The Duty of a Secret Regent

Chapter 4

When I finally opened my eyes, it was late in the afternoon. My body was light, but I felt the heaviness of my soul weighing me down horribly. I looked around myself, the room was well-furnished, with all sorts of luxury adorning it. Beside the bed, there was a small tea-table with a paper and a bell resting on top of it. 

'Once you wake, ring the bell. I will be there at your disposal.' (it read) 

The handwriting was bad, but it wasn't anything disastrous enough to be illegible. It had a quaint spartan outlook about it, which immediately reminded me of the butler in question, and I rang the bell unsurely. 

Within a few seconds of ringing it, the butler from before, opened the curtain and entered the room, "Good afternoon your majesty." He bowed with practiced ease, announcing himself, drawing a chair from nearby and sat down beside my headspace. 

Placing a hand on his chest, bowing gently, he informed me, "I'm Konstantin, your lord-in-waiting, sire, and the lord of the western province of the kingdom as well." Looking at my face he murmured, "You have been asleep for more than a day, your honor. I have informed the rest of the troops. I had even sedated the tea to ease your mission." 

I attempted to ask him about the whole situation again but he continued, "I even convinced the general completely has been heavily apologetic to hear it was the king himself, who had to kill the imposter to save his life. He begs for demotion for his inability to protect my lord. The imposter definitely held a strong hatred for your golden rule, my king, thankfully you had taught the likes of him a permanent lesson for messing with the royalty."

I could not hide my curiosity any longer and asked urgently, "What on earth is happening sir? I can make neither head nor tail of it since yesterday!" 

The butler smiled and looked at me before he simply reached out for his hair and with one hitch, the brown hair came clean off and there stood a tall, auburn haired man, the Lieutenant of the royal army for the last seven years, who had been declared dead a week ago, Lieutenant General Aleksei Karamazov of the Northern troops, the leader of the army my brother had enlisted in. 

"G-Ge-General?!!" I was dumbstruck at the revelation but he simply shook his head and replied, "Just call me Konstantin the head butler. He was my younger brother, my lady. He had gulped down the poison the king sent for me to drink and died in my stead to protect me, impersonating as me. It was his last wish that I infiltrate the king's inner circle by becoming butler Konstantin in his stead to avenge for the disgrace." 

I stared at him without a blink, slowly digesting the information and asked, "Why did you help me Konstantin? I do not believe we have ever met... then why?"

The general smiled mysteriously, "Your brother was a brother-in-arms of mine in the battlefield. I could instantly identify you in the obscurity of the temple from the distance from beside the king, because of my unparalleled field skills, and knew your plan from your disguise and I found the perfect candidate to destroy the king." 

"You-You know about my family?" I asked in vain, my heart empty as I realized the duty I came to fulfill had been fulfilled already. 

"Yes, my lady. You are Lady Miroslava Volkova, sister of general Vasya Volkov of the northern troops. How could I not know you? Your clan has been assassinated brutally by the king's troops 2 nights ago, and you are the sole surviving member of your clan now. After all he signed the death sentence right in front of my eyes." 

"..." I could not say anything, so I opted to gaze at my hands, clenching and unclenching them nervously. 

"You will become a good king, my lord. I'll help you become one." He declared in a determined manner while fixing his wig again, "I'll prepare you in secrecy to be a fitting monarch of this country. And thanks to your appearance it would be even easier to personify the king." 

He  offered me his hand as he looked deep into my eyes, "Now, the question is, are you ready to avenge for everything the rule of the tyrant has taken from you?" 

Perhaps his words, or perhaps the last words of promise I made to my mother sparked a strange strength in me which I never even knew existed. "I am ready to become King Miron, General. Please guide me to bring the glory of King Leonard back to these lands." 

Konstantin looked at me with silent pride before clapping his hands gently on my shoulder and declared, "Long live King Miron, the sun of Winterfrost!" 

I looked at my reflection in the mirror across the area and wondered, 'Am I really making the right choice now?' 

But there was no way to determine. I had come too far to look back now. The only thing I could do is to follow what the ancient philosophers stated in the following lines, 'Charaiveti, charaiveti, charaiveti.' (Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving on).