Chapter 59

Nick noticed that there were suddenly more guards at the palace, surrounding almost the entire palace in layers, and even a few people could be seen patrolling not far outside his room.
He followed Aaron out on an errand and only returned near evening. As soon as he returned to his room, he felt an aura that did not belong to him.
The first thing he thought of was to open the cupboard and check if the medicine placed in the cupboard had been moved, and to see that the medicine bottle was properly placed in the cupboard, before he sighed with relief.
The first thing he did was to open the cupboard to check if the medicine had been moved.
Nick didn't worry too much; he would come back if it was really important.
Aaron only came back to the bedchamber after finishing his business.
When he returned, Sophia was lounging on the sofa, her long legs resting on the arm of the sofa, swaying one way or the other, holding a transparent bag with a white pill in it.
She raised her eyes to Aaron and casually tossed the transparent bag to him.
"The ingredients checked out, it's a psychotropic healing drug." She rubbed her reddened wrist, "I was attacked in his room, and my attacker came for the medicine."
The next second, her hand was in her grip.
Aaron examined the red marks on her wrists, rubbing them gently, clearly concerned more about whether she was hurt than whether Nick was a traitor.
Sophia rolled over onto his lap, her voice clear, "What are you going to do?"
"He won't admit it." Aaron's voice was flat, and the kneading of her wrists was very gentle.
"But I'll lay out the evidence item by item in front of him and make him admit it."
"Aaron, if he really is the so-called leader, then he is likewise your uncle's child, you ......" Sophia looked up at him, full of worry.
Aaron looked down and touched her lips shallowly with a hint of coolness.
"I'm not a cruel demon like my uncle, and I won't hold that time against him if I haven't seen him during the massacre, but he's going to pay for what he's done."
"Let the law of the land judge him."
He picked Sophia up and placed her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her slender waist and holding her as she leaned lazily against the couch.
"The tumor that is the rebels has been around for too long, and I believe we can take this opportunity to uproot them in one fell swoop. The problem of the witch clan's infighting is also almost behind us, and after all these are settled, our clan will be able to live a stable life, and you will not have to accompany me to encounter these dangers anymore."
"To be able to accompany you to face these together seems to me very happy." Sophia leaned close to his chest, feeling the tremor of his heartbeat, "Your present has my participation, and no matter how far into the future, I will always be there for you."
Sophia wanted to double the guards at the palace, in fact Sophia would prefer to go get Nike now and uproot the man who could be a threat to her king.
Aaron knew Sophia was worried about his safety, but he had his own considerations.
"We can't take Nick into custody just yet."
"You just said someone attacked you to protect Nick, and I think we can use that to draw out the rebels behind Nick and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
"How do you want to do that?" Sophia inquired.
Aaron squeezed the pill and mused, "Have word put out that someone close to me has betrayed me and will be executed tomorrow morning at eleven o'clock in the execution chamber of the palace trial."
"Remove half the guards, I'll bring Nick there tomorrow and we'll close the net there."
Aaron hesitated and sighed, "I have some questions I want to ask him in person, too, right there."
"Are you sad?" Sophia reached out and pressed her fingers to his brow, her voice soft.
Aaron didn't say if he was, pulling her hand down, eyes downcast, eyes calm: "He's been with me for two years, always by my side, and I've always watched him."
He has always been loyal to me, and I have guessed everyone who might betray me without ever doubting him.
It was a statement Aaron didn't say, but Sophia could understand it, just as she never thought Susan, who had been with her since she was a child, would betray her.
Trust is something that cannot be explained in words, a kind of trust without reason, but also a fragile and fragile porcelain, once broken, it will make the person holding the porcelain hurt.
Nick, who had taken his medicine and fallen asleep, did not realize the impending danger, all his ears and eyes were closed, and no news reached him.
Even the news that the king's cronies had betrayed the king and were about to be executed.
The people in the palace tacitly refrained from discussing the matter and went about their business as usual, while outside the palace a frenzy had been set in motion.
The masked man automatically substituted Nick the moment he heard the news, he thought Nick's identity was exposed, and also most likely because of his recklessness today.
He tried to sneak into the palace, but found that the palace was surrounded by an iron barrel, he simply could not find a gap to get in, and could only be anxious alone.
The good thing is, he knows the time of the trial, there is still a chance to gather people to rescue Nick at the time of the trial.
The next morning at ten o'clock, the guards inside the palace quietly evacuated, opened a few large openings to these traitors, rather like a kind of palace doors wide open waiting for you to fall into the net.
The masked man did not dare to be reckless, and could only wait with anxiety.
Nick, as usual, woke up early in the morning to help Aaron organize the political affairs, accompanied him to finish the problems left behind yesterday, and was called on by Aaron to go out for a walk together.
Aaron walked in front, showing his back to him, with no one around except Nick.
Aaron just led him all the way through the palace walls to the long-abandoned torture chamber.
The high platform of the torture chamber, the rope on the shelf swaying in the wind, can still vaguely see the traces of the old, the ground is flooded with a dull red, as if it was splashed with layers and layers of blood, so long can not be washed away.
Nick inexplicably some unease, the hands under the sleeves unconsciously bent up to a ready attack position.
In the silence, Aaron spoke.
"This place, once hanged many royal werewolves, including my father and mother. They hung here for three whole months, and by the time I put them down, they had all been dried out."
He pressed against the edge of the high platform, gave a slight push, and jumped up.
Then turning, maintaining his crouching position, he held out his hand to Nick.
"Come up."
Nick looked at his hand with a complicated expression, slowly grasped it, and was pulled up by Aaron with force.
Aaron patted the dark red stain on his hand, and slowly walked towards the center of the high platform under the several gallows.
"What kind of hatred do you think could make someone kill their own brother, or in such a brutal way?" He turned back and asked, looking cold and a little fierce.
Nick looked at him in silence.
"I can't understand it." Aaron walked towards him, stepping on Nick's heart with every step.
Aaron suddenly raises a malicious smile.
"So I killed him the way he used, drained his blood, hung him here, dried him up, and told all the clansmen that he was a pig-like beast, worthy only of being hung on the gallows to be cursed by millions."
Nick's breathing became rapid, his hand under the sleeve clenched up hard, the force of the pierced the palm of his hand, blood flowed down, smashed on the ground, to the dark ground gilded with a layer of bright color.
This scene fell in Aaron's eyes, only to feel mockery.
"I lied to you." Aaron put away that look and looked at him indifferently, "I gave him a hard time, buried him, and put a gag order on everyone not to talk about it, didn't you know that? Why are you still so excited?"
"Nick, when did you develop your illness, was it that time?"
His words smashed into Nick's heart, and he could barely control his emotions, showing a shocked expression.
He struggled to calm himself and raised his usual gentle smile.
"Your Majesty, it is true that I kept your illness from you, but I don't understand what you mean by that time."
"I became ill before I met you, and that was when I was suffering from the loss of my last loved one and being insulted at will by people stepping on my feet."
"Do you need to make it any clearer?"
Sophia's clear voice came from the side of the raised platform, wearing a pair of loose pants and holding a dagger that she had rummaged out of nowhere and tossed to Aaron.
She cocked her head and looked at Nick.
"We encountered an assassination in White Moon, and you were the one who passed the news to them that Aaron was alone, and deliberately separated from Aaron with your men so that the guards could not come to their rescue."
"It's true that you were also attacked, but you didn't suffer any serious injuries at all except for superficial wounds, and the doctor didn't see it at that time because you had someone go to the black market to buy the medicine, and you knew very well that the medicine you commonly use mixed with allergy-causing drugs would produce a strong reaction, so you deliberately faked on the coma."
Nick contradicted her.
"Your Majesty, I never spread the news that the king was missing, all the guards who followed me can testify to that, and it was to get to you at that time that I had to separate from the king and failed to protect him."
Nick's eyes were tinged with a bit of fake sadness, seemingly because Aaron's suspicions had made him sad.
"I was only lightly wounded at that time, I wanted to save the king immediately, but after I took the medicine brought by the guards, I lost consciousness, I have kept this matter quiet, and I just don't want the king to be bothered by such a trivial matter."
"If it is really like what you said, then it must also be someone who deliberately gave the medicine, he just wants to frame me and divorce me from the king, your majesty, I have followed you for so many years, please trust me."
Nick bowed his head and bent his head, very sincere look.
"Queen, I don't know why you have such a misunderstanding about me, but I can swear that I have definitely not done anything to betray the king."
His expression was sincere, without a trace of pretence, but Sophia wanted to laugh a little.
"That's very eloquent." She applauded and looked up straight into his eyes, "Then can you explain why the rebel attacked me over a bottle of medicine you always take in your room, what secret is he trying to help you keep?!"
Nick's pupils plummeted, he didn't know about it.
"Why was the queen in my room?" He asked rhetorically.
"To prove a point." Sophia said dryly, not hiding anything at all.
Aaron listened to his sophomoric arguments as the dagger spun in his hand and the tip pointed at Nick's chest.
"Want me to believe you? You can! Prove it to me!"