"That’s enough."
Heinz’s voice cut through the air, sharp as a blade, demanding absolute silence.
Florian stiffened, every nerve in his body taut as he locked eyes with Arthur. Even bound in chains, the rogue held his head high, his lips curled into a smug grin. There was no fear in his gaze, no resignation—just an infuriating sense of amusement, as if he were the one in control.
"Lancelot, Lucius... get more information from this rogue. Use any method necessary."
Heinz’s tone was cold, final, devoid of even the slightest trace of hesitation.
The knights bowed in silent obedience, their movements swift and disciplined, their mere presence an omen of inevitable agony.
Arthur chuckled—a low, grating sound that slithered under Florian’s skin like a parasite. "And you, Your Majesty... always so high and mighty because you’ve scared other kingdoms into submission with your big bad dragon and your fancy powers."
Florian’s brow furrowed slightly. That’s right. Heinz does have a dragon. A beast of such terrifying magnitude should be close by, its shadow looming, its breath thick in the air. And yet... there was nothing. No distant roar. No trembling of the earth. Nothing at all.
Arthur’s voice snapped his attention back.
"You’ve neglected us enough. No matter how strong you are, how many kingdoms you subdue... there will always be someone who’ll stop you. And you know that, don’t you? You aren’t immortal. At some point, someone will kill y—"
The air trembled.
A sickening pop rang out like a thunderclap, sharp and absolute.
Arthur’s head—his smug, sneering head—erupted in a violent explosion of flesh and bone. A grotesque spray of crimson painted the walls, the floor, the very air itself, as fragments of skull and slivers of brain matter splattered in every direction. The scent of blood—hot, coppery, overwhelming—flooded Florian’s nostrils, thick enough to taste.
Something warm dripped down his cheek.
For a long, breathless moment, Florian simply stared. His mind refused to process the sight before him. Arthur’s body, once so full of arrogance and defiance, now slumped forward—headless, twitching, blood still pumping from the ragged stump where his skull had been. The chains that once bound him rattled uselessly, their captive reduced to nothing more than a butchered corpse.
The room was silent. Even the knights—hardened warriors accustomed to death—stood momentarily still. Their shock was not horror, but mild, detached surprise at the sheer suddenness of it all.
Lucius was the first to break the silence. He exhaled, wiping a stray droplet of blood from his sleeve. "Your Majesty, forgive me for saying this... but did you really have to do that in front of His Highness?"
Florian’s lips parted, but no words came. His thoughts felt disjointed, swimming in the thick fog of what had just happened. He should be horrified. He should be trembling, his stomach churning at the sight of the man who had tormented him reduced to nothing but gore.
And yet—
"Pfft."
The sound was small, barely audible.
Then it came again, bubbling up from his throat.
"Pfft—Hahaha!"
Florian’s shoulders shook, his laughter spilling out in uncontrollable bursts. The sound echoed in the heavy silence, grotesque and utterly wrong.
The knights stiffened.
Lucius and Lancelot exchanged wary glances, their previous composure faltering into something dangerously close to unease. Even Heinz, impassive as ever, let his gaze linger on Florian for a fraction longer than usual.
"Your... Highness?" Lucius asked, his voice uncertain.
"Are you okay?" Lancelot took a careful step forward.
"It’s funny, isn’t it?" he whispered, his voice trembling on the edge of something unhinged. "This man—the one who kidnapped me, degraded me, killed the only person who helped me escape—talked all big and bad, and then his head gets blown off in a single move from the king. And look—" He gestured to himself, his tunic stained with another man’s blood. "I’m still standing."
Florian’s laughter faltered, his breath uneven. Something cold curled around his spine. ’This is wrong. I shouldn’t be reacting like this.’
’Wow. He’s actually agreeing with me.’ Florian’s lips quirked into a small smile. "But if I may, Your Majesty, how are we going to get information now? He was the only living rogue."
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The readers' comments on the novel: Please get me out of this BL novel...I'm straight!