Chapter 106 : Chapter 106

Chapter 106. Your Majesty the King, Favored by Heaven (Long Chapter)

King Augustus Aurora’s booming laughter echoed through the tent. With a sweep of his broad hand, he pointed toward the dense woodland in the distance.

“The wine will take a little longer to arrive. Let us go into the Royal Forest first and hunt some game to go with it.”

With that, he rose in high spirits and strode out.

Now that His Majesty the King had spoken in person, none of the assembled ministers or nobles dared spoil his mood.

They all rose one after another, surrounding the king as they walked out while offering flattery and praise.

“Damn it, Velik, bring me my horse!”

The king’s gaze swept across the crowd and landed on the young Montauban family cupbearer.

At being called by name, Velik Montauban jolted all over and hurriedly bowed. “Yes, Your Majesty!”

He then turned and ran toward the stables, his retreating figure looking thoroughly flustered and awkward.

The king watched his back and burst into laughter again, then teased Marquess Cons, who was beside him.

“Cons, that little brat of your family is far inferior to you. Back when you served at my side, you were never this clumsy.”

A perfectly measured smile immediately appeared on Marquess Cons’s face. He inclined his head slightly, skillfully concealing the embarrassment in his eyes behind the gesture.

“Your Majesty flatters me. The young simply lack experience. I have made a laughingstock of myself before Your Majesty.”

Very soon, Velik carefully led over a magnificent white horse, its coat pure as snow.

The king nodded in satisfaction. Without waiting for any guard to step forward and assist him, he shoved aside the still-eager Velik with one hand, planted a hand on the saddle, and vaulted up in one clean, agile motion, seating himself firmly.

The ministers mounted their own horses as well with the help of their attendants, taking up their bows and arrows.

The entire party moved out in grand procession, chatting and laughing as they rode at an easy pace toward the lush forest ahead.

The king’s guards had already entered the forest in advance to flush out game, ensuring that both the king and his ministers would enjoy themselves to the fullest.

Not long after they entered the woods, the bushes ahead rustled violently, and a startled wild boar suddenly burst out.

The king’s eyes lit up. “Ha! Watch this!”

Before his voice had even fallen, he had already drawn his bow and nocked an arrow.

Whoosh!

The arrow tore through the air and struck with perfect accuracy, piercing straight through the boar’s throat.

The beast let out a wretched squeal, staggered forward for more than a dozen steps, and then collapsed with a heavy crash.

“Excellent!”

“Your Majesty’s marksmanship is divine!”

Praise immediately surged up from all around like a rising tide.

Marquess Cons, who had also raised his bow a moment earlier but had been just a fraction too slow, lowered it at once and slapped his thigh in theatrical frustration.

“Ah! Damn it! I truly am old now. I cannot compare to Your Majesty anymore! I could not even make that shot!”

“Hahahahaha!” King Augustus laughed aloud in triumphant delight, every wrinkle on his face loosening with satisfaction.

“Hahaha! You all still need more practice! This is what hunting looks like!”

“Your Majesty is mighty!” the crowd responded in unison, naturally echoing his boast once more and driving the atmosphere to an even greater pitch.

The king was clearly reveling in it, his laughter growing freer and more exuberant.

At one side, Federico sat astride a tall chestnut horse.

Expressionless, he watched the tacit performance unfolding between ruler and subjects before him, his brows drawing together almost imperceptibly.

At that very moment, an eager voice rang out.

“I have heard that Sir Lucius, younger brother to the Prime Minister, was once famed throughout the kingdom as a master archer in his early years, never missing a shot! Presumably, as his elder brother, the Prime Minister must also have once dominated the Western Frontier! Why not let the Prime Minister give us a demonstration with the next piece of game?”

The speaker was a noble from the Royal Domain faction. The moment those words were spoken, several others immediately joined in.

“Indeed, indeed! We have long heard of the Prime Minister’s great reputation!”

“Prime Minister, do let us broaden our horizons!”

King Augustus was already in excellent spirits. Hearing this, he turned to Federico with a grin.

“Oh? Right, of course! Federico, come, come. The next prey is yours! Hahaha!”

Federico’s hand tightened slightly on the reins.

He knew his own body better than anyone. Old wounds from years of campaigning, together with the strain of exhausting himself for the sake of state affairs, had long since robbed him of the vigor he once possessed.

Drawing a powerful bow would be a severe test of both his strength and his accuracy.

He was not like Cons. In a setting such as this, if he were to miss even a single shot through carelessness, no matter the reason, it would very easily be magnified and turned into a pretext to attack him as old and infirm.

His expression remained calm as he was just about to find an appropriate excuse to decline this generous invitation.

Then a hurried, panicked voice suddenly came from the western side of the woods, cutting off the words before they could leave his lips and instantly drawing everyone’s attention.

“Your Majesty the King! A white deer! To the west! A white deer has been found to the west!”

A richly dressed knight came galloping over, his face flushed red with overexcited agitation.

“A white deer?”

“Is that true?”

“There is actually a white deer in the Royal Forest?”

A wave of barely suppressed gasps and murmurs broke out among the crowd.

A white deer.

In the ancient legends of the Kingdom of Orlando, a deer of pure white from head to hoof was exceedingly rare.

For that reason, it was regarded as a symbol of divine blessing, an omen of great auspiciousness.

Could this truly be a coincidence?

Almost everyone present who understood the delicate state of affairs in the capital at once felt a flicker of suspicion pass through their hearts.

The quickest to react, as always, was Marquess Cons Montauban.

His face instantly filled with incredulous excitement. He swung down from his horse and dropped to one knee.

“Your Majesty! A white deer has appeared in this world! This is a gift from the gods!

This is surely the greatest acknowledgment and blessing the gods could bestow upon you and upon the Kingdom of Orlando!

Heaven bless Orlando! Heaven bless Your Majesty!”

That kneel and that cry were like a signal.

The other ministers and nobles looked at one another. Whatever thoughts they might have had in private, at this moment they could only dismount as well.

With a loud rustle, they dropped to their knees one after another, shouting, “Heaven bless Orlando!” and “Heaven bless Your Majesty!”

King Augustus, seated on horseback, was stunned for the briefest instant. Then his face was swiftly overtaken by immense delight and self-satisfaction.

“Good! Good! Good! Rise, my loyal subjects!

Come! Come! Let us all go and see this white deer gifted by the gods!”

His emotions surging, he snapped the reins and rode west after the knight who had brought the report.

The ministers hurriedly rose, remounted, and followed after him.

After riding for some distance and passing through a relatively sparse stretch of woodland, the sight before them made everyone instinctively rein in their horses.

There, in a small clearing ahead, the golden-red light of the setting sun filtered through the gaps in the leaves and fell perfectly upon a single creature.

It was indeed a deer, its entire coat white as snow without the slightest trace of any other color.

Bathed in the gentle dusk light, it even seemed to emit a faint glow of its own.

Its form was graceful, its neck long and elegant. Lowering its head, it leisurely chewed the grass on the ground, utterly serene.

It was as though the soldiers layered all around it, carefully maintaining their encirclement, simply did not exist.

That transcendent calm, untouched by the mundane world, only deepened the holy and extraordinary aura surrounding it.

Even Marquess Memphis, who was famed for never letting his feelings show, revealed genuine shock on his face at that moment.

He instinctively looked toward Marquess Cons in the distance, a question in his eyes.

Marquess Cons gave the slightest of headshakes, so subtle that it was almost impossible to detect. Clearly, this scene had exceeded even his calculations.

Could it really be a coincidence? Or perhaps...

King Augustus gazed at the dreamlike sight before him, the joy on his face growing even greater.

But the moment he noticed that the soldiers were still holding their spears, he flew into a rage and barked at them.

“You fools! Lower your weapons before your king!”

Hearing the royal command, the soldiers naturally did not dare defy it and could only slowly lower their spears.

It was only then, as if finally startled by the commotion on this side, that the white deer reacted.

It stopped feeding and slowly raised its head.

A pair of clear, pure eyes quietly looked toward the humans who had just arrived.

King Augustus could not wait any longer and swung down from his horse.

The guards at his sides hurried forward to protect him, but he impatiently waved them back. “Stand down! A divine deer would never harm a man!”

He straightened his robes, a warm and expectant smile on his face, and walked toward the white deer.

No one dared breathe too loudly. Every eye was fixed on the king’s steps and on the white deer’s reaction.

One step, then another...

The king drew closer and closer to the deer.

He had even begun to extend a hand slightly, as though to show his goodwill.

Yet just as the king was about to step within three zhang of the white deer, it suddenly moved.

With a light turn of its body, it deftly sidestepped the king approaching from the front.

Then, with graceful and steady steps, it began walking toward the ministers instead.

The smile on King Augustus’s face froze instantly. His outstretched hand hung awkwardly in midair.

The entire scene sank into a silence so strange and awkward that it was almost unbearable.

All eyes followed the movement of the white deer, while countless thoughts flashed through every mind.

Without even glancing aside, the white deer passed by the ashen-faced Marquess Montauban, passed by the deeply startled Marquess Memphis, passed by the many ministers whose expressions all differed...

And finally, it stopped before Federico’s horse.

It lifted its head, those pure eyes devoid of even the slightest impurity.

Silently, it gazed at the Duke of the Western Frontier, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, who sat upright upon his horse.

In that instant, every gaze in the clearing, shocked, puzzled, amused, even faintly excited, converged on Federico.

Looking down at the white deer that had appeared before his horse at such a perfectly timed moment, Federico’s brows knit tightly together.

He was almost certain that this was a death trap meticulously arranged for him.

Whether this white deer had been arranged by human hands or was a true miracle from the gods, the very fact that it had chosen to approach him rather than the king was enough to send anyone to their doom.

That damned old fox Cons had actually managed to obtain a creature as rare as a white deer, and had even trained it to be this... obedient?

At that critical instant, Federico’s mind raced.

He knew all too well that he absolutely could not accept this divine favor. Even the slightest hesitation would condemn him beyond redemption.

At last, Federico moved.

He abruptly leaned sideways and reached out with his right hand, yanking Prince Aiden, who was riding slightly behind him to his left, over from his horse.

Almost by force, he pulled the boy in front of himself so that he was facing the white deer directly.

Prince Aiden was caught completely off guard. “Grandfather?”

Federico shouted, “The divine deer shows favor to the Orlando royal family!”

Then, in a rapid voice that only the two of them could hear, he commanded into Aiden’s ear,

“Aiden, be obedient! Take it and go to your father! Now! Quickly!”

Prince Aiden was clearly enchanted by the beautiful and docile creature before him and did not want to leave. He muttered in a small voice,

“But Grandfather... it looks like it came to find us...”

The innocence of a child was especially deadly at a moment like this.

“Do as you are told! Go! Now!” Federico’s voice suddenly grew harsh.

Startled by his grandfather’s stern tone, Aiden instinctively obeyed, though somewhat unwillingly.

He looked at the white deer so close before him, forced the friendliest smile he could manage, and carefully stretched out his hand.

“L-little deer, be good. Come with me. I’ll take you to see my father...”

The white deer seemed truly able to understand human speech. It meekly lowered its head and gently rubbed its nose against Aiden’s outstretched hand.

Then it actually followed Aiden as he tugged the reins and turned his horse around, slowly making its way toward the king.

At the very instant the white deer turned and took its first step, Federico secretly gave its hindquarters a subtle push.

Then, taking advantage of the motion, he swung down from his horse.

Facing in the direction of the king, he dropped to one knee.

“Congratulations to His Majesty the King! The divine deer brings an auspicious omen. You are favored by Heaven!

This is the greatest favor and blessing the gods could bestow upon Your Majesty, upon Prince Aiden, and upon the Orlando royal family and the kingdom itself!

Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Kingdom of Orlando!”

Behind him, Count Bos and all the officials belonging to the Western Frontier faction immediately followed suit, dismounting in unison.

They dropped to their knees and shouted with one voice, “Congratulations to Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Kingdom of Orlando!”

This sudden reversal caught all those who had been waiting to enjoy the spectacle, or preparing to strike while the iron was hot, completely off guard.

A trace of admiration flashed through old Marquess Graham’s eyes. Then he too decisively dismounted and knelt.

The remaining ministers and nobles, seeing this, had no choice but to dismount once more and kneel like a receding tide collapsing to the ground.

Kneeling among the crowd, disappointment flickered in the depths of Marquess Cons’s lowered eyes.

King Augustus gazed at the scene before him.

His son Aiden, mounted on horseback, was leading the white deer, symbol of divine blessing, toward him.

Behind them, all the officials and nobles, led by the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, were kneeling in a vast mass and crying out their praises.

The king’s expression instantly changed from overcast to radiant, and even more brilliantly than before.

The enormous satisfaction and vanity flooding him at that moment drowned out the last trace of displeasure and suspicion.

Yes! The white deer first walked toward Federico, yet in the end it was brought before me by my own son!

And what does that mean?

It means that what the gods recognize is not merely my son, but I, Augustus Aurora!

No matter how great Federico’s power may be, did he not still end up kneeling before me, offering his congratulations and acknowledging me as his sovereign?

“Good! Good! Good!” King Augustus burst into loud laughter once again.

He strode forward and personally helped Federico to his feet. “The Prime Minister is right!

This is the blessing the gods have bestowed upon my Orlando royal family! My heart is greatly pleased today! Greatly pleased indeed! Hahaha!”

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the forest clearing in brilliant gold and red.

At that moment, the kneeling ministers, the smugly satisfied king, and the docile white deer seemed to form together a picture both bizarre and strangely harmonious.