The Villain Wants to Quit

To the Palace (7)

After the dinner only Scourge and Marc's older siblings enjoyed, the king and queen took all the troublemakers to their private hearing room.

While small and understated compared to the throne room, it was evident that all the furnishings were still expensive.

The room's ornate doors were solid oak and allowed no sound to seep through.

Nevertheless, Theo would bet at least one of Marc's older siblings was attempting to eavesdrop on the other side of the door.

Once everyone was seated, the group sat in silence.

"H-how did you find out about...this," Marc was the first to crack under the silence.

Sofia elbowed his ribs.

"I am often regretful about how much attention our duties consume, but it seems three of our children thought we are incompetent parents," King Vincent said to Queen Lisbeth.

He tugged at his beard regretfully.

"It was more difficult not to notice that you were causing trouble," Queen Lisbeth agreed, resting her cheek in her hand as she sighed.

"You suddenly kept requesting time off from the job you insisted on having despite our protests, your house burned down, and you completely cut ties with one of your friends, ended up rescuing one of our spies that was supposed to be no-contact for a year, and suddenly started going on mysterious trips." The queen maintained eye contact with Marc as she detailed his activities.

Marc shrank into his seat.

"Meanwhile, Terrell suffered constant mana depletion symptoms, meddled with the assignments for our personal knights, and often met with the friend you cut ties with," Queen Lisbeth continued.

"You seriously got mana depletion from tracking Theo?" Marc scoffed.

"We can't all channel monstrous amounts of mana," Terrel sneered.

"Terrell Ascia," The queen warned.

The brothers hushed.

"We also had Renlia diplomats accuse us of stealing some obscure piece of jewelry from their treasury," the king added, disregarding his sons' outburst. "One that you were looking for, Marcus."

Theo was annoyed that he made an oath with Marc to keep their activities secret. He assumed the princes would better cover their tracks.

Apparently, the Ascian royals required a more thorough education in politics.

Theo wondered if Marc would help him erase the oath since they no longer needed Lord Laender's cooperation, but he knew better.

Nobody would voluntarily give up an oath that kept someone like him from attacking.

Theo rubbed his neck, dismissing the idea.

"We all know Marc and Terrell are idiots who can't keep a secret," Sofia languidly gestured toward her brothers, "but why am I here?"

"Your easy-to-catch brother disclosed your involvement with Theo of Dullahan," The queen dryly said.

Sofia stared at Terrell with an open jaw.

"I understand ratting out Marc, but me?" Sofia said with narrowed eyes. "You will reap what you sow, dear brother."

"So we chatted with your friend," The king gestured toward Henley before Sofia could elaborate her threat, "who told us that you were dallying about with Theo of Dullahan."

"I wouldn't call fighting for continental peace 'dallying,'" Marc protested.

The queen sent him a withering glare that only mothers could give.

"Then how would you explain the situation, Marcus?" The queen asked, elegantly crossing her arms. "Your father and I would very much like to hear what you have to say because right now, we are contemplating removing you from the King's Guard."

"You can't do that!" Marc shouted. "You know I can't go into politics. I need a position in the King's Guard to keep me out of them."

"You need to stop hurling yourself into danger and brewing chaos among our knights," Queen Lisbeth calmly replied.

"I had good reasons," Marc said.

"Then, please explain," King Vincent tapped the arm of his chair.

Marc swallowed nervously and explained how he encountered Theo fighting the Piederfort monster, detailing their ensuing trouble and how Dullahan was now suffering from mana poisoning.

Though the king and queen looked like their blood pressure rose dangerously high when Marc described how Dullahan stole Theo's mana, Theo was surprised that they let Marc explain without interrupting him.

"Your mother and I will discuss what to do next," The king pinched the bridge of his nose. The gesture reminded Theo of Marc. "For tonight, all of you will get some rest and be ready for further discussion in the morning."

"But dear Terrell, Marcus, Sofia, Knight Maurie Audie, Knight Giselle Forest, and Knight Vin Nisman, please be aware that you will be receiving consequences for your actions," the queen reminded them with a gentle voice.

Theo furrowed his brow, wondering why the queen hadn't mentioned his name.

The others made pained expressions at Queen Lisbeth's words.

They'd hoped the shocking information Marc provided would distract the rulers from their crimes.

"Marc made us do it," Marie said.

"He abused his rank," Giselle added.

"Marie," King Vincent said, "I find it unbelievable you tolerated my son pushing you around."

"It's difficult to say no to a royal," Vin contributed.

"That's even more unbelievable coming from you," Sofia scowled.

The king and queen gave their youngest child an odd look but didn't question her.

In the meantime, Theo was assigned a personal guestroom for his use.

It was nicer than he had hoped, which made him even more uncomfortable.

Theo still had two knights escorting him, though Leanne and Victor were dismissed with strict orders to relax.

However, Carrot had permission to move between the stables and Theo's room as needed.

While the kindness made him uneasy, Theo was grateful to have Carrot nearby. This way, he could sleep without worrying about being attacked.

That is if he could sleep past the stress of wondering if he would need to escape the capital depending on how the whims of Marc's parents or the knights swung.

The situation caused Scourge zero stress.

"Mortal Theo!" The tiny dragon plopped onto a down pillow. "Can this be my bed?"

"Sure," Theo chuckled. At least one of them could enjoy the situation.