The midsummer wind blew softly when Cedric finally returned to the Blaine Kingdom. On the outside, he looked calm, like a prince who had just returned from a diplomatic visit. But behind that attitude, his mind kept replaying every word from his conversation with Cecilia.
Cecilia's plan was indeed great. But even without it, Cedric had prepared a perfect plan to overthrow his father. But that didn't mean Cedric would reject Cecilia's offer. Something was bothering him. Therefore, Cedric decided to play along with Cecilia's wishes.
"The King has been waiting for you, Prince Cedric."
The reception from the people in the palace was as cold as usual when Cedric finally reached the throne hall. Cedric was not surprised when he received such a cold welcome. After all, they must have believed they had a chance to get rid of him by allowing him to go to Magenta.
Cedric stopped at the top of the stairs leading to the king's seat. He knelt there, paying his respects to the man who had taken his birth mother's life.
"What results have you brought, Prince Cedric?" asked the king sharply.
Cedric only answered with his head slightly lowered, "The Magenta Kingdom has sworn that they remain a neutral kingdom, Your Majesty. They revealed that the aid from Landis was transactional. They spent a lot of resources to open the new route by hiring people from Landis."
King Abel narrowed his eyes. "And you believe that?"
"They gave us proof, Your Majesty. You can confirm the authenticity of my statement through the advisor who accompanied me."
The advisor who went with him was someone King Abel had sent to watch over him. Cedric knew that and deliberately used it to control King Abel. He remained calm when the advisor who accompanied him came forward to deliver his report. The report was, of course, fake and had been arranged to suit Cedric's wishes.
"If Magenta wanted a war, they would have welcomed us with troops or firmly rejected Prince Cedric's visit, Your Majesty. But no. They not only welcomed us with open arms, but were also willing to explain everything openly," the advisor explained with great care. At the end of his sentence, he did not forget to add a sentence that King Abel liked.
"From their attitude, I can see that Magenta is too afraid of offending our kingdom, Your Majesty. After returning from Magenta, they also specially prepared a gift as a form of apology for the misunderstanding that had occurred."
A chest was presented before King Abel. The chest contained gold coins, something that Cecilia had given freely to lower King Abel's vigilance.
The king nodded slowly after he saw the chest. He might not be satisfied because Cedric had managed to complete his task well once again. However, the presence of the gold chest managed to make his feelings a little better.
"You must be tired after your diplomatic trip, Prince Cedric. Take a rest, you need it."
King Abel's words only meant one thing: Cedric was thrown aside again after his task was completed. However, Cedric was not angry. Even without the support of the palace, he had managed to gather people who were loyal only to him.
King Abel's destruction was already in his hands. Cedric was confident because he had done the same thing dozens of times.
***
A few days after Cedric returned to the palace, a rumor began to spread in the capital. It was not a rumor like the ones they usually heard. No one knew for sure where the rumor came from. However, once it spread, no one doubted the truth of the rumor.
"They said, Queen Beatrix has just given birth to a prince. But strangely, until now we have not heard an official announcement about it."
"Hiding the birth of a prince is usually only done when something unfortunate happens, right? Does that mean the new prince was born in an imperfect condition?"
"Queen Beatrix is King Abel's favorite. The royal family would not have hidden the news of the birth if it were not for a serious problem."
"Hiding the news could also happen for other reasons. An affair, for example."
"Now that you talk about it, Queen Beatrix has indeed not appeared with King Abel as much as she used to."
When one person creates a rumor, another rumor is born in no time. Those living outside the palace had no way of knowing that Queen Beatrix was no longer appearing in public because she was recovering from her premature birth. Without official word from the palace, the rumor quickly became the truth to them.
"Then, what about Prince Cedric? He has helped the people so much. Will he be pushed aside just because he is not the son of the current queen?"
"I do not want that to happen. Prince Cedric has devoted himself to advancing Blaine for years. How can he suddenly be replaced by a prince whose birth was not even announced by the royal family?"
"That's what I said! Poor Prince Cedric. He must be stressed out by this matter."
After spreading the rumor about the birth of the young prince, the rumor grew until people began to talk about the good deeds Cedric had done during his time as prince. Even those who had never met Cedric began to have respect for Cedric, thanks to the rumors that spread. Information was indeed a dangerous thing. Thanks to the spread of that information, the kingdom of Blaine was in its first turmoil in decades.
BANG!
"Find out who spread the rumor first! How dare they spread gossip about my son!"
In the throne room, King Abel was furious to the point of turning red. He had not been able to announce the birth of his son because both his wife and son were still weak from premature labor. However, someone took the opportunity to insult the royal family.
"Your Majesty, they claimed to have heard the rumor first from the noble's servant!"
"No, no! It came from the Landis Kingdom's spies!"
"Didn't they spread it from the merchants?"
No one came with accurate information, and that made King Abel even angrier. He then summoned his confidants. King Abel's suspicions fell on Cedric. After all, Cedric was the one who should have felt the most threatened by the birth of his half-brother.
"What have Prince Cedric and his men been doing lately?"
"Prince Cedric has remained in his palace as you ordered, Your Majesty. In the meantime, we have not found any suspicious movements from the people around him."
BANG!
This time, King Abel slammed the edge of his chair in anger. It's not Cedric, he thought. Cedric shouldn't have been able to do anything since King Abel was keeping a close eye on him.
"Then, what about the nobles?"
"They have sworn never to reveal the news of the prince's birth to anyone, Your Majesty. We have also investigated those who support Cedric. There is nothing strange. Someone must be trying to trick us into believing that the rumor came from within the palace."
King Abel was stunned. He had never thought of that before.
"Then, investigate the new prince of Magenta. Also, send spies to the Landis Kingdom. I don't care who. I will destroy anyone who tarnishes my family's honor!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Anger made King Abel fail to see that he had just walked into a trap that Cecilia had set based on her agreement with Cedric.