"L-Lady Astaria, you can't!!" Both Keeve and Reeve shouted at the same time. Ricardus, who was standing behind them widened his eyes in surprise. Things were a lot more serious than he imagined. He could see his death right in front of him. He wanted to run away, however, his body didn't move. He was frozen in fear. "…" Astaria glanced at Reeve and Keeve, the two of them could take the invisible but invincible pressure that was leaking out of her, however, protecting the King was their duty, in the end, Reeve's Dagger and Keeve's Sword appeared in their hands and they pointed it at Astaria. "Lady Astaria, we can't allow you to Kill the King," Reeve spoke. Keeve, who was standing behind him nodded as well. However, both their legs' were trembling. Astaria was not an opponent they could face. "You two are wasting your life." Astaria commented. Her tone, still as chilly as before. Memories of her son continued to cloud her mind and her anger continued to increase as she glanced at Ricardus wearing that Crown. However, even after all that, she didn't lose her control, the Kingdom that she swore to protect, she still had its best interest in her mind. That was the responsibility of the Previous Queen and Present Protect, she couldn't just abandon the Skyfall Kingdom. "You two are valuable assets for the Kingdom, dying here would affect the Kingdom negatively." Astaria spoke. Reeve and Keeve turned silent. From Astaria's words, it was clear that she valued the two of them and wanted them to live, however, she never said that she would not kill them if they didn't move. 'It would be Kingdom's loss.' These words induced another level of fear in their body. "K-Killing the King would affect the Kingdom even more negatively!" Reeve collected all his strength and retorted. He tried to use the same thing that has been binding Astaria for such a long time. "How?" This time, however, Astaria had a different thought in her mind. "Huh?" Reeve frowned in confusion. "Explain it to me, how would killing the King affect the Kingdom?" Astaria questioned. Reeve was taken aback. He couldn't believe that someone like Astaria, who probably was the most experienced amongst them all was saying something like that. However, Reeve knew that she was emotionally affected right now, therefore, he decided to answer, "The King is the man who supports the entire Kingdom, every single operation in the Kingdom needs to go through King's verification directly or indirectly, a Kingdom without a King… would never be stable…" "We just need to make a new King." Astaria chuckled. "We do have an heir ye-" Reeve wanted to reply, however, suddenly, he turned silent. His eyes then widened as he glanced at Astaria. A cruel smile appeared on Astaria's face. "Evane Skyfall, an 83-year-old, King Stage Cultivator, quite a monstrous talent, if you ask me. She is even better than me when it comes to potential, do you really think that someone like her cannot replace this idiot who does nothing but chases after women?" Astaria questioned. "…" "…" Keeve and Reeve turned silent. The strongest argument that always stopped Astaria, 'You can't kill the King because there is no one who can replace him. There is no competent heir,' It will not work now. The Skyfall Kingdom has an heir, and not a normal one, but an heir with potential so immense that it can be called the best of all the Kings the Kingdom has ever seen. Someone like Evane, someone who survived 2 Assassination attempts, one from Experts and Grandmaster Stage Cultivators, one from King Stage Cultivator, someone who now has two Dukes supporting her, she is definitely better than Ricardus, who is… Pretty much useless. "Evane will replace Ricardus, the Skyfall Kingdom will have a Ruler even better than the current one, killing the current ruler would rather be called doing the Kingdom a favor since the Kingdom would come under better management sooner." Astaria spoke, an excited smile pasted on her face. From her expression, one could easily tell that she was barely holding herself back right now. "B-But the King is still a King Stage Cultivator, the Kingdom will lose a King Stage Cultivator if you kill him!" Keeve came up with another argument. This time, Astaria's face turned cold as she glanced at Keeve, "Then select." She spoke. "Select between a King Stage Cultivator and an Emperor. Select who you will side with." Reeve's and Keeve's eyes widened in surprise. Astaria's words were clear, either him or me. The two of them couldn't believe how far she was willing to go. But it was understandable, this man killed her only son, after all, it was already impossible that she waited for so long. pan,d a-n0vel,c-o-m "I don't have an entire day, choose." Astaria spoke. Reeve and Keeve glanced at each other, The choice was obvious. Suddenly, Ricardus stepped back and ran away. He had received plenty of time to think things through and recover the lost control over his body. He wasn't going to wait for his death here. "Bring him here. The farther he runs, more chaos would ensue." Astaria ordered. Reeve and Keeve glanced at each other, then, they started running after Ricardus. "You bastards! Are you going to betray your King!?" Ricardus questioned in fury. "King, if you truly value the time you spent as the King, you should stop, it is time to return the favor to the Kingdom that has provided you so many things for so many years." Reeve spoke respectfully. Ricardus, however, was not planning to listen to his words. Reeve sighed, then a dry chuckle leaked out of his mouth. "Why did I expect this response already?" At the same time, a dagger appeared in his hand and he aimed it at the King's leg. Ricardus dodged, however, before he could celebrate, another dagger was shot. The King dodged again and continued to dodge more and more daggers that Reeve threw. However, suddenly, Ricardus realized that Keeve was missing. His eyes widened in surprise, he tried to run away again, however, as soon as he turned around, he saw Keeve standing in front of him, and before he could react, Keeve punched his stomach. "Ugghh!" Ricardus groaned in pain. "AAAGgggGGhhhhHh!" His anguish, however, has just started. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚 Reeve's dagger pierced into his left calf as she screamed in agony.