Chapter 107: Bullets of Anger

As much as Lauren wanted to believe that it might not be the King, the burnt body’s build and the tattoo on its chest were too similar to King Martin’s. It couldn’t be a simple coincidence.

But if was indeed her father, who did it? She was sure killing the King was the last thing Thalia would do.

Lauren joined Alec and the other councilmen in the royal laboratory. Doctor Bentley, the council doctor, came. He was the best at examining a dead person’s body. And to check if it was really the King, he asked for a sample of Lauren’s blood to check if they had heredity bonds.

"It’s not a fake body," Doctor Bentley said after almost an hour of examining the body.

Lauren grew more serious. Although it was a farfetched thought, one of her assumptions was the King could be faking his death to get away with his crimes and would come back for revenge later on.

Creating a replica of a person’s body was a forbidden sorcery but it wasn’t impossible to do with the help of a skilled mage. But now that the council doctor confirmed that it wasn’t a replica, the probability that it was the King’s body increased.

Dr. Bentley pushed back his black-rimmed glasses to the bridge of his nose and cleared his throat.

"I have also checked the heredity bonds through the blood Princess Lauren gave and the body’s remains, and I found out that they are indeed related by blood. It means it’s King Martin’s body."

The councilmen who came with Lauren and Alec were left dumbfounded at the sudden news.

Alec looked indifferent while Lauren’s expression turned cold as if she just heard the worst news of the century. All her life she was looking forward to punishing the King himself, to watch him beg while kneeling in front of her after everything she suffered under his care. The reason why she found it hard to accept that he died in someone else’s hand. Being burned to death was way too easy for him. He deserved more

"Tell Lionel about this," Alec said to the councilmen.

The news of the King’s death quickly spread all over the town in just a matter of hours. The council did not hold the news despite the lack of information. After all, the people of Evardin deserved to know that their ruler had passed away.

When Alec and Lauren returned to the castle, the chamberlain informed them that a missive from the Supreme House arrived.

It said that the coronation of the new king shall take place the next day.

Alec and Lauren were not surprised. They knew that with the King dead, the Crown Prince shall ascend to the throne without a question. The kingdom needs a ruler.

Alec called the ministers for a meeting to discuss the shift of power in the court while Lauren went to the castle’s shooting grounds where the royal guards were training.

The royal guards stopped when they saw Lauren coming. They had never seen any of the princesses step foot in the royal guards’ training ground before.

"Your Highness-"

Before the royal guard could finish his question, Lauren had stolen his pistol from his hand and aimed at the target twenty yards away.

Lauren fired thrice consecutively and all of them hit bull’s eye. The royal guards looked at her in awe, surprised by her great marksmanship. Females who handled guns well were rare and they had always thought that the third princess was a good-for-nothing royal like most people said.

Lauren loaded the pistol and fired more.

With the chilly air around the princess, the royal guards stood away in fear that she might aim her gun at them.

It was Lauren’s way of venting out her anger. She wasn’t the least bit concerned about the King’s death because he was her father, but she wished she could have killed him herself.

She knew it was too evil of her as a daughter to wish for her father to die in her own hands but she could never forget how he denied justice for her mother’s death.

Her grudge ran deep into her soul and the hatred was too strong it could only be appeased by vengeance.

Lauren kept on loading her pistol and firing at the targets. The royal guards left the shooting grounds when they noticed she was in a foul mood.

She didn’t know how many bullets she had wasted and how long she had been pulling the trigger.

Until she felt the rain.

It started as a drizzle until it turned into a heavy downpour.

Her body trembled in cold but she didn’t stop. Until someone grabbed the pistol from her pale hands.

"What the fuck are you doing, Lauren?!" Alec’s voice thundered. His jaw was clenching hard as his dark eyes glowered at her.

He dragged her to the castle and the maids in the hall dispersed when they saw the couple drenched. The head maid was about to ask if they needed towels but before she could, the couple had already gone to the stairs.

"Are you insane? It’s almost winter and you stood in the rain! Do you want to freeze to death?" He asked angrily at her when they got inside their room.

Their clothes were dripping on the carpet.

Lauren didn’t answer and just stared at him blankly which got Alec more annoyed.

"Don’t tell me you feel bad for your scumbag father’s death?"

"I don’t."

"You shouldn’t be," he said darkly like he knew all the pain she had gone through.

"But it’s unfair..." Lauren muttered, her voice barely audible.

As Alec stared into her eyes, he realized what she must be feeling. She hated her father so much and she wanted to punish him herself and see him beg for forgiveness. He knew because he once felt that kind of resentment. A deep-rooted hatred that could consume one’s soul.

And it was something that would take long to heal. Perhaps even a lifetime.

Lauren had gone numb to feel her tears coming. But when a drop fell on her cheek, she just found herself crushed in Alec’s chest.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read