Second Arc (His Art of War) - 145. Royal Breakfast III

"Very well. That's all I want to tell you." King Esteve raised from his chair and nodded.
"I will excuse myself." He decided not to spend his time for too long here, since he caught Artheur's displeasure. So to avoid misunderstandings, he tried to spend his time with Angel as minimal as possible.

After Angel and King Eudon replied with a nod, King Esteve walked out of the room.

"Do you have something to say to me?" guessed King Eudon since Angel didn't get up from his chair.

"Yes." Angel took out the documents from inside of his blazer and gave them to King Eudon.

King Eudon's eyes were on the documents and his hand took it in hesitation since he thought Angel wanted to give a new term or agreement.

"My general found this in one of the rebel's hideouts," said Angel after the documents were in King Eudon's hand.

Hearing his words, King Eudon quickly opened the documents in curiosity. His eyes moved from side to side reading those documents filled with the initial names and first names. From these names, he recognized that some of them were his trusted nobles and had a close relationship to him and Rose. His anger reached on top of his head as his hands gripped the paper tightly, wrinkling its two sides and it was clearly visible from the expression on his face. Maybe he could understand the others, but the two initial names really bothered him. Moreover, the amount of money that those two people contributed was much higher than the other names. And from their initial names, he could predict who they were, Duke Bartlet and Ivetta.
"How dare they betray me ..." muttered King Eudon in rage. He didn't realize it since both of them always supported his decision in court, especially Ivetta, considering Ivetta's father's merit. Who knew behind it all they were rebel leaders.

Seeing King Eudon's reaction, Angel concluded that King Eudon had realized who was involved, including his two closest people.
"The person at the top of the list. Do you have any idea why he has that amount of money?" he asked without further ado. He was quite curious about this since it was almost a quarter of a sector's royal budget.

King Eudon placed the documents in his hand on the table and bent down his head. His anger and regret showed on his face, above all disappointment. The disappointment was not only for the nobles but for himself since even though he was not sure about the source of money, he could guess where it came from.
"Several months ago, a disaster struck several villages near the Erebus mountains' foothills and Bartlet volunteered to provide his assistance directly." His hesitation was clearly in King Eudon's voice since he was not sure whether the money came from the castle or not, but based on the amount it should have been at least half of the money from the disaster aid money. In other words, Duke Bartlet had corrupted the castle's money for those villages.

"I see ..." said Angel. From King Eudon's expression, he didn't need to say anymore that it was definitely a big mistake. But who could have thought that his own confidant was trying to kill him?

King Eudon took a deep breath and swallowed the rest of his irritation as he raised his head to look at Angel.
"Those documents are enough to explain their involvement. I think we can give them a death sentence now." He could not contain his frustration and wanted to end things quickly.

"Not yet."

"What are you waiting for? Isn't that the sooner the better?" said King Eudon angrily. He knew he had lost his cool, but it couldn't be helped since his anger burned his mind.

"Think again. The document only contains the initial name and first name, it cannot be used as strong evidence. And with your position and my unstable position right now, are you sure your people will not fight us? If we take action too soon, this will cost us. Besides ---- "Angel's eyes turned cold and a trace of anger was clear on him.
"--- Who knows if someone else is involved in it." Of course, who he meant was Ilex. Since Ilex was the main mastermind behind the Pearl Gate City incident. And he needed the rebels, especially Ivetta, to lure Ilex and show his involvement so that he could execute him without causing a new war since he had tied the Asteria royal family to his new agreement.

Seeing Angel's cold gaze, King Eudon's body shivered as he recalled how Angel nearly killed him two days ago. Still, it couldn't kill his curiosity.
"Who do you mean?" he asked.

Secretly, Angel took a deep breath to keep his composure and turned to King Eudon.
"I said who knows. So that's all just my guess," he said with a smirk. He decided to keep this a secret since he didn't want his plan to fail.

"I understand," said King Eudon. Despite his answer, King Eudon was able to catch Angel actually knew who was involved, it was just, for some reason he decided to keep it a secret. Unfortunately, despite his curiosity, King Eudon did not have the authority to force Angel to say it.
"So what's your plan?" asked King Eudon.

His smirk widened.
"We will destroy their hideouts one by one and wait for solid evidence to execute them. Besides, the more pressed they are, the more impatient they will." Then he turned to King Eudon.
"Until then, I hope you have to be careful and watch your back."

A breath came out of King Eudon's mouth since he had no other choice but to follow Angel since all Zephyrus' military power had been controlled by Angel. Besides, Angel made a good point considering Zephyrus' chaotic condition both externally and internally.
"Fine."