Chapter 1643 Poisoned
“He was what?” Lawrence prompted.
The queen mother shut her eyes tightly before opening them once again. “He was poisoned!” she announced, looking extremely desolate.
There were tear stains on her cheeks as she uttered those three words.
“What? He was poisoned?” the General of the Right asked skeptically. “Who’s the culprit? Has he been caught?”
The queen mother appeared visibly troubled. “The culprit is… Forget it. Let’s not pursue this matter any further,” she concluded after a long pause.
Lawrence was displeased to hear that. Our king was murdered, for goodness’ sake! How are we supposed to just let this go? A doubtful expression formed on his face as he cast a sharp gaze at Nancy.
“Who did it, Your Majesty? You sound hesitant. Are you trying to defend the culprit?” questioned Lawrence.
“No!” Nancy refuted, raising her voice. “That’s not what I’m doing!”
In spite of her objections, Lawrence noticed a hint of guilt in the way she spoke.
“Your Majesty, I know you’re aware of who the culprit is. Please tell us who it is,” said the earl with knitted brows. “His Majesty was your only son. He won’t be able to rest in peace if you don’t apprehend his killer!”
“He’s right, Your Majesty. You shouldn’t protect the culprit.”
With everyone agreeing with the earl, Nancy could only glance at everyone and relent.
“The person who killed Dylan… was none other than his own son, Aaron,” she declared before closing her eyes in anguish. “He didn’t mean it…”
Lawrence certainly hadn’t expected the perpetrator to be Aaron. Was it really him? What if it were actually…
He eyed Nancy suspiciously. If it were really her, that would just be pure vicious. To think she’d poison her only son just to stay in power!
“What? You’re saying it was Prince Aaron who killed His Majesty?” The earl shook his head in disbelief. “No. That can’t be! Why would he do that? What would he gain out of it?”
“You’re right. There’s no reason for Aaron to murder the king. He’d be next in line to the throne, anyway. He has no need to commit such an act against the king!”
Nancy’s heart sank as everyone vouched for Aaron while questioning her announcement, but she maintained her demeanor.
“It was him. I saw it happen with my own eyes,” she asserted with grief and frustration. “That’s why I decided to lock him up.”
It was now that the crowd remembered that Aaron was being held captive. Everyone had been so perturbed by the king’s death that they had all forgotten about the prince.
At this moment, they didn’t know what to do. His Majesty only has one son. If we seized him, we would lose our next king. But if we released him, it would be a dishonor against His Majesty.
“Aaron is still a child. Don’t blame him for this. He must’ve done it in the spur of a moment, and I’m sure he’s filled with extreme regret from his actions,” Nancy continued, seemingly having grasped the crowd’s thoughts. “He’s Dylan’s only son and the next king of Turlen, so we’ll incarcerate him for a period of time and release him after that. The country needs its king, after all.”
“Can we please see Prince Aaron, Your Majesty?” Lawrence requested, still feeling doubtful. He wanted to speak to Aaron personally.
Hearing that, Nancy narrowed her eyes at him briefly.
