The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 372: Most Superior

Ahmed was more than happy with everything that was currently happening. While there were a few things that could’ve turned out better, all things considered, things were running smoothly. There were a few investigations being run to try and discover their coven, but otherwise, they were practically running around in circles without any idea of what was truly happening.

"It’s good to be king," he chuckled to himself as he leaned into his seat. "Well, I’m not king yet, but it’ll happen eventually..."

"You’re already counting your chickens before they hatch," Sage reminded him as she sat in front of his desk. "Are you sure we won’t be found out?"

"As if they’d ever find out about us now," Ahmed scoffed. "Seeing as we’re still here casually talking about it, I sincerely doubt they’d be able to piece things together fast enough for them to stop us."

And wasn’t that the truth? Why else was he confident about things if it wasn’t the fact that the current powers that be were currently too preoccupied with the plague to launch a proper investigation? Sure, Fritz and some of the former king’s men were doing their own investigations, but Ahmed was confident enough that they had left enough fake leads to keep them occupied until his eventual coronation. They just had to make sure that they were properly distracted until the final plan was enacted, and by then, they’d be powerless to stop him.

"I only hope you know what you’re doing," Sage reminded him. "Also, when are we going to get Raul to start messing up? Now that everyone’s distracted, we should take this opportunity to get things started."

"You know what? Fine. He wants to meet up with the rest of the coven anyway," Ahmed shrugged as he stood up. "Since he’s going to die eventually, we might as well approve his request."

With a smirk forming on his lips, Ahmed strutted out of his office, a wicked look on his face as more plans formed inside his head. It wasn’t going to be much, but he would at least enjoy seeing Raul’s face the moment everything fell into place.

*****

Raul frowned as he made his way to yet another scheduled meeting for the Hades Coven. While he didn’t exactly know how or why he was king now, he at least knew that he had to do his best for the kingdom in Nikolai’s absence, and thankfully, he was about to finally learn the identities of those that were part of this coven after so long.

Although, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had done exactly the same thing before.

"Focus," he muttered to himself as he approached the meeting place. "There’s going to be hell to pay now, and I’ll make sure justice will be served."

With a deep breath, he entered the unassuming building where the meeting was to take place. Finding the usual basement, he descended the steps down to what was assuredly a dark and damp area where the coven members would be hiding.

"Ah, welcome Your Majesty," Fox eagerly greeted him. "The journey wasn’t too perilous I hope?"

"Not at all," Raul replied, his mind already becoming a bit foggy again for some reason. "I’m here to know your identities. As we’ve promised." ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

"Ah, we did promise that, didn’t we?" Fox chuckled as he paced around him. "And what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t honor such promises?"

Raul felt himself wincing as he did his best to remain focused. For some reason, he was becoming forgetful these past few days. He didn’t even know what happened that somehow made him king, but he at least knew that he had a duty to fulfill. He had a feeling that there was a purpose to his every move, and he at least knew to follow them to the letter.

"Well then, on with it," Raul glowered at the masked man.

"Not very patient, aren’t you," Fox scoffed. "Very well. Let me show you who exactly you’re dealing with."

Crossing his arms, he let Fox raise his hands behind his back, waiting eagerly to see who exactly he was working it. Seconds ticked by, and the suspense almost made him want to yell at the man until finally, the mask came off.

What he saw was both a shock and somehow, entirely expected.

"Minister Ahmed?" Raul gasped in surprise.

"The one and only," Ahmed mockingly smiled as he gave the king a curt bow. "I’ve been running this coven for a few years now, and it’s only through your efforts that we’re all finally succeeding at our goals."

"What? Why in the world would I help you?" Raul scandalously asked. "I don’t remember doing anything of the sort!"

"Ah, but that’s exactly what we’re counting on," Ahmed smirked. "Why, you already know what to do. We’re just waiting for things to happen on your end."

Raul raised a brow at the traitorous minister’s words. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The moment you walk out of this place, you’ll be accused and arrested for conspiracy against the kingdom," Ahmed mockingly stated. "I’ve already arranged everything too, so all you have to do is to do your part and everything will be alright?"

"What?! Then what’s stopping me from just killing you right here and now?!"

"You quite literally can’t. You’re already under my spell even before you came here," Ahmed teased him. "In fact, why don’t you walk outside right now so we can get things started?"

Raul moved to try and attack the traitor, but his body refused to move. Instead, he turned around, his feet moving exactly where he last came from.

"Good luck, Your Majesty," Ahmed laughed at him from behind. "And thank you for keeping the crown warm for me."

Despite everything, Raul could do nothing but follow his orders. This was not how he hoped things would turn out. He unknowingly touched the necklace Niran gave her that had this weird pearl pendant. Niran told him not to remove it from his neck no matter what and he intended to do that. He trusted his wife for his life and as Niran said, everything would come to light soon. Weird... but he felt like that was really the case despite his seemed to be impending doom.

***

Ahmed smiled in contentment at the recent events. Sure enough, the moment Raul walked out of the trap he set, his fellow coven members who worked for the Ministry of Justice came and arrested the man for colluding with the coven they were a part of in the first place. It was hilarious to look at, and he was even the one in charge of overseeing the trial once it happened. He had made sure that they were all tied to Helion in some way, if only to make the case even more damning even though they had no ties to that particular kingdom beyond the occasional interaction in the first place.

"Things are just looking up," he complimented himself with a smile. "And now, I’ll get to be king in a few days."

Indeed. He had made sure that the trial went as quickly and smoothly as possible when it happened. He didn’t want Fritz or any of the late Nikolai’s men sniffing into it if at all possible, so he ran it straight through with all of the power he could muster. It also helped that his Queen Mineah seemed amicable in helping him through it all. Why, it was almost as if she was already accepting the new status quo before it could even form.

"And now, I get to be king, and I’ll have Queen Mineah marry me," he smirked as he further praised himself for a job well done. "Nothing’s going to stop me now."

"So it would seem," Sage smiled beside him. "We finally did it. There’s nothing stopping us from making this kingdom the way it’s supposed to be."

"That’s right. We’ll make Valcrez great again, and we’ll finally be free from those who want to exploit us," Ahmed passionately stated. "There’s nobody that can stop us now. Hell, my coronation already has a date."

It was also coming up very quickly as well. In only a few days’ time, Valcrez’s crown and all the power it entailed would finally land in his hands. Then he would finally have all the power he would ever want. Of course, he also wanted the kingdom to prosper under his rule, but that was just collateral to the fact that he would have more power if the kingdom was more powerful.

"And Raul is going to be executed by the time it happens," Ahmed continued with a smug grin. "The old royal family will finally be gone, and there would be nobody to challenge my rule since nobody would have a proper claim."

"All we have to do now is wait for time then," Sage casually stated even as the smile on her face never wavered. "In just a few days, our clan will finally have the power and prestige it deserves."

"And we’ll usher in a new golden age for this kingdom," Ahmed added. "From there, we can show the neighboring kingdoms who is truly the most powerful of them all."

Yes... Once he was king, they would show everyone that Valcrez was truly the most superior of them all.