The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 362: Proclaimed Death

Morning came, and Nikolai was already preparing to leave even before the sun rose. It wouldn’t take long, but it was best that he went about his business as early as possible if only so that he could get back home just as quickly.

"Take care out there," Mineah lovingly told him as she saw him off, her naked body only obscured by their bedsheets as she sat up on their bed.

"I will, Mine," he nodded back, making sure that he wouldn’t catch a glimpse of her amazing body. "I’ll be back before you know it."

"You better. We’re far from done here," she chuckled, her modesty barely hanging on, making Nikolai gulp as he did his best not to look. "I’ll be waiting here in our room, alright? Depending on when you come back, I’ll be just as ready for you as when you leave now."

He did his best not to let his desire for her run rampant as he ignored the ache growing within his pants. There was a time and place for lovemaking, and unfortunately, he was already committed to investigating this plague now instead of just waiting for it to pass. If anything, it would ease their worries, making any future lovemaking even more guilt free than it already was. Still...

"You’re really making it hard for me to leave, Mine," he grunted back.

"It’s no secret that I don’t want you to leave, Lai," she chuckled. "I really hope nothing too bad is wrong up there though."

"I hope so too," he hummed back. "There’s nothing more I want to do than to just take you right here and now, but duty calls, and we both know we won’t allow things to get too out of hand just because we can’t keep our desires in check."

Mineah blushed at his words, so much so that Nikolai didn’t even need to look at her to know that she was smiling at him.

"I’ll... I’ll keep things running while you’re away, Lai," she sincerely stated. "Go. I shouldn’t keep you any longer. Besides, we might not be able to stop ourselves if you stayed for longer."

"Quite," he chuckled back. "So long, Mine."

Giving his wife one last look, Nikolai promptly turned to mist and made his way to the northern provinces of the kingdom. Going at it alone wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t like he didn’t choose to do so in the first place. After all, having an entourage with him on a visit within the kingdom would only further slow him down, not to mention it would look as if he was flaunting his power over them when he would usually do visits alone in the first place.

’I just hope that this won’t take long,’ he inwardly thought just as the northern provinces came to view. ’Still, this looks like the typical visit so far...’

Using his view from above, Nikolai surveyed the current situation on the ground. At first glance, it looked like nothing wrong was going on, but based on the empty streets and the sporadic fires blooming in some parts of the province capital, there was clearly some merit to Mineah’s worries.

Being done with his survey, he then promptly landed himself near the capital building of the province. To his surprise, there weren’t even guards to greet him despite already giving word of his arrival yesterday. Sure, it was on short notice, but even during such cases, there would be at least some sort of welcoming party for him.

"Strange," he muttered to himself. "It almost looks like the entire place is deserted."

His eyes narrowing, he entered the capital building, only to be even further surprised when the door opened without much resistance. His frown deepening, he stepped inside, only for the stench within to immediately hit him.

"Death..." he spat out. "Why does this place reek of death..."

His guard now raised, Nikolai stepped further inside, a brief layer of magic immediately washing over him the deeper he investigated. Detecting the tampering, he tried to contact Mineah through their bond, only for nothing to return to him as his attempts were blocked by the interference magic.

And if that wasn’t all, the door behind him suddenly closed shut, leaving him alone in the darkness of the capital building with no way of contacting anyone.

"Now, I didn’t think it would be this easy, but this is just ridiculous!"

Nikolai’s eyes shot up to the ceiling, following the source of the voice as he shouted, "Show yourself!"

"Why in the world would I do that?" the stranger gloated. "It’s your fault you got caught in the trap in the first place."

Eyes narrowing, Nikolai jumped up to the ceiling, his fists raised as he aimed to attack the man that was clearly planning something sinister. Unfortunately, his efforts were thwarted as a magical barrier suddenly shimmered around him.

"That’s step one done!"

Nikolai clicked his tongue in annoyance. Beating his fists against the barriers, nothing seemed to work as the man laughed at his current predicament. It would seem that he was trapped, and there was no way out for him.

"You..." Nikolai growled.

"Nothing will save you now," the stranger cackled as he finally showed himself, his fox mask glimmering against the dim light. "This is goodbye!"

Before Nikolai could even see what was happening, motes of light began shimmering around him, all of them aimed squarely at him to obliterate him where he stood.

Still, none of them would ever hit their mark.

’Underground!’ he quickly thought.

Punching through the ground, the earth yielded against his strength as he escaped the death trap set up for him. Above, explosions powerful enough to actually kill him threatened to make him deaf, his anger building as he forced himself to remain still. He just knew that this would complicate things. That the enemy, being this coordinated, would hunt for him the moment he showed himself again.

No, he had to investigate this matter further right at the source, and this foxed man was his first target.

Still, the explosion was massive enough to alert those who were innocent. Those who saw their king go inside and meet his supposed death. Coupled with the eventual propaganda being spread after the incident, Nikolai was proclaimed dead, the plague supposedly taking him along with the rest of the northern province.