seal. Petrov glanced at the envelope when he got the document from Roland. It was clearly written to Timothy Wimbledon, the second Prince of Graycastle instead of King Wimbledon IV.     

[He has showed his attitude,] Petrov thought.