Loving The Mad King

Dario And Rion Get On A Duel

Odette followed Trish secretly until she arrived at Rion's door. From the gap in the door, she peeked at what Trish was doing in Rion's room in the middle of the night, and why was Trish carrying a rope?

Odette was surprised when she saw Trish was tying Rion to the bed, and Trish did it out of Rion's orders.

Why?

After a few minutes, Trish finally came out and Odette quickly followed suit.

"Trish!'

Hearing someone call out to him, Trish stopped then turned around. He was quite surprised to see Odette walking towards him. 

"Miss Odette, what are you doing here?" he asked as soon as Odette stood before him.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

Even though he was confused, Trish still nodded. He invited the girl to talk on the terrace.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Trish asked, not long after they reached the terrace.

Odette told Trish that she had followed him to Rion's room and she saw Trish tying the king to the bed.

"Trish, does Rion do all that because he was afraid that he would hurt others while he was asleep?"

Trish nodded. "That's true. His Majesty always does that. He is worried that while he's sleeping, Lucifer will take over his consciousness and hurt others. But besides that, he also does it so that he won't hurt himself by worrying about Rine."

Odette was very concerned about Rion. 

"Does … Rion always go to sleep like that?" she asked and Trish nodded.

For a few seconds, they were in silence.

Trish watched Odette carefully. The girl's eyes were sad. 

"Never look at the king with those eyes. He hates it," he said and added. "If you can heal the king, I will be very grateful to you."

***

Meanwhile, in his room, Rion still hadn't slept. He thought about Emperor Dario, who had suddenly retreated.

Was it true that he backed off because he was afraid of Aathreya? 

No. Rion couldn't believe it because as far as he knew, Dario was a fearless man, even if his opponent was stronger than him, he would still advance and would not retreat.

"What's really going on with that guy?" Rion closed his eyes as he continued to think about his former father-in-law.

Panthera and Archadia's relationship was never good, but Rion and Rose's love managed to unite the two kingdoms. Their love story was famous throughout the Panthera Kingdom and the Arcadia Empire. Their stories had been staged in various operas on the streets.

"ARION D. PANTHER!" Emperor Arcadia's voice echoed, startling Rion and Rose, who were standing on the edge of a pond.

"F-father?" Rose's eyes widened when she saw her father coming with a very angry face.

"Father, I-I can explain," Rose stammered, but Dario, who was overcome by anger, immediately snapped at Rose and told the girl to be quiet.

Now Dario turned to look at Rion sharply. "How dare you take my daughter away. I will not forgive you!"

"Father, it's not completely Rion's fault. Father, I love Rion."

"Rose, don't you have any shame?! How could you do such a cheap thing?!"

After a moment of silence, Rion took a step forward and hid Rose behind his back.

Dario immediately grabbed Rion's collar and asked, "Do you love my daughter?" 

Dario's gaze was like a sword that wanted to tear Rion to pieces.

"Yes," Rion answered calmly.

"Then let's duel! If you win, you can marry her, but if you lose, don't ever come near Rose again." Dario was already very emotional, but Rion's reaction was very flat and his flat face was very annoying.

Hearing her father's words, Rose was very surprised. She tried to persuade Rion not to accept her father's duel. She also tried to make her father understand, but her father didn't care.

"So?" Dario asked with emphasis.

Ron smiled faintly. 

"Let's do it," he replied.

"Rion! Why did you even agree to it?! Father, please stop it!" Rose whined but she was completely ignored.

What now?

He panicked. He was worried.

He couldn't let the two people she loved fight, let alone kill each other, so she was forced to kneel at her father's feet and cry. Usually, if she was already crying, her father would never be able to refuse her request. She knew the thing she was doing was childish but this was the only way.

Rion could only furrow his brows, and was astonished to see what Rose was doing.

"Father… I beg you not to duel, Father… I'm sorry… I won't run away again…" Rose hugged her father's legs with teary eyed. She really hoped her tears could extinguish the fire of anger in her father's heart but her wish was not fulfilled.

Dario pulled his leg roughly from Rose's embrace. His eyes didn't blink at all when he looked at Rion. Rose didn't give up, she held her father's hand. 

"Father … I beg you … I don't want you to duel … I really love you two … Father, I'm actually pregnant."

Rose's last sentence succeeded in drastically changing Dario's expression. His eyes widened and his breath hitched. 

"W-what did you just say?" he asked in disbelief.

"I'm pregnant, Father … so please don't duel … if you kill Rion, then my child will lose his father, but if you are killed, I will lose my father …"

Rose thought her tactics this time would work, but she was so wrong. Her confession made Dario's blood boil even more, and he wanted to kill Rion D. Panther even more for impregnating his daughter.

"Your son will be fine without his father. I will raise him." Dario looked back at Rion sharply. He scoffed, "Tell me when and where I have to kill you."

Then the man turned and left the place.

One week later, everyone gathered in the colloseum of Panthera Palace to watch the open duel between King Rion and Emperor Dario. From one of the stands, Rose really couldn't sit still, while the people around her looked very excited and couldn't wait to see the duel that was about to take place.

"Lucas, please stop Rion, I beg of you." Rose turned to the navy-haired man sitting across from her, but before Lucas could respond, the audience suddenly cheered and clapped as Rion entered the arena followed by Dario.

"Lucas, I beg you, stop them!" Rose shook Lucas' arm. She started to panic, because soon the two people she loved were going to be fighting. She knew that Rion would not kill her father, but her father looked very eager to kill Rion.