The Mad Princess and the Dying Prince novel Chapter 23

Inside Serenity Palace.

The court physicians dropped to their knees in unison, bowing deeply to the floor, trembling in fear.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness... the old king—"

"Has passed."

"We have failed!"

On the bed, the old king's hand slipped down slowly, coming to a rest.

Seraphina Marquis also dropped to her knees, not daring to lift her head. At that moment, a sudden wave of regret hit her. She regretted drawing near at such a time.

Who could have known the old king would die right then? She had assumed he could hold on a little longer!

The queen mother burst into tears.

Would she now hold absolute authority as a widow?

The king shut his eyes tightly, a single tear escaping the corner of his eye.

"I... have lost my father."

He tossed back his cloak and dropped to one knee.

The sound of weeping spread outward, and everyone in Serenity Palace knelt and cried.

Prince Jareth stared at the lifeless body on the bed. A piercing agony shot through his legs, numbing him down to the bone.

He found himself entirely unable to stand.

"Father..." Jareth's voice was a barely audible whisper.

The old king was dead.

A somber silence fell as the palace fires were extinguished. In their place, thick beeswax tapers were lit, and heavy black mourning cloths were hung from the high balconies.

A royal decree was issued: all music and marriages across The Kingdom of Valerius were banned for three months.

Azure stepped into Serenity Palace. In mere moments, the palace had been draped in white, enveloped by an oppressive atmosphere of grief.

The queen mother had collapsed from weeping and was escorted back to her chambers on the king's orders.

Only the king and Prince Jareth remained in the bedchamber.

The king had stood up. He patted Jareth on the shoulder, his voice thick with sorrow. "Jareth... from now on, we brothers must support each other..."

"You should attend to your duties, Your Majesty. I wish to stay here with our father a while longer," Jareth said.

The old king's passing meant there were complex funeral arrangements to be made, and the king was indeed about to be very busy.

"Then I will go manage our father's affairs. Do not be too sorrowful... Father loved you best."

The king wiped away a tear and departed from Serenity Palace.

Prince Jareth dismissed all the palace servants.

Clutching his chest, he coughed up another mouthful of blood. When he raised his head, his eyes were heavily bloodshot, glowing like demonic crimson orbs.

Had anyone seen him, they would have been terrified out of their wits.

It felt as though a serpent were frantically writhing and burrowing into his chest. The pain was so intense that cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

"Ugh—"

Jareth kept one hand over his heart and braced the other against the floor, staring at the old king on the bed.

Years ago, his father had asked a high priest to pray in the family chapel, using a secret ritual to transfer ten years of his own lifespan to Jareth. This had been kept a secret, but the young, brilliant Jareth had noticed something amiss. He swapped the prayer scrolls used in the ritual, hastily altering the life-transfer spell into a shared bond.

If his strange affliction could not be cured, the old king would die too. For years, he had traveled the realm seeking masters of the arcane—not only to save himself but to save his father as well.