Rosie's Games

Chapter 209: Heart Plum Cake

"So, what are you planning to do?" Rosalind asked.

"Someone will soon announce the crowning of the new King," Lucas said. "Crown Prince Baltazar will become the new King of Lonyth."

"But I can heal the King."

"Not many people know that," Lucas said. "Many would care more about the throne. They would not want the unrest around the Kingdom to continue. To everyone else, having the curse means death and it is just a matter of time when they take their last breath."

Rosalind nodded.

"The King of Lonyth cannot die right now," Lucas said. "A beast tide is about to happen. Cirid has been fighting against beasts from the North and soon, those beasts will start attacking the borders of Lonyth. Baltazar and the one who supported him would not be able to fight them off."

"What about Wugari?"

"Wugari will never fall," Lucas said calmly. He was now drinking his wine. "However, Cirid is near the Howling Mountains. It will be hard for them to survive the siege."

"Are you telling me that Cirid will fall?"

"Oh, they will…" Lucas uttered. "But not Lonyth. This place cannot fall."

"If Cirid falls, then the beasts will soon start moving south. Rakha will… Rakha will easily fall. Then…" Then the Aster Empire will follow. Goosebumps skittered across Rosalind's skin. This— Something like this never happened in her past life. True, a beast tide happened, but the southern kingdoms worked together to stop it. Moreover, the timeline was wrong.

In the past, the first one who fell was Lonyth and not Cirid. In that timeline, Lonyth did not completely fall as the Wugarians were there to help them out. Now that she thought about it, perhaps, what she heard while she was safely tucked away in Aster was different from what really happened.

Was it possible that Lonyth fell because of the King's death? Was it possible that the beasts overran a few towns in the Kingdom because everyone was too focused on crowning a new King?

Rosalind frowned. Lonyth and Cirid were almost wiped out in her past life and the number of people that succumbed to that incident was simply astonishing. The incident, coupled with the disease that was now spreading through the other empires, ended a lot of life. It devastated the continent.

Then the war between the Empires happened.

There was nothing but carnage and endless death.

"Can't we save Cirid?" she asked.

"You want to save Cirid?'

"No— It's not that— I just—"

"I have no interest in saving them. I have sent a few of my people to fight off the monsters while we help the people leave Cirid. The nobles are already on their way to Wugari or to the south. Some are going to Lonyth."

Rosalind said nothing. It was understandable why Cirid was affected by the overwhelming number of beasts as they were dealing with both the beasts from the northern lands and the Howling Mountains. What if the Duke's plan was to actually let Cirid fall and save Lonyth? However, his plan failed because of the King's sudden disease.

But right now, Rosalind had a way of helping the King.

"Why did everyone want to crown a new King when… a beast tide is happening?" she could not help but ask.

"A few things," Lucas shrugged. "Some people never believed that a beast tide could happen."

"You mean, the alliance did not believe you?" she asked. In response, he shook his head.

"The last time a tide this big happened was… before the appearance of the Dark Lord. It was believed that the trigger of the beast tide was the Dark Lord recovering his abilities, but others said it was his birth that triggered the beast tide. Either way, everyone knows that the Dark Lord had been sealed away by the seven families somewhere. The possibility of the appearance of another Dark Lord is close to impossible."

"How?" Rosalind asked the Count.

"The seven families assured us that this will never happen again," the Count said. "Isn't that the reason why peace and prosperity happened?"

Rosalind said nothing. Again, the books that she read were heavily altered to make it seem like it was the seven families who saved this continent. Knowing the seven families, they would never reveal something dark in those books. Even the banned books did not actually reveal anything dark and dirty about them. Those books were only talking about the what if's.

None of them offered proof of the things that happened in the past.

"Then shall we go ahead and save the King?" Rosalind asked.

"My… for someone who spent the whole night walking around, hunting people, and looking for cakes, you are very energetic."

"How did you know that?" Rosalind asked.

"Know what?" he lifted an eyebrow.

"That I— ehem— that I was looking for the cake."

"I did not see it anywhere. You cannot keep it in your spatial bag so you must have left it in the room when the incident happens. Chances are… someone found it, thought it was poisoned, and threw it away."

Rosalind's eyes widened. She refused to believe that this man did not have a spy somewhere! There is no way that he was that smart!

He got up from his seat and handed her a small black velvet box.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Food."

"Are you trying to bribe me?" she asked before her mind could process her words. If this was another cake then... why does he keep on giving her cake? Was he actually bribing her, or feeding her until she gained too much weight?

"Her honesty is astounding, isn't it Count Caldarera?"

"Ah? Eh… yes indeed" the Count looked away. He had been watching them since the Duke arrived. Rosalind could feel the questions swirling inside the Count's eyes but she knew the older man would never ask the duke about it.

"Your Grace, I still have things to attend to. My wife… my wife has been poisoned. I have to take care of her." The Count bowed and without waiting for the duke's response, he dashed out of the room as if he just witnessed a murder or something explicit. josei

"You scared him," she asked.

"He got scared," he shrugged. "There is a difference."

Once again, he turned his attention towards her.

"Open it," he sat on the arm of the couch where she was sitting. She instantly glared at him, wondering if the couch could support his weight. The man was a giant compared to normal people on this continent.

He was not fat by any means, but she was sitting on a single-seater sofa that was obviously meant for one person. She lowered her gaze to the box and opened it.

"This is—"

"I sneaked out a few from the King's personal kitchen," he said. "It's a fruit called Heartplum because of its shape. Apparently, women from the south—"

"Love them," Rosalind said. Heart Plum cake was very popular in the south and usually, this was gifted to a woman from a man who adored her.

She— she had tasted this dessert once in her past life. However, the very next day, Jeames told her she gained weight so she stopped consuming the cake. She swallowed and looked at him, weirdly. "Are you bribing me?" she asked.

"I would never do that."

She frowned. Clearly, the man was lying.

.....

We are in top 25 right now! Thank you very much! I am so excited! This is the first time that I reach this rank!

P.S: There is a map in the comments so you can see.