The Villain's End Is Pregnancy - c92
“Hendrick, who are those people?”
The king, who scanned the people gathered together, rubbed his chin.
“Your Majesty, these are the people who were working with hydrian flower extract in Photomer.”
At that, the gaze of the person sitting in the high seat changed in an instant. Photomer was one of the estates managed by the Seiden family, not far from the capital.
That meant Hendrick had properly grasped the main base.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At the prince’s assertion, the king threw a question to those standing fidgety.
“Who ordered you to make the hydrian extract?”
The people who were dragged in had already been interrogated by Hendrick once, and the conversation ended with the agreement to spare their lives in exchange for confessing everything.
So, although their voices trembled as they answered the king’s question, there was no hesitation.
“Th-that nobleman over there, my lord!”
Their fingers and gazes precisely pointed to Liam. As soon as that happened, Liam jumped up and claimed his innocence.
“It’s slander! Your Majesty, I don’t know these people! They are lying!”
Viscount Seiden also didn’t stay still.
“You bastards! How dare you try to frame someone. I won’t let this go!”
“Your Majesty, I am wronged!”
Even while the father and son were making a commotion, a skeptical atmosphere began to spread among the nobles. Most of them were favorable to the Seiden family, but now that the prince had brought in evidence and witnesses so clearly, they couldn’t help but waver.
“Everyone be quiet.”
As the king waved his hand, the nobles shut their mouths at once and bowed their heads. The Seiden father and son also had resentful looks, but they couldn’t dare to open their mouths further and only heaved their chests.
After scanning them once, the king’s gaze fixed on Hendrick.
“Listening to their testimony now, it seems that Liam Seiden is also managing that illegal substance that has recently been circulating in secret?”
“That’s right.”
Instead of adding any other words, Hendrick bowed his head. But Liam was not like that.
“That’s not true! They are giving false testimony.”
“Then did you give the alcohol containing extract to Ryan?”
“That wasn’t me either!”
“Then we’ll have to confirm with Derek Watson.”
As soon as Liam refuted, Hendrick immediately answered and looked at the door again. The knight understood the gesture, and Derek, who was standing outside, appeared, fidgeting. He greeted the king and queen, and at Hendrick’s words to speak as he heard and saw, he opened his mouth without hesitation.
“Your Majesty, the one who gave me the alcohol containing hydrian extract was Liam Seiden.”
With even Derek stepping up and pressuring Liam, the atmosphere completely shifted.
“That’s not true, Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty, please look at this. It is the ledger of transactions between Liam Seiden and them.”
Moreover, as if he had prepared thoroughly, every time Liam said something, new pieces of evidence and witnesses appeared, leaving no room for rebuttal.
“Arrest the criminal Liam Seiden immediately!”
Finally, the king’s order fell.
* * *
Viscount Seiden tried to stop the knights who were dragging Liam away, asking what they were doing, but even that didn’t last long. Rather, he was too busy dealing with the situation that befell him to pay attention to his son.
It was because Hendrick presented the tax and documents that Viscount Seiden had embezzled in secret and the history of forgery.
“That’s not all. In order to take over all the mines in Viscount Camry’s territory, Viscount Seiden bribed the workers to cause problems and instigated strikes.”
“In Viscount Camry’s mines?”
The king frowned. It was a sensitive issue that had recently been grating on his nerves.
“Yes, Your Majesty. And we also detected circumstances that he tried to do the same thing in Count Fitzroy’s copper mine.”
Then Hendrick brought up the incident that happened at the copper mine. At this point, even the nobles who had been favorable to Viscount Seiden began to turn their backs on him. They didn’t want to get involved and dragged down with him.
‘The biggest headache for His Majesty was because of Viscount Seiden.’
‘And he pretended not to know and kept his mouth shut all this time?’
‘This is enough to deserve getting his neck cut off for the crime of blasphemy.’
The murmurs among the nobles were also clearly heard by Viscount Seiden’s ears. He only turned pale and dripped with cold sweat.
“Viscount Seiden, do you have anything more to say?”
“Y-your Majesty… I… Well…”
When the king stared at him, Viscount Seiden opened his mouth, trembling. But there was no way he had anything to say.
“Viscount Seiden is to return home immediately and reflect on himself. Until the exact circumstances are revealed, you must not take a single step out of there!”
Once again, a solemn order fell, and Viscount Seiden was dragged away by the knights, no different from his son.
“Let us adjourn this meeting.”
The king left with the queen, wrapping up the situation. And the hall, which was actually used to reveal the crimes of the Seiden father and son, not Ryan’s, quickly became quiet as the pale-faced nobles disappeared in a rush as if running away.
Hendrick also tried to go back to his palace by going outside as it was, but he couldn’t do that because of the attendant blocking his way.
“His Majesty is waiting for you.”
He wanted to see how Ryan was doing right away. But he couldn’t ignore the king’s call either.
But it wasn’t just the king waiting at the place he was called to.
“Prince, I truly thank you. If it weren’t for you, not only Ryan but also my family would not have been able to guarantee our lives.”
The one kneeling on the floor and bowing his head in greeting was none other than Count Fitzroy. Hendrick, who had hesitated at the unexpected situation, quickly grabbed his arm and lifted him up.
“There’s no need for this. Wasn’t it a problem that happened to Ryan? So I only did what I had to do. Rather, I should be the one apologizing. Isn’t this a situation that occurred because of me?”
“That’s not true! The prince saved the lives of my family.”
Hendrick patted Count Fitzroy’s arm, meaning it was alright, and looked at the king. He was smiling contentedly.
From that, he could realize. The king had planned this situation from the beginning. It didn’t feel bad. He just thought that he wanted to return to his omega without further delay.
“I arranged to have lunch with the Fitzroy family tomorrow. So tell Ryan about it too.”
After finishing his words, the king patted Hendrick’s shoulder and disappeared with Count Fitzroy. Left alone, Hendrick looked at the place where his father’s hand had touched. When the king called him separately, Hendrick pondered what would be the way to better defend Ryan.
No matter how much he was swept up in Liam’s scheme, he would have to take responsibility for his actions.
However, the situation he was worried about did not happen, and rather, he received clear permission from the king. Only then did his expression become much lighter than before.
Now he had to go meet the person he couldn’t let go of in his heart all this time. His steps toward his palace were more diligent than ever.
“Prince, you’re here!”
When he finally arrived at the palace, Peter greeted him with a bright face.
“Ryan?”
“He is still sleeping.”
He had hoped he would be awake, but it was disappointing news.
“How is his condition?”
“There are no major injuries. But he seems to be making up for the lack of sleep.”
Even while listening to the loyal attendant’s words, his steps did not stop for a moment. The attendant quickly caught up, and Hendrick had already stopped in front of his room. But the prince was hesitating.
“Prince?”
Only when he was called did Hendrick seem to wake up and enter. It was a space that was always familiar to him, but for some reason…
It felt strangely unfamiliar today, but his heart was pounding.
It must be because of his omega’s pheromones mixed in the air.
Feeling overwhelmed, he slowly moved his steps. The sweeter and tangier the scent became as he did so. Hendrick recalled a very old memory. It was similar to this back then too.
In the summer when he was 14, when he found Ryan in the forbidden garden, his pheromones were so tempting that he thought for the first time that he wanted to hold someone.
‘If only I had realized it then.’
Then he wouldn’t have had to wander for so long and make things difficult for Ryan.
Fortunately, he arrived in time. If he had been a little late, he didn’t know what would have happened to Ryan. Just imagining that for a moment made his spine chill.
He had to quickly see his omega’s face. That was the only way to quell this anxiety.
When he finally entered the innermost bedroom, Hendrick felt a dizzying sensation at the thick pheromones of his omega enveloping him.
“Ryan.”
Closing his eyes tightly and opening them, he called out the name like a moan. He took several deep breaths, but he couldn’t fight off the sweet scent that kept wrapping around his body. The alpha who couldn’t resist the temptation slowly approached the bed.