Chapter 66 - Duchess Of Orin

King Leonardo was fuming after he received the reply from Ronan Joseph. If not for the royal etiquette, he would have slashed the young bastard's head. 

Apparently, Joseph men's obsession for the Duchess of Orin ran deeper than he had the inkling. From his sources in the Prime Minister's residence, he had heard about the dead Joseph's obsession with young Calliope but never had King Leonardo ever fathomed that Joseph's son shared the same thoughts as his father. 

Duchess of Orin, Calliope Wilding wasn't an ordinary woman. Her late husband was among the most wealthy men of the empire, her father was a national hero who had sacrificed all his life for the welfare of the country and the widowed duchess who had disappeared from the public eye after the death of her husband was a greater character than people knew about. 

Handing Duchess of Orin to Ronan Joseph was equivalent to the Crown's failure to protect the family of people who sacrificed their lives for the nation. 

And he, King Leonardo of the great Maisean Empire, would never tarnish the crown or fail its responsibilities. 

"Your Majesty," Ronan called out his name with a slight bow. "It seems we don't have a deal." 

King Leonardo's eyes snapped to his face as he saw a calm and soothing smile tugging on his lips. However, the smugness in his eyes wasn't imperceptible to anyone present there. 

"Would you not ask me why I want Calliope Wilding?" Ronan then added. 

"Mr. Joseph, do you even know what you are saying?" The King's assistant said to the young man whose guys were vexing him. "Calling Duchess of Orin by her name is similar to insulting her. And she is not an object that you can demand or request for. She is a living entity. Someone who had every right to make her decisions." 

Leonardo didn't have to make any comment as his assistant was doing the job of talking on his behalf. 

Moreover, he had a feeling that if things continued like this ...he would lose his throne… 

"Your Majesty, again, I will say the same thing, I want Calliope Wilding, not the duchess of Orin," Ronan turned his eyes to the king and said in a mellow voice. "Of course, you will be mad after hearing my odd 'request'. However, I urge you to see something before making the decision." 

Ronan took out his phone from his pocket and after fiddling with it for a few minutes, he shoved the phone before King and his assistant's eyes. Leaning on the chair, he watched the expressions changing on their faces drastically. 

He smirked slyly. Of course, he was prepared. 

First one could see the curiosity on King's face. 

Second, one will see his narrowed eyes. 

And lastly, one will see shock, horror, and bafflement...

On the phone screen, one could see the Duchess of Orin, murdering the PM Joseph ruthlessly. 

She didn't even flinch when she stabbed him with a fork. 

Another clip started playing where she was running after murdering the old man. 

Yet, in the whole video one couldn't see her face clearly but from the body posture and other evidence it was obvious that Calliope had killed Joseph. 

But the question was...what for? 

***

The problems hadn't only landed in King Leonardo's life, but almost everyone was facing one or the other challenge. It was like fate had thrown different challenges at everyone's face. 

Killian was stuck between his responsibility and care for the persons he called his family, be it Santiago or his lost sister. He was given the responsibility to handle the mess the royal family was in because of their goal but he was failing miserably at this. 

Callum, who should be on the way to Maisea, was stuck in New York with Nash as their plan had backfired. There was a rumor going in the dark market that the picture of Persephone Marino was revolving there...and someone had identified her as the daughter of an Italian don who was abducted on her wedding day. 

Now, it wouldn't be long before Marinos would figure it out that someone was deliberately fiddling with them. They were attacked from all sides as it was an attempt to distract them from the real problem or its solution. 

However, when Marino should have immediately taken action to search for Persephone as soon as the rumors flamed in the dark circle, someone else was ready to take action as soon as any news came. 

The person who had posted the picture had gone missing and there was no way to contact him either. 

As to who this person was...it should be a question of another time…

However, it must be pondered over if the said person was an ally to dark horses or an enemy? 

Ring! Ring! Ring

"Your phone is ringing, Cal, " Nash shouted from his office. Currently, he was sitting in front of a huge wall covered with screens playing the activists on Marino's side. He could clearly see what dumb Irish or Russians were up to! However, nothing was going in accordance with their plans. 

That Nicolas bastard was too smart to fall into their trap. 

So what if Nicolas is smart? 

They would make someone who was slightly less smart as their pawn. Meaning… Salvatore Marino. 

Though he respected Nicolas Scuderi as his brother-in-law, he was still pissed at him for not getting the deserved respect by the latter as he was the heir to the Marinos. 

So, they were going to take advantage of Salvotre's insecurities. 

Ah, the damn phone is ringing again…

He wondered which bastard died other than Joseph. 

"Cal! Your fucking phone!" Nash shouted again. 

"Check the caller!" Callum shouted from the washroom. He was supposed to leave for their country but at the last moment, he had to postpone their plan as the situation was degrading both at Maisea and New York. 

Nash's nasty expression turned ferocious as soon as he saw the caller. "It's the fuckin' king again." He wasn't going to forget how Leonardo disrespected his precious beer bottles. So, yeah, he would always be the fucking/damned King for him. But the king promised to never call his precious bottles names, he could let it slide for this time. 

Callum immediately answered the phone as soon as he came. "Your Majesty." His voice calm and as respectful as ever. 

"We have a situation, Callum, " King Leonardo said as soon as the phone got connected. "Joseph's death is a messy case. It's not a conspiracy as everyone is believing." 

"You sound disappointed, Your Majesty," Callum replied in a smooth voice. He didn't know why but he could feel that King Leonardo would rather want Joseph's death a part of the bigger conspiracy than something slightly less. 

"Because I am," King Leonardo answered. It seemed like he wanted to snap but his position wasn't letting him pour his actual emotions in front of him. "His death has put me in a bigger dilemma. On one hand, I have to protect my people from being a pawn in someone's political interest, and on the other hand, the person I was handed to look after ended up becoming a criminal...yet, I couldn't do anything." 

"Your words are confusing me," Callum said with furrowed brows. He would prefer simpler sentences than the riddles His Majesty was weaving. 

"Ronan has promised to take care of the public if I agree to his condition, " King Leonardo sighed. 

"Ronan who?"

"Joseph's son?" The voice came from behind. 

"Nash," The King answered him. 

"Let me guess, he must have promised you to mislead the public by announcing that his father died of a heart attack or something….and in return you must have to do something absurd?" Nash assumed. 

"Absolutely!" Leonard hissed. 

"So, agree to his condition," Nash told him. If something could control the public from going berserk...it wasn't a bad condition. 

"Wait!" Callum exclaimed. "Just what did he want?"

Judging from the King's expressions it could not be anything trivial. 

"Apparently, he wants Calliope Wilding," King said through gritted teeth. 

"Holy fuck," Nash cursed out loud. "The ugly and fat Duchess? Jesus, what's wrong with people's choices? "

"Have you ever seen her, Nash?"Leonardo hissed. 

"No, but I have heard enough," Nash was quick to reply. 

Leonardo heaved out a sigh. "Callum, you are given the mission to find Calliope Wilding and hand her safely to Ronan. No matter what, the public comes first." 

"But she is an innocent woman," Callum argued. 

"So, is Persephone Marino," came the swift retort. 

"Any news on Santiago?"

"Nothing." 

"Heard something is not right on Killian's side," Leonardo inquired. 

"He will be fine," the answer came from Nash. 

______

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