Herald of Steel

850 Theony and Lord Theony (Part-2)

"It is a win-win!"

Theony tried to put such a positive spin on the matter of letting Crown Prince Philips escape, claiming it was done as a way to obtain the best of both worlds.

Sort of like having one's cake and eating it too.

"*Smack* Idiot! If you were not my flesh and blood, I would have killed you here and now, "

But if you think that was enough to fool Lord Theony, then you had another thing coming.

For instead of putting on a thoughtful nod or look of dawning realization, the armored man only gave his son another tight slap, this on his other cheek, making both sides now equally ruddy as he cursed threateningly, before bombastically shouting,

"You take me for an idiot? Feet on both boats! Don't you know what happens when you put your feet on both boats? You lose your balance and fall into the water! You die! *Smack*!"

Lord Theony very knew that trying to play both sides was a recipe for disaster.

If he was unable to give Alexander the capital, he would lack a crucial bargaining chip.

While in the case of Perseus, much contrary to Theony's rhetoric, the king would certainly not reward Lord Theony for 'not' killing his son.

Not when he had so blatantly initiated a coup and shown himself as a traitor to the Tibian nobility.

So for Lord Theony, upon choosing this path, there really were only two options for him- success or death.

And it was because the stakes were so high that his son's betrayal hurt the father so much, as he turned to give Theony one last begrudgingly look before saying acridly,

"If Gnaeus was here he would have not been so foolish. He would have understood what we are trying to do here! He would not have sabotaged his own family!"

Gnaeus, as could be gathered from the way Lord Theony said the name was his most favored son, born of a noble widow that the man had as a mistress and the woman he truly loved.

Unlike Theony's mother whom he was almost forced to marry by his father and other retainers.

But since she was the legitimate wife, her son- Theony got to be the successor of all the estate.

While Gnaeus being an illegitimate child was not entitled to even scraps.

For Tibian succession laws were that strict, barring any 'outsider' from inheriting anything from the family estate.

At best, he would become a steward, which he currently was, being in charge of Lord Theony's estate as of now while the latter was away.

For Lord Theony, this fact had always been a very sore point who would frequently lament that even as the lord of his household, he could not choose his own successor.

This regret even turned into a sort of bitter vengefulness for Lord Theony, as he would always compare Theony with 'in his eyes' flawless son at every opportunity, leading to much dissatisfaction on Theony's part.

Like now, when upon hearing the name of his older stepbrother, not only did Theony not feel any regret over letting Philips escape, but instead felt glad that he did it.

Though he did not say it out aloud and only dropped his head low.

"When did you tell him? How did he escape? In which direction did you send him?"

Following the chastising of his son, Lord Theony then once again turned to the matter of Philips, asking for more details.

And at the pointed inquiry, Theony's heartily slightly shuddered.

He knew why his father was asking this.

Because he was about to send riders after the Crown Prince, still hoping to finish the act he chose not to do.

And given the very short head start Philips had gotten, Theony feared the expert riders of his family had a genuine chance of catching up to the lonesome prince.

So Theony lied.

"He took the secret tunnels underneath the palace. I heard it lead to the river Diannu. From there he probably took a boat. I do not know." Theony used his finger to point, emphasizing his answer.

And on the surface, this sounded quite plausible as it was indeed true the royal family's tunnels led to the river as escape via there was far easier than over land.

But who was Lord Theony?

He was not going to be swindled so easily.

"A boat? At night? *Smack*, you stupid son! Tell the truth! Where did he go?"

It was common knowledge that boats did not travel at night due to problems of navigating them in such poor visibility, as well as the fact that most sailors would sleep during that time.

So unfortunately for Theony, Lord Theony did not buy it.

But Theony here was anything if not determined.

He would never reveal where Philips really was.

He could not!

So he loudly insisted, "I do not know where he went, father! I only told him that you were coming to kill him and that he should escape."

"Philips quickly left the room after that and I do not know anything more!"

Saying this, Theony a bit dramatically stamped his foot and then pointed toward the table,

"I have been in this room the whole time, pretending to be Philips and writing the surrender orders."

"When the first messenger came, I made sure not to let him in and instead told them the Crown Prince was busy."

"And hearing my voice, the man of course did not enter," Theony pronounced as a matter of factly for when faced with this kind of situation, this was what the soldiers did.

This was because although same sex relationships were not strictly persecuted in Tibias, it was certainly still very taboo.

And so even for someone as high status as the Crown Prince, it could be done too openly.

Thus everyone in the palace took the attitude of seeing yet not seeing, pretending like they did not know what Philips and Theony did in their private rooms.

And this worked out very well for Lord Theony this time, as he continued his tale of how he fooled the messenger,

"After hearing the man, I then quickly wrote the surrender order for all the soldiers and passed the message through the door, claiming it was from Philips."

"And that was how you were able to get here so quickly father!"

"Do you think I would have issued those orders if I had truly betrayed the family? Theony then suddenly posed, pointing,

"If I had truly wanted to switch sides, I would have surely had the palace guards fight you tooth and nail."

"That would have bought much more time for Philips to escape."

"But I did not."

"Because I truly thought it would be better for us to be in favor with both sides. I… was mistaken in thinking that. I'm sorry."

Theony very convincingly lowered his head in regret, trying to show that the blunder of letting Philips escape was due to an error in his strategic thinking, and not his original plan.

"......."

Hearing this finally managed to somewhat convince Lord Theony, as he glared furiously at his son, not saying a word.

Inside his head, he processed the words his son said, until finally he came to the conclusion that what his son did appear to make sense.

So at last his glowering eyes dimmed a tiny bit.

But that did not mean Lord Theony stopped being angry with Theony.

No, far from it.

As with a deep, gravelly voice, he first rebuked,

"You idiot! Why couldn't you simply do what I told you? We would not be in this mess if you had simply done that."

Before turning to look at Theony with a glint in his eyes.

If one thought Lord Theony was simply going to let Theony off the hook with a bit of smack and scolding, then simply forgive and forget, well they would be grossly mistaken.

For Lord Theony then gave an order he had surprisingly dreamed many times of giving but never thought would have been possible.

So now that such a golden opportunity had presented itself, the ambitious man took it, ordering Theony's punishment by saying,

"When the Pasha of Zanzan gets here, you will go to him and say that you have decided to abandon your family's inheritance."

"You will then name Gnaeus in your place."

"Got it!"

Lord Theony did not ask but ordered.

And hearing this, although Theony had expected something like this at the very back of his mind, it still shocked and wounded him.

From the very day he was born, Theony had been brought up as the successor of his family, who controlled vast swathes of land and wealthy.

So to be all of a sudden stripped of all that wealth and prestige within seconds by a mere few words, it would affect anyone.

But Theony knew better than to protest.

'Yes, father!" So like an obedient son, he nodded heavily.

And internally, Theony was even a bit relieved that this was all that his father had done.

For in his mind, Theony really had not been able to rule out the possibility that his enraged parent would unsheathe his sword and stab Theony to death and then pin the blame on the escaped Crown Prince.

Theony was glad that he had at least survived.

While suddenly inside Lord Theony's head, an idea flashed, as he turned to order his son,

'Oh! You stay in the room. Continue to pretend to be the Crown Prince. That way we can keep the news of the escape a secret!"

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