The whole Bright which had been in an uproar due to the massacre that happened at night, at the Fortress was startled again when another piece of news spread throughout the Bright.
The shock brought by this news was a thousand times bigger when compared to the other one.
The upper echelon consisted of nobles and many other important officials of the state were bewildered.
Every upper member of the society received a special order to assemble in the King's hall and on top of that, it was written that the King who had fallen ill and went into a coma had woken up from his deep slumber.
While everyone was wondering what was happening here, a certain man was feeling that he was at the end of the ropes.
"Aaaaahhhh!"
With a muffled roar, Edward pulled his hair out of anger.
"Why the hell is everything bad happening now?"
"Just why are things, that had been already in my hands gone wrong suddenly one after another"
Edward screamed at the top of his lungs.
He was already having a hard time finding out the real culprit of the incident while thinking of ways to blame Alex.
He was just proceeding in this matter when another earth-shattering news shook him entirely.
When he heard the news, he was struck by thunder and the ground beneath him collapsed entirely.
Everyone who received the letter could infer two things about the meeting.
First, this meeting was about the successor of the throne where the King let out his worries that he may collapse again while another was to invite King Alex respectfully.
And Edward who read the letter was having a bad premonition about it.
"Don't worry Your Highness, I think he is thinking about naming you as his successor." Duke Walmart muttered trying to calm him down.
"How can you be so naive?"
"How can father wake up after drinking the eternal sleep medicine for so long? In this life, there was no chance of him waking up again." Edward shouted.
"Your Highness, there are many things in the world that one can't guess. We have to visit to infer things."
"Who knows if he had a breakthrough at the end of his life that temporarily alleviated the effects of the medicine?"Duke Walmart muttered rubbing his chin.
" But what if someone had interfered and cured him, "Edward asked with an uneasy expression.
"Pftt!"Duke Walmart laughed and started to explain.
"Don't joke, Your Highness. Only a high-level priest from the Central Church can heal him. In his current condition, even the potions wouldn't have any effect on him."
"Whatever, we should try to take this chance to name you as the Crown Prince. We shouldn't let this opportunity slip by and hopefully, you can succeed to the Throne as soon as possible."
"Hopefully so!" Edward spoke, calming his heart.
...
Alice along with his sister-in-law arrived at the Capital Bright and started to exchange a few pleasantries with the bootlickers.
All of them were also shocked at the recent invitation they got out of nowhere. The Bright King, who was in deep slumber, suddenly woke up and invited them for a meeting as soon as he woke up.
They didn't need to think too hard to know who had a hand behind all of these events, still, they were surprised to see Alex pulling strings from behind and manipulating things quickly.
They didn't know the contents of the meeting but they were sure that today was going to be an important day for the Kingdom of Bright as well as for Edward.
As they entered the hall and were greeted by the King of Bright, Brian and they took their place designated for them.
Most of the people present out there started to flock toward them and Alice had to work hard to stop these annoying flies.
Even though Alice tried to express her disdain for these people shamelessly tried to mix with them.
'Stop staring at my sister-in-law you bastards otherwise, my Brother will punish me.'Alice muttered while gritting her teeth.
The hall which had been bustling with flattery, praises and wishes for King Brian suddenly came to stand still when the announcement for Second Prince's entry rang loudly.
Edward walked through the door with a gentle smile on his lips while his eyes conveyed deep emotion of worry.
He looked like a pitiful son who came to meet his sick father as soon as he got the news.
Tiredness and exhaustion were quite apparent on his face. Anyone who looked at them would think that he is a good filial son.
"I greet Your Majesty," Edward answered and bowed his head respectfully.
Brian nodded with a solemn expression and muttered, "You have been working hard recently my son."
"You have made me proud. Seeing you doing your best for the nation and also for yourself makes my heart bleed with happiness."
"I am not a worthy father."
Edward who heard words wondered what he meant by that and raised his head.
"Your Majesty, I have just done what a Prince should do for his country," Edward spoke with a humble tone.
"Tsk!" Alice clicked her tongue seeing his acting.
"Hahahahahahah!"
The silence that prevailed in the entire hall was broken by sudden laughter and it came from the King itself.
"Filial Son, this father of yours is proud of you."
"Today, I have gathered you all for an important announcement."
"Lay down my order, from today onwards The First Prince will succeed me as a King."
"He will soon have his coronation."
"Since, you are working hard. You must be very tired. So, from today onwards you can rest permanently."
His words sounded like the ringing of thunderclaps to everyone in surprise.
"What!!"
"How!!"
Everyone screamed with a shocked expression and their mouths stayed agape.
Those who supported Edward even fell onto their knees and shouted"Your Majesty, please reconsider your decision."
"Your Highness, you might have forgotten about the First Prince's condition."
"He is mentally unstable. How can he control the whole nation when he can't even control himself?"
They started to plead to ask the King to reconsider their decision.
Edward was so stunned that he was unable to speak a word.
For a moment, he stared at his father who seemed to be quite unfamiliar to him.
His eyes had lost their austere and as he stared at his father, he noticed a smirk on his lips who was looking at him with a sinister smile.
As he wondered what was that, he suddenly heard a loud voice from behind.
"Who said that I am mentally ill?"
A loud crisp voice reverberated and a man walked through the huge doors.
His steps were slow and steady and a sarcastic smile hung all over his face.
His eyes were sharp as a dagger and as he stared at the group of nobles before him, they flinched back and shuddered.
Just because he hadn't appeared, this doesn't mean that the bunch of hypocrites had forgotten just what kind of person he was.
They had to bow down their heads and stand aside keeping their head down when he walked before them, unable to look straight into his eyes.
