36 36. Planning 3.

"Jarvis, do you think the royal treasurer is working with the nobles?"

"I'm not sure, young master, as he could be doing so. But at the same time, I can't say for certain that he isn't because I find it strange for him to have not informed the queen about the bandits breaking into the treasury. Aside from this, most of my men received a letter from an anonymous noble who promised them gold, women, and land provided they were ready to offer their allegiance to him, the same goes for me as well."

"The offer was too good for most of my men to turn down and this is why many of them left the palace. This same letter was sent to the ministers and many other royal officials as well."

"I see. So that is why there are no more ministers in the royal quarters."

"Yes."

"And you think the royal treasurer was offered a similar letter as well?"

"Yes, as far as I know, the royal treasurer is the only one left in the royal quarters. Most of the royal officials left after your father, the King, was killed by the King of the West and the remaining officials left after Queen Lucretia was rumored to be ill with the dungeon illness," Jarvis clenched his fist as he recalled the day Orion's father died.

It was also the day Jarvis' father died as well.

While Jarvis was the captain of the royal guard, his father had been the general with hundreds and even thousands revering him for his immense strength and talent.

His cultivation order was similar to Lucretia's and was slightly lower than King Roland's which made him a very respected figure in the kingdom before he died.

Orion pondered over Jarvis' words. He could understand why Lucretia wasn't suspicious of the ministers leaving the royal quarters after his father died, because a lot of the ministers had been against her ascent to the throne ever since his mother died. Most of them couldn't accept or support a commoner sitting on the throne.

Her attention had always been focused on avenging Orion's father rather than the ministers' distaste for her.

Lilith noticed Orion's laced fingers holding tightly onto hers while looking lost in his thoughts.

A few minutes later, Orion called out to Jarvis after realizing something important that he mentioned.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, young master."

"If you, your men, and the ministers were all given a letter with all those promises to change your allegiance, then why did you choose to remain in the castle when everyone else didn't?"

Jarvis released a sigh, trying to suppress all of the bad memories that came with remembering his father's demise, before replying. "Before my father went to the war against the Western kingdom where he ended up dying, he warned me not to join him that day."

"Why?" Lilith asked.

"It was because he received a letter telling him to poison the king with the promise of a huge reward if he was successful in carrying it out. Since the letter had no seal or any other means of identification, he warned me to stay behind with a few of my men, thinking that the ministers were trying to harm the royal family."

However, when some of Jarvis' father's men returned, they informed him of his dad's death, and it wasn't long before he also received a letter from one of the nobles asking him to switch allegiance.

This was when Jarvis began to suspect that the ministers might be working with the nobles in planning a revolt, and when Lucretia became ill, the nobles' suspicious actions became clearer to see.

Orion tightened his grip on Lilith's hand once again. He was annoyed by the fact that his beautiful stepmother and sister were surrounded by such cruel and untrustworthy people.

He hated the fact that the people who could hurt his beloved family were still alive and well in the kingdom, and living and breathing the same air as him.

In a nutshell, they were surrounded by enemies.

Enemies that didn't deserve to live.

He was going to eliminate all of his enemies starting from tonight.

He was going to paint the kingdom red with the blood of his enemies and if anyone in the future tried to follow the same path as these nobles, then they would surely receive a similar fate.

Lilith noticed how Orion's hand tightly clutched onto her own. She could feel his rage but she noticed that he was also mindful to not hurt her, even though she was strong enough to handle the pain if he decided to hold on to her tighter than he was doing now.

She wanted to say something to him with the hope of calming his nerves but Orion suddenly called out to Jarvis.

"Jarvis, I need you to do something for me."

"Would you like me to kill someone now?" Jarvis asked excitedly with twinkling eyes.

Orion couldn't hold back the smile that spread on his face. He could see that Jarvis really despised the nobles just as much as he did.

"Soon, Jarvis, I promise you that, but not now. Maybe tonight."

Hearing the last part of Orion's words, Jarvis couldn't hold back the smile on his face.

"I understand, young master, but what would you like me to help you with?" Jarvis asked, eager to get it done on time so they could prepare for tonight.

"I need you to visit the royal quarters and inform the royal treasurer of the queen's desire to see the financial records for the last six months."

Although Lucretia wasn't the one who was interested in seeing the financial records, Jarvis understood Orion's intention for requesting to use the Queen's name rather than his name.

"Will that be all?"

"Yes."

"Then consider it done," Jarvis stood up from the seat and bowed before turning to leave.

However, before he left, Orion called out to him and asked. "Jarvis, have you ever heard of the Ra tribe?"

"No, young master."

"I see," Orion replied, turning to Lilith to see if she had heard of the tribe as well, but Lilith shook her head in response.

Meanwhile, Jarvis excused himself once again after seeing that Orion had no further questions for him.

The prince was about to rain chaos on the nobles throughout the kingdom starting tonight, and Jarvis was excited to be a part of it, so he couldn't wait to get started.