Chapter 150 - Now he was doomed

On the other hand, there were reasons for the king to unintentionally disappear. Initially, Izek had no intention of suddenly disappearing. To be precise, he had no intention of leaving his position long enough for others to notice. He had merely intended to check briefly.

Tonight, before revealing the gift to the queen, he wanted to make one final confirmation. However, when he arrived, he found some suspicious characters lurking around the precious gift, planning some dubious activities. Without even questioning what they were up to, they pounced on him like crazy, making it impossible for him to leave.

“Stop! No way!”

“It’s not too late to strike the plan down!”

“I’m begging you, have you ever heard me ask for a favor?”

“Even if you’re a terrible king, I can’t stand seeing you treating your wife poorly on your anniversary!”

He couldn’t believe that his so-called friends, who never showed gratitude, along with his old subordinates who were no help in life, were teaming up against him.

Izek couldn’t help but feel regret for his own life.

“This is betrayal.”

“Exactly! It’s the act of an unfaithful tyrant!”

“Is that so? Loyal Camu, but Ruve, the so-called number one loyalist of your faction.”

“Why are you suddenly bringing up that brat’s story?!”

“Ah, come to think of it, why did Ruve go on a secret trip with Ivan?”

“What secret trip? What nonsense are you spouting now, Ezekiel? How could you ask such a question in this situation, you disgustingly passive idiot! Are you becoming an accomplice to that brat?!”

“I thought His Majesty was crazy, but why are you acting mad, Camu?”

Galar, standing firmly in front of Izek like a hungry bear, asked in bewilderment.

Instead of Camu, who remained silent for a moment, Ellenia spoke up.

“Come to think of it, Brother, where did you send my fiancé, just before our wedding? We haven’t discussed that matter yet.”

“Why bring that up here…”

“Well, why not? You’re not even listening to our conversation. So, I’m here to tell you to just let it go. Ruby is such an angel, so if you beg her and apologize for not preparing the gift properly, she might forgive you…”

“No, seriously, what’s all this fuss about?”

“Please, Your Majesty, listen to this urgent advice if you have a little bit of conscience! No matter how I think about it, this just isn’t right! Have you been struck by a heat stroke or something?”

“A-Andy, you too…”

And then it happened.

“What are you all doing here?”

A sudden silence fell.

Those who were desperately trying to stop the king, and the knights ardently clinging to him, all froze together for a moment.

As they all stood still in their strange postures, Rudbeckia approached slowly, her expression becoming increasingly puzzled.

“What happened?”

“Well, um…”

“What on earth is that?”

Rudbeckia gestured with her head, looking at what was behind them.

What she signalled at was none other than the Royal Palace.

More precisely, it was a huge banner covering the newly-built fountain in front of the small building.

“It seems like what I’ve heard about renovating the Royal Palace was right, but what’s in there?”

“….”

What should he say?

Before Izek could come up with a response, Rudbeckia had already walked past them with quick steps and was approaching the banner.

Everyone’s faces turned pale.

“Ruby!”

“Queen…!”

It’s not ready yet!

Izek immediately tried to push away the people clinging to him.

Or well, that’s what he intended to do.

But somehow, they all managed to step back on their own.

“What is this exactly… Oh my?”

As Rudbeckia pulled down the banner, the newly-completed fountain was revealed.

The adorable little statues sitting in front of the building seemed like well-crafted artwork, as if presenting a huge dessert fondue dish. However, in Izek’s eyes, it only appeared grotesque and skeletal.

Now he was doomed.

“You got me a fountain?”

“Well, um…”

Crack.

At that moment a sound of something bursting echoed throughout.

At the same time, a sweet aroma started to waft, rapidly filling the surroundings.

It was the scent of chocolate.

In front of everyone, who had lost their senses in unison, the sweet chocolate poured into the layers of the protected fountain base, flowing rapidly and abundantly.

“We’re doomed…”

Andy muttered.

Izek glared at Andy, not understanding why he was saying they were doomed when he himself was the one responsible.

“Well, it seems we accidentally tampered with the pipes earlier…”

“….”

Izek began to contemplate whether he should kill all of them right here.

However, that had to be postponed for later.

Rudbeckia, who had been staring blankly at the fountain with wide eyes, suddenly covered her mouth with his hand and bent down, apparently trying to suppress herself.

“Uhn, uugghhh…!”

***

“As expected, I should just die.”

“Hey, there’s no need to be so self-destructive…”

“No, I really should die. I’m just a worthless person.”

As the queen was urgently moved to the king’s quarters for examination, the king was outside the room moaning as if he was dying.

If anyone saw this scene, they might misunderstand and think he was the one who looked more like a patient, so even those who would usually tell him to die found themselves trying to comfort him.

“I never realized she would hate it this much. Truly, I am the worst.”

“You’re only realizing that now… Well, they say you can know the depth of a river, but not the heart of a person.”

“I should just step down. How can someone who can’t take care of his own wife govern a country?”

“There’s no need to go to such extremes…”

“From the beginning, it was too much for someone like me. I didn’t even have the right to envy that lizard! I should shave my head and go into the forest to train with that griffin…”

“Calm down! Shaving your head is the least of your worries!”

Just as the king’s confidence was about to break, thankfully, the royal physician appeared, pushing the door open.

At the same time, Izek sprang to his feet.

He wasn’t completely back to normal yet.

“Is the queen all right?”

“Yes, but…”

“But? Does she still hate the sight of me?”

“Ah? She hasn’t said that, but if you’ve done something wrong, you should apologize quickly.”

“Does-Does she seem that angry?”

“No, she looks delighted.”

***

Izek finally regained his senses and stared intently at the physician’s hesitating face.

Despite his intimidating gaze, he managed to maintain a nonchalant smile and eventually let out a sound, which Izek couldn’t tell if it was a sigh or a laugh.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty. The Queen is pregnant.”

“…What?!”

Everyone exclaimed.

Izek could only blink his eyes blankly.

He seemed to have misheard something.

“Please come inside and see for yourself…”

Thud!

Before the royal physician could finish his sentence, the king vanished like the wind behind the door.

* * *

“Ruby!”

Rudbeckia, sitting on one side of the bed, turned her head.

Her expression was just as vacant as Izek’s.

Why on earth would the stubborn king be delighted like this?

Izek struggled to grasp his clouded mind.

“Ruby…”

“Iz…”

“Are you okay? I mean…”

“Izek, I’m going to be a mother.”

A mother? A mother!

Who would have imagined that the word “mother” could feel so unfamiliar?

Izek’s eyes were shaking intensely as he approached his wife.

“Th-then, does that mean I’ll be a father?”

“Yes, you’ll be a father.”

“A father? Me?”

“I know, it’s hard to believe, right? Somehow, I can’t believe I’ll be a mother…”

“I’m going to be a father…”

“It seems like the shock is much bigger than expected.”

“A father…”

“But you’ll be somewhat happy, right?”

Swoosh.

Izek immediately wrapped Rudbeckia’s small body with both arms.

Then, he hesitantly gazed down at her flat belly.

Finally, a soft sigh escaped his lips.

“I can’t believe it. Our child is inside here?”

Our child.

Rudbeckia’s eyes widened for a moment, then she faintly smiled.

“Yes, it’s our child. My belly hasn’t grown much yet, but even if it becomes a bit bothersome, I hope it won’t be too hard on me…”

“Huh? Isn’t it bulging already?”

“….”

It seemed that Izek had regained his original spirit by now.

Rudbeckia gave him a brief, suspicious glance as he feigned innocence and blinked his eyes.

“….I’m not even showing yet?!”

“Oh, uh, sorry, sorry! I was just joking because I thought you were worrying too much…”

“Fine, just go away! Always teasing me!”

“When did I? I just thought you seemed down lately…”

“I’m not down, I was just tired from being busy! And what about that chocolate fountain from earlier?”

“That, well…”

“Why did you even make that? It’s not like it was meant for entertaining guests.”

“No, why would I do something for others’ sake? I made it because you like it-”

“So, it was supposed to be my gift…?”

“You like chocolate.”

“….”

“Every time you eat it, you seem happy… Oh, damn it. Now that I think about it, it does sound strange to me too. Sorry, I didn’t know you’d dislike it so much.”

Izek scratched his head with a sheepish expression, glancing at her cautiously.