Herald of Steel

852 Phillips' Family (Part-1)

Lord Theony riding high on the exhilaration of having obtained the city definitely felt his heart itch with the temptation of forcefully taking the Queen.

But he ultimately refrained.

He was no inexperienced child who would let his lust control him and doing such a thing right in front of his men would entirely tarnish all his reputation with them.

So turning around, he left the Queen alone with these words, "Your son is okay, He is still in his room. And I suggest you stay in yours too."

Following that Lord Theony then moved to meet the once future queen of Tibian- Philips's wife.

And just like with the Queen, Lord Theony did not bother to offer any polite knocks but instead busted open her door forcefully, causing the woman and two of her maids in there to shout out in panic, while the two infant children in their cradle, disturbed from their sleep also joined the chorus.

Lord Theony replayed the same things he had said to the Queen, but unlike the latter, Philips's wife only nodded nonchalantly at this.

She did not even ask anything about her husband and only cared to bundle herself closer in fear while glancing at her son and daughter sleeping in their cradle.

And this ambivalence was really not surprising if one thought back to the exchange of Theony with Philips.

There, Philips had also not brought up anything about the safety of his wife and children, almost as if they were not his wife and children.

This was also something not unknown within the high levels of court and given the couple's distaste for each other, as well as Philips's particular taste, there were even gossips casting suspicion on the identity of the Crown Prince's children, saying they were not really his.

And as Lord Theony recalled that, he suddenly felt now was the perfect opportunity to pry the truth.

So stepping forward, he asked in the most unequivocal way possible, "My lady, pardon me for asking, but your children, who are their real father?"

To this question, Philips's wife at first produced a shocked or even somewhat panicked face, before quickly hiding it with a wall of incredulity, as she then shouted in an offended tone,

"What… What do you mean Lord Theony? Of course, it's Philips! Why would you even ask that? Surely you do believe those filthy lies too."

If the woman really had anything to hide, she was not going to come out clear just because Lord Theony asked nicely.

"...."

And seeing this Lord Theony decided to change tactics.

He decided to be forceful.

So without answering the woman, the man only walked up to two cribs where the babies were, and

*Shoosh*, Lord Theony very straightforwardly unsheathed his dagger and held it against the boy's neck, before turning to look at the lady with a murderous look, "I will ask again. And if you lie, I will slit your son's throat right here and now!"

The threat was as cold as ice, as Lord Theony then snarled,

"Tell me whose children are they? I know That disgusting faggot could not have gotten it up for you!"

'I… th… It was a slave! During our nuptial night, Philips had me sleep with a slave! Wuhhh… Wuhhh!" And with her son's life in danger, the woman finally broke, revealing the earth shaking secret with suppressed sobs

"Lies!"

But Lord Theony did not buy it.

And true to his threat, accompanied by the shout came the swift movement of his wrist,

*Slit*

The sharp knife cut through the soft skin and muscle of the infant like butter, cutting open the thorax, and

*Wahhh.. urghhhh*

Giving one last muffled cry, the child boy went forever silent.

"No! Why?"

That silence was instantly replaced by this mournful howl, as the mother let out this piercing cry of anguish, before scrambling over to the crib herself and breaking down completely upon seeing her son's lifeless eyes and the blood gushing out of the deep wound.

He had already perished,

"Wuuuuhhhhh," The woman was inconsolable.

"Tell the truth!" But the perpetrator of this, Lord Theony did not feel the slightest emotion upon seeing this mournful display.

Neither did the fact that he had just killed a child right in front of his own mother cause the slightest vibration in his conscience.

The man was only interested in knowing the truth that this lady was trying to hide.

The reason for his suspicion-

"How could a lowly slave be allowed to touch you, my lady? The future Queen of Tibias."

"Philips would have never let that happen. I know him. His pride is too high."

"Regardless of whether he cared for you, or detested you, you were still his bride in name."

"So My lady… do you truly believe that Philips would have allowed his son, the next king of Tibias to be the disgusting spawn of a lowly slave?"

Lord Theony's loud, booming voice felt like the drums of the devil, and the helpless woman shivered in fright and bitterness as he clearly revealed the place where she had messed up.

A mistake that had just cost her her son.

The amount of regret the lady was feeling right now was so enormous she had nowhere to keep them.

While Lord Theony sensing this, pressed harder, first mocking the lady for her lack of quick wittedness,

"You could have said the name of any loyalist noble and I would have probably believed you. Heck, I might have even believed it if you had said it that old croon Mithriditus, hahaha."

Lord Theony crassly giggled, like he had said a funny joke and the surrounding men joined in too.

And this was not because Mithriditus was too old.

But because the woman was Mithriditus's daughter!

"So why did you lie?"

Finally finished with his chuckle, Lord Theony then quickly returned to the inquiry, it being sharp and incisive.

"......" But the woman by now had gone almost unresponsive, sporting a hollow, blank look, her face ashen and devoid of all color.

'Why didn't I say that? How could I have been so stupid? My son… it was I… I killed him… Stupid… stupid… stupid…'

While inside her mind, the woman found herself tearing herself apart with such regret and guilt.

Now, it would be all too easy to judge the poor lady for this foolish mistake.

But it had to be appreciated the kind of stress she was put under.

She had very little time to think and blurted out the most common excuse that came to her mind.

After all, a slave sleeping with a noblewoman was indeed the most common type of scandal heard inside the court.

But as Lord Theony pointed out, there were several flaws with that kind of thinking.

Seeing the lady go quiet, Lord Theony of course did not let her be and mourn her son in peace.

"Speak! Why did you lie?" He again barked, and then to galvanize her even more, he moved to the infant girl's crib, making the same threat again,

"Your son died because of your foolishness. Do not kill your daughter too!"

Given the lady had tried to hide this even when her son's life was in danger had truly piqued Lord Theony's curiosity, and he could not wait to find the real cause.

"No!" Seeing that same bloody knife now pressed against her last child's neck, fianllyr brought the noble lady back, and fearing for her daughter's life, she mumbled with a panicked, white as a sheet face,

".....I… it…it was His Majesty!"

"What!"

This answer came as such a surprise to Lord Theony that even this veteran politician who had seen so much scenery could not help but blurt out in shocked incredulation, as his hands suddenly shook so much that he nearly sliced the poor girl's throat by mistake.

"You mean the king impregnated you? These are Philips's brothers and sisters!" Lord Theony still sounded like he was unsure that he indeed heard the woman correctly.

"....Yes." The answer that came after a bit of pause was very monotone, lacking even the slightest spirit.

The woman knew what her revealing this meant, for her, her child, her father, and even the Royal family.

"Hahaha… hahaha!" And in a complete 180 degree to her own mood, Lord Theony hearing so instantly let out this euphoric laughter precisely because he too could see the consequences of this.

His heart giggled with the thought of how he could spin this story.

So for the last time he turned to look at the lady, to confirm, "Are you sure? Do you swear? You are not slandering His Majesty are you?"

Though even if she were, it would not really be such as big concern for Lord Theony.

He could turn it into the truth if need be.

After all, the lady had confessed to it in front of so many people.

They could all be eyewitnesses.

But Lord Theony would not need to jump through such hoops, for the lady confessed in detail,

"No. it is the truth. Philips likes men. Everyone knows that."

"Even after trying for close to two years, he could not impregnate me."

"So it was decided that His Majesty would do it, and we would pretend that they were Philip's."

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