Chapter 121
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The sun shone down on the people. The king and the officials had sat in the square for a long time. Even though there was a shelter set up in the square, the high temperature made everyone start to sweat nonstop. Even so, there wasn’t even a single dark cloud in the sky.
The last time Abby summoned the rain, it had also taken a long time, so even though there was no movement in the sky, the king and the officials were not surprised.
Reibar turned to look at Jing Yang. He was closing his eyes to feel the energy of the bead. From this distance, he was able to control the bead by force.
When feeling the magic force from Jing Yang, the bead constantly shook in Abby’s hands. Abby felt very panicked in his heart, but he still clung desperately to the bead, not letting it break free.
Abby slightly opened his eyes and looked at Jing Yang closing his eyes below him. He had already guessed that Jing Yang was controlling the bead. Besides panic, Abby also felt hatred toward Jing Yang. This was the happiness he had gotten with so much difficulty, the happiness that his father and so many uncles had sacrificed their lives to get, how could it be easily seized. He must hold tight to this happiness, and no one could think about ruining his life.
After a long time, Jing Yang finally opened his eyes, looking toward Abby on the platform.
Reibar held Jing Yang’s hand. Jing Yang turned to look at him, and seeing Reibar’s eyes with inquiry, Jing Yang nodded, telling him that he had finished.
Abby felt that the bead finally stopped shaking and thought that Jing Yang had run out of power to control the bead. Joy filled his heart, and he quickly refocused his spirit, trying to activate the magic in the bead.
Time slowly passed. It was already almost afternoon, but there was still not a hint of movement in the sky. The king’s body was already weak and he felt like he couldn’t really bear it anymore, but if he left first, the officials would definitely immediately become restless. So he held on. At least, if he sat here and the officials were impatient, they would be afraid to show it.
Abby could tell that his own body had become soaked with sweat, but this time no matter how much he concentrated, or how many times he thought of his father’s death over and over again, the bead and the sky were unresponsive.
The sky gradually darkened. Not because Abby had successfully activated the bead’s magic, but because the sun was already going down.
Abby began to panic again. The blood on his hands had long dried. He knew that he had to succeed today, and he had to think of a method to muddle through.
Abby kept thinking of what to do. What could he do? Then he thought of the only method that might work now. His body weakened, and he fell to the ground, pretending to faint.
Corey saw Abby fall to the ground. He immediately rushed onto the platform, holding the pale Abby in his arms, nervously shouting, “Abby, Abby, are you okay?!"
Since Abby had decided to pretend to faint, of course he wouldn’t respond to him. He completely appeared as if he was unresponsive.
Corey hurriedly picked up Abby and ran into the palace hall. While running, he shouted to the guards behind him, “Hurry up and call the doctor! Hurry!"
The king saw Abby faint, and his own body that had already felt uncomfortable had a feeling of wanting to faint. He originally wanted to stand up and say something to the officials, such as because Abby was unwell today the rain summoning would need to continue at some other time. They would wait for Abby’s health to improve, and then choose another time to continue. But when he opened his mouth, his body was so weak he couldn’t even speak, let alone stand up.
The king’s trusted attendants saw that his condition wasn’t right. They immediately carried the king back to the palace hall and asked the doctor to go to the hall for treatment.
This left a large group of officials looking at each other, clueless about what to do. They had just waited an entire day in vain for this? And seeing the king’s state just now, he wouldn’t just die from not being able to take a breath, would he?
An official came up to Reibar and said, “King, we…"
The king had already left, so now here Reibar had the highest authority. The officials came to ask Reibar whether they should disperse first or go wait outside the king’s hall.
“That’s it for today. Everyone go back first, and if there’s any news from His Majesty, you will be informed.” Reibar ordered.
After hearing Reibar’s words, the officials left one after another.
Reibar took Jing Yang’s hand and was ready to leave. Downey immediately followed them, ready to go back with them to Reibar’s castle.
After they returned to the castle, Downey asked Reibar, “Cousin, did Abby really faint, or was it just fake?"
“Fake.” Reibar was very certain. He had fought on the battlefield for many years and had become very good at determining whether other people were dead or dizzy, whether they were truly dead or faking death, whether they were truly unconscious or pretending. So when Abby fell to the ground, he could tell that he was pretending.
“So interesting.” Downey smiled. “The royal family has two sick patients, but one is true and one is false. However, what if Abby keeps pretending like this?"
“He can at most pretend this one time. He won’t be able to keep faking it, and it doesn’t matter if he does keep faking it. Royal brother’s body is already about to fail. If he keeps pretending until the death of Royal brother, that would be better for us. A princess who is so physically weak he can’t even summon the rain has no value at all.” Reibar said.
Sitting next to Reibar, Jing Yang couldn’t help yawning. Reibar immediately hugged him and asked, “Tired?"
“En.” Jing Yang raised his hand and wiped the teardrops from the corners of his eyes, nodding. “A little."
“Go back then.” Reibar said to Downey. “For the things I told you, get them done as soon as possible."
“I know.” Downey looked between Reibar and Jing Yang. He stood up and smiled ambiguously. “Then I won’t bother you two anymore. Cousin, you also…as soon as possible, as soon as possible ah."
Reibar swept a sharp glance at him. “Roll!"
So Downey happily rolled away.
Reibar picked up Jing Yang and headed for the bedroom.
Jing Yang rarely didn’t protest. He leaned against Reibar's chest, his eyes half closed, as if he was about to fall asleep instantly. In his previous life, because of his leg injury, when he moved it would either be by wheelchair or by his lover carrying him around. Even after his legs healed completely, his lover still liked to hold him around, and he was also used to it. Today when he had manipulated the bead, it wasn’t as easy as when the bead was in his body after all, and adding on that it was from a distance, he had used a lot of mental strength and the assistance of the system in order to succeed. so he was really a little tired.
Reibar helped Jing Yang clean up a little in the bathroom, then placed him on the bed. He covered him up with the quilt to let him sleep well, but Jing Yang thought about what Downey had just said. “Just now, what did Downey tell you to do as soon as possible?"
Jing Yang knew that what Reibar had Downey do was to get rid of McAnton, but he didn’t know what Downey had told Reibar to do.
“Ignore him, he’s always improper.” Reibar stroked Jing Yang’s face and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight."
“You can’t tell me?” Jing Yang’s mouth pursed because of his dissatisfaction.
Reibar saw that he was so sleepy but still didn’t stop acting spoiled with him, and the love in his heart overflowed. He kissed his mouth heavily, pressing down those pursed lips. “When your identity is exposed, if at that time Royal brother still hasn’t died, he will likely let you marry Corey."
Jing Yang, who had already almost succumbed to sleepiness, became a little more awake. He looked at Reibar with his eyes half-open. This was indeed likely, and if the king was all right, the possibility would be quite high.
Reibar’s hand reached into the quilt. He touched Jing Yang’s belly and said, “If you have my children, I would have a reason to not let you marry Corey."
Jing Yang’s face flushed. He turned over and said, “I’m going to sleep."
Reibar hugged him from behind. “Sleep."
After the doctor helped Abby check, he didn’t find any problems with Abby’s body. He just said that his body might be a little weak, so he couldn’t be too tired and had to rest properly.
Corey had just breathed a sigh of relief when the attendant reported that the king had collapsed. Corey couldn’t care about anything else. Seeing that Abby wouldn’t wake up for a while, he hurried over to see the king’s situation.
Abby opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. His heart could not calm down at all. He did not think that the bead when in his own hands could actually still be controlled by him.
He got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He cleaned off the blood that had dried on his hands, then stared at the motionless bead. He would never let Leann succeed.
Corey knelt down by the bed, worriedly looking at the very pale and gaunt king. “Father, how do you feel?"
The king shook his head weakly. This kind of weakness that felt like he would die at any moment, that fear from losing his life at any time, made him sometimes wonder whether it was really worth it. Even though he sat on the throne, he was more like a representative king, only because he wasn’t born from a queen. Because of Reibar’s existence, even if he became king, he couldn’t pass on the throne to his own children, how could he be willing?
Hegeni told himself over and over again that it was all worth it. Even if his life ended early, if he could pass on the throne to Corey, that at least proved that he was not a mere substitute.
“His Majesty the King, His Royal Highness the Prince.” The attendant came in and reported. “Her Royal Highness the Princess came to see His Majesty."
“Abby?” Corey stood up, somewhat surprised.
Abby walked into the bedroom and Corey immediately walked over to support him. “You’re not feeling well, why don’t you rest properly?"
“I’m already alright.” Abby showed a very weak appearance and said, “I heard that Royal Father has fallen ill, so I came over to see him."
Corey supported Abby to the bed, and Abby saluted the king. “Father."
The king nodded slightly and asked in a hoarse voice, “You, how, are you?"
“I don’t have anything big.” Abby said apologetically. “I am very sorry that today’s rain summoning failed. For pureblooded mermaids, every call for rain will consume a lot of magic."
“But Father doesn’t need to worry. I will be able to summon the rain again after two days of rest. There is only thing that I hope that Father can agree with."
“Speak…” The king didn’t voice the following words.
“The heat of the dry period is so strong that it’s hard to summon rain, especially if there are too many people. It disrupts my concentration, so today’s summoning failed. I hope that next time I hold the rain ceremony, Father will let me do it alone?"
The king didn’t immediately respond to Abby’s words, because he thought that if Abby was alone when summoning the rain, he wouldn’t be able to achieve the effect he wanted. But if when he was alone it would be easier to summon rain, he would have to let him do it alone. At the very least, the first rain summoning during a drought must succeed.
The king nodded, then pointed at Corey.
Corey understood the king’s meaning. “I know Father, I will arrange it."
The king closed his eyes and said that he was going to rest, and Corey helped Abby out of the king’s hall.