"Are you making my breakfast, or am I getting a new chef after cleaning up some blood?" Caellum asked as he held the stolen kitchen knife to the female head chef's throat.

  The woman, although afraid because of the aura pressing down on her, still had the energy to glare at him

  "I'll report you to the queen! She'll make you pay!" She hissed, and Caellum laughed in genuine amusement.

  "As long as you make my meal first, I'll drag you to the temple, and you can report me to god himself. Maybe he'll come down and smite me dead. I doubt it, though."

  "Blasphemy."

  "If you insist. Start cooking or else."

  Gently tapping the chef's cheek with a knife, Caellum stepped away and walked out the door.

  Surprisingly, this was his last stop, and everything was going smoothly.

  He simply went into the kitchens, threatened people as he wanted, and left.

  No one had tried to capture, attack, or imprison him, and surprisingly, the queen hadn't even sent somebody to stop him, which was odd.

  He refused to believe he was so lucky, so it meant that somebody else was aiding him in the background.

  Briefly thinking it over, Caellum shrugged.

  The enemy of my enemy is a temporary ally, so let's just go with it for now.

  It's not as if he had the means to investigate anyway.

  As the final head chef came out with the tray, he took it from her, but instead of heading back to his palace, he began walking toward the king's study with the tray in hand.

  As he traversed the palace, Caellum couldn't help but admire it.

  It was truly beautiful.

  Lush gardens with a variety of flowers, interesting architecture made of expensive materials, it once again reminded him that he was in another world in another body.

  As he arrived in the section of the palace that had the King's study, the guards who had been a bit lax stood at attention and pointed their weapons at him.

  "No visitors without the king's permission." The guard in the lead announced as he glared at the young prince.

  "I have permission," Caellum replied calmly.

  "We weren't informed of that. Leave, or we'll have to use force!"

  As Caellum was wondering if he had to just sit around and wait or if he should go find the chamberlain, the chamberlain walked out from the study and began speaking to the guards.

  "At ease, the king sent for him. Morning court will be finished soon, and he wanted the 13th prince to bring him a snack."

  "A snack? From him?" the lead guard asked in surprise before snapping his mouth shut.

  His role wasn't to question the king or the chamberlain.

  With a final glance between Caellum, holding the tray, and the trustworthy chamberlain, they reluctantly backed away, letting him enter.

  Nodding at the chamberlain in thanks, Caellum walked into the king's study before handing over the tray.

  Sitting down on the chair he had sat in last night, he crossed his legs before arrogantly asking.

  "Are there any snacks? And something strong to drink?"

  **********************

  And the moment the 13th prince entered the King's study, one of the guards quickly stepped away to make a report.

  "What did you say?!"

  Queen Esmerelda, who had been in a bad mood since the failed attempt to get rid of the 13th prince, sat up from the lounge chair where she was getting massaged in shock.

  Dressed in a luxurious silk robe with her long blonde hair trailing down her back, she would have been the very picture of elegance if it weren't for her furious green eyes glaring at the maid kneeling on the ground as she began grinding her teeth.

  "All the reports just came in, and apparently the 13th prince visited all the kitchens, rudely requesting food this morning, and just now entered the king's study with one of the trays." The maid dutifully reported.

  She had served the queen for many years and knew bad news needed to be reported quickly and concisely.

  That was the only way to minimize the damage and harm the queen would cause.

  "And they gave it to him? Are they stupid? Did they not think it was suspicious?" The queen yelled as she slammed her fist against the table.

  The maid wisely stayed silent as the queen continued to rage.

  "Why is that stupid waste of space wandering around? Didn't I instruct that he should be under house arrest for the foreseeable future? What is that incompetent personal manservant that's supposed to be in charge of him doing? Who let him into the King's study?"

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  "The chamberlain let him in. He stated that the king had asked the prince to bring him a snack."

  Gasp!

  The Queen clenched her fingers so hard they began digging into her palms.

  "Why did nobody report to me as soon as the Prince began wandering around? Why did nobody try to stop him?"

  "Apparently, the kitchen staff who tried to report were held back by servants sent by Royal Consort Roxelana."

  The maid explained, bowing her head even lower.

  CRASH!

  A porcelain tea cup was launched toward the maid, shattering right in front of her.

  "Not again! That meddling wench! It's bad enough that she had the audacity to have not just one but two sons before me, but now she's meddling in my business! She's never cared about the 13th prince before. Why is she bothering with him now? And why is he acting up all of a sudden!" the queen raged.

  Although Queen Esmerelda was the king's legal wife and had married him first, she was cursed with bad luck when having children.

  Of her 4 children, the eldest 3 were daughters, while her youngest, the 12th prince, was her only son.

  On the other hand, Royal Consort Roxelana, the king's first concubine, had not only given the king his first child, but she had also given him his first son as well.

  And while he hadn't been named the crown prince, he was one of the strongest contenders.

  Due to the favor of having the eldest prince and the backing she received as the daughter of a Duke, Royal Consort Roxelana had a faction as strong as the queens'.

  And she often used it to meddle with the queen's plans, just like now and just like 10 years ago.

  It was common knowledge that while the queen tolerated the rest of the royal children, she hated the 13th prince.

  First, because he was born after the King promised her that no more children would be born after she had the 12th prince.

  Secondly, because his mother was a commoner who had previously been a servant in the Queen's palace, making her shame even worse.

  Ever since the 13th prince was born, she had tried various methods to get rid of him, but he had the resilience of a cockroach.

  And after a messy mass assassination situation in which her tail was almost caught 10 years ago, causing her to lose one of her most trusted advisors, the queen pivoted to a different strategy: poison.

  With her staff integrated into every kitchen in the palace, there was a standing order to poison every meal requested by children who weren't hers.

  The royal children got an almost impossible to detect special poison delivered from her homeland in quantities that would make them periodically sick over time, with no one the wiser, and the 13th prince, who usually got separate meals, got whatever poison was available.

  It wasn't like anybody cared for him, and he never met anyone, so the sooner he died off, the better.

  It was all handled secretly by hand-chosen servants placed in high positions, and no one had been the wiser until yesterday, when her son had learned about her poisoning and played a prank that poisoned the king's taster, then attempted to frame the 13th prince.

  And although the 13th prince had tried to make a fuss and had privately met with the king, she was informed that he had been sent away by the King, looking depressed, so she thought the situation was over, with everything going back to what it should be.

  She would place him under house arrest as usual, continue poisoning and isolating him until he died.

  Over time, the other royal children would die as well, leaving only her son.

  But apparently, the 13th prince had been going around requesting food, the royal consort had hidden it, and the worst had happened.

  The requested food from multiple kitchens had been taken to the king's study.

  And they more than likely all had poison due to her orders.

  As the manager of all facets of the royal household, including the kitchens, there was no way she could avoid being implicated this time around.

  "You said he's the King's study, you say? I have to go there immediately! Come and help me change! And get Camilla. Tell her to go warn the kitchen staff to keep their mouths shut and eliminate the evidence," the queen commanded in an agitated voice as she stood up.

  Immediately, servants who were pressed against the wall began helping the queen dress while a few of them went to look for Camilla, the queen's lady in waiting, who handled the details of the queen's plans.

  As the room immediately became busy, the maid kneeling on the ground didn't move, causing the queen to glance at her.

  "What else?"

  "The 13th prince has a hand-shaped bruise on his face. And the 13th prince's manservant confessed that he was the one who did it."

  "..."

  That stupid imbecile of a manservant.

  The one rule that the queen had was that if you were going to abuse the prince, you couldn't touch his face!

  If, for some reason, he was summoned by the king, it couldn't be hidden!

  The queen closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slapped one of the maids helping her get ready.

  As the maid fell to the ground, she commanded in a cold voice.

  "Hurry up. If I'm not dressed within the next three minutes, I'll have you pick your burial spots immediately."

  The maids quickly got to work, dressing the queen in record time, and she quickly made her way to the king's study, where she was stopped by the lead guard.

  "The king is not seeing anybody at this time."

  "Go and tell the king that the queen is here." Queen Esmeralda demanded while glancing at her connection, a guard she had sponsored into this position.

  The man shook his head subtly before looking away, meaning he had no information.

  Tsk. How useless.

  "I'm sorry, your highness, the king is dealing with an urgent matter right now and is not seeing any visitors."

  "I'm not his visitor, I'm the queen."

  "Apologies, your highness." The guard bowed but stood firm.

  Queen Esmeralda was actually shocked.

  She had never been stopped before unless it was a direct order from the king himself, but the guards weren't budging.

  "At least go and inform him that I am outside and only need to see him for a brief moment. Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for breaking protocol."

  The guards glanced at each other in confusion, unsure of who to obey.

  As they stood there indecisively, someone stepped out of the king's study.

  "I'm sorry, your highness, the king wanted me to inform you that he won't be accepting guests at this time and that you should return to your palace." The Chamberlain, Winston, bowed while replying in a firm tone that brooked no argument.

  Seeing that it was the king's chamberlain rejecting her, Queen Esmeralda forced a smile.

  "Then, I would like to thank you for taking care of the king. I'll come back to see the king later."

  "No need. The king will contact you. Please get back to your palace safely, your highness. And be careful of what you eat. Breakfast seems to be quite the dangerous meal here in the palace."

  Hearing the message behind the words, the queen forced her mouth into a generous smile.

  "Is that right? I see."

  As the chamberlain bowed to her again, the queen gritted her teeth before quickly walking away.

  She needed to make sure that she got rid of anything that could be traced directly back to her.

  Shaking his head, the chamberlain walked back into the study to see the 13th prince munching on a biscuit with a laid-back expression, as if he weren't sitting across from the king, who was glaring at him.

  Seeing that the chamberlain was back, the 13th prince threw the final biscuit into his mouth before pointing at the stack of trays.

  "So? What's the verdict? Are we going to eat some breakfast, or are they all poisoned?"

  At the cheeky question, the king, who had been studiously ignoring the 13th prince, glanced at him with an arched brow, clearly asking the same question.

  "They're all tampered with, your highness. And I personally watched the 13th prince get them all. He didn't tamper with them. This is how it was received from the kitchen. And the queen came over just like the prince said she would."