Everyone single one in the arena had their eyes on Michael. They were waiting for what he was going to ask the king. No one let out a sound. If someone dropped a pin right at this moment, it would make a loud sound. The arena was deadly silent. Michael stood up from the chair, put his hand behind his back, and took several steps towards the edge of the arena.
"I dont give a damn about who wins this tournament, all I care about is the rewards. So as you promised your majesty, I want the Bradford barony"
No one gasped hearing his words as they did after his next words,
"I want you to announce Bradford, the River town, and all the surrounding areas as an independent kingdom ruled by me and the Sunrise sect"
Ashton knew Ghost is an opportunist and power-hungry young man but when he heard Ghost just ask the king to make him a king, he felt goosebumps. Calvin on the other hand praised Ghost wholeheartedly.
If King Bredia let go of Bradford, the River town and the surrounding areas as GHost asked, it would certainly make Bredia weaker. However, the king had no choice unless he was willing to let Katherine die. Any weak kingdom was a prey to be hunted and merged into the Thusia empire. Hence, Calvin supported Ghost's claims.
"We have to do something, Peyton. Arrest him and make him give up the antidote" Xanali growled looking at Ghost. As a Guardian Peyton wanted to stop Ghost from toying with the princess's life. Yet even without Peyton's complete realization, the seed of hatred towards Noah sprouted in her heart.
One could not blame Peyton, she dedicated her life to Guardian Guild. Unlike other beauties, she had no boyfriend, she didn't have fun, she didn't host galas or balls, she only focused on serving the Guardian Guild. In return, she expected the Guild to treat her fairly. When everyone thought Lucifer was just a run-of-the-mill psycho killing people at night, she was the one who suspected him to be a big threat. She put together the operation that led to the destruction of his base and almost caught him. Instead of her getting praises and the rewards she deserved for the work she did, Noah ended up leading the team. Moreover, the Alpha Guardian was talking about making Noah a Guardian Captain instead of her. She was fourteen years old when she started to work for the Guardian Guild. What she couldn't get in fourteen years, Noah got that within a year.
It was not fair, she thought.
"If we interfere, he might destroy the antidote. This is between him and the king"
"But Peyton"
"I said this is between him and the king" her voice sounded colder as Xanali quickly closed her mouth.
On the other hand, Claire and the elders were speechless. Claire wanted to stop Michael, ask him to give the princess the vial first, and then, negotiate with the king. Claire wasn't as hypocritical as the others. She very well knew the princess had no right to beret Ghost like she did. In the future, if he needed that antidote, he wouldn't have one. There was no need for him to give that vial for free. However, Claire pitied the King and Andrew. She wanted Ghost to first save the princess and then negotiate with the King.
But she was also not as naive as she used to be. Her mind told her that if Ghost gave the king the antidote, there was no way the king would give him everything he asked. The king could even arrest him for negotiating with him.
"She's dying" Elder Sandra tried to stand up but was stopped by Elder Reiner,
"Did you all forget that the princess tried to kill Ghost? If he was one second slow, it would be him lying on the stage" Elder Reiner said with his usual bright smile on his face.
"Elder Reiner, we teach our disciples humanity, kindness, and forgiveness. What he's doing is against everything we stand for" Claire was in a conundrum hearing the conversation between Sandra and Reiner.
Both of them seemed to be in the right.
"Look at the king, he's not the king of Bredia anymore, he's just a desperate father. We should help him" Elder Sandra said,
"Elder Sandra" Elder Reiner yet again stopped her by holding her wrists,
"Do you remember the times we went to meet King Bredia asking for a loan?" Elder Reiner's question brought back some bad memories. Claire especially gritted her teeth. The Elders lost pity for the king after what Elder Reiner asked them.
"Let me refresh your memories, the king of Bredia, his majesty asked Claire to be his concubine. Do you want me to spill out what he really wanted?"
The smile on Reiner's face disappeared. For the first time in their life, some of the disciples saw Elder Reiner looking cold. He was always a warm, kind and witty person.
"And do you want me to remind the times the king ordered us to accommodate a part of the Bredian army who harrassed our female disples and raped some of them?" Elder Reiner's words got colder and colder,
"He didn't give a damn about those girls. Those girls were traumatized for their life. Fifty gold coins, that's what the king gave them. Kindness, humanity, and forgiveness is for only those who deserve it Elder Sandra"
Elder Sandra was out of words for a few moments,
"We can't let the princess suffer for what her father did, she's innocent. She tried to kill Ghost because of love"
Meanwhile, Michael was looking at the king's trembling. Each second passed by, the king's worry overshadowed his anger.
"A kingdom obviously can't survive without financial and military power. After all, your majesty won't feel good if someone else took away something you generously offered" Michael paused for a second, looked at the people staring at him with wide-opened mouths, and continued,
"I won't ask for much but one-third of the Bredian army and financial support for a full year until we get back on our feet " The king almost spurted out blood hearing his outrageous requests.
Financial support he could provide as Bredia was a preposterous kingdom. However, giving up one-third of the army would weaken the military power.
"I also want a peace treaty with your majesty. We can't have some stupidly loyal general wage war against my kingdom, can we?" Some of the people of Bradford were worried about his request. They were worried that they would be led to poverty under the rule of a cruel ruthless person like him.
However, the people of River town were incredibly joyful and excited. They knew their life was much better after Ghost joined the Sunrise Sect. He wasn't even a ruler of the town yet he did so many things that the king never bothered to.
"I won't ask for anything else except for a little tour around your majesty's treasury. Since I'm giving such a valuable item, I'm sure your majesty would want me to take something else in return"
"Her condition is worsening," Lailah said, looking at Katherine's body twitching violently.
"Ghost please…I beg you…give me the antidote" Andrew pleased,
"I will, I'm just waiting for his majesty to agree to everything I asked"
"I will, give me the antidote!" King Bredia yelled but Michael shook his head,
"I want the official documents with your sign your majesty"
"You bastard!" the king couldn't keep his anger contained,
"Relax your majesty. What if you throw me in jail after getting the antidote. It's better we go with official documents, am I right Calvin?" Michael turned to look at Calvin nod,
"Of course, documents are better than just words of agreement"
Meanwhile, Katherine's were violently twitching as purplish blood oozed out of her pores. The purplish blood painted her body purple.
"Ghost it will take time to draft documents, can't you just take his majesty's words?" Ethan asked, trying to convince Ghost. He didn't want his son to make an enemy out of the king. Although he still couldn't believe how cruel and ruthless his son is, he didn't want Ghost to become an enemy of an entire kingdom.
"Calvin" Michael turned his gaze away from Ethan to Calvin,
"How long will it take to draft the official documents for his majesty to sign?"
"If you desire, I can draft the documents in fifteen minutes"
"Of course" Michael snickered inside. Earlier when he signed the parchments related to the Guild Leader position, Calvin did not bring with filled parchment but just wrote the clauses in front of him. Thus, Michael knew Clavin could come up with documents before Katherine died.
"King Bredia, shall I start preparing the documents?" Calvin asked. His inner corners of the eyebrows were angled up. He was really good at pretending to be sad.
"No… I…can't" the king mumbled under his breath. What Ghost asked was not something he could give up so easily. The nobles and the people would definitely cause a massive headache if he agreed to Ghost. It might even throw the kingdom into chaos.
At first, he wanted to say okay, get the antidote, save his daughter and come up with something to prison Ghost. That way he could have said he won't negotiate with a criminal. However, if he signed official documents in front of thousands of people, Ghost would become a ruler of another kingdom. King Bredia had no power over another ruler. Plus, if he signed the documents, Ghost would get one-third of the Bredian army. Coupled with the Kane family's support, Ghost would be untouchable. Even if he waged war against Ghost, Bredia would still lose their remaining troops. It would result in weaker Bredia.
"Lady Alden, how long can you hold off the poison?"
Lailah didn't even want to look at his face, still he answered him for the sake of Andrew and the princess.
"Twenty minutes" King Bredia's heart was pounding against his chest. He started to sweat as he shivered,
"Oooh, cutting it close. Tik tok your majesty…tik…tok"
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