The Duty of a Secret Regent

Chapter 6

I was currently riding on my horse across the country, flanked by guards on all my sides, on my way back to the castle. It has been a few days since I became Miron, from Miroslava, and very slowly with the help of my faithful lord-in-waiting and now trusted friend Konstantin Karamazov. 

Konstantin stayed right at my side, chatting with me in a low tone, while the rest of the guards were dead silent, even though I felt they realized their king had changed quite a lot. I had stealthily let a rumor in the soldier's camp that the assassination attempt by the imposter a few days ago had traumatized the king greatly, into changing his outlook, enough for him to start rethinking his life choices seriously. Nobody questioned Konstantin since as the King's Lord-in-waiting and the most faithful servant obviously he would know instantly if the king had been impersonated anyway. Also, his reputation as the most loyal subordinate and supporter of the king disbanded any such odd possibilities. 

I had been staying up late into nights, learning from my ally how to broach royal affairs once I returned to the capital and finally by now I had a fair enough grip on it too. Also, I finally made the decision on how to resolve the harem issue once I returned. 

The capital marketplace, about which I had heard so much while back in my home was teeming with life. There were people of all kinds, and no thanks to my sheltered life I never knew the existence of such crowds in my whole 20 years of oxygen-wasting. 

I schooled my expression to that of a serious royal as we rode through the area. The citizens were terrified of me so they didn't even dare to look up to meet my eyes, which I could feel too well. 

After another hour of riding, the castle walls finally began and we found ourselves riding up the hill on which the royal castle was situated. A dark looking gothic castle of a bloodthirsty ruler, with not a speck of happiness shining about it, flanked by guards in dark assassin like attires protecting it day and night.

Konstantin stepped down of his horse first, once we assembled at the courtyard, followed by the soldiers and finally me, which was followed by a guard of honor service, after which the soldiers were dispatched off their duties. Our horses were immediately taken care of, and Konstantin, along with about five scary looking guards from the castle bowed at me, and silently guided me towards the main residential building, evidently for me to rest after the long hunt. 

The halls were massive to say the least, and filled to the brim with all sorts of luxurious products and furniture I had neither seen nor heard of before, which spoke of the immense wealth acquired by the royals of our kingdom that left me awestruck. Coming from a simple upper-middle class background, I had no idea about the functioning of royalties, much less their lives.

While I was climbing a flight of stairs that led to the 2nd floor of the building, I heard a screech of shrill tone of a woman followed by two running clouds darting towards me. And before we could even scarcely act out, I found myself pinned to the floor by two miniature human beings with a victory shout, "You are it! You are it! we won, Lord Asimov!" 

Suddenly the surroundings fell dead silent and I discovered, the forces that attacked me thus weren't miniature human beings but simply two adorable children of about 4 years of age, dressed in adult like attires, making them seem like little leprechauns or even forest spirits. 

The kids finally realizing what had happened, fell dead silent too, their faces white in terror. Soon followed by their exasperated governess who shrieked in fright and almost fell on my knees as I gently collected myself and sat up from that uncomfortable position.

Their uncanny resemblance to my features had instantly told me of their identities, even though one of them were blond and the other a brunet and I looked over at Konstantin who stood beside me, still as a statue. An imperceptible nod from him was enough for me to understand, there was no backing away from this situation. I had to have a head start with the kids and hardly could they scurry away from me when I grabbed them both by the hem of their clothes and whisked them in my arms both at once. 

Konstantin had informed me beforehand of the prince and princess in question. The blond Prince Prokhor and the brunet princess Anoushka, two of the only biproducts of the royal harem. He had argued with me, bidding me to kill them off, to clear my way to the throne, but I was obstinate about my principles, no more life will be taken by my hands, and decided to go against his advice, and provide the two little kids a good life. 

The governess was horrified at my act, and started to ask me to forgive her and spare the life of the kids but I merely looked at her in boredom and waved her away. 

"Sire please sire, please I beg of you, listen to me this once!' She begged on her knees but I was too tired of her whining already. 

"A thousand ducats." I announced. 

"What..?" 

"Will you shut up right now if I give you a thousand ducats?" I repeated myself patiently, while the rest of the guards stood there frozen to the spot. 

"Because it would really be a great deed, since your shrill voice is being particularly unkind upon my ears right now." I clarified myself. 

With a single glance at my butler, Konstantin came forward with practiced grace, and took the heavier of the two, the little boy from my arms as we made our way towards my chambers, together. 

The guards around us were shocked but were about to move ahead, and predicting their thoughts, I turned around, glaring at them, "No one needs to follow me now. You may go and rest. I will return to my duties early morning tomorrow." 

The guards nodded briskly at my business tone but the governess again objected, "B-But sire...the children...?"

"What about the children?" I snapped at her now. 

"Th-They-They..." She could not speak anymore in fright. 

"Miss Tatiana." I remarked now, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I remember, the children were fathered by me, and not you. You would do good to remember your place from now on."

I apologized to her in my mind. I had to be rude, in order to be seen as the villain I was personating. But in my heart, I cried for the cowering little girl in my arms. Every single breath I took, as our chests were touching, seemed to make her more and more frightened. 

"Hold on to me tighter, dear. Your grasp is slipping." I remarked gently to her, which made her almost choke on air. 

"It would hurt if you fell this way, trust me. The ground is far off down." I spoke again, aiming to calm her even if a bit in my proximity. 

Soon we reached my bed-chambers, and once we entered, I kicked the door shut after me. Gently placing the girl on the bed, as her brother too was placed beside her, whom Konsta was carrying earlier, when I allowed myself to smile more convincingly and naturally for them, kneeling to come face to face with the adorable cherubin.

"Won't you welcome your daddy home, my darlings?"