RLQ - Chapter 13
Chapter 13: Fight For You
"Why do you look so unhappy?"
Adele sat by the table adorned with berries and roses, smiling slightly as she looked at Prince Arthur in the center of the room.
He sat before the canvas, frowning, his paintbrush held still for a long time. This painting was to be sent to the Rute Emperor so he could see the face of his future wife. This task should have been completed by the court painter, and Roland officials were displeased that the Rute Empire had Prince Arthur take the lead – they didn't believe a prince could possess such exquisite painting skills.
However, after spending just one morning with Roland's court painters, Prince Arthur won them over with his talent.
The portrait was half-finished.
Prince Arthur hadn't, like typical court painters, deliberately highlighted the room's furnishings and surrounding decorations to emphasize the subject's nobility and elegance. That was how ordinary people elevated themselves; the Queen of Roland didn't need such things – she was nobility and beauty itself.
In the painting, the gold-embroidered curtains, the pure silver candlestick on the table, and the vibrant roses were all obscured in a hazy shadow. The only visual light was reserved by Prince Arthur for Queen Adele – her face became clearer in the dim room, her crown reflecting the light in her eyes, her silken curls cascading down her rose-red silk dress...
Anyone who saw this painting would be unable to resist stepping forward to kiss the back of the beauty's hand resting by the table.
Even the jealous Roland court painters couldn't offer a harsh critique.
The one who was dissatisfied was Prince Arthur himself.
"How could I be satisfied with this?" Prince Arthur put down his brush unhappily. "My clumsy technique and lack of inspiration have rendered me so incapable – I see the goddess Aphrodite standing before me with my own eyes, yet I cannot capture even a tenth of her beauty!"
Hearing his indignant words, Adele smiled and drew a rose from a crystal vase. "Surely many lovely ladies in Rute are captivated by you?"
"Lovely ladies prefer my heroic older brother," Prince Arthur shrugged.
Adele caught the extremely subtle hint of coldness in his voice.
The smile on her lips deepened. Holding the rose, she stood up and walked to Prince Arthur's side.
"A thank you gift." The Queen handed him the rose, then leaned in to examine herself in the painting.
Prince Arthur felt her long hair fall, brushing against his cheek. The Queen examined the painting for a moment, then softly asked if he had improved the pigments, if he wasn't using the traditional transparent layering technique... As she spoke, Prince Arthur's eyes grew brighter and more dangerous.
They were like the sea before a summer storm, a breathtaking blue.
This was truly unexpected; few noble ladies nowadays could genuinely appreciate such profound painting techniques... Needlework and how to please their husbands occupied too much of their energy, so much so that after dressing themselves up elaborately, they had little time left to attend to their empty minds.
As in most fields, people didn't believe women were qualified to enter the noble halls of art.
During their lively conversation, Prince Arthur, at the Queen's request, picked up his brush and showed her the different effects various techniques produced on the canvas. He even forgot he was painting his older brother's future wife, treating it as if he were painting his own bride.
"You've painted exceptionally well, I'm very satisfied," Adele said with a smile. "Let's leave it at that."
"But..." Prince Arthur frowned, instinctively wanting to object.
"Do you also wish to paint the most perfect piece and then send it to your older brother?" The Queen's voice subtly became a little sharp, then softened as if she realized her slip. "Forgive me... I mean, it is already perfect enough."
Prince Arthur keenly sensed that the aggression she had just shown was not directed at him, nor at his older brother.
The Queen didn't notice his change, staring intently at herself on the canvas, as if gazing at something through the painting.
Prince Arthur wanted to say something.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness." Dalton's voice sounded from behind, interrupting the conversation between Prince Arthur and Queen Adele.
The two turned to look. The young general stood straight at the doorway.
They didn't know how long he had been standing there, listening, watching. Every line on his face was taut, like an ancient war god forged by the coldest blacksmith. His gaze fell upon Prince Arthur, giving the impression of a wolf staring at its prey, fangs already bared.
In that instant, no one would doubt that given the chance, he would tear Prince Arthur to shreds.
"Dalton, you're interrupting us." The Queen straightened up, the smile fading from her face, replaced by a cold mask.
Their gazes clashed in the air. In the room cleared for painting, the light was dim, shadow and light coexisting, just as the splendor and sin, glory and scandal of the court walked hand in hand like twins.
The smile also vanished from Prince Arthur's face, the summer storm descending upon the sea in his eyes.
"Snap." He broke the paintbrush he held in his hand.
Adele and Dalton were startled awake and looked at him simultaneously.
"Mr. Dalton," Prince Arthur began with an arrogant noble tone, "this is not where you should be."
"Your Highness," Dalton said, "Your older brother's envoy is looking for you." He deliberately emphasized the words "Prince" and "older brother," and as expected, saw Prince Arthur's face turn ashen.
The Emperor's envoy walked out from behind Dalton, bowing to Prince Arthur with an expressionless face. The man was an Earl from the Rute Empire, and also the lover of the Rute Empress Dowager. Prince Arthur, his face tight, walked out.
As he brushed past Dalton, he lowered his voice and said something.
Dalton immediately clenched his fist.
"His Majesty attaches great importance to this alliance," the Earl said solemnly. "Your mother does as well."
Prince Arthur rubbed the rose the Queen had given him, crushing the petals with his fingertips. The thorns on the stem made his fingers suffer a little, blood mixed with sap seeping into the gaps between his fingers. A brilliant smile was on his face, but in his heart, he knew the purpose of his mother sending her lover. – To warn him.
His mother, who prioritized his older brother's interests above all else, still treated him like a child.
Prince Arthur's smile grew even brighter.
The Earl was still relaying the Empress Dowager's orders, but Prince Arthur's thoughts drifted elsewhere. He deliberately slowed his pace as he left, faintly hearing the sound of arguing coming from the room behind him.
Dalton...
This name, which he had originally paid no mind to, and the swirling rumors, suddenly made him feel dissatisfied.
"Are they holding a jousting tournament in a few days?" Prince Arthur interrupted the Earl's boring words.
"Yes," the Earl replied.
The alliance treaty between the two sides was signed faster than the marriage negotiations between the Queen and the Emperor. To celebrate the alliance, a traditional tournament would be held. This tournament was intended both to showcase their strength to their allies and to encourage the Queen to accept the Rute Emperor's proposal sooner.
"Prepare my armor, I will participate too," Prince Arthur ordered.
"Alright... wait? What did you say?" The Earl was stunned on the spot, staring at Prince Arthur with wide eyes.
Prince Arthur had been eccentric since childhood. When royal children were supposed to learn horsemanship, he always found various excuses to decline and be lazy. Even his knighthood was granted thanks to the royal prestige. This had always been a joke in the Rute Empire, though it was also due to the Emperor and others indulging him.
As Prince Arthur grew older, he even publicly declared, "Only the most crude and barbaric people would be enthusiastic about charging at enemies with ridiculous sticks." This statement caused him a lot of trouble, but the Prince continued to act as he pleased.
"Are you sure you want to participate?" the Earl repeated, unable to believe it.
Prince Arthur gave him a cold glance and walked straight ahead.
He dropped the crushed flower, blood and rose sap dripping from his fingertips onto the flagstones, like all charming yet vicious sins.
In the room, the Queen and the General had indeed erupted into an argument.
"You're about to make that fellow kneel and kiss the hem of your dress!" Dalton said angrily. "What do you want to do? Manipulate the Rute Empire's Crown Prince? Just like you manipulate me?"
Heavy clouds gathered in his iron-grey eyes. Prince Arthur's contemptuous words still echoed in his ears – A commoner, what are you hoping for?
Commoner.
These two words were like an indelible curse branded upon him.
In the past, no matter how many military achievements he earned, they would be lightly attributed to noble sons who had never even seen a battlefield. Now, no matter how close he was to the Queen, there was an insurmountable chasm between them.
Standing at the doorway, watching the young Queen and the Prince standing together in such intimate postures, he could barely breathe.
Anger, resentment, and jealousy gnawed at his heart like snakes. His reason felt like it was about to be burned away. He almost didn't care about alliances or the New God Sect; he just wanted to draw his gun and pull the trigger on Prince Arthur's nauseatingly pale face until the magazine was empty, until that face was a bloody mess.
"What right do you have to accuse me?" Adele was enraged by his tone. She snatched the bouquet of roses from the table and threw them at Dalton, hitting him squarely. "Isn't this what you wanted? Isn't this as you wished?"
Dalton stood still, letting the flowers hit him. A rose thorn scratched a crimson line near his eye.
He said coldly, "Well, I didn't teach you to seduce the Rute Crown Prince."
"So what?" The Queen laughed in anger, stepping forward, closing in on him. "So what? If I don't do this, should I wait for the Yage Kingdom to retreat and the Rute Empire to extend its hand into Roland? Or should I wait for someone else to defend me against the Rute Empire's cavalry?"
"I will!" Dalton blurted out.
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